Pack your bags Roy

[Exiled_red]

Arsene has also won **** all for 5 years. Largely because his squad lacks the leaders and mentally strong players who have experience of winning things, and are usually considered 'older' more established players.

You need a mixture to be successful. If we're going to exclusively dismiss these types of player as a rule, then Henry and Werner, who said they're hear to listen and learn, need to do so.

I don't think they're dismissing older players as such I think they are just primarily focusing on bringing in younger players, particularly if we are paying reasonably high fees. I don't think that this is a bad approach, Man Utd have only been spending big on young players for a few years now. It doesn't stop you bringing in older players or having them in the squad.

[Arn]

I think they will be willing to spend it but they will use Wenger's model and focus spending primarily on young and coming talented footballers and not on already established quality players.

If that is the road they will pursue it will take us long, long time to be competitive at the highest level as Arsene did not build Arsenal over night.

It's more or less the only way with the new rules soon in place. I think that they would be willing to spend £40m on a fantastic young talent but not £25m on a 25 year old player.

I doubt that he is happy at all that Carra for example got a new very expensive two year deal or that Poulsen and Konchesky was signed.

[Exiled_red]

It's more or less the only way with the new rules soon in place. I think that they would be willing to spend £40m on a fantastic young talent but not £25m on a 25 year old player.

I doubt that he is happy at all that Carra for example got a new very expensive two year deal or that Poulsen and Konchesky was signed.

I suspect there are alot of people who aren't very happy about the signings of Poulsen and Konchesky

[5europeancups]

VIDEO OF HENRY BACKING HODGSON

Did you see how many "buts" JWH came out with when asked if Roy would be here in a year.

Now I am no body language expert, but I would say that he will definitely not be here this time next year.

I am pretty sure Roy will be gone by Christmas.(unless something remarkable happens)

Another point...

The focus for Liverpool is on youth as JWH clearly stressed and Commoli is young. How does Roy fit into this strategy?

[Taxi]

I suspect there are alot of people who aren't very happy about the signings of Poulsen and Konchesky

I still think konk is a huge improvement over insua.

[Taxi]

edit. double post

[kris90210]

Henry clearly did not consult with Hodgson before deciding to bring in Comolli. "I really didn't talk that much with Roy over the week or so before we made the decision," he said yesterday. "I think he may have been surprised when I brought it up a couple of days before we brought in Damien. But he was fully supportive." Hodgson seems to feel that Henry will grant him the second striker he needs, though his managerial future appears heavily dependent on Gerrard regularly reaching the heights of Thursday.

Ian Herbert is being a sneaky cunt here. I've just watched the interview with Henry he's quoting from, and he's totally ignored the bit where he says he DID speak to Hodgson about bringing Comolli in.

Journalists seem to have carte blanche to distort stories as they see fit. Should not be allowed. In what other profession could you basically get away with blatently lying to your customers? Zero accountability. It's ****ing irritating.

[Mattshark]

I still think konk is a huge improvement over insua.

He really isn't. He is no better defensively and far worse on the ball.

Saying it twice doesn't improve your argument

[kris90210]

Oh, and of course Henry is going to publicly back Hodgson. To not do so would be to further destabalise the team. And like it or not (??), we are actually making something of a resurgence.

The first we should hear of Henry not backing Roy, should be when his replacement is being announced. It would be totally understandable if the owners wanted to wait until the Summer. Certainly now that it looks like we're not going to get relegated!!!

Most of us would have taken a season in the wilderness if it meant the back of Hicks and Gillett. Next on the agenda, replace Roy with the *right* man. If we have to wait until the Summer before that right man becomes available then we should wait.

[red g]

Did you see how many "buts" JWH came out with when asked if Roy would be here in a year.

Now I am no body language expert, but I would say that he will definitely not be here this time next year.

I am pretty sure Roy will be gone by Christmas.(unless something remarkable happens)

Another point...

The focus for Liverpool is on youth as JWH clearly stressed and Commoli is young. How does Roy fit into this strategy?

He doesn't the only role Roy should have in the future is giving Werthers originals to the mascots.

[TheElephantMan]

like it or not (??), we are actually making something of a resurgence.

The results against poor teams have improved, the big test will be tomorrow.

[kris90210]

The results against poor teams have improved, the big test will be tomorrow.

See I don't think tomorrows result is especially important. Chelsea are a better team than us - no doubt about it. We're not going to be competing for the title this year. There will be no shame in losing to a Chelsea team who look a head and shoulders above everybody else right now.

The real test is can we consistently beat the teams we *should* be beating? The jury is still out on that one. Whatever happens, Roy isn't the man for the job long term, but hopefully he can keep us on a fairly even keel for the rest of the season and we can avoid the prospect of chopping and changing managers potentially 3 times in one year (Hodgson, caretaker, first choice replacement in the summer).

[Fernandinho]

I think a draw is achievable. Villa managed a 0-0 draw with Chelsea and Villa park a few games ago, I wouldn't say Villa are much better then us, if at all. I think a draw is achievable, we are still a formidable team playing at home.

[Fredo]

Link

Roy Hodgson is adamant Liverpool will not suffer from an inferiority complex against Chelsea tomorrow and believes the reigning champions are as vulnerable as any Premier League team to a sudden loss of form.

Chelsea are five points clear of their nearest challengers and will arrive at Anfield 13 points ahead of Hodgson's team. Their relentless form, particularly at Stamford Bridge where Carlo Ancelotti's side have yet to concede a point or even a goal in the league this season, has established them as firm favourites to retain the title. But Hodgson is dismissive of the theory Chelsea are far superior to their rivals.

The Liverpool manager, who got to know Ancelotti during his time at Internazionale, when the Italian was working with the national team under Arrigo Sacchi, said: "At the moment they are there because they have made a good start, but I'm sure Ancelotti would also tell you – being an experienced manager who has worked in Italy – that you can have a spell which goes the other way.

"It may not be long before they have a bad spell and you're asking what's gone wrong with Chelsea. If, after 38 games, you ask me what is it that made Chelsea champions, I might be more interested in answering the question, but not after 10."

Thursday's Steven Gerrard-inspired recovery against Napoli in the Europa League was Liverpool's third consecutive win in all competitions and, while performances have fluctuated against Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and the Italian side, Hodgson believes self-belief has returned ahead of the champions' visit.

"We were down in terms of results and we were down in terms of the enormous amount of criticism we were attracting – some of it very unfair, some of it downright lies," said the manager, whose January transfer targets may include the Saint-Etienne midfielder Dimitri Payet. "Of course that does affect people because we are only human beings and these things affect them.

"But when you get a few wins, and people are saying nicer things about you, it lifts your confidence – but that's football. As a coach, you can't stop people writing what they write, and you can't stop people reading it and being affected by it."

Merseyside police, meanwhile, have blamed tour companies and a minority of Liverpool supporters for the trouble that occurred during and after the Europa League tie with Napoli. An estimated 500 Napoli supporters acquired tickets for the home sections of Anfield on Thursday night, with many more turned away at the turnstiles.

"They bought them from what had been seen as reputable tour companies," said chief superintendent Dave Lewis, who oversaw a match designated as "increased risk" following the attacks on Liverpool supporters in Naples a fortnight earlier.

"Somebody, somewhere, was able to get tickets and put them on sale through these companies. We need to look further into that to see how that happened."

Seven people were arrested on the night, three inside the ground and four outside, with the most serious disturbance coming when rival supporters clashed near Goodison Park after the game.

Lewis added: "A minority of Liverpool supporters were intent on having an attack on the Napoli supporters. We had a large focus on Liverpool supporters who are known to us. They were seeking problems. Napoli fans had not come looking for trouble. But as trouble started they were not ones to back away from it."

[TheElephantMan]

See I don't think tomorrows result is especially important.

Depressingly I suspect Hodgson will feel that way too. Whenever we've played one of our rivals this season (United, Everton, City, Arsenal) we haven't risen to the occasion. We played well against Arsenal second half, but it's been going downhill ever since. We're scraping results at the moment which some people are happy with. I haven't enjoyed watching us for some time, but I never thought that I would start expecting us to lose or in some games even wanting to lose to hasten the manager's exit.