Pack your bags Roy

[TheElephantMan]

Probably a bit of both

There is no doubt though that the standard and style of football has affected gate receipts

By how much who knows

I overheard a bloke say that he had four spare tickets and couldn't get any takers for them, there were three empty seats to my left and two to my right. The weather was bad, it was New Year's Day, the football has been horrible to watch of late and people are being threatened with redundancy and being more careful with money. There are a number of factors, but people are not stupid. The empty seats around me were ST holders seats, supporters who couldn't be bothered on the day and couldn't find anyone willing to pay to take their place. The club won't have lost much, but if this continues then the owners will need to act swiftly to encourage fans to attend before it does damage the club financially.

[Chris]

Blackburn away isnt going to sell out either, not helped by the fact we've got 9000 going to Man Utd on sunday and its after xmas etc but it's still pretty lame, I think people are just getting utterly ****ed off.

[RichC]

Being able to get derby tickets still is the biggest tell that people are voting with their feet - that game historically has proved a real ball ache to get tickets for!

[alunevans]

If you have a few spare moments, the above is worth a read. Especially if like me you know very little on Rangnick.

If I was to be kind to Rangnick, I would say he was like a cross between Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez, which on the outset sounds fantastic. But then you dig a little deeper and realise that unlike the first two he has won pretty much nothing in his time as manager. And whilst he's not exactly ancient, he is older than Benitez.

When you take into consideration Rafa has won La Liga twice, the CL and UEFA Cup, as well as an FA Cup and other smaller trophies, it does make Rnagnick look like a less desirable catch.

He also advocates the true English style of being in total control. Whilst many would alter their opinions for a crack at Liverpool, their iniial desires would always lead to trouble IMO.

For me he would be a very poor choice, but also an interesting one.

An extremely poor choice yes.

I was a Rafa skeptic but I'd take Rafa in a heartbeat over this guy. What's he actually done other than repeatedly get fired very quickly.

[Lecter]

I overheard a bloke say that he had four spare tickets and couldn't get any takers for them, there were three empty seats to my left and two to my right. The weather was bad, it was New Year's Day, the football has been horrible to watch of late and people are being threatened with redundancy and being more careful with money. There are a number of factors, but people are not stupid. The empty seats around me were ST holders seats, supporters who couldn't be bothered on the day and couldn't find anyone willing to pay to take their place. The club won't have lost much, but if this continues then the owners will need to act swiftly to encourage fans to attend before it does damage the club financially.

It hasnt all been season tickets

There was tickets available (for sale) for Villa & West Ham

Whether they eventually turned out to be sold out I cant remember but there has been adverts on the Echo saying that tickets are available for quite a few home games this season

Whether it is the economic climate or just disatisfaction with Roy or a combination of both its hard to quantify

[Lecter]

Rush defence for Roy
Hodgson needs time, says Ian, so fans should get behind him

Liverpool fans should follow Kenny Dalglish's example and get behind Roy Hodgson.

That's the view of Anfield legend Ian Rush, who told Soccer Extra that Hodgson must be given time to work his magic at the club.

Hodgson - the bookies' favourite to be the next Premier League boss sacked - criticised some supporters for singing the names of Dalglish and former manager Rafa Benitez during last week's 1-0 defeat to Wolves.

He later apologised for any offence he might have caused and Rush believes it's now important to focus on the future and build on the victory over Bolton on New Year's Day.

"It was a very, very big result for Liverpool," said Rush. "What I liked about this game is that the supporters were fantastic. Against Wolves they weren't at their best but they had nothing to shout about.

"But against Bolton, Liverpool played some really good football and the crowd got behind them and I think it made a real difference. It looked to me as though they wanted to win as a team.

"Roy knew what he was taking on when he got the job. It's all based on results. Roy is a great coach and a great person. You can see what he is trying to do.

"We need to get behind him. I know he wasn't first choice for the supporters but he needs time. Kenny's the king so people always want him but at the end of the day we've got to get behind Roy Hodgson.
Stabilise

"If Kenny can get behind him then we can all get behind him and give him a chance to show what he can do because he is a good coach.

"Roy's come in to try and stabilise the club; it's not going to be easy for him but I think his job is to assess the players and see what he thinks himself - whether he needs to get one or two in, in January.

"Liverpool has such a reputation as a big club that they don't like to see them losing. They proved against Chelsea, and the first game against Arsenal, that they can compete and when you think they've turned the corner they fall down against lesser clubs.

"So they have got to try and get that consistency and I think that really it is down to the confidence of the players. With the support behind them, hopefully the confidence will come flooding back."

Great

Rush, Liverpool's all-time top goal-scorer with 346 strikes, formed a formidable partnership with Dalglish (172) during the 1980s - a time he looks back on with particular fondness.

"Kenny was such a great player he just put the ball in front of me for me to score. He's the best player that Liverpool have ever had - he had skill and he would also score goals.

"I think he was the first to play in between the midfield and the strikers. It's always said that we played 4-4-2 at Liverpool but if you look at the European games it was 4-4-1-1 and then sometimes Kenny would go back into midfield.

"But Kenny knew when he had to get up alongside me and when to drop back and help the midfield out. I think he was the first at that too.

"The thing about me was that I was never scared to miss. That's what it's all about for strikers; it's not the six that you miss it's the one that you score that matters.

"You must be doing something right to get into that position and then it's about mental toughness."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_6631702,00.html

[Lecter]

Time for 'Pool fans to show some kop-on
By AIDAN O'HARA


Monday January 03 2011



FOR a group of supporters that once revelled in their manager pointing out "facts", Liverpool fans didn't like it too much when they had a few home truths spelled out to them last week.

Roy Hodgson's decision to question what happened to "the famous Anfield support" sparked fury among some of the game's most sensitive supporters, who then increased their vitriol which, in a way, proved Hodgson's point.

Admittedly, losing at home to the worst team in the league isn't the ideal time to wonder why supporters are turning against the team but, as he has been for most of his brief Anfield career, Hodgson is damned either way.

If he quotes Benjamin Disraeli, as he did last week, or tries to paper over the cracks of a poor performance, he's out of touch with reality; if he speaks his mind over the supporters and their exalted, unrealistic expectations, he is then not showing enough ambition.

It's the same story with players, as many of Hodgson's critics accuse him of pandering to Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres in an effort to keep them onside. If he dropped or sold either, the same critics would slaughter him for getting rid of the team's best players.

It was ironic against Wolves that Anfield chose to vent its spleen in criticising a full-back, having spent five years watching a manager whose scattergun approach to buying for that position meant that somebody like Paul Konchesky was a necessary purchase.

Under Rafael Benitez, Liverpool sold Steve Finnan and John Arne Riise and then spent millions trying to replace them with the likes of Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua, Phillip Degen and Andrea Dossena before an £18m coup de grace on Glen Johnson, when Portsmouth, in the midst of a financial meltdown, managed to keep a straight face long enough to complete the deal.

Konchesky was always going to be the fall guy this season if things started to go wrong for his former Fulham boss because, in the eyes of those whose vision is sepia-tinted, he is "not a Liverpool player".

Such wisdom generally comes from people who pompously describe the team as "Liverpool Football Club" as if giving the club its full title adds a layer of gravitas or makes them special as they bang on about returning the club to its "rightful place". The fact, as Benitez might have put it, is that Liverpool haven't been special for a long time and the beauty of sport is that there's no such thing as a rightful place.

Yes, they fill the ground every week with loud and passionate supporters, but so do Newcastle. Until Manchester United win another one, Liverpool jointly hold the record for the number of league titles won, even if the last one came in a time when goalkeepers could pick up a backpass. Much of their aura was created in European competition under lights on Anfield nights yet, for the last two seasons, these games have taken place on a Thursday, which nobody really notices.

decent

The truth is that a manager like Hodgson, players like Konchesky, Sotirios Kyrgiakos or Maxi Rodriguez and competitions like the Europa League, perfectly represent the modern Liverpool -- a decent, can-beat-anybody-on-their-day sort of team who might win the odd cup with a favourable draw.

A few weeks before Benitez left Anfield, there was a concerted campaign among a section of supporters who sent emails to newspapers, TV and radio stations demanding an end to what they described as a "media conspiracy" which attempted to undermine Benitez. Without the excuse of bad owners or bad players, Benitez then lasted only a few months at Inter Milan yet there is still a section of Liverpool's supporters who would welcome him back even if, as if to underline how much they feel the problem lay with the manager, Inter then appointed Leonardo to take over.

When Benitez left the club, Liverpool had just finished seventh in the Premier League, a position which they are now four points off with two games in hand. Hodgson's remit certainly wasn't to keep the club standing still, but once the new owners arrived, his position was always one or two bad results away from being vulnerable, particularly in the era of the faceless message board Mafiosi.

But even if those 9,000 who took time to make one click of a mouse -- "signed an online petition" -- to get rid of the manager got their way, it's deluded to think that the next man would be any better.

Those in the frame include Frank Rijkaard, who worked well with world-class players at Barcelona but will find very few at Anfield; Martin O'Neill, who has the Messiah qualities so desired but who may be burnt out, and Owen Coyle, who is taking a small, traditionally struggling Premier League club up the table while playing some attractive football -- which is pretty much what got Hodgson the job in the first place.

Unless the owners decide to put away their stats books and invest heavily, Liverpool's next good player will either have to be produced at Melwood or bought before anybody at Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham or Manchester United notices.

Without Champions League football there is no reason for prospective signings to choose Anfield over places that can offer them more.

A new manager, allegedly famous support or stories of past glories can't change that.

- AIDAN O'HARA

Irish Independent

[dizzycat]

You know what I'm really disappointed with this type of repeated support for the incumbent manager. If they really think that we're stupid enough to be palmed off with 30 minutes of above average football against middle of the road teams every few weeks they can **** off. Hodgsons record at Liverpool speaks for itself it all areas. If he's still here at the end of the month I'll be doing what a lot of other fans are doing and finding decent entertainment elsewhere.

[Lecter]

[TheElephantMan]

Even Muttley wouldn't laugh at that!

[Lecter]

[Exiled_red]

[peekay]

Time for 'Pool fans to show some kop-on
By AIDAN O'HARA


Monday January 03 2011

FOR a group of supporters that once revelled in their manager pointing out "facts", Liverpool fans didn't like it too much when they had a few home truths spelled out to them last week.

Roy Hodgson's decision to question what happened to "the famous Anfield support" sparked fury among some of the game's most sensitive supporters, who then increased their vitriol which, in a way, proved Hodgson's point.

Irish Independent

I can see from the articles being posted that Hodgson's mates in the media are back in the fight defending him.

[Vermilion]

I can see from the articles being posted that Hodgson's mates in the media are back in the fight defending him.

That article read more like someone taking the opportunity to have a dig at lfc fans more than being in support of Bodger judging by some of the comments, like us being the most sensitive fans...ooooh that hurt!

[el matador]

the tomkins artile is really good and paints a decent picture of ralf rangnick. at least we'd see the team play some proper decent football but it would mean the end of the current side.

jovanovic, cole, konchesky, maxi, kuyt, poulsen, would all have to go as they would be deemed too old. im certain that he would probably like to keep gerrard and carra for fans support.

whether reina and torres would stick about is another question. my answer is that i dont think he is a big enough name for them. but if he did start now, he would have the next 6 months to evaluate his squad, rebuild his team during the summer and hit the ground running for the start of the next season.

this season is a write off anyway so why not bring in the new manager now and give him until the end of the season to get to grips with the league. that way the 2011-12 season wont be his learning season.