KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum A tribute to Roy Hodgson

I watched Roy Hodgson at the match yesterday he remained seated most of the game, he did not celebrate when West Brom scored and his post match words were very gracious towards Liverpool when a lesser man would have added an edge of gloat to the interview. His game plan worked perfectly give Liverpool space in the midfield but shut them out in the final third and try to sneak a draw or a goal. It worked ours did not. It’s been said before but our treatment of him was shameful and I would like to pay tribute to him here.

Dalglish Record

League Matches 52
Wins 22
Win % = 42%
Total Spend £116m
Pounds per point £1.5m

Hodgson Record

League Matches 20
Wins 7
Win % = 35%
Total spend £23m
Pounds per point £0.9m

Now I don’t believe either manager is of the calibre to manage Liverpool but given the prodigious expenditure Dalglish has been granted and the paltry return on it I cannot but help feel FSG would have been better served by sticking with Hodgson at least until the end of last season before appointing their own man. The Dalglish experiment has put us in a worse mess and now we are stuck with a man in charge who we must tread on eggshells and praise to the skies any limited progress because he is a legend and we want him to do so well even if our brains tell us otherwise. And know some of you will say we have won the Carling Cup but given the bigger picture I feel the Carling Cup 2012 is a curse. There is an Italian saying “a fish rots from the head down” That head is Henry’s and FSG in my view. Time is on Henry’s side yet and he may rectify things and all is not yet lost. But so far he has made a hash of his managerial appointments in my view.

I don't think it's that bad Stanley. With Roy we were asked to lower our expectations. The style of football was often dire and the calibre of players we were asked to accept wasn't to anyone's liking.

With Kenny, whilst it hasn't worked out, the style of football has been much better, the number of chances we've created must be much higher, and our expectations have increased as well.

I don't think anybody complained too much about the players Kenny bought at the time. The only issue was with the price and how it hasn't worked out in the League.

In my view, appointing Kenny was a gamble well worth taking. And there may yet be a case to hold our nerve and allow time for some adjusments rather than a drastic change. With Roy, whatever the reasons, we just never had that feeling.

Have we raised our expectations with Kenny? I feel there is an acceptance of us being an occassional cup team and position of 8th or so now for the next few seasons. Even 4th place I sense is an aspiration rather than a requirement. I sense a downward shift in aspiration. I do agree the football (in the sense of pretty to watch) has improved under Kenny but not the will to win. Also we will never know if Hodgson might have turned it around he might have spent that £116m better. And for the record I was astounded on the signing we made at the time in the sense of amazed we spent so much on them. Carroll I will never understand the logic.

what style? headless chicken style? dinosaur era tactics?

Roy and Kenny turned this club into mid-table strugglers

Yes, we certainly did raise expectation with Kenny. 4th was the target in my opinion with belief amongst the fans that we could seriously get there. With Roy we just didn't have that confidence. Kenny sets the team up to try and win the game. Roy didn't always do that... so we were negative even before we got onto the pitch.

I think 4th is certainly a requirement as far as the ownwers are concerned and most fans. Anything outside the top 4 is a huge disappointment.

Football hasn't been of the very highest quality, but certainly much better and easier on the eye. I think the will to win has been there. We can see it with the number of chances we create. The only thing lacking is quality.

Agree we'll never know whether Roy might've turned it around. But that was largely of his own making. A bit like AVB at Chelsea... he didn't handle his opportunity in the right way such that he lost the confidence of players and fans.

Agree that we were all apprehensive about the prices we paid for our signings, but most would've been happy for those players to come in and replace the one's that went out.

Agree Stan it was shameful how Roy was dealt with by all. However, your post would have been better without yet another stab at Kenny thrown in the mix.

yes different situations.

I felt we totally embarrassed ourselfs with roy situation and maybe we deserve a bit of a crap league campaign as a result.

roy is a good manager, who knows what might have been had he been around when suarze came in. he came to the club at the worst possible time,not a bob to spend and the squad disintergrating. he got zero understanding or support for suppossed clueed up fans.

still kenny needs that support now, we are a few good signings away from being a great team, there is no rebuild neccessary ,thats why we have to back kenny now

In my opinion, they would have had a poor selection of candidates to get us out of the championship, because that's where we were headed under Hodgson.

Lets give these players a bit of time. Confidence is our biggest problem i think, and I expect a fresh season to help us with that. For me, Enrique, Downing, Henderson and even Carroll have all shown they have the potential to be proper liverpool players. I feel they have struggled to cope with the expectation but dont think they lack the ability, and I expect them to improve their end product next season. Carroll is debateable for me, and adam is about as good as you can expect for a 7m centre mid of established age. In short, we need to spend some money in this position.

Without doubt, neither man have proved to be anywhere near good enough to manage LFC. Your comment sits well with what I've been saying regarding summer transfers - the one area which we MUST get right is the appointment of a new manager - that is FAR more important than any strikers or right wingers. Kenny has proved that spending a massive fortune doesn't help you to get anywhere near winning the league or even qualifying for the essential Champions League. Having a big transfer kitty is all well and good providing you have the right manager in place.

I'm confident though that Ken won't be around next year in any capacity at the club. He'll stay if FSG are happy with a domestic up every now and again, but they know how vital the league/CL are and will surely act in the best interest of the club by "allowing Ken to resign", or however they want to dress up his sacking.

I see potential in what he is trying to build. I am not utterly convinced, but I have seen enough that I am prepared to be patient and see what next season brings. I am confident the same players will produce much more end product to go with the dominant displays and think a tweak or two in terms of personnel could make a significant difference. I am impressed by the sort of football we play, though i think more players need to attack the box, and i like how kenny is always the man for the big occassion. he is a winner.