A wave of boos descended onto the Anfield pitch following the final whistle against Utrecht, the feeling is that Hodgsons final whistle as Liverpool manager will receive a far different response.
Supporters are not happy and rightly so, Liverpool's football in 2010 has been, on the whole, absolutely awful. Under Rafa last season, a season that promised so much yet delivered so little, Liverpool lost their way, and after only one bad season the 'rafalution' was ended. The main problems from last season - poor away form, and a distinct lack of attaching options in the absence of Torres. The response was perhaps the last great disaster of the old regime, hire a manager with an even poorer away record, a manager who in two seasons at Fulham had one good league run by the standards of the club and then a ride to Europa League final in the next without hitting the domestic heights of the previous season.
So Hodgsons in, he's good on a tight budget they tell us, the man made one good signing in Raul Meireles which was only facilitated by the exit of Mascherano. Konchesky, Cole, Poulsen all brought in, all have had far from a good start to their Liverpool careers. Aquilani was allowed to go out on a season long loan despite showing towards the end of last season that he might actually be starting to come good, his form for Juventus thus far has been so good they dont want him to leave ~ Hodgson never gave him a chance. To address the striking issue our top target was Carlton Cole, yes, that Carlton Cole who cant really buy a game for struggling West Ham, but he was seemingly the answer to our lack of attacking options, whilst Van Der Vaart was dismissed as a player that does not interest Liverpool FC, we all know who the vast majority would opt for. Admittedly under Tom and George we weren't going to see big money spent and Hodgson would struggle, so there was a good deal of sympathy for the man then, but not now.
The only thing that saved Hodgson from the full backlash of the fans early on was the continuing circus of Tom and George. Performances at the time were unacceptable and they still are, once our NESV saviours waltzed into Anfield following an 'epic swindle' that would have made Danny Ocean proud the only barrier of defence for Hodgson was removed, and the dull, unattractive, lifeless, disgraceful, disappointment which has been his Anfield reign was finally laid bare without reservation.
NESV quite rightly want to give the man time, he hasnt really had a chance to properly mould the team in his image altho many would say that that is exactly what he has done. And many simply do not trust Hodgson with the money that could be going his way ~ Carlton Cole.
Continually we are reminded in the media, on the message boards - mainly by mancs, gooners and other assorted small team supporters, the Chelsea boys have been quiet lately - that Hodgson is a great manager, a champion of the English game, with his fantastic record and his connections in Switzerland, he's the real deal, the man everyone wants. I cant see the goblins from Salford appointing him as Taggarts successor, nor Mr Abramovich welcoming him open arms. Weare talking about a man with a very poor record in English football, a man we're told has the worst away record in Premier League History.
Hodgson has managed 16 teams in 8 different countries, a fantastic achievement, yet he hasn't won a single thing outside of scandinavia and the bulk of those honours came in the 80's. So this is the great manager who no one else would have, but we are meant to be happy hes ours. He has had a fantastic career - but he will NEVER be remembered as a truely great manager, im sure hes a great guy, but in football quite often there is no room for sentiment, and being polite and well spoken just wont cut it. At a time when Liverpool needed somone to come in, steady the ship and steer us back on course, we got a man who seems intent on scuttling the ship with a rub of his face and endless waffle about good performances and needing time to gel.
Football is a viscous world and there is absolutely no room for sentiment in football management. No other club would afford so much patience to a manager that the supporters quite frankly do not want. Not once this season - having attended every home game - have i heard Hodgsons name chanted, yet on different occasions i have heard the names of Benitez, Dalglish and Houlier chanted by the crowd, one out of respect on a first return since leaving, and the other two in direct opposition to the current management. Something has to give.
Resluts are unacceptbale, fans know it, NESV have admitted it, and Hodgson agrees, yet continually we are subjected to dire performances with each minor victory being hailed as the start of the 'mini revival' only for us to self destruct in the next game. We owe our league position to the fact that it is incredibly tight this year, in years gone by we would be well and truely adrift of the top four. Over the years Rafa was forced to admit that the title was beyond us by christmas, if things proceed the way they are going then it wont be long before Hodgson is forced to admit that a top 4 finish is beyond us by christmas.
Repairing the damage of the old regime was never going to be a quick and easy job, but the current manager, with his outdated tactics, away day blues and Mr nice guy attitude is the last failed remnant of that regime and the time has surely come for change. The players are not altogether blameless - but the lack of ambition stems from the manager as do the poor tactics, poor in game decisions and terribly tiring excuses.
2010 has been as close to a nightmare as you can get for a top team in football, and there is a great deal of renewed hope and expectation around the club at present and it seems only right that the duty to take the club forward rests in a manager entirely of NESV's own choice, someone who actually knows what it is like to manage a top team in the current footballing climate, someone who commands the respect of the players and earns the respect of the support.....
.....Roy Hodgson is quite simply not that man.
So its happened, after much umming and ahhing its finally happened, the blog is here!
Being a lover of football and an LFC supporter, talking, discussing, living, breathing football is a big deal and lets face it when it comes to football, everyone has an opinion and that opinion is never gonna please everyone, whether your down the pub or on sky news your opinion is always gonna receive a mixed reception.......hence the name of the blog. Whether you agree with my views or think they're a load of bollocks let me know, always love to hear what people think. But to be clear the views and opinions expressed are my own and no one elses, so with that out the way lets get to the real content.....
Its been a funny old 2010 never mind season so far, expectations have changed, performances have suffered, attendances dropped and Fulham reached the Europa Final, strange indeed. And thats across the board, it seems at some point or other the change has hit everyone be it for the better or the worse. Liverpool in particular have had it rough, after a nearly there season came a barely there season to the shambles of the season so far. City have single handedly fought the recession to little avail, their neighbours from Salford despite poor performances havent lost a game and are joint top and Chelsea seem to have picked up Liverpools early season heebie jeebies since the two sides met at holloween, the champions form has certainly been frightening since. And Spurs well they're either really good or really average at the moment and Villa have slipped away from the top 6 which they fought so hard to stay over recent years.
But some things havent changed much, Everton are still below Liverpool, Rafa's under pressure, Hodgson cant win away to save his life, Rooney's still into escorts but good old Arsene Wenger never saw it...see some things just dont change. Referee controversies, pointless friendlies/needless injuries, the list goes on and there is an endless wealth of topics to keep us going into the new year.
What is clear though is that the Premier league HAS changed, its tighter now than Bill Kenwrights wallet and Moyes will testify to that. 2 good wins and some fortunate results elsewhere could see every team placed 5th to 13th climb up into the top 5 and for those placed higher up in that bracket top2/3. Its crazy but lets be honest its all class, you never know whats gonna happen, teams that you put down for nailed on victories suffer horrible reverses and it all leads to a very exciting christmas period. Even at this early stage in the season my prediction is that whoever the league champions will be (and at this stage its hard to pick a cert) they will finish the season with the lowest points total for league champions in Premier League history. And folks that total is currently the 75 points ammassed by Man Utd in the 96/97 season, the same number of points that 3rd placed Arsenal totalled last season. Wonder what the odds are on that one.....answers in the comment box please!
And so now we turn to the weekend ahead, if your still here that is...hopefully. My game of the weekend has to be Stoke v ManCity/Spurs v Liverpool, i know thats 2 games but its hard to say which one will edge it out of the two. Stoke: three wins on the bounce,9 points compared to City's 5 over the same period, they're frustrating, they're at home so you can bet Delap spends about 20mins game time on throw ins and despite all the negativity you can throw at them they're startin to get results and the key battle will be Delap vs City's suspect defence (alright they've only let in 11 but Joe Hart takes the plaudits there - he carries that backline). Stoke to edge it 2-1.
Spurs v Liverpool, not too optimistic altho following on from their European exploits Spurs have taken 10 out of a possible 18 points so far after featuring in europe and havent really put in a decent shift in any of them. Liverpool, 13 points from the last 6 games, only the devils team have taken more and Roy has promised us a Spurs 'surprise', so whether he means Pacheco will make the squad or somethin along the lines of the 'hell of a game' he promised Chelsea is unkown but last time he came out an made a bold statement was prior to the Chelsea game an the team delivered a fine first half attacking display follewed by a composed if not dangerous defensive display second half. Its hard to call but i'll say 1-0 Liverpool an Pepe to hit the big 100.
Anyone expecting Man Utd to suffer a first league defeat of the season might want to hold back a week as i dont particularly think that Fergies old mate the walrus will want to upset his sugar daddy not with top spot up for grabs an christmas around the corner.
Alrite then thats article number one out the way, if your still here thanks a bunch and feel free to comment, quite tame this one but we all have to start somewhere.....
