I hope you're proud of yourselves

[Lecter]

The situation is unacceptable but a few things:
We are likley to turn the criticism into a self fulfulling prophecy if we don't get behind the team - and yes the manager whilst he remains
NESV will be aware that their investment is at risk so will be just as anxious as fans to sort the issue out if it doesn't improve quickly
Some people see Hodgson as Purslow's appointee and due to their unreasonable attitudes towards Purslow will never acept Hodgson.

Its got sod all to do with Purslow appointing him

If he had appointed Kenny or Pellegrini or Deschamps people wouldnt have a problem

But he appointed the worst candidate - Hodgson

That is why he is open to criticism

[Red11]

What has he got to do with it? I asked a simple question.

Besides, i'm not defending Hodgson, I am defending the appointment of a new manager in the summer.

Here we go again. Who, honestly, would you have liked to replace Rafa? Who would have, on being offered the job, said "Hmmm I fancy that!" Let's see:

Mourinho
Hiddink
Van Gaal
Magath
Capello
Lippi
Rijkaard
Pep
Wenger maybe
Ooh how about Fergie

None of these guys wanted or could take the job. That left us with no candidates of ANY stature. The list available was so bad that the King even said "f*ck it, give me the job, i'm better than these clowns"!

The Golden Rule again: you NEVER, EVER, NO HOW, sack you're manager unless you have a better one lined up. We never did & it was as plain as day we would be getting a Trabant manager in Hodgson. He sucked before, he sucks now, he will suck in the future...

[Pablo]

Here we go again. Who, honestly, would you have liked to replace Rafa? Who would have, on being offered the job, said "Hmmm I fancy that!" Let's see:

Mourinho
Hiddink
Van Gaal
Magath
Capello
Lippi
Rijkaard
Pep
Wenger maybe
Ooh how about Fergie

None of these guys wanted or could take the job. That left us with no candidates of ANY stature. The list available was so bad that the King even said "f*ck it, give me the job, i'm better than these clowns"!

The Golden Rule again: you NEVER, EVER, NO HOW, sack you're manager unless you have a better one lined up. We never did & it was as plain as day we would be getting a Trabant manager in Hodgson. He sucked before, he sucks now, he will suck in the future...

Amen!

[Darkon]

But then again what a lot of people forget to take in to account is, that if the working relationship between Rafa and Purslow and perhaps the rest of the board had broken down completly, then it would be a catastrophy keeping him on board. We would by now perhaps have less fond memories of Rafa.

And if something had gone wrong between him and the playing staff as well, then perhaps it was the only solution considering we couldn't replace half the squad under the previous ****ty regime.

Sacking Rafa was perhaps the only choice available at the time, partly due to Rafa's ability to get in clinch with the board as seen with his previous clubs as well, and it can of course be discussed whether it was the right choice from a footballing pov. But he is gone now and a far worse decision than getting rid of Rafa was made by hiring Hodgson and that is what we need to focus on now and how to move on from that...

[Red11]

But then again what a lot of people forget to take in to account is, that if the working relationship between Rafa and Purslow and perhaps the rest of the board had broken down completly, then it would be a catastrophy keeping him on board. We would by now perhaps have less fond memories of Rafa.

And if something had gone wrong between him and the playing staff as well, then perhaps it was the only solution considering we couldn't replace half the squad under the previous ****ty regime.

Sacking Rafa was perhaps the only choice available at the time, partly due to Rafa's ability to get in clinch with the board as seen with his previous clubs as well, and it can of course be discussed whether it was the right choice from a footballing pov. But he is gone now and a far worse decision than getting rid of Rafa was made by hiring Hodgson and that is what we need to focus on now and how to move on from that...

Maybe Darkon, but can someone remind me exactly how the Board, especially Purslow & Broughton, helped us get 2nd the previous season? I must have missed all the tactical help they offered Rafa. Where they should have helped is by backing him against H&G and pulling out all the stops with the players and saying "He's the Boss. Don't like it, then sling your hook". It's especially galling now that H&G are gone and they're playing the "we were always against H&G, we did it for LFC only" card. I'm grateful, but not fully buying the selflessness of their actions.

There were loads of fans (even on these boards) slating players for not giving their all for the team, Gerrard etc, and the board should have backed him politically. THAT'S the Liverpool Way in my book. I don't recall any board not doing so all the way back to Shanks.

[Kenneth]

Good news comes in threes they say. New owners, new manager, Thatcher on the way out? Could things get that good?

[barnes10]

We are literally going backwards.

Hodgson is a poor mans houllier. Why the fook we'd want him to take us 'forward' i do not know.

**** manager and sh1t appointment.

whoever pushed for rafa to go without a better replacement needs hanging.

[Arn]

I believe the board thought it was possible that a different manager could get more out of the squad. That's all.

Well, I think that Purslow asked Carra and Gerrard and then acted the way they wanted. That means Rafa sacked and replaced by an English manager.

If we want a new fresh start then we must probably get rid of Purslow, Carra and Gerrard. Carra and Gerrard simply have to much power off the pitch. They are at the moment bigger than the club and that is a **** starting position for any manager.

[dww]

But then again what a lot of people forget to take in to account is, that if the working relationship between Rafa and Purslow and perhaps the rest of the board had broken down completly, then it would be a catastrophy keeping him on board. We would by now perhaps have less fond memories of Rafa.

And if something had gone wrong between him and the playing staff as well, then perhaps it was the only solution considering we couldn't replace half the squad under the previous ****ty regime.

Sacking Rafa was perhaps the only choice available at the time, partly due to Rafa's ability to get in clinch with the board as seen with his previous clubs as well, and it can of course be discussed whether it was the right choice from a footballing pov. But he is gone now and a far worse decision than getting rid of Rafa was made by hiring Hodgson and that is what we need to focus on now and how to move on from that...

The thing is that assumes that Purslow et al didn't have the choice of winding their necks in and letting Rafa deal with the football side of things. I agree with the point that conflict between board and manager can be a compelling reason to sack the manager and relieving such things could be good for the long term of a club.

That however relies on a sensible plan from the board for the future (if Purslow had been as adept at identifying a new manager as Parry was when replacing Houllier no one would be as upset as they are). By picking flavour of the month Hodgson, giving him a long term deal and paying compensation to both Fulham and Rafa they are culpable for all the following football problems we have suffered.

I'm not someone who signs up to the idea that they had to have a better manager than Rafa lined up (to my mind the field is very small) but they did have to have one that was a good fit and whose ideas were based on competing and winning at the highest level. I don't think Hodgsons CV is quite so bad as some make out but neither does it contain much evidence of a man ready to take on the challenge with us.

[Roboklopp]

Maybe Darkon, but can someone remind me exactly how the Board, especially Purslow & Broughton, helped us get 2nd the previous season? I must have missed all the tactical help they offered Rafa. Where they should have helped is by backing him against H&G and pulling out all the stops with the players and saying "He's the Boss. Don't like it, then sling your hook". It's especially galling now that H&G are gone and they're playing the "we were always against H&G, we did it for LFC only" card. I'm grateful, but not fully buying the selflessness of their actions.

There were loads of fans (even on these boards) slating players for not giving their all for the team, Gerrard etc, and the board should have backed him politically. THAT'S the Liverpool Way in my book. I don't recall any board not doing so all the way back to Shanks.

[Fredo]

I will say it

Hodgson is a **** manager

His record speaks for itself 10 clubs in 10 years

22 games without an away win in the Premier League (which incidentally is double his nearest rival - Hughes 11)

30% odd win record over his tenure of ALL his Premier League clubs

I would class Hodgson in the same league as George Burley in that he struck lucky for one year but that his general performance level as a manager is below average

[Darkon]

Maybe Darkon, but can someone remind me exactly how the Board, especially Purslow & Broughton, helped us get 2nd the previous season? I must have missed all the tactical help they offered Rafa. Where they should have helped is by backing him against H&G and pulling out all the stops with the players and saying "He's the Boss. Don't like it, then sling your hook". It's especially galling now that H&G are gone and they're playing the "we were always against H&G, we did it for LFC only" card. I'm grateful, but not fully buying the selflessness of their actions.

There were loads of fans (even on these boards) slating players for not giving their all for the team, Gerrard etc, and the board should have backed him politically. THAT'S the Liverpool Way in my book. I don't recall any board not doing so all the way back to Shanks.

I'm not really arguing that the board did no wrong, it takes two parties to end in a feud, and the board and Rafa most likely had equal parts in that. The board could perhaps have stood up more for Rafa, or perhaps Rafa could have choosen to fight the battle in a less confrontational way?

My main point was though that if the relationship had fallen beyond repair then there where no other choice, and if rumours about his falling out with several squad players came on top that leaves little else to do from a view consisting of others than Rafa being a good manager on the pitch.

[Darkon]

The thing is that assumes that Purslow et al didn't have the choice of winding their necks in and letting Rafa deal with the football side of things. I agree with the point that conflict between board and manager can be a compelling reason to sack the manager and relieving such things could be good for the long term of a club.

That however relies on a sensible plan from the board for the future (if Purslow had been as adept at identifying a new manager as Parry was when replacing Houllier no one would be as upset as they are). By picking flavour of the month Hodgson, giving him a long term deal and paying compensation to both Fulham and Rafa they are culpable for all the following football problems we have suffered.

I'm not someone who signs up to the idea that they had to have a better manager than Rafa lined up (to my mind the field is very small) but they did have to have one that was a good fit and whose ideas were based on competing and winning at the highest level. I don't think Hodgsons CV is quite so bad as some make out but neither does it contain much evidence of a man ready to take on the challenge with us.

I agree with your post, and as I said the worst mistake in this was the appointment of Hodgson and not the sacking of Rafa, which IMO could very well be the only option at the time all things considered.

And your analogy to when Houllier was sacked makes a lot of sense, if we have had a Hodgson like apointment at the time, then we would probably be talking about Houllier's era for a long time after. There were even a lot of debate whether Houllier should have another season just like now, but had we today appointed a world class manager the Rafa discussion would have been dead by now.

[Red11]

The thing is that assumes that Purslow et al didn't have the choice of winding their necks in and letting Rafa deal with the football side of things. I agree with the point that conflict between board and manager can be a compelling reason to sack the manager and relieving such things could be good for the long term of a club.

That however relies on a sensible plan from the board for the future (if Purslow had been as adept at identifying a new manager as Parry was when replacing Houllier no one would be as upset as they are). By picking flavour of the month Hodgson, giving him a long term deal and paying compensation to both Fulham and Rafa they are culpable for all the following football problems we have suffered.

I'm not someone who signs up to the idea that they had to have a better manager than Rafa lined up (to my mind the field is very small) but they did have to have one that was a good fit and whose ideas were based on competing and winning at the highest level. I don't think Hodgsons CV is quite so bad as some make out but neither does it contain much evidence of a man ready to take on the challenge with us.

Surely then dww, it begs the question: how much do you/we trust Purslow/Broughton to deal with the football side of the equation? They've shown their mettle on the financial side (take a bow Mr Ayre) but are amateurish in spotting management talent.

[Fredo]

I'm not really arguing that the board did no wrong, it takes two parties to end in a feud, and the board and Rafa most likely had equal parts in that. The board could perhaps have stood up more for Rafa, or perhaps Rafa could have choosen to fight the battle in a less confrontational way?

My main point was though that if the relationship had fallen beyond repair then there where no other choice, and if rumours about his falling out with several squad players came on top that leaves little else to do from a view consisting of others than Rafa being a good manager on the pitch.

I don't think Rafa fell out with several star players. I think he mentioned 'one or two', most probably Gerrard & Carragher.

Sacking Rafa has been a disaster. There are no two ways about it, an absolute disaster.