Pack your bags Roy

[JHP]

I have to say that I agree with Hodgson about one thing, and that is its time to start supporting the club now. It was all rather unpleasant last night and whilst I agree that he isn't the man for the job, I felt a little embarrassed last night at the "Hodgson for England", "Dalglish" and cheers for Konchesky's substitution.

At first I thought it was amusing but that soon changed. We're turning into Newcastle.

I agree. We all know that support from the crowd helps the team and conversely derision from the crowd hinders the team.

In the current environment it's probably as difficult for some of the team to play as it is for members of the crowd to stand up and support the team. However if we don't show better support then any risk of relegation will increase.

I'm certain NESV will get rid of Hodgson in time and that they have a clear understanding of the harm he can do to them and their wealth. I'm sure there' no chance that showing support for the team will be read by them as support for Hodgson.

[Craig_H]

I agree. We all know that support from the crowd helps the team and conversely derision from the crowd hinders the team.

In the current environment it's probably as difficult for some of the team to play as it is for members of the crowd to stand up and support the team. However if we don't show better support then any risk of relegation will increase.

I'm certain NESV will get rid of Hodgson in time and that they have a clear understanding of the harm he can do to them and their wealth. I'm sure there' no chance that showing support for the team will be read by them as support for Hodgson.

Hodgson hinders the team.

And the derision wasnt for the team.

[Craig_H]

I know a lot of our old players are legends, and were class, but by god, some of them come across as being thick as pig****.

Jan Molby....

If Hodgson wants sympathy and understanding, then former Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby, a regular observer of his reign this season as an expert BBC summariser and supporter of the club he represented with such distinction, has some to offer.

"I don't think Roy can be blamed totally for what has happened," said the Dane. "There are things you can't defend, like his signings and some of the performances. He knew Paul Konchesky and thought he would do a job but that hasn't worked out, while Christian Poulsen has found the Premier League too much for him.

"Joe Cole has been a major disappointment. Despite the delight from Liverpool's fans when he signed, I was never overexcited about him. I have never been convinced. He was on the bench at Chelsea and he has been on the bench for England. He is what he is - a subsitute who could have an impact coming on."

Molby also mounted a defence for Hodgson as he added: "He inherited an unbalanced squad with no real wide men. Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez play there and yet they have no real pace. They can't get behind defences and get crosses in.

"The striker situation was never addressed in terms of back-up to Torres. To go so many transfer windows without getting a striker in was criminal. Liverpool have paid the price.

"Almost the first thing he had to do was sell Javier Mascherano with little time to buy a replacement, although Meireles has shown his quality. To come to Liverpool, a club with high expectations, and know the squad is not what you need makes life very difficult.

"He has been unlucky with some of his big players as well. Steven Gerrard got injured playing for England, Torres just hasn't fired and now Jamie Carragher is out for three months. As I said, there are things you can't defend but there are other things that have been out of Hodgson's control."

How Hodgson turns around his deterioating relationship with Liverpool's fans that is at best stone cold and at worst nakedly hostile is almost impossible to work out, unless he conjures up a string of results his current squad look totally ill-equipped to achieve.

"The relationship with the fans is a problem," said Molby. "The whole atmosphere at Anfield and the relationship between Roy and the fans is most unlike Liverpool. He never even got a welcome at his first game, which is almost unheard of for any new Liverpool manager.

"I was at that game at Arsenal and watched specifically for the reaction he got. Apart from a few people around the technical area, there was no reaction. The Wolves game was the first time Liverpool fans have chanted Hodgson's name - and it was only to be sarcastic, which is not a great sign.

"Maybe the fans were hoping for better. Over the last three years, when there was speculation about Benitez's future, there was talk of Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho. They were never going to come to Liverpool at the time Roy got the job.

"That is not to say Liverpool could not attract a top manager from abroad. I think Louis van Gaal would walk to Anfield to take the Liverpool job."

As the storm clouds gather around Hodgson, Molby believes Liverpool's new hierarchy is more likely to favour taking its time mapping out a long-term strategy rather than take the option of sacking the manager unless the situation deteriorates even more dramatically. It is a policy he agrees with.

"I think he should get more time," said Molby. "This is a bad, bad time to change managers unless the one you specifically want is out there walking around without a job. Who are they? They are Martin O'Neill, Frank Rijkaard, Sam Allardyce and Martin Jol, who wouldn't want to come and work with Comolli again after their time together at Spurs.

"This is a really important period for the new owners. They are assessing everything and I think there will be upheaval in the summer.

"I don't know whether this will include a change of manager but it might mean losing one or two players Liverpool might not want to lose, such as Torres and Pepe Reina, to bring some money in and to start rebuilding and overhauling things."

Wally.

On one hand, he says about losing players we dont want to lose - on the other hand, he suggests giving Bodgson more time, which is what will make us lose players we dont want to lose.

[Mostar]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/dec/30/roy-hodgson-liverpool-fans-owners

Roy Hodgson in peril as anger of Liverpool fans alarms owners

Liverpool's American owners are running out of patience with Roy Hodgson amid fears that the manager's relationship with the club's supporters has broken down irretrievably.

Despite the fact that in one poll 95% of Liverpool fans wanted Hodgson to be sacked immediately after last night's 1-0 home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers, there appears to be no great appetite for regime change. John W Henry and Tom Werner of New England Sports Ventures are prepared to give Hodgson more time after six torturous months.

However, Henry has already labelled performances this season "unacceptable" and the next three games – against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers in the league and Manchester United in the FA Cup – are likely to be critical to Hodgson's chances of surviving until the summer, when his position will be reviewed.

Henry and Werner, who run the Fenway Sports Group, through which NESV controls Liverpool, are understood to be concerned by the breakdown in relations between fans and the manager. A poll on the Liverpool website The Empire of the Kop drew more than 4,300 replies, with 95.5% of respondents answering yes to the question: "Do you want Roy Hodgson to be fired today?"

His win rate of 41% is almost exactly the same as that achieved by Graeme Souness during his time at Anfield and is the poorest by any Liverpool manager since Bill Shankly created the modern club. The defeat by Wolves, which Hodgson considered Liverpool's worst performance of a dismal season, was dominated by ironic chants of "Hodgson for England" and by calls for Kenny Dalglish to take over.

That latter scenario is unlikely to arise even if Hodgson is fired. Given his impassioned loyalty to Liverpool, Dalglish would be unlikely to refuse an offer to return to the job he quit in 1991. However, his candidacy to replace Rafael Benítez in the summer was rejected almost out of hand by the then managing director, Christian Purslow, and his successors are acutely aware that recalling a man who has been out of frontline football since a brief spell as Celtic's caretaker manager more than a decade ago would create more problems than it would solve.

Fenway has no desire to install an interim manager and if Dalglish were unable to pull Liverpool out of their tailspin it would tarnish his glittering reputation and that of the board. If Dalglish were a qualified success, he may block Fenway's plans to bring in a young, long-term manager.

The former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard is the favourite, although Hodgson has pointed out that the Dutchman's last job at Galatasaray ended in failure. The Marseille coach, Didier Deschamps, who was interviewed for the post of Liverpool manager in the summer, has moved to distance himself from fresh speculation linking him with Anfield. He has let it be known he would not welcome an approach while Marseille are still in the Champions League and that his long-term aim is to manage the French champions when they move into a refurbished Stade Vélodrome in 2014.

While recognising his position is precarious, Hodgson, who was voted the League Managers Association's manager of the year last season, insisted he still retained the support of a dressing-room that often failed to give Benítez its wholehearted backing. "I am lucky in that the support I have had has been from the players and from within the club," Hodgson said. "I haven't had a lot of support from the fans since I have been here. The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I have come here we haven't won enough games to keep them happy.

"That is the way of football. When you take on any job, especially a big job like this, and results do not go the way you want, especially at home, you are going to be a target for disapproval."

[Shaggy]

Owners turn the heat on Roy Hodgson as Anfield civil war looms

Tony Barrett
1 minute ago

Liverpool’s owners are running out of patience with Roy Hodgson. The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) wants to see a revival in fortunes on the field or the manager may face the consequences.

While sympathetic with the challenges that Hodgson has faced since taking over as Liverpool manager from Rafael Benítez last July, FSG is concerned that the 63-year-old has yet to deliver.

While the Americans remain reluctant to make a managerial change halfway through the season, they are believed to have been far from impressed with Hodgson’s suggestion that he hoped the club’s “fans would become supporters” after the dismal 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.

Hodgson will face the press again today ahead of Liverpool’s home match with Bolton Wanderers tomorrow. He must produce a much improved performance from his side to stop his position becoming untenable. Liverpool already have their lowest points total going into the new year since the 1953-54 season, which ended in relegation.

Since their takeover of Liverpool in October, FSG has placed great store by its relationship with the club’s fans and have demanded that the lead they have taken on this front is followed at all levels. The manager’s reaction to chants calling for his removal has put him at odds with his employers and their direction.

John W. Henry and Tom Werner, the FSG founders, have not wavered in their public support of Hodgson despite him not being appointed by them. Their backing, however, has been put to its most serious test by almost total breakdown in the former Fulham manager’s relationship with the Liverpool supporters.

In the immediate aftermath of the loss to Wolves, Hodgson made plain his dissatisfaction at the lack of support he is receiving from the Liverpool fans — chants of “Hodgson for England” resounded around Anfield during Liverpool’s fourth defeat in their last six Barclays Premier League matches — stating that he has had to make do with the backing of his players.

“I have been lucky the support I have had has been from the players and within the club,” Hodgson said. “I haven’t had a lot of support from the fans ever since I came here.

“The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I came here we have not won enough games to keep them happy.

“That is understandable in the sense that they were hoping when I came here the latter part of last season would be forgotten and we would start flying again. That hasn’t happened and as a result, as manager, you are the one in the firing line, but of course it doesn’t make the job easier because it makes the players more nervous.

“I can only say as a manager you have to understand that fans care for their club and want it to do well and when it is not doing well they voice their disapproval.”

One departure from Liverpool has already been confirmed with Eduardo Macia, the club’s chief scout, leaving by mutual consent.

Macia’s exit is not unexpected and has been seen as a formality after the arrival of Damien Comolli as director of football strategy in November.

[Craig_H]

The 'Hodgson for England' chants were fairly brief, and i'm delighted the press has been able to pick up on them. I was worried they may pass by without notice.

[JHP]

Hodgson hinders the team.

And the derision wasnt for the team.

I agree Hodgson hinders the team. I also recognise that negative reaction from the crowd hinders the team, which is not in the interest of LFC.

[Craig_H]

Whether the crowd give a reaction or not, the team and the performances are ****. That will be the case anyway, even if the crowd dont have a go at Hodgson. At least this way, it may speed up the process and get him out sooner.

Greater good.

[sean_lfc]

Neal seems pretty pissed off. Appologese if it's already been posted.

Whether the crowd give a reaction or not, the team and the performances are ****. That will be the case anyway, even if the crowd dont have a go at Hodgson. At least this way, it may speed up the process and get him out sooner.

Greater good.

Just about to post the same

[el matador]

I understand NESV want to be seen as good owners who dont panic after a few bad results but there comes a time when patience becomes impotence.

Leaving roy in charge is the latter. If they knew anything about football then they would realise that roy and his 1970's bellend tactics were outdated and modern managers and football in general has moved on.

Tom and John complained about the mess they inherited from the previous administration, well there's a bigger one being created now and they should not delude themselves. If roy stays, there is a huge possibility of us playing in the championship last year.

We got rid of one cancer in tom and george, its time to rid ourselves of this one now.

[Arn]

I think that the players showed against Wolves that they want him gone.

If Roy isn't sacked before the Bolton game then I doubt that all of our players will give 100%. Some of them just want him gone and is prepared to lose a few games to get rid of him IMO.

[Craig_H]

So Arn, i dont think you've mentioned it yet - who would you like to see as our manager?

[RichC]

So Arn, i dont think you've mentioned it yet - who would you like to see as our manager?

[Craig_H]

You've gotta give them something

[Shaggy]

Exellent piece from Brian Kettle on TIA

Roy Hodgson is an intelligent man. He went to grammar school, speaks several languages, has a rich vocabulary and commanding turn of phrase and – as he often reminds us – 35 years of experience in football management.

So why is this intelligent man behaving the way he is, and has been throughout his tormented reign as Liverpool manager – failing to acknowledge his deficiencies, blaming the club’s problems on anyone he can find, stubbornly insisting that he’s doing his best and acting with incredulity when others suggest it's not good enough?

The answer is entitlement. He thinks he’s owed it. He believes that the Liverpool job is the crowning glory of a storied career and that not only can his fabled methods not be questioned, but they should be allowed limitless time to flourish.

And the problem – of course – is that the fabled career he’s thinking of is one that’s been faithfully and fancifully reported by his friends in the press, fuelled by his own imagination and hubris, and yet not borne out by his actual record and certainly not by his time at Anfield.

We’ve already heard him retell his palm-fronded arrival at the club last summer:

someone who had been brought in with the pomp and circumstance, and the money it took them to release me from my previous contract, and being feted as one of England's best managers

Except of course he was grudgingly welcomed at best, by a group of supporters willing to give him a chance but knowing he was no Benitez, Mourinho or Wenger.

And since then he’s upgraded himself from Emperor to Deity:

having defied people they have started to crucify me


Perhaps most famously, he took great umbrage at his management style being questioned, betraying both his ego and the journeyman nature of his career in his response:

What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting. To suggest that, because I have moved from one club to another, that the methods which have stood me in good stead for 35 years and made me one of the most respected coaches in Europe don’t suddenly work, is very hard to believe.


Little wonder, then, that while he still maintains that he will not change the methods that worked so “well” at Fulham and that he “can’t work better” than he is, he still quite regally brushes off the complaints of people who think that 12th place, Route One football and a team and support close to revolt is unacceptable. This despite taking charge of a squad that got his predecessor sacked for coming seventh and spending half the money he was given to improve it on Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen. People without those 35 years experience just don’t understand:

Fans are waiting for a man with a magic wand that can turn all of the ills that everyone has seen into something different. Those of us who work in the game and have been working in the game a long time know that magic wand doesn't exist.


But this isn’t new in Hodgson. This isn’t just the Liverpool job swelling his head and clouding his thinking. Here he is, interviewed by the Independent back in 2002:

Of course, my track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as [Sir Alex] Ferguson enjoys today, but people don't talk about what I've done outside England. Here, they just talk about Blackburn Rovers, but that's just a very small part of a 26-year career. To most English journalists it's the only part. I've got an excellent track record in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and in Denmark, where FC Copenhagen was my last job before I went to Udinese. We won the league there by seven points.


Sound familiar? There’s more that he’s recycled since:

You can be touted for future glories, then maybe a manager's fortunes change and the whole attitude towards him changes. Of course, it's wrong. If you've got the ability to be a good manager one minute, then unless people's judgements are totally wrong, that ability doesn't just disappear a few months later.


But here’s the killer – the real clue to the entitlement that festered and festered, that was brought to the peak by a Manager of the Year award that to the rest of us was clearly an Underdog award or for Lifetime Achievement, but for Hodgson was pomp, circumstance and deification. Here he is discussing the England job, given to Sven-Goran Eriksson:

I was sure he'd do a good job, as has been proven the case. But if you've been a candidate for the job, and you'd be happy to take it and somebody else gets it, then obviously any feelings you have for them are going to be mitigated by the fact that you wish it had been you. It [not being selected] didn't bother me. I didn't put myself up as a candidate. I was just pleased to hear that I was being considered. That was an honour in itself. It would have been an even greater honour if they'd said, 'You're the man'. But I understood that I was in competition with some other very strong candidates, names like Sven, [Terry] Venables, [Arsène] Wenger, all the top people in the game and you can't always expect to come out on top. I'm pleased they went for a good man and that it's working out because I would have been disappointed if they'd passed me over and given it to someone who wasn't very good and the team had done badly.


Manager of Liverpool is a late substitute for the career-capping job so far cruelly denied him. He should have had it then, and before, and since.

For it was always predicted that he would. Back in the pre-Sky era, when “continental football” got little press coverage, no TV coverage and YouTube was unimagined, Hodgson was always portrayed by his journalist friends as the dark horse for the England job. The well-kept secret of a brilliant English manager succeeding overseas.

No matter that his success was with small nations and small clubs in poor leagues, and that his one attempt at a big job (with Internazionale) was short-lived and ignominious – it was a great story, and one that fed on itself. He was brilliant – grammar school, five languages, league titles in Sweden – and he would one day land the biggest job of all for an English manager.

So when he lucked into one of the biggest jobs in club football – hired by men who don’t understand the game, just looking for someone who wouldn’t agitate and generate bad press like the last one – he took his house-of-cards history and bulletproof ego with him.

He can’t be wrong. It’s the players’ fault, Benitez’s fault, the owners’ fault, the fans’ fault.

The hoof-ball style of play, lack of width, unwillingness to press, disenchanted team, disenfranchised fans, woeful league position, future deteriorating every day he stays in the job – no one should mind him disclaiming responsibility and demanding patience.

He’s entitled.