For the most part, Roy Hodgson had a torrid time at Liverpool FC. The incessant personal and professional denigration he received from so-called 'fans' was a disgrace, and arguably brought shame on the club. An equally serious problem though was the palpable lack of responsibility taken by many of the players during Hodgson's tenure, something that club legend John Barnes believes undermined the manager and contributed to Liverpool's poor form in the first half of the season.
The most ironic thing about the negativity over Hodgson was the double standard: the same fans who are calling for his head were rabidly supporting Rafa Benitez at the end of his tenure, arguing that poor performances were not his fault; it was the Ownership/off-field turmoil that was to blame; lack of money being made available for transfers etc.
Hodgson arrived at a club in turmoil, and had had to work under even harsher conditions (manifest instability; boardroom wars; court cases; demotivated players after Benitez's horrible final season etc) but none of that was taken into account by his detractors.
To his credit, John Barnes has recently been honest about one particular aspect of Hodgson's reign: the abject lack of responsibility taken by many of Liverpool's players:
“The players never responded to Roy Hodgson and I felt a bit sorry for him because the players could have done more for him. Now the players are running an extra yard and trying harder because they know if they lose they are going to get the blame, not Kenny.
“Under Hodgson, if they lost they weren’t going to get the blame, Hodgson was. It’s a subconscious thing with all players. Once that happens it affects the players. Once you undermine the manager by not giving him complete control it goes on to the field.
"Look at Arsene Wenger, he’s been undermined by the press and by the fans after the situation with (Samir) Nasri and (Cesc) Fabregas".
Barnes is spot on here in my view: the players didn't put the effort in because they knew that Hodgson would take the blame. The fans were complicit in this relinquishing of personal responsibility by attacking Hodgson at every opportunity, and refusing to place any real blame on the players.
Irrespective of manager, the pride of playing for Liverpool should take precedence over everything else, but this was definitely not the case under Hodgson, and the players badly let themselves down.
I supported Hodgson till the end, and I make no apology for that. All Liverpool managers should be supported in the first season, and especially during their first few months in charge.
Of course, criticism is always valid, and even necessary, but only if is done in the right way. Under Hodgson, we got an embarrassing and sustained campaign of shameful personal ridicule, and that was horrible to see.
I didn't think Hodgson was the long-term solution (and I argued that point lots of times), but the manager's role at LFC should be respected, and under Hodgson, the fans blatantly disrespected it.
Barnes, who was managed by Kenny Dalglish for 4 years, concluded:
"Kenny won’t be undermined by anyone whether it’s the fans, the press or the board.
“Now the players are accountable for the team’s performances. Now they know they have to perform because everyone is backing Kenny. That’s the way it should be for all managers.
"There has to be a fear factor where if the manager says jump players know they have to jump. A manager needs that kind of respect and power, and Kenny commands that at Liverpool.”
Kenny does command respect at Liverpool, but for how long? I have no doubt that if/when things start to go wrong, the same fans that were calling for Hodgson's head will be foaming at the mouth over Dalglish too.
Jaimie Kanwar
The most ironic thing about the negativity over Hodgson was the double standard: the same fans who are calling for his head were rabidly supporting Rafa Benitez at the end of his tenure, arguing that poor performances were not his fault; it was the Ownership/off-field turmoil that was to blame; lack of money being made available for transfers etc.
Hodgson arrived at a club in turmoil, and had had to work under even harsher conditions (manifest instability; boardroom wars; court cases; demotivated players after Benitez's horrible final season etc) but none of that was taken into account by his detractors.
To his credit, John Barnes has recently been honest about one particular aspect of Hodgson's reign: the abject lack of responsibility taken by many of Liverpool's players:
“The players never responded to Roy Hodgson and I felt a bit sorry for him because the players could have done more for him. Now the players are running an extra yard and trying harder because they know if they lose they are going to get the blame, not Kenny.
“Under Hodgson, if they lost they weren’t going to get the blame, Hodgson was. It’s a subconscious thing with all players. Once that happens it affects the players. Once you undermine the manager by not giving him complete control it goes on to the field.
"Look at Arsene Wenger, he’s been undermined by the press and by the fans after the situation with (Samir) Nasri and (Cesc) Fabregas".
Barnes is spot on here in my view: the players didn't put the effort in because they knew that Hodgson would take the blame. The fans were complicit in this relinquishing of personal responsibility by attacking Hodgson at every opportunity, and refusing to place any real blame on the players.
Irrespective of manager, the pride of playing for Liverpool should take precedence over everything else, but this was definitely not the case under Hodgson, and the players badly let themselves down.
I supported Hodgson till the end, and I make no apology for that. All Liverpool managers should be supported in the first season, and especially during their first few months in charge.
Of course, criticism is always valid, and even necessary, but only if is done in the right way. Under Hodgson, we got an embarrassing and sustained campaign of shameful personal ridicule, and that was horrible to see.
I didn't think Hodgson was the long-term solution (and I argued that point lots of times), but the manager's role at LFC should be respected, and under Hodgson, the fans blatantly disrespected it.
Barnes, who was managed by Kenny Dalglish for 4 years, concluded:
"Kenny won’t be undermined by anyone whether it’s the fans, the press or the board.
“Now the players are accountable for the team’s performances. Now they know they have to perform because everyone is backing Kenny. That’s the way it should be for all managers.
"There has to be a fear factor where if the manager says jump players know they have to jump. A manager needs that kind of respect and power, and Kenny commands that at Liverpool.”
Kenny does command respect at Liverpool, but for how long? I have no doubt that if/when things start to go wrong, the same fans that were calling for Hodgson's head will be foaming at the mouth over Dalglish too.
Jaimie Kanwar
Roy got the sack because if he had stayed then we could be playing in the Championship by now. He was that bad. Roy got the sack because we played the most negative football ever played by Liverpool FC. We played with eight defenders. He got the sack because of his hilarious negative comments after the games.
ReplyDeleteHe was shit and deserved what he got. He signed shit players on very high wages. Players like Cole, Poulsen, Jones and Konchesky. That is shit signings.
He was shit.
Roy Hodgson was a disaster created by Christian "Christina" Purslow. He was never first choice with the fans nevermind the players. We simply do not trust the man's ability. I dont give a two hoot about his achievement with Fulham. I looked at his history and I got scared. So many sackings. Inter fans even threw coins at him. It's not even a 50-50 gamble. Now, why would Christina Pussylow thinks that the man is fit for the job really puzzled me till now.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start, the fans were yelling Kenny's name. You need stability and you need the player to trust their manager and regain their confidence, who can be better than the legendary king himself? 20 years of underachievement is all down to crazy people like Christian Purslow, David Moores, Rick Parry and the Gang. Making one wrong decision can be costly. What's more when we have 20 years of wrong management.
The fans turned on hodgson quickly cause
ReplyDeletea - he spent large sums of money on Konchesky, brad jones, poulsen, meireles, as well as sanction the 100k+/week signing of Joe Cole, where are they all now?
b - his pathetic post match interviews "our best performance of the season" losing to Everton, not defending torres vs his mate Fergie or bigging up league 2 side northampton, and we know how that went
c - he presided over the worst start to a season for a liverpool side since WW2 or earlier probably.
d - that face rub vs newcastle.
and its a two way thing, if the manager shows confidence in his team, the players respond and so do the fans. He was miles out his depth. the fans had every right to voice their concerns we were bottom of the league. thank god he has gone and found his true level.
"I have no doubt that if/when things start to go wrong, the same fans that were calling for Hodgson's head will be foaming at the mouth over Dalglish too."Like you did with Rafa perhaps!!
ReplyDeleteyeah konchesky and poulsen were abismal...secondly I don't agree with barnesy. I think we underperformed under hodgson because we were playing very negative, boring football and perhaps players became disillusioned with it all and lost faith in his tactics. However, with kd in charge, I really think he inspires the players and gives them so much confidence that makes them "run that extra yard and try harder".
ReplyDeleteRoy was a bumbling buffoon. He also criticed the fans in public if my memory serves me correctly. He was never the man for the job. He was selected above Kenny, and that alone was enough to get all the supporters and dare i say, the players in a foul mood. It was bad enough we had to deal with the previous owners bull, but to me, Roy was a Hicks decision, and i'm sure to many others as well. That also did not play in his favour, not to mention the post match comments.
ReplyDeleteits no secret that the fans never wanted Hodgeson (or that we did want Kenny) however in attacking the fans for 'denigrating' RH, John Barnes is arrogant in dismissing the very real and genuine concerns we felt at the time.
ReplyDeleteOur unease at the poor start to the season was magnified by the awful football we were forced to endure and was further compounded by his unhelpful comments re the Hillsborough campaign, his failure (twice) to stand up to Ferguson and his general, deliberate attempt to lower our expectations - that is setting aside the signings of Poulson and Konchesky.
I cant speak for others but I hate to be lectured by ex-pros who assume that fans are dense and dont understand the mystical workings of the 'game' - to paraphrase Paisley 'football is a simple game made complicated by fools' - we know our footie lad
as they say round here - get your head down John
KKenny has the opportunity to buy without major restrictions..he doesn't have to sell to buy..so if end of this season we finish below arsenal and spurs then i think the fans will start to turn
ReplyDelete..and could you blame them...you cannot buy most of your players for large sums an and claim possible potential as the reason...what about the immediate here and now . the only time you buy big on potential is when your immediate squads good enough to win things or atleast challenging ..we don't fall into that category
Are you on a wind up? The fans reacted for the club they love and didn't want to see them in the championship. Your articles are absolutely ridiculous and I see from every other comment I'm not the only one who thinks so.grow up lad if you believe da crap you spout your about as much a Liverpool fan as alex ferguson.
ReplyDeleteNot at all. I criticised Benitez, yes, and all my criticism was valid and backed up with facts. I only ever called for him to be removed in his final year, and for the first 2.5 years of his reign I didn't criticise him at all.
ReplyDeleteplease do not personally denigrate Hodgson. Make your points in the right way but leave out the personal insults.
ReplyDeleteI believe John Barnes feels sorry for Roy Hodgson as he has had similar success as a manager and players not playing for him. With no malice against Roy, the day he left was a great day for Liverpool Football club and I symphathise with Blackburn who have a similar situation where the manager cannot be honest that he is not good enough and leave.
ReplyDeleteKenny is going to bring Liverpool Football club on....how far we will see but I believe in him and everything he does. With Roy I only had a bad taste in my mouth.
You fail to realise that the new rules mean we have to have more English players, the good English players are already taken or are too expensive, so what do you do? you have to take potential at the best price you can. Yes Carroll was a panic buy, but with Torres gone we had desperately to sign a striker, Ngog was just not good enough. Maybe some fans might turn on KK but are they fans? NO
ReplyDeletejaimie you constantly hide behind your funny little"facts",when most of them aren't facts just you and your high n mighty"bullet proof"opinion,roy hodgson should never have been let anywhere near LFC,i knew it,so did the vast majority of fans,although you didn't eh?you thought he was a great appointment,you were ashamed at fellow supporters distain for the man,a bit like your your over-the-top ramblings on getting rid of rafa they were like eh?judging by your recent articles it looks like your tryin to backtrack more than a bit on that as well,you dissapeared for a few months?what was your"official"excuse again??oh yeah something about being dissalusioned with some reds fans wasnt it?something like that anyway,do you know wot it looked like?you were burying your head in the sand over your wildly inaccurate views on hodgson/rafa/the yanks/the players/just about everything LFC,i know some like to be controversial but bloody hell!!............expert eh??keep up the stellar work!:p
ReplyDeleteit's easy not to criticise when you have won a champs league and F.A cup
ReplyDeleteIt's not that at all. Despite these things, it was clear that Benitez was not going to be the answer in the league, and the same problems that ended up coming back to haunt him were evident from day 1.
ReplyDelete“Under Hodgson,
ReplyDeleteif they lost they weren’t going to get the blame, Hodgson was. It’s a
subconscious thing with all players. Once that happens it affects the
players. Once you undermine the manager by not giving him complete
control it goes on to the field.The key word there is subconscious. It means the players did not do it on purpose and therefore should not be blamed. You're so defensive over Hodgson which is fine but you allow people like red4life to constantly insult Benitez with nohting to back his opinions up. I remember Roy said 'give me 10 games' . I remember when Roy left we had 25 pts after 20 games, unbelievable. We'd have to get 12 pts in our next 13 games to sink that low. It wasn't an ordinary set of circumstances so an unordinary response is justified
Those who called for Benitez head got their way. They also got Roy Hodgson. Be careful of what you wish for-you just might get it
ReplyDeleteWhilst Rafa's last season was terrible and we finished 7th, with more or less the same set of players Roy Hodgson did even worse. You can try to blame the situation around him i.e. the takeover, court cases, threat of administration etc, but that was all over by October. That should have been a fresh start: new hope and stability was brought to the club, themood around theclub was better, the players were happier, it was a new dawn, but Hodgson still couldn't do anything with the players. We were playing awful football and we were more negative than anything we saw under Rafa. Hodgson just wasn't good enough.
ReplyDeleteFrom 15th October when NESV bought us, to 6th Jan when Hodgson got sacked, we played 13 games, and his record was 6 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses. It wasn't good enough.
If, as you claim, the players are to blame, then what would be the reasons for that? Why would a professional footballer not play to the best if his ability? Maybe it is because they had no faith in him as a manager, or because tactically he was naive (playing 4-4-2 against Man City at home), that he didn't have the man management to motivate the players through the turmoil that the club was going through. This is what he was brought in for. He was supposed to steady teh ship, but instead he rocked it even more.
Kenny Dalglish showed, with the addition of Suarez but the loss of Torres so practically the same team, what the team was capable off. 3rd best team in the league from January to the end of the season. How did Kenny do this? By motivating the players, through his man management skills, byhaving belief in his squad and by playing football in a certain way.
We can blame players, the instability around the club for half of his tenure, you can even try to blame the fans, but the buck stops with the manager. Just as Rafa was at fault for taking us to 7th, Hodgson was at fault for taking is even further backward.
The fans did what any set of fans does when the team isn't doing well. Arsenal fans have turned on Arsene this season although Arsene is one of the best managers of our generation, because first and foremost fans want what is best for the club. They want the club to be successful (relatively). And it was clear that under Hodgson we were going backwards. Had we stayed in the same position I think most Liverpool fans woudl have put up with it for a season, but because we had our worst start to a season in 57 years, I believe the fans were entirley justified to turn on him. The personal denigration was not right, but we were entirely right to want to get rid of him, because he just wasn't good enough.
With all due respect to Roy Hodgson, I was not thrilled at his appointment and, in retrospect, view it as one of the worst (vying closely with Graeme Souness for THE worst) managerial appointment of recent LFC history. The fact that he replaced a manager who brought to us the Champions League, an FA Cup and re-established Liverpool as a superpower in Europe and in England (Rafa Benitez) only made Roy's appointment an extremely poor decision by the management team and owners of Liverpool at that time.
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't good enough.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very difficult situation for him, but he was simply not suited to the job at hand. It is up to him to manage the players to play for him. He didn't do that. That is a big part of the manager's job.
It was a poisoned chalice to replace a popular manager under a terrible regime - particularly with journeyman credentials. It was simply the wrong appointment for the club, I don't blame Hodgson for taking it - he tried his best but it didn't work out for him or the team. His managerial performance - and consequently the players' performance was not up to scratch.
Good luck to him at West Brom.
John Barnes is my favourite player of all time, however IN MY OPINION every time he comments on managerial roles he does it from the point of view of how HE would have liked to be treated. When he speaks about a manager who has just been sacked and their failings you can instantly relate it to the failures that he himself has had as a manager and where his gripe lies. Barnsie also understands his standing in the managerial world and supports Hodgson as his record doesn't an shouldn't allow him to do otherwise. Again in my opinion, Barnsie has joined the 'every manager needs time' club as an indirect retort to those clubs who have fired him in the past and to those clubs who may employ him in the future. On the underside to the coin (the dirty half of the coin) we have Souness. This man has no shame and speaks his mind irrelevant of the poor record he has as a manager. Souness calls it how he sees it without fully appreciating that his reputation as a manager leaves him open to ridicule.
ReplyDeleteBarnsie is Liverpool through and through and I do agree with his comments about Kenny the untouchable. However Barnsie has joined the union for sacked managers and you can tell by his quotes when he was sacked at Tranmere and Celtic that he didn't feel he had the backing he deserved. If Barnsie were a successful manager with no axe to grind I would take his opinions seriously, as it stands I take his and most other out of work managers opinions with a pinch of salt. (As I did with Kenny who thought Hodgson should remain at Liverpool only to snap up the opportunity of taking his job. If Kenny supported Hodgson so much it seems almost immoral to be first in line to succeed him without some form of protest. That said, former players and managers often tow the party line to ensure the good of the club irrelevant of their own genuine opinion. I put Kenny firmly in this category.
Before the anti Rafa brigade rear their head I acknowledge that it was time for Rafa to go. With Rafa and his managerial techniques comes disharmony. In the modern game big players need their ego stroked at least 3-4 times a day. Rafa does not provide a stroking service.
Hodgson was clueless buffoon, who caused his own downfall by not understanding his audience, the fans and Press. He talked incoherent rubbish in press conferences calling the team he picked against Northampton "the B team" and he also referred to some members the squad as "leftovers". Hardly inspiring stuff was it.
ReplyDeleteMy only gripe with FSG is that they took nearly 3 months to sack Uncle Woy. A frankly laughable appointment.
Good riddance
The most important words in this rather dismal effort are "in my opinion". Just because you post your opinions in a blog does not make them anymore important than the div listening to TalkS*ite ot SlySports. Why not get down to the pub with your many mates and have a good moan about Raffa? It will do you a lot of good and get you out of the house.
ReplyDeleteRafa should never have gone, we are light years behind now thanks to the press and idiots like you spreading false info as a pwn of H & G. Rafa was fighting everyone by the time he was sacked even a few of the fickle fans we have. Not saying he didnt have his downsides but the positives far outweighed that.
ReplyDeleteWe would of got the league eventually under Rafa, what he needed was backing against the fergie/Fat Sam hate club which only started up once we were a threat to Man U, funny they had been quite friendly before.
You call the last season of Rafa's terrible or whatever but we finished seventh, hodge Podge the following season with some new players and we were heading for the drop. your logic is crap....
I agree with you. Fans that turn on the manager that gave us hope at the end last season are not true fans. Point blank hodgson was not a manager to handle the size of Liverpool. I don't see Manchester united or city or chelsea or arsenal ever signing him. When he started our pints tally was horrible. He then asked for 10 games to be judged. When he was given that opportunity we were in the relegation battle. All the top teams thought we were destined to be dropped. And if he stayed most likely. He didn't know how to handle gerrard nor Torres nor kuyt
ReplyDeletelike i said before jamie start by posting your post with your name in broad letters so that you can save me time in not reading them,what etter crap that you write
ReplyDeleteHonkam - I've deleted your post. If you don't like this site then don't visit.
ReplyDelete"Kenny does command respect at Liverpool, but for how long? I have no doubt that if/when things start to go wrong, the same fans that were calling for Hodgson's head will be foaming at the mouth over Dalglish too."This will not be the case because Dalglish couldn't do anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhat would these fans be saying about Hodgson if he bought Adam, Henderson and carrol????
To many Liverpool fans with almost unbearable blind faith for some and not for others!
JK.....now that is a surprice, you agreeing with Barnes!. You disliked Rafa and supported clueless Roy, so much that, you would support any excuse, re Hodgson. After all, YOU backed him from day one, even though that in 35 years of learning to win NO MAJOR THROPHY, you wrongly went against the majority, and backed and still backing a donkey!. No disrespect to Roy, but in all honesty he was way out of his depth at Liverpool......and that's a FACT!!!
ReplyDeleteOops......surprise......before you correct me JK :-).
ReplyDeleteOops again.....
ReplyDeleteTrophy.
Do ever go to a match? I'm a season ticket holder and can guarantee the nearest thing he got to criticism was at the very end of his span as manager there were chants for Kenny. If by abuse you mean on the internet, well idiot can have their say in this media.
ReplyDeleteThink it was far worse that Hodgson criticised the fans for something that was totally justifiable (the protests against the Americans). Benitez would never have criticised the fans.
ReplyDeleteWhat totally f**** me off are these so called fans who blasted Roy a new a***ole and now are doing the same to Kenny Dalglish but yet Rafa could do and still to this day can do no wrong in their eyes?
ReplyDeletePlastic fans are the f****** pits.
Well if you are gonna pay over the odds because they are English then why not pay 25million for Ashley Young instead of downing and at that price we would have got him and 20million for Alex chamberlin instead of Henderson Carroll southampton would have sold him to us. so to me we bought the wrong ones.
ReplyDeleteRafa made mistakes and so does kenny....get over it...
ReplyDeleteYour facts have all been proven wrong many times! You have 'no idea' ! Hodgson was & is useless! And what is more amazing is the fact that John Barnes(who,incidentally was one of my favourite players), can come out & say what he has,which also confirms that he had 'no idea' as a manager with Celtic and Tranmere,or anywhere else! The fact that you are using JB to back-up your argument proves you know nothing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for replying to my post Mali341.
ReplyDeleteYou are a perfect example of a plastic fan.
What baffles my mind is you defending Hodgson and constantly blasting Rafa, makes no sense. Roy Hodgson is statistically our worst ever manager
ReplyDeleteFrom a NON-plastic fan.........Agree with Arebee 100%
ReplyDeleteYou miss the point arebee...
ReplyDeleteI fully supported Rafa from the start and that went on for four long years.
I did the same with each and every other manager since supporting this club as a youngster. I SUPPORTED each and every MANAGER from the start. That is the way it is supposed to be ISN'T IT?
FACT...We have supporters THE PLASTIC ONES who fully supported Rafa and still do and still have the idea that RAFA CAN DO NO WRONG yet THEY CAN BLOW HODGSON FOR SIX MONTHS AND NOW DALGLISH BUT STILL RAFA REMAINS SUPREME? Some of these PLASTIC FANS can even claim that Rafa is second to that of Shankly?
That is as PLASTIC as they come.
Does that explain it in a better way?
Not really. Who cares what people think about Rafa, that is their opinion. Why does people supporting Rafa upset you? You supported Rafa while thing were good and as soon as you were'nt happy with the job he was doing you turned on him, sounds 'plastic' to me
ReplyDeleteNow my friend, I soon realised that there was no more room for making excuses for a man which I supported from the start for 4 years. What is plastic about that?
ReplyDeleteRAFA CAN DO NO WRONG yet THEY CAN BLOW HODGSON FOR SIX MONTHS AND NOW DALGLISH BUT STILL RAFA REMAINS SUPREME? THAT IS PLASTIC and it seems you are unable to comment on that part?
Think Red4life you would more likely find the ones who are already criticising Kenny now will be the same ones that called for Rafa to be sacked and Roy to be appointed only to then quickly change their tune when we didn't win every game and then do the same now and will probably do the same with every manager who does not win the league in their first season. They are the plastics, the "want it now" generation or the "skywashed" who have no perspective and believe everything they hear in the media. And with regards to your blowing of Hodgson comment I dont think Arbee answered you because it clearly makes no sense
ReplyDeleteGreame Souness could be likened to the first "managerial massacre" in Liverpools recent history. The fans saw Souness sharpen his daggers and draw his sword against every existing quality player we had and replce them with Torben Piechnik and Paul Stewart. A footballing massacre of such proportions lives long in the mind of all fans. We as fans gave souness as much time as he needed and he responded by passing our mantle over to Fergie whilst slicing us at our achilles heel. The differnce between Hodgson and Souness? We the fans didn't allow Hodgson to unsheath his sword. All the tell tale signs were present. We proved ourselves capable of not letting history repeat itself. LFC bigger than any individual.
ReplyDeleteYou supported Rafa for four years when according to you he was useless and we only won games because of Stevie G....who's plastic ??? Shows who's plastic or spastic
ReplyDeleteOnly you see the point...get over it Rafa is the best we've had for a long time
ReplyDeleteHodgeson was a joke of an appointment. The criticism was justified by the worst start made in god knows how many years, he should never have been put in that job and after he was he should not have been so negative.
ReplyDeleteHis negativity was pathetic. His interviews, his tactics, his signings and his dealing with other managers all showed the same beaten underdog characteristics and in my opinion as fans of the club who have been supporting the club financially with ticket and merchandise sales for god knows how many years the criticism he received is WELL justified.
I have to disagree with John Barnes.
ReplyDeleteThe players, in my view, were freaked out by the negative tactics and the way Hodgson talked them down in the press. I initially gave him a chance but after some really, really shocking performances to poorer teams than us, my enthusiasm just went. I have never felt like that before.
It seems 10,000 fans did too on that day at Anfield (was it new years day) and the owners had to do something. Not everyone was personal about Roy (I never was) I just hated the way he had us playing and I stopped watching games because of that.
As Liverpool manager, you cannot set your team up with a defensive long ball mentality against teams like Wolves at home.
He doesn't have to sell to buy? Tosh! We've sold £80m worth of players since Kenny came in and massively reduced the wage bill through loan deals. Comolli said it himself - the owners took a gamble by letting Kenny buy players early in the summer before others were sold. Hence there isn't a load of free cash out there.
ReplyDeleteIf people start to turn on Kenny because we finish below Spurs (regardless of how well we might have performed) then they should f**k off and support another club that's more accustomed to fair weather fans.
The reason to why so many fans thinks that Rafa is a great manager is because he took us to one CL win, another final and two more semifinals. That in six years. He took us to 86 points and we scored goals for fun.
ReplyDeleteOnly results counts.
If Kenny could achieve the same results in six years then it would be excellent.
Kenny will have the full support from us fans as long as the results is good enough. It is up to FSG to decide what is good enough. If the results isn't good enough then we can't keep him only because who he is.
Hodgson got sacked because the results wasn't good enough. He got the sack because he blamed us fans. He got the sack because he didn't understand the club. He signed players that was good enough for a club fighting to avoid relegation and that was what we did. We thought to stay up. He took us from seventh place in the league to fighting for our lives.
He wasn't good enough. He is arrogant and small time.
Hodgson = night watchman. Fact.
ReplyDeleteObviously would have liked him to do better, but at the best of times he was out of his depth and I'm glad he left when he did.
Red4Life...............You keep on saying PLASTIC, have u a DOLL?
ReplyDeleteRed4Life.... Your beloved Hodgson was and is a JOKE, the whole world know that, except blind bats like you :-)
ReplyDeleteI think you've guessed his secret ....now you have to who the doll is?..i think its woy hodgson
ReplyDeleteIs there a link to the Barnes article, would be good to read the full article before forming an opinion based on the paraphrases found here.
ReplyDeleteIt's increasingly hard to defend Roy when WBA fans are saying exactly the same things we were this time last year - i.e. no link to attack from mid, negative football, clueless subs...I know their pain...nearly all of us did
Which particular players did you have in mind Jaimie? I'd have to agree with you that I also feel that many of the players let themselves down with their attitude last season but because they've never been named and shamed, they won't feel any guilt. So the point is a little blunted. However, that's another argument.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I had the same faith in Hodgson as you did right up to the end but I gave him a lot of time and I believed in him. My initial reaction to his style of play though (even in pre-season) was that it was at best boring, and at worst chronically naive at a club like LFC. It was asking the fans to accept a step down but more importantly, in relevance to this article, it was an insult to the players.
When he asked us to give him 10 games to prove himself, I obviously wanted him to succeed and I supported him in that request - defending him when I felt he was bring overly-criticised, and being mindful of the apparent lack of response from the playing staff to his methods.
However, I think that this particular problem - a fault in the professionalism of the players - was in no small part down to Hodgson's archaic training techniques (which he attempted to modernise by employing a team of sports scientists but which only succeeded in showing up the antiquated nature of the technical sessions); the ridiculous public image that he managed to cultivate for the club; and the irrefutable fact that Hodgson took the job under the full knowledge that it would primarily be a 'ship steadying' role - let's face it, the truth was that he was merely keeping the seat warm until the takeover went through.
That the players worked below par (deliberately or otherwise) is surely down to a lack of faith in the man due to 1 or all of the above reasons, and I fear that it might be a bit late and unproductive to blame them now, unless we're going to name names and just FINALLY clear the air!
Yes, they were a contributing factor to an overall malaise at the club, but they were a superficial aspect of what was a deeper problem. That they represented themselves poorly on the pitch was only substantiated by Hodgson's inadequacies. And this is a fact that Barnes and the British media at large have consistently and conveniently overlooked.
Fact is that each and everyone of you still live in Afar's delusional dream world.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame you won't ever see your hero at the helm of Liverpool Football Club ever again. How devestating that must be for all of you... Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha (with the most evil of laughs ever).
How childish can you stood Red4Life? How long have you supported Liverpool since childhood? 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 years?
ReplyDeleteLike your constant denigration of Benitez. Kanwar you're a fucking hypocrite.
ReplyDeletepiss off ya nugget
ReplyDeletethe problem with most football pundits in England is they come across as a bit xenophobic! Rafa seems to get blamed needlessly. Roy was out of his depth. He was Fulham mgr for a reason..thats where he was good. Mr Barnes seems to forget that Roy came in and confused both players and fans with conflicting statements and some atrocious post match comments not least "the famous win at Bolton!" And stop blaming players they gave their all but the tactics were all wrong under Roy!
ReplyDeleteYes lankyguy spot on! the man was a gobs....e how dare he turn on the
ReplyDeletefans,this club is the true peoples club of the world and we can tell if our
club is being taken to the cleaners,we the fans stood up to itchy n scratchy
and hodgson being a yes man turned against the lifeblood of the club the fans,and this was totally wrong.The fans new also from the very start that
the man was a crap manager and gutless with it! barnes should keep his
trap shut and mind is own, just because he was a great player does not mean
he can come out with crap like this .
barnesy shut the f u c k up,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2046871/Pepe-Reina-Liverpool-owners-stopped-joining-Arsenal-20m.html
ReplyDeleteDiscuss...
of all the posters on here, you seem by far the most plastic red4life.
ReplyDeletefunny that eh?
and just to sum up, you turned against Rafa after we finished with 86 points, and were unlucky to go out of Europe in the quarters.
1. great fan you are....
2. how far away from both those things are we now?
I think the players did think that Hodgson had turned a corner and i think they where up for it and behind him. However game by game our football got worse and players became frustrated, hodgson started protecting himself instead of the team in the media. I was a person who did not rate hodgson from the start, although he has had a good cup run with fulham, its how you perform at the highest levels in the league that cements whether you are a good manager. Roy hodgson had never performed well with a club where the club where in the top division of a quaility league. blackburn - he was poor, fulham got worse in the league, liverpool disaterous and now with the honey moon period out of the way at west brom, same old poor performances.
ReplyDeleteRoy Hodgson blamed the fans....for everything bad happened to him
ReplyDeleteto him, he was never wrong.
Isn't that bad enough?
Show one example where Rafa blamed LFC fans for everything?
Think it's a little simplistic to say the 'players never responded to him' - there were some decent wins, although too few. But the simple fact was that Hodgson wasn't, & never could be a proper LFC man - I feel absolutely no malice, but his appointment couldn't with any realism ever take Liverpool in their accustomed, very special 'way'.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major roles any coach has to fulfill is to instill belief into his players - on a number of levels; & Roy Hodgson could never be that man at LFC, & that's the only reason why I never wanted him here. Many years ago, I had a very similar feeling about Souness
Sorry, but A. Young did not want to sign for Liverpool - end of story
ReplyDeleteAre you the chairman of Help The Aged or something? Let it go man - the old boy was in way over his head. It had nothing to do with the fans until after he proved he was awful, had no awareness of what the supporters expected, and had no idea of how to treat quality footballers.
ReplyDeletetwat
ReplyDelete