Roy Hodgson Mega Thread: The Sequel

[TheHitman]

I can't get it working on my laptop. What are they saying?

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce doesn’t think Hodgson will be able to repair bond with fans

 

Barrett used an analogy saying no wonder Torres is unhappy, imagine Rush having to deal with long balls from Lawrenson. He didn’t think Rush would have been too happy either.

 

Joyce said that Hodgson would not have got the job under normal circumstances.

 

Barrett, chuckled when the idea of us signing Carlton Cole was mentioned.

 

 

No mention of sacking was mentioned directly but I don’t think I would be far off to say Barrett and Joyce are not too impressed with what has happened so far.

 

They don’t envisage Kenny will get the job although Barrett admits he wanted Kenny in the summer and said it was a mistake we didn’t get him as an interim.

 

Joyce says Torres and Reina may be sort of distracted although then started to retract it about Reina.

 

They think Ferguson might play a weakened team in the cup as an insult.

 

Barrett prasing Micheal Ngoo.

 

They doubt we will do much business activity in Jan

[aladdinsane]

Not sure if this new video has been posted, but even danperkins gets a mention.....

 

 

[YOUTUBE]xX6em27Uam0[/YOUTUBE]

 

That's hilarious. It brought the biggest smile to my face since Roy came here actually.

[StevieH]

Roy Hodgson in peril as anger of Liverpool fans alarms owners | Football | The Guardian

 

Roy Hodgson in peril as anger of Liverpool fans alarms owners

 

• Supporters poll suggests 95% want Roy Hodgson sacked

 

• Liverpool's owners reluctant to bring in Kenny Dalglish

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• Tim Rich
  
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 December 2010 21.59 GMT
  
• Article history
  

Liverpool's manager, Roy Hodgson, can barely watch as his team lose 1-0 to Wolves at Anfield. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Liverpool's American owners are running out of patience with Roy Hodgson amid fears that the manager's relationship with the club's supporters has broken down irretrievably.

 

 

Despite the fact that in one poll 95% of Liverpool fans wanted Hodgson to be sacked immediately after last night's 1-0 home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers, there appears to be no great appetite for regime change. John W Henry and Tom Werner of New England Sports Ventures are prepared to give Hodgson more time after six torturous months.

 

However, Henry has already labelled performances this season "unacceptable" and the next three games – against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers in the league and Manchester United in the FA Cup – are likely to be critical to Hodgson's chances of surviving until the summer, when his position will be reviewed.

 

Henry and Werner, who run the Fenway Sports Group, through which NESV controls Liverpool, are understood to be concerned by the breakdown in relations between fans and the manager. A poll on the Liverpool website The Empire of the Kop drew more than 4,300 replies, with 95.5% of respondents answering yes to the question: "Do you want Roy Hodgson to be fired today?"

His win rate of 41% is almost exactly the same as that achieved by Graeme Souness during his time at Anfield and is the poorest by any Liverpool manager since Bill Shankly created the modern club. The defeat by Wolves, which Hodgson considered Liverpool's worst performance of a dismal season, was dominated by ironic chants of "Hodgson for England" and by calls for Kenny Dalglish to take over.

 

That latter scenario is unlikely to arise even if Hodgson is fired. Given his impassioned loyalty to Liverpool, Dalglish would be unlikely to refuse an offer to return to the job he quit in 1991. However, his candidacy to replace Rafael Benítez in the summer was rejected almost out of hand by the then managing director, Christian Purslow, and his successors are acutely aware that recalling a man who has been out of frontline football since a brief spell as Celtic's caretaker manager more than a decade ago would create more problems than it would solve.

 

Fenway has no desire to install an interim manager and if Dalglish were unable to pull Liverpool out of their tailspin it would tarnish his glittering reputation and that of the board. If Dalglish were a qualified success, he may block Fenway's plans to bring in a young, long-term manager.

 

The former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard is the favourite, although Hodgson has pointed out that the Dutchman's last job at Galatasaray ended in failure. The Marseille coach, Didier Deschamps, who was interviewed for the post of Liverpool manager in the summer, has moved to distance himself from fresh speculation linking him with Anfield. He has let it be known he would not welcome an approach while Marseille are still in the Champions League and that his long-term aim is to manage the French champions when they move into a refurbished Stade Vélodrome in 2014.

 

While recognising his position is precarious, Hodgson, who was voted the League Managers Association's manager of the year last season, insisted he still retained the support of a dressing-room that often failed to give Benítez its wholehearted backing. "I am lucky in that the support I have had has been from the players and from within the club," Hodgson said. "I haven't had a lot of support from the fans since I have been here. The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I have come here we haven't won enough games to keep them happy.

 

"That is the way of football. When you take on any job, especially a big job like this, and results do not go the way you want, especially at home, you are going to be a target for disapproval."

[PaulMcC]

The owners are fucking up big time if they let him stay just cos they don't want Dalglish.

[MLB]

I'm going to assume that that Guardian article is bollocks, because it's just too depressing if true.

[WaltonRed]

Villas Boas signs a new deal

 

Deschamps wants to manage in their new ground.

 

Fuck them then, get Kenny in.

[Anubis]

There's nothing in that Guardian article that isn't drawn from speculation on the forums.

[Cunny]

Anyone subscribe to Times?

 

bensmith_times Ben Smith

Backpage story from tomorrow's Times. It begins: #lfc's owners are running out of patience...(£) http://bit.ly/fYX5y8

[JohnnyH]

It's a card game. They're bored of it.

 

Nothing to do with Roy

[PaulMcC]

The Times

 

Owners turn the heat on Roy Hodgson as Anfield civil war looms

 

Tony Barrett

1 minute ago

 

Liverpool’s owners are running out of patience with Roy Hodgson. The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) wants to see a revival in fortunes on the field or the manager may face the consequences.

 

While sympathetic with the challenges that Hodgson has faced since taking over as Liverpool manager from Rafael Benítez last July, FSG is concerned that the 63-year-old has yet to deliver.

 

While the Americans remain reluctant to make a managerial change halfway through the season, they are believed to have been far from impressed with Hodgson’s suggestion that he hoped the club’s “fans would become supporters” after the dismal 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.

 

Hodgson will face the press again today ahead of Liverpool’s home match with Bolton Wanderers tomorrow. He must produce a much improved performance from his side to stop his position becoming untenable. Liverpool already have their lowest points total going into the new year since the 1953-54 season, which ended in relegation.

 

Since their takeover of Liverpool in October, FSG has placed great store by its relationship with the club’s fans and have demanded that the lead they have taken on this front is followed at all levels. The manager’s reaction to chants calling for his removal has put him at odds with his employers and their direction.

 

John W. Henry and Tom Werner, the FSG founders, have not wavered in their public support of Hodgson despite him not being appointed by them. Their backing, however, has been put to its most serious test by almost total breakdown in the former Fulham manager’s relationship with the Liverpool supporters.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the loss to Wolves, Hodgson made plain his dissatisfaction at the lack of support he is receiving from the Liverpool fans — chants of “Hodgson for England” resounded around Anfield during Liverpool’s fourth defeat in their last six Barclays Premier League matches — stating that he has had to make do with the backing of his players.

 

“I have been lucky the support I have had has been from the players and within the club,” Hodgson said. “I haven’t had a lot of support from the fans ever since I came here.

 

“The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I came here we have not won enough games to keep them happy.

 

“That is understandable in the sense that they were hoping when I came here the latter part of last season would be forgotten and we would start flying again. That hasn’t happened and as a result, as manager, you are the one in the firing line, but of course it doesn’t make the job easier because it makes the players more nervous.

 

“I can only say as a manager you have to understand that fans care for their club and want it to do well and when it is not doing well they voice their disapproval.”

 

One departure from Liverpool has already been confirmed with Eduardo Macia, the club’s chief scout, leaving by mutual consent.

 

Macia’s exit is not unexpected and has been seen as a formality after the arrival of Damien Comolli as director of football strategy in November.

[cole7]

Owners turn the heat on Roy Hodgson as Anfield civil war looms

 

Tony Barrett

1 minute ago

 

Liverpool’s owners are running out of patience with Roy Hodgson. The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) wants to see a revival in fortunes on the field or the manager may face the consequences.

 

While sympathetic with the challenges that Hodgson has faced since taking over as Liverpool manager from Rafael Benítez last July, FSG is concerned that the 63-year-old has yet to deliver.

 

While the Americans remain reluctant to make a managerial change halfway through the season, they are believed to have been far from impressed with Hodgson’s suggestion that he hoped the club’s “fans would become supporters” after the dismal 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.

 

Hodgson will face the press again today ahead of Liverpool’s home match with Bolton Wanderers tomorrow. He must produce a much improved performance from his side to stop his position becoming untenable. Liverpool already have their lowest points total going into the new year since the 1953-54 season, which ended in relegation.

 

Since their takeover of Liverpool in October, FSG has placed great store by its relationship with the club’s fans and have demanded that the lead they have taken on this front is followed at all levels. The manager’s reaction to chants calling for his removal has put him at odds with his employers and their direction.

 

John W. Henry and Tom Werner, the FSG founders, have not wavered in their public support of Hodgson despite him not being appointed by them. Their backing, however, has been put to its most serious test by almost total breakdown in the former Fulham manager’s relationship with the Liverpool supporters.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the loss to Wolves, Hodgson made plain his dissatisfaction at the lack of support he is receiving from the Liverpool fans — chants of “Hodgson for England” resounded around Anfield during Liverpool’s fourth defeat in their last six Barclays Premier League matches — stating that he has had to make do with the backing of his players.

 

“I have been lucky the support I have had has been from the players and within the club,” Hodgson said. “I haven’t had a lot of support from the fans ever since I came here.

 

“The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I came here we have not won enough games to keep them happy.

 

“That is understandable in the sense that they were hoping when I came here the latter part of last season would be forgotten and we would start flying again. That hasn’t happened and as a result, as manager, you are the one in the firing line, but of course it doesn’t make the job easier because it makes the players more nervous.

 

“I can only say as a manager you have to understand that fans care for their club and want it to do well and when it is not doing well they voice their disapproval.”

 

One departure from Liverpool has already been confirmed with Eduardo Macia, the club’s chief scout, leaving by mutual consent.

 

Macia’s exit is not unexpected and has been seen as a formality after the arrival of Damien Comolli as director of football strategy in November.

[RED.DUB]

if he has the complete backing of the players then he is just a shit manager.

we have a squad capable of fighting for a top four spot but barring maybe 2 or 3 players their all playing terrible,that has to be down to the manager.

if we can see that why cant he,why cant he just throw in the towel and admit hes out of his depth.

[fowler9]

not sure if posted before so apologies if it has but i think this article by Tomkins is spot on

 

It’s Getting Ugly: Hodgson’s Way | The Tomkins Times | Paul Tomkins' blog about Liverpool Football Club (LFC)

 

It’s getting ugly. Well, technically it’s been getting ugly for a while. But the Wolves debacle was the nadir of a trying season.

 

I hate it when people say that a performance “was the worst for 10, 20, even 40 years”. You can’t line them all up and compare at the same time. But really, that quite possibly was the worst home performance for 10, 20, maybe even 40 years. Even in the dark, dark days of Souness, I’m sure I recall us at least trying to pass the ball, even if the players (Dicks, Stewart, Molby, Barnes et al) were generally too tubby to chase after it.

 

It has to rank up there, not least because, in all my time watching the Reds, I’ve never seen a game at Anfield where players were so scared to take possession in their own half of the pitch; it’s been shook out of Brazilian, Spanish, Portuguese, Argentine and Dutch internationals, as well as two or three of the more technically gifted England stars.

 

Pass? No – get rid. But not just anywhere: into the floodlights. Into the heavens. And into their half. Wallop!

 

From a total of just two long punts in last season’s fixture, Pepe Reina sent an incredible upward of 35 long-range missiles into the Wolves half the other night. So much for Spanish tiki-taka. The players were too scared to take a risk and play football, so the ball kept going back to him, and with coming short to receive the ball now a no-no, it had to go long. It was pathetic. I honestly think the following graphic in itself could constitute a sackable offence.

 

At times, Glen Johnson was just kicking to touch like a rugby player; imagine Arsene Wenger managing a team doing that. Gerrard, back in his favourite central midfield position, was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Hmmm…

 

Although Hodgson doesn’t have many traditional wingers to chose from, he still opted to leave out Maxi – a cultured, possession-savvy Argentine with three vital goals of late – in favour of playing a defensive midfielder on the wing. Hardly inspiring stuff, given the opposition had the worst away record in all four divisions and were bottom of the table. Hodgson spoke of not disrespecting teams by thinking Liverpool should be beating them; setting his side out to at least try would be nice.

 

I noted several months ago that there was an obsession with calling a team with two holding midfielders ‘negative’ (naughty Rafa) and two strikers as ‘positive’ (brave Roy; see Andy Gray before Manchester City drubbed the Reds 3-0, saying that Liverpool fans will be pleased to see this approach, rather than the one taken at the venue by Benítez, who, though Gray neglected to mention it, had gained four points from the previous two visits to the Eastlands. Er, yes, Andy, we were chuffed to bits to be stuffed 3-0).

 

But under Benítez – whether Gerrard was in the hole or in midfield – against teams such as Wolves, Liverpool would have two incredibly attack-minded full-backs; not the horribly average Konchesky, and not the quasi-winger Johnson hanging back for fear of a telling off from the sidelines.

 

If fit, there’d be Agger at centre-back, bringing the ball into midfield to change the dynamic. Kuyt, Gerrard and Torres would all feature – with the captain often in central midfield against the fodder – and basically eight of the ten outfield players had licence to get forward, around the pivot of a holding midfield and one stopper at the back. The only teams to beat Liverpool at Anfield under Benítez in the Premier League were Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester United; not the likes of Blackpool and Wolves. [Edit: Liverpool also lost to Birmingham, in November 2004. Just looking at the side that was available to Benítez makes you wonder how the hell Liverpool won the Champions League that season.]

 

But Hodgson couldn’t even gamble with both Maxi and Kuyt on the wings; he had to play a holding midfielder on one side, and switch Kuyt to his unfavoured side. (I know Meireles isn’t ‘just’ a holding midfielder, but then nor is Lucas, and nor was Alonso, but they had the same label.) And it’s not like Maxi and Kuyt can’t defend, either.

 

Even with Meireles at right-midfield – a fine passer, but not someone who’s going to play like a winger – there was still no scope for Johnson to get forward. Instead of three forward-thinking defenders (Johnson, Agger and Insua), it was just Johnson, albeit now apparently scared of crossing the halfway line.

 

The obsession with Gerrard in central midfield and two big strikers is Liverpool as if managed by Andy Gray. No wonder he never criticises Hodgson. We’ve gone from a manager who averaged 75 points a season and racked up four Champions League quarter-finals or better, to one who’s on course for … 46 points.

 

“He didn’t beat you, boss” was a line Houllier claimed a player had texted him after Rafa was sacked. Well, Hodgson – whose coaching methods were shared by the Emile Heskey-loving likes of Houllier and Sven Goran Eriksson – has already lost at home to two Premier League teams who were worse than any to win at Anfield between 2004 and 2010; and even though a second-tier team did get the better of Benítez in a domestic cup, this season a 4th-tier team triumphed on the hallowed soil. Progress, eh?

 

Add to that a negative goal difference, a horrific away record and the worst turn-of-year position for Liverpool since the Reds were last relegated over 50 years ago, and you can conclude that in terms of unenviable achievements, Hodgson has also beaten Benítez. By a country mile.

 

Style

 

Liverpool have a group of players who are mostly used to playing between the lines; not in straight lines. While the Reds were no Barcelona in recent years, at least they’d take the game to teams at Anfield, and at least players weren’t in regimented formations like a fusball table. In the end, as well as just one forward-thinking defender (Johnson), there were only two forward-thinking midfielders, with Lucas and Meireles unlikely to pop up in the box. Two up front? Well, what good is that if the rest of the team is so negatively constructed?

 

If you leave out one of your in-form attacking players (Maxi) to play a holding midfielder on the wing, and it doesn’t work, you deserve all the criticism you get. If it had been a case of the tactics working but luck against Liverpool, I could have accepted that. I can handle defeat. But the tactics were shocking, and it contributed to an awful display.

 

At times I find myself feeling sorry for Hodgson. Then he opens his mouth. Or then I watch us play. From a distance, it may seem like he’s been harshly treated. But the team’s lack of ideas and his lack of understanding about the Liverpool way are ‘crimes’ against our club. It’s also not the Liverpool way to publicly harangue managers, but if he doesn’t respect our traditions, then the Kop will struggle to do likewise.

 

No-one expected Hiddink or Mourinho to pitch up at Anfield this summer. But Pellegrini – fresh from a club-record 96 points at Real Madrid, and, as also seen with his lovely Villarreal side, a purveyor of the kind of pass-and-move football Reds have grown up on – was passed up because the club (key executives and key players) wanted to go English. Quite why, aside from parochialism and xenophobia, is beyond me.

 

Ah, but Hodgson was a ‘continental’, too, after such a nomadic career. Except he exported a basic, solid English 1970s approach to Scandinavia at a time when English football was strong in Europe, and he took advantage of an out-of-date fascination with the sweeper system in that part of the world. But once back in England – especially at a big club in the new Millennium – he was in effect now importing ice to the eskimos. And not even good ice at that. Meanwhile, the big clubs had moved on.

 

Playing like an English team from the 1970s is what plenty of struggling and fair-to-middling teams tend to do in the Premier League; although to their great credit, the likes of Wolves, Bolton, Wigan, West Brom and Blackpool are all playing a far more progressive game than that; and indeed, in the 1970s and ‘80s, Liverpool themselves were playing a continental passing game, not some basic homespun tripe. The Kop would have hated Hodgson’s tactics then, so why accept them now, when the best teams all respect a possession-based game?

 

If Coyle, Holloway, Di Matteo and Martinez can get humble collections of footballers playing positive, expansive football, then there’s no excuse for Hodgson failing with the current crop at Liverpool. No matter that he didn’t sign them all (though he did sign five of the first team squad and release Aquilani); it took Owen Coyle next to no time to turn Megson’s Hodgsonesque Bolton into something more Shanklyesque. By contrast, Hodgson has a squad full of stars that went to the World Cup, many of them integral to major nations, and has them chasing long balls and shadows.

 

Hodgson talks of a love of getting he ball quickly to the front men and midfielders then joining; in other words, pretty much the Wimbledon approach. What about passing the ball accurately into the front men having worked the ball upfield? Whatever he did at Fulham, including getting the ball up to Bobby Zamora and winning the LMA award, means nothing at Liverpool. The approach needs to be very different to a mid-table outfit. But Hodgson’s whole career has been a ‘one size fits all’ approach. It fit Fulham brilliantly. Bravo. It fits us like Fatty Arbuckle squeezing into Cheryl Cole’s bikini.

 

Even if he has a target-men more suited to bringing the ball down (get rid of Torres, buy Carlon Cole), being so direct will never be accepted by the Kop. This is Liverpool; this is Anfield. We don’t live in the past, and don’t expect trophies every season, but certain qualities are part of the club’s DNA.

 

Pass and move is one of those qualities. There are different ways to do it, but style has it been so lacking. Right now, it’s like going to a Michelin-starred restaurant, only to be served a Big Mac and charged £100 for the privilege. In Torres, Hodgson has a white truffle; the manager, it seems, would rather make use of a pickled gherkin and a ketchup sachet.

 

This is not to absolve Torres from blame for his sulking on the pitch, but Jesus Christ, if I’d been brought up in Spain and won every major international honour with my country, and was asked to risk blindness by staring into the floodlights to locate a snow-covered ball descending out of the haze, I’d be in a strop.

 

Again, I noted back in the summer that Benítez’s high-pressing style got the best out of the Liverpool no.9. In his previous two injury-ravaged seasons he was still getting a goal almost every game, even if just coming back from a six-week layoff; now we’re lucky if we get a goal a month.

 

If Benítez had to go, so be it. I’ve accepted that; that can’t be changed, even though we have clearly traded down.

 

But the longer the media continue to blame solely him for Liverpool’s woes (even though he left a team that finished with more points and more wins than the one he inherited in 2004, and had something like 15 World Cup participants), then the greater the outcry from knowledgeable fans who, whether they liked Rafa or not, know that Hodgson – with his kowtowing to ‘Sir Alex’, his disregard of the fans, his timid, gutless, artless football – is not the answer to our greatest question. No-one forces Hodgson to get so many men behind the ball, whether winning or losing. No-one forces Hodgson to have the defence sit so deep and hit the ball so long.

 

Mock us if you want – “they all laugh at us”, as the song says – but we know our football, and we know our club. Patrick Barclay, Paul Hayward and their cohorts may know Roy Hodgson and Fulham Football Club better than us, but we know our standards. And if such people told us that 7th place with 63 points fell below the accepted standards – sack Rafa! (they did) – then this is so far below it’s almost off the scale. Frankly, it’s an insult.

 

No wonder things began to get ugly on the Kop.

[JohnnyH]

Why is he even getting another game? If the owners do consider the view of the fans as important then he goes now. To keep him, especially after his most recent abuse towards us, is no different to the owners saying it.

[PaulMcC]

So the owners know he's a shit manager who's hated by the fans, but won't do anything about it?

 

Brilliant.

[Tyler Durden]

Honest, this is fucking embarrasing all this bollocks, 4 losses in the last 6 and worst points total at this stage since we were relegated 50 years ago. Unbelievable

[Reacher]

Thought these new Americans were supposed to be business savvy? Looking like bumbling idiots if they let this carry on.

[StevieH]

Liverpool owners line up Kenny Dalglish as boss Roy Hodgson faces win or bust clash with Bolton | Mail Online

 

Liverpool owners line up Kenny Dalglish as boss Roy Hodgson faces win or bust clash with Bolton

 

 

By Dominic King

Last updated at 10:54 PM on 30th December 2010

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Liverpool's owners have reached breaking point with manager Roy Hodgson. Only a victory against Bolton at Anfield on Saturday is likely to save him following the shambolic defeat by Wolves which led to home fans calling for him to be sacked.

With Hodgson seemingly on the brink after just six months in charge, the club were forced to deny claims he had already left.

 

Down in the dumps: Torres can't disguise his disappointment during Wednesday night's defeat

 

If the patience of owners Fenway Sports Group runs out, Kop hero Kenny Dalglish is a ready-made candidate for a caretaker role with a view to assuming a senior boardroom position once a permanent replacement has been found.

Damien Comolli, the club’s director of football strategy, is responsible for identifying the next Anfield boss and the search has taken on fresh urgency after the appalling display in the 1-0 defeat at home on Wednesday against a team who were then bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

 

Walking alone: Hodgson cuts a solemn figure as he watches Liverpool lose against Wolves - with little backing from the Kop for their beleaguered manager

 

 

The American owners are populists and their eagerness to make the right impression with fans following their takeover in October puts Hodgson on borrowed time.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

Is Hodgson's time up at Liverpool after defeat to lowly Wolves? Roy Hodgson was berated by the Liverpool fans during their shocking 1-0 home defeat to struggling Wolves on Wednesday night. A section of Kop called for Kenny Dalglish to replace him at the helm. Does Hodgson need to go? And is King Kenny really the answer to the Anfield crisis? [/url]

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

 

 

 

 

With Liverpool only three points above the relegation zone and having suffered eight defeats in the league already, Saturday's game against Bolton has taken on huge significance and defeat will leave the club little room for manoeuvre.

However, Hodgson’s precarious position will not affect Liverpool’s intentions for the January transfer window as Comolli is in charge of recruitment, now that chief scout Eduardo Macia has left. Comolli will be backed to sign as many as four players.

 

A £1.5m deal for Rennes winger Sylvain Marveaux is in place and Comolli will have a pivotal role to play in shaping Liverpool’s long-term future.

 

Although Dalglish may be given a temporary role in charge he and the other fans’ favourite, Rafa Benitez, are not under consideration to take over on a permanent basis.

Hodgson faces an enormous challenge to raise his badly deflated players for the Bolton game, which starts a defining run of five matches in 15 days.

 

Liverpool face a trip to Blackburn followed by an FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester United before league games against Blackpool and Everton.

 

Gold standard (from left): Richard Stearman, Ronald Zubar and Kevin Foley celebrate Wolves' win

 

He is adamant the players are still with him but Hodgson is unlikely to find any sympathy from the terraces tomorrow.

 

Tough times: Hodgson drives away from training ground on Thursday... but it isn't for the final time

 

The 63-year-old said: ‘I have been lucky. The support I have had has been from the players and within the club. I haven’t had a lot of support from the fans ever since I came here. The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010.

 

‘Since I came here we have not won enough games to keep them happy. It is a vicious circle.’

 

 

Read more: Liverpool owners line up Kenny Dalglish as boss Roy Hodgson faces win or bust clash with Bolton | Mail Online

[Chinandeler Bong]

Owners turn the heat on Roy Hodgson as Anfield civil war looms

 

Tony Barrett

1 minute ago

 

Liverpool’s owners are running out of patience with Roy Hodgson. The Fenway Sports Group (FSG) wants to see a revival in fortunes on the field or the manager may face the consequences.

 

While sympathetic with the challenges that Hodgson has faced since taking over as Liverpool manager from Rafael Benítez last July, FSG is concerned that the 63-year-old has yet to deliver.

 

While the Americans remain reluctant to make a managerial change halfway through the season, they are believed to have been far from impressed with Hodgson’s suggestion that he hoped the club’s “fans would become supporters” after the dismal 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.

 

Hodgson will face the press again today ahead of Liverpool’s home match with Bolton Wanderers tomorrow. He must produce a much improved performance from his side to stop his position becoming untenable. Liverpool already have their lowest points total going into the new year since the 1953-54 season, which ended in relegation.

 

Since their takeover of Liverpool in October, FSG has placed great store by its relationship with the club’s fans and have demanded that the lead they have taken on this front is followed at all levels. The manager’s reaction to chants calling for his removal has put him at odds with his employers and their direction.

 

John W. Henry and Tom Werner, the FSG founders, have not wavered in their public support of Hodgson despite him not being appointed by them. Their backing, however, has been put to its most serious test by almost total breakdown in the former Fulham manager’s relationship with the Liverpool supporters.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the loss to Wolves, Hodgson made plain his dissatisfaction at the lack of support he is receiving from the Liverpool fans — chants of “Hodgson for England” resounded around Anfield during Liverpool’s fourth defeat in their last six Barclays Premier League matches — stating that he has had to make do with the backing of his players.

 

“I have been lucky the support I have had has been from the players and within the club,” Hodgson said. “I haven’t had a lot of support from the fans ever since I came here.

 

“The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I came here we have not won enough games to keep them happy.

 

“That is understandable in the sense that they were hoping when I came here the latter part of last season would be forgotten and we would start flying again. That hasn’t happened and as a result, as manager, you are the one in the firing line, but of course it doesn’t make the job easier because it makes the players more nervous.

 

“I can only say as a manager you have to understand that fans care for their club and want it to do well and when it is not doing well they voice their disapproval.”

 

One departure from Liverpool has already been confirmed with Eduardo Macia, the club’s chief scout, leaving by mutual consent.

 

Macia’s exit is not unexpected and has been seen as a formality after the arrival of Damien Comolli as director of football strategy in November.

[StevieH]

Liverpool fans' backlash leaves manager Roy Hodgson twisting in the breeze - Telegraph

 

Liverpool fans' backlash leaves manager Roy Hodgson twisting in the breeze

 

Roy Hodgson's grip on his position as Liverpool manager appears to be loosening after comments suggesting he had never enjoyed the full support of the fans prompted a furious backlash on Merseyside.

 

 

On borrowed time? Can Roy Hodgson survive the anger of Liverpool's supporters Photo: EPA

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Rory Smith 11:00PM GMT 30 Dec 2010 Rory's Twitter

Comments

 

 

 

His remarks, made in the aftermath of the 1-0 defeat to bottom club Wolves, are also believed to have caused concern among the club's hierarchy, who fear his relationship with the Anfield public may now be stretched beyond repair.

 

Hodgson stated after the defeat to Mick McCarthy's side on Wednesday that he hoped Liverpool's "fans would become supporters" after failing to offer him their backing throughout his six-month reign.

 

 

The comments were seen as a serious error of judgment by the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group. Thousands of fans demanded his dismissal on websites and internet polls, with one survey finding that 97 per cent of supporters favoured his departure.

 

 

Though John W Henry and Tom Werner, the American group's principal backers, have shown nothing but support in public for their beleaguered manager, in private they are believed to harbour concerns that the furore marks the end of any hope he had of winning over the fans, who offered ironic chants of "Hodgson for England".

 

 

FSG had hoped to allow Hodgson to continue until the summer – when his position would be reviewed – but concerns are growing that, should results continue to prompt almost unprecedented insurrection in Anfield's stands, they may need to act much more quickly.

 

 

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Liverpool face Bolton at Anfield on Saturday before travelling to Blackburn on Wednesday. That is followed by an FA Cup fixture against Manchester United. A programme of five games in 15 days is rounded off by a Premier League fixture with Blackpool, rearranged from Boxing Day, and the Merseyside derby with Everton.

 

There remains little appetite for a change of manager mid-season – especially with such an intimidating schedule looming – but with the club hovering just three points above the relegation zone, FSG know poor results might force their hand.

 

The sound of Anfield voicing its displeasure will not, at least, have come as a surprise. Henry and Werner are well aware that Kenny Dalglish's name has been chanted several times this season, while the pair's appearance on a phone-in on the club's official television channel this month triggered a string of calls demanding Hodgson's dismissal.

 

Then, Werner and Henry offered Hodgson time to rectify the early errors of his reign. Werner admitted that "performance has to improve, especially on the road, but we believe in what he is doing", but made clear the pair's displeasure at Liverpool's poor league performance. "This season and the last half of last season were unacceptable for Liverpool," said Henry. "We are in sync with fans for what it is going to take."

 

Given the nature of Liverpool's capitulation against Wolves – the visiting goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey, did not make a save of note in the second half – FSG are unlikely to believe that Hodgson is the man to entrust with that task. It is thought both Henry and Werner are concerned that the former Fulham manager may not retain the faith of the club's squad, despite his statements to the contrary.

 

The fans, too, made it clear on Wednesday that they would like Dalglish installed immediately, at least until the end of the season. FSG, though, are not thought to favour appointing an interim manager, should they dispense with Hodgson. The group wish to rebuild the club around a young coach.

 

While such a policy almost certainly condemns Hodgson at the end of the season, it may help secure his position in the short term. Of those managers who FSG could identify to take charge for the coming seasons, only Frank Rijkaard, the former Barcelona coach, is not under contract.

 

Hodgson is unlikely to be the only victim of Liverpool's season of nadirs. Liverpool will announce the departure of chief scout Eduardo Macia by mutual consent on Friday, and with the club's wage bill running at more than £100 million a year, FSG are thought to be increasingly convinced of the need for a major overhaul of the playing staff in the summer.

 

The Liverpool manager has made it clear he does not wish to sell any players in January – his dismissal of suggestions from Wolfsburg that they had been offered the chance to sign Daniel Agger, and the imminent recruitment of Sylvain Marveaux from Rennes, suggests the emphasis is on strengthening resources – but either he or his replacement may have to oversee an exodus in June.

 

Few who played on Wednesday improved their chances of remaining at Anfield beyond this season, with Ryan Babel admitting on his Twitter account that he did not have the "words to describe" the performance, while admonishing the club's fans for turning on Paul Konchesky. FSG must decide whether it is those players, or Hodgson himself, who is first to depart.

[Chinandeler Bong]

Im so glad the media are on it now and perhaps starting to acknowledge that the man really hasn't helped himself. I cant be arsed getting into the old 'he inherited a bad squad' bollocks. But he is a marked man now, and I just know he'll shoot himself in the foot soon enough.

Come to think of it, coming to that conclusion which I think is a sensible one, then surely they should just let him go now and save the agony of the inevitable. Its very much like removing a plaster, do it quickly and it wont hurt as much.

[StevieH]

Hodgson has two weeks to save himself

 

 

Roy Hodgson has two weeks to save himself at Liverpool as the American owners begin to lose faith in him.

 

It is understood John W Henry and parent company NESV feel Hodgson blundered in attacking the fans for booing him during the shock home defeat to Wolves.

 

They are also said to be dismayed by the team's limp showing and fear Hodgson may have lost the players.

 

NESV are refusing to panic and have not called a board meeting to discuss Hodgson's future before tomorrow's clash with Bolton at Anfield.

 

 

But it is clear they are losing patience with the former Fulham boss and expect a rapid improvement.

 

Defeat at home to Bolton tomorrow would leave Hodgson on the brink, and after that Liverpool travel to Blackburn and Blackpool in the league plus Manchester United in the FA Cup before the Merseyside derby at Anfield on January 16.

 

The pressure on Hodgson is already reaching breaking point and Liverpool's miserable tally of 22 points is the lowest going into a new year for 57 years.

 

They are just three points off the relegation zone and have won just six league games all season.

 

This is totally unacceptable for Henry and NESV, whose target is to make Liverpool one of the best teams in the land again.

 

They were determined to give Hodgson time when they took over in October and still hope he can carry on at least until the end of the season.

 

Despite the Kop's calls for Kenny Dalglish, they do not want to appoint the Anfield legend as caretaker boss and would prefer not to go looking for a new manager in January.

 

However they are not prepared to let Liverpool's slide continue and will act if they feel Hodgson cannot turn the club around.

 

 

Read more: Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has two weeks to save his job - News - MirrorFootball.co.uk

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[WaltonRed]

Dear Mr, Henry,

 

Give it to Kenny till the summer, he does well, you have a new manager

 

He doesnt, he takes his seat on the board and the albatross over every future boss has gone.

[Red Nick]

Dear Mr, Henry,

 

Give it to Kenny till the summer, he does well, you have a new manager

 

He doesnt, he takes his seat on the board and the albatross over every future boss has gone.

 

Thats exactly why Kenny wont get the job

 

He will be offered the job as Caretaker and be asked to recruit his own replacement for a job he wont want to give up

[Chinandeler Bong]

Dear Mr, Henry,

 

Give it to Kenny till the summer, he does well, you have a new manager

 

He doesnt, he takes his seat on the board and the albatross over every future boss has gone.

 

I think most want this ideally but I fear it wont be that simple.