The Roy Hodgson Opinion Poll

[Kevin D]

I was against it and can't say I've been impressed thus far, it was pretty unlikely I would change my opinion within four weeks when we haven't played any competitive football. Thus far, though, his deference to Purslow, his claim that a £56m offer for Torres would be "impossible to turn down" and the pursuit of three journeyman - had they been courted last season there would have been pandomonium - have all been concerning.

 

Again, though, it could be that Poulson/Jones/whoever is the missing link and that player proves successful and, equally, new ownership renders my other two concerns moot - it's obviously too early to form a concrete opinion.

 

I do, however, like the idea of an opinion poll every so often to guage how much support the manager has.

[Guest davelfc]

I was against it and can't say I've been impressed thus far, it was pretty unlikely I would change my opinion within four weeks when we haven't played any competitive football. Thus far, though, his deference to Purslow, his claim that a £56m offer for Torres would be "impossible to turn down" and the pursuit of three journeyman - had they been courted last season there would have been pandomonium - have all been concerning.

 

Again, though, it could be that Poulson/Jones/whoever is the missing link and that player proves successful and, equally, new ownership renders my other two concerns moot - it's obviously too early to form a concrete opinion.

 

I do, however, like the idea of an opinion poll every so often to guage how much support the manager has.

 

This is how I feel, there's little point in me adding to that.

[Original202]

his claim that a £56m offer for Torres would be "impossible to turn down"

 

That's not what he said. His words were:

 

"It could be he does so fantastically well and an offer comes in like the offer came in for Kaká or Cristiano Ronaldo which is impossible to turn down".

 

He didn't quantify it with any price. He could mean £100m would be impossible to turn down, he could mean £200m.

 

It was a strange thing to say though, but I think it's been taken out of context a little with the way the media added this bit: [£56million and £80million respectively – both from Real Madrid].

[Carradona]

Like Jules mentioned earlier, he wasn't my first choice but I was happy with his appointment and am even happier now. His interviews are very good and he doesn't seem to talk shite like the last manager. Speaking of which, going by last night, he also seems to let the players play how they want to when they are on the ball and let them express themselves.

 

All in all, I'm very, very happy with how things are with the manager and the team.

[diego]

The way he handles the press is refreshing and the effort he put in to persuade Torres and Gerrard to stay, along with the capture of Joe Cole has re-ignited the enthusiam for alot of us. The Mascherano situation was always going to be difficult so we'll have to see how that pans out over the following weeks.

 

I don't see him "handling" the press. I see the press treating him softly. He talks a lot more to the media than Rafa did - its almost a stream of consciousness and some of it is self-contradictory - like a guy who is not fully ITK.

 

He did not persuade Gerrard to stay. Gerrard had no other offers. He did not persuade Torres to stay. He spent 15 minutes with Torres talking about football. Torres then required several more hours talking to Purslow who assured him that there would be a takeover followed by better image rights.

 

He had no hand in the Cole deal. That was started before he was appointed. In the end Cole came to the team that offered him the most wages. Hodgson had no hand in the other signings - they were all arranged under Rafa's regime. Purlsow was responsible for the botched Insuna sale - Hodgson admits he knew nothing about. Most of the other sales and loans were proposed by Rafa.

 

Hodgson is not a steady hand. His wobbling before the first cup game in which he suggested we might lose and it might be better to ditch the European Cup smacked of a guy getting in his excuses.

 

As for player management - he has already said that players like Gerrard and Torres that complain that the team needs new players to meet their ambitions should look at themselves in the mirror. I applaud him for that. Rafa said something similar when he said senior players should take responsibility for the teams poor performance. Rafa was then subjected to a sleazy backstairs Carragher-Gerrard-Bascombe-TLW campaign of mockery for being so truthful.

Edited August 6, 2010 by diego

[Guest Captain Jonjo]

I was against it - but im impressed by what i've seen so far

 

BUT it's only been two competitive games, one good one against a pub team (yesterdays match), so i am still reserved in judgement, Arsenal will be a big game no doubt, and it should be interetsing how Woy handles it.

[diego]

duplicate post

[RobbieOR]

We can have done with an easier game than Arsenal first up.

[Lapskaus]

I was against it. Im still unsure,

 

Against it because for me it meant realizing we are no longer one of the giants in Europe. For me it was a clear message from the owners: We're skint, Rafa will not be backed and thus will leave, we need a yes-man to steer us through a couple more years of bleeding the club dry. In my mind, they thought this is the perfect man to keep us at the upper half of the table without investing a penny in the squad and make sure we are viewed a good investment with potential, but nothing more.

 

His comment about Torres pissed me off, but as has been pointed out, could have been taken a bit out of context.

 

The plus side is his vast experience. I'm not giving him credit for Joe Cole signing because I think this was where he got the most money to play as the wage level at spurs for instance wouldnt allow him the same wage.

 

I will of course support him 100% now that he's here, the Owners are the real problem. So all in all, since we are skint and we just need to hang in there until we resolve the Owner situation I guess he's an ok manager, and I hope he proves my doubts wrong.

[Brownie]

He wasn't my first choice but I wasn't against it either, so it's a tough one to know which category to choose for the vote.

 

I've voted for the category which best suited my view at the time, as I wasn't against him coming in.