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The line between being foolish and having the balls to do what is needed before its too late and the job to fix the damage is even bigger. Times change, football changes, we need to change our manager quickly.

but how can you judge any manager unless he has his own players in and the team is playing his football, it's impossible no matter who the manager is...

for me the qulity of signings Hodgson has brought in thus far albeit only a few oes not give me great hope for the future.

Hodgson's own players ARE in the team, or at least were. Meireles and Konchesky are the only ones left, the latter only because he's the only fit (as opposed to "good") LB we have, and the former who is often played out of position for no known reason. You know who Konchesky reminds me of? Lucas Leiva two seasons ago, except that Lucas was 21 then and willing and able to learn while Konchesky has nothing going for him whatsoever. The other players Roy signed on this season (Poulsen, Jones, Cole) are all rubbish or too young to be taken seriously yet. Cole is so bad Roy won't even admit signing him, even though one can go back and take a gander at how he talked him up when he signed him.

We have seen the quality of player Roy is prepared to sign, and we have seen how he deploys them, and how he uses those players he already had. He's a disgrace to LFC.

Simple question for ya haters: if Roy is so good, and Rafa so bad, then surely Roy should be doing better with Rafa's squad than Rafa, as opposed to worse in every category like we are? I mean, that is the definition of "better", right? Something, somewhere would have improved, right? I dare you again, Reclaim (since emp failed so miserably when I challenged him), show me how we have improved under Roy. If you can't then your opinion is prejudiced, and you have no standing.

Leaving an impression on the squad is much more than just changing some faces and tactics. Outside some wins against mickey mouse teams in lower positions from unknown foreign leagues, and a good draw against Arsenal, Roy has brought nothing to the table other than new faces and new tactics. Almost all of the former newness are not fit to wear the shirt, and the latter are so abysmal we can't even draw with Championship sides away (or even beat 2nd Division sides at home)!

It will be too late to judge him in the summer when Torres, Agger, and Reina leave because we failed to qualify for European competition, and we're left with N'Gog leading the line and Brad Jones in goal, with only the Greek and Skrtel as fully capable CBs, and Konchesky our only LB. Unless NESV throw 100m+ at us then we are in deep trouble, mate, and I'm fairly sure you are one of those who doesn't want us to become another Man City spending hungrily every transfer window. Take a close look at what you're wishing for. Any right-thinking individual would not choose Carlton Cole over Torres.

And I'm still waiting for you to praise Roy for the good signings and criticize Commolli for the bad after this window. Even though you personally have no idea who spotted who. After all, all our losses are Rafa's fault and all our wins Roy's brilliance. It would be "unfair" for me to judge you has having anything other than a jaundiced single eye with which to view the facts.

One note here: If Roy's so superior, instantly after his arrival he would have been able to assess his team's strengths and weaknesses, right?!

After all that's a brand mark of a great coach, right?!

Then after that assessment he would go out on the market and buy what he needs to fill out the missing links in his squad, right?!

We all know what Roy's tactics are (apart from 100% defending that is). He wants to play 4-4-2!

Even a child could see what was missing before the season started if we were to be playing 4-4-2: WINGERS!!!!!!!

That's what 4-4-2 relies on, isn't it? Pacy wingers who can see to that the team keeps width.

Also we would have needed one more capable striker - right now we only have Torres, who isn't in his best shape on top of that!

So what did Roy bring in as opposed to what he already had available in the squad: One LB (Konch), Two CM's (Meireles and Cole) and One LW/Str (Jova).

Out of those signings I would suggest he only followed his own tactics signing Jova (who turned out to be 100% cráp)! The rest of the positions he already had covered in the squad!

What Roy lacked and thus should have signed to be able to play 4-4-2 with LFC was 2 wingers and one striker. That's it! Nothing else makes any sense, unless Roy doesn't have a clue what he's doing!

So, after making a full cock-up in the transfer market, Roy finds himself stuck with the squad he now has to his disposal. What to do, then? Instead of adapting his tactics to the shape of the squad available, he constantly puts players out of position! And after that he hangs 'em out to dry publicly!

What a management virtuoso Roy has proved to be!

Except that Roy didn't sign Jovanovic - Rafa sorted that deal in January last year. So Roy either agreed that he was good enough, or didn't understand where the weaknesses in the squad were.

On the point of Joe Cole, I'd be pretty annoyed with Roy right now were I him. (In Joe's voice...) So, like, I sign on to play in the hole behind Torres, presumably so Gerrard can go back to CM (this was before Meireles was signed, remember?). I get suspended against Arsenal, so I play some Europa Cup games in the position I signed for, scoring one and getting an assist; I figure I'm doing okay in the position, am I right? Since then I've been played on the wing, and now many people are on my back for how bad I am as a wing. So I ask the manager to let me have a go in the hole behind Torres, who I've been looking forward to linking with in that capacity since I heard about this job, but I'm told Gerrard is the main man there. Except that Gerrard is (was) injured, and so rather than playing me in that position while he's out, the manager instead changes to 4-4-2, denying my request. He then tells the press that I, I am limiting my chances by wanting to play in the hole. He then says I should be concentrating on wing play, which is where I played for Chelsea and for England. But when last did I get a run in that position for either of those teams? Isn't it obvious I'm not rated as a good winger anymore? And then the gaffer says signing me had nothing to do with him, as though he would have preferred I had not joined Liverpool. Wtf? I didn't come here for this sh*t.

Jova - OK, of course You're right there! But nonetheless Roy had him at his disposal in the squad.

If You get a new job and instantly don't know to 100% certainty what You're gonna do, what Your tactics will be, what strategies to apply etc etc etc... What do You do then? That's right: Sit put in the boat and don't rock it, or it might roll and sink!!

If You're gonna change anything You'd better get it right, from the start, or Your credibility amongst the squad, owners, fans etc is gone!

What did Roy do then? He started off the recruitment circus with a DM named Christian Poulsen, who just had failed and was polishing the bench at Juventus! Did we need him? Yes if we didn't have anything available to replace Mascherano with. But we did have just that - Lucas! And after all: If You are about to change our formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 You definitely can't afford hiring such a one track minded kind of player as Mascherano and that like! This just because You won't have 3 players available in central midfield anymore! Both central midfielders in a good working 4-4-2 setup can (and must) per definition participate both offensively and defensively in the game!

And Roy, the good old man just replaced Mascherano with Poulsen! What a laugh that was!!

And as You say, Thundyr, If Roy didn't think of changing from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2: How the heck does he defend his management of Joe Cole?

My 4-2-3-1 would look about like this:

Reina

Johnson/Kelly Soto Agger Fabio

Meireles - Lucas

Gerrard Cole Maxi/Kuyt

Torres

Poor Joe! He hasn't at all got a good chance of resuming his normal form! I think quite frankly we are treating him about the same way as we did with Aquaman! One or two chances, and then benched. After that one or two chances out of position, and so on!

I don't give a fck to all this nonsence that a manager needs time to get his ideas across, we could be here next year saying the same fckin thing. A good manager can get his team playing good football in a couple of months.

Look at Chelsea, mourinho took over and the started the league in 1st place and finished there. He took them and turned them into a winning machine. I no he had a few signings of his own and they where quality, but there's still a huge majority of our team that finished 2nd. Instead Roy has come in, brought in a worse left back, signed an average poulsen who isn't fit enough to ply Saturday leave football, and replaced an younger injury prone player with a crocked 29year old who couldn't get in a title winning team.

Madness

Let's assume I'm a 4-4-2 man (which I'm not, but anyway), and I inherit a 4-5-1 squad with a potent striker and not much backup outside a midfield playmaker. Let's also say I decide that a striker like Torres would be fantastic in 4-4-2. Ignore whether that is true or not, let's just say that is my decision as manager. I figure he can act as a forward play-maker with N'Gog or Babel standing off the last shoulder (probably the latter because of his pace), which can release Gerrard to fill whatever role I need. I land Meireles by a stroke of good fortune, but am forced by the board to send Aquilani back to Italy, so that's a wash that costs me money now but saves me money over time if Juventus buy him. Planning on playing 4-4-2 means I have no reason to waste money on Joe Cole. I most certainly keep Insua because he's the best wide player on the left in the squad, and seeing that Kelly played with some success last season I would make sure he could play both LB and RB with proficiency in order that I don't have Insua and Johnson (who are similar types of player) on the pitch at the same time.

I land Wilson and Shelvey, promising youngsters to go with Kelly and Pacheco (who can play as a striker). Gerrard can play on the right or as CM (I would have started the season with Gerrard and Meireles as the CM partnership - the idea to send him to RM is more recent, so I'm not going to change what I would have done just because hindsight has proven that idea wrong).

Of the current squad Maxi and Kuyt could play as wide midfielders on right and left respectively, but I would be hesitant to consider either of them as first-choice players. We're short at LB because Insua is not outstanding, and even though I can re-sign Aurelio the best I would offer him is the same pay-when-played contract he had before. I have some cover at LB though, since Kelly, Wilson, and Agger can deputize there, though I wouldn't want to waste Agger out wide.

Therefore my first target must be a left wing (I have any number of potential RMs). I'm getting Jovanovic for free, but Babel shows little intent and N'Gog needs more experience, so Jova could fill in as a striker which is his preferred position. I have no investment, therefore most of the money from Mascherano, Reira, Benayoun, and whoever else left (minus what I spent on Meireles, Shelvey and Wilson) must go to cracking that nut. Spend 15m if I can - the plethora of 4-8m players is what prevents the squad really kicking on. Whatever I have left goes to a squad-level LB (assuming I have any money left or can offload youngsters I don't like). Since I will not have 25 players over 21 (I'm selling more than I'm buying), I will use the likes of Kelly and Pacheco to make up the numbers for the home grown rule, and WAIT until the next transfer window before shopping locally because everyone with surplus HG players will be looking to maximize profit in the first window. I could probably get someone cheaply from Man City.

I would start them as 4-4-2 from the first game in Macedonia, and wouldn't change the formation unless injury forced it. I would still have them press the ball, defend a high line, and use zonal marking, as all of these things are familiar to the players because that's what they've done for the last 6 seasons. Despite the press commentary and a dip in form when we struggled with fitness at CB, Liverpool was strong defensively using zonal marking (certainly no worse than other sides using man-marking), and I would see no reason to change it.

I would tell the fans not to judge me for 10 games - those results are irrelevant - but to judge me over the next ten when the squad should begin to show signs of gelling. When I say "10 games" I'm not referring to the EPL, but the first 10 games after the EPL season starts (so the Arsenal match is game 1). The fans will make up their own minds about my ability if I get us knocked out of the Europa or Carling Cups early.

Assuming I could do all that, and seeing how things were turning out on the pitch, my first team would probably be this now:
-----------------Reina----------------
-Kelly/Johnson-Soto-Agger-Insua/Kelly-
-Gerrard-Meireles-Lucas-LM (Turan?)---
---------Torres--------N'Gog----------

Bench: Cavalieri, Spearing, Shelvey, Pacheco, Kuyt, Skrtel, Jovanovic

Gerrard would hate me for playing him on the right, but he would do the job anyway and that's all I need. Carra would be my second team captain, partnering Wilson.

If after 6 months this squad can't adapt to a 4-4-2 that relies on either pressuring the opponent into errors or dominating with 6-8 attacking players, I would have to consider that perhaps 4-5-1 is better suited to them, buy a right wing and a backup DM in January, and put Gerrard back in the hole.

Now I may not be a professional football manager, but that Roy has done none of this really bothers me. Not because I believe I'm right, but I am able to work out parts of what the plan should be, so even were I guessing I should have chosen at least some aspects of his plan. But too many of his decisions seem to contradict one another to the point that it seems he really has no idea what his plan is. Surely his 35 years of experience have taught him he needs a plan?

Mourinho signed Michael Essien 25 mil, Wright Phillips 21 mil, Del Horno 8 mil, Carvalho 20 mil, Drogba 24 mil, Tiago 8 mil,Ferreira 13.2 mil and Robben 12 million all in 2005. I think your " I know he made a few signings of his own " quote is a massive understatement and please tell me again how on earth you are comparing Roy Hodgson and what he's spent next to Mourinho...