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Roy Hodgson, know your role and shut your mouth


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7 minutes ago, dandyman said:

Think his contract was up at the end of the season but he hadn’t said he was retiring 

Aah ok. 

 

39 minutes ago, Bad Red Bull said:

Forgetting what he did with us and how he managed us and putting all bitterness aside, I hope we give him a standing ovation for having been in the game so long. He's 74 years old and when the pandemic came, it was his age group that were at the risky end but he didn't chose to resign and got on with it even when he knew there was always a risk of him getting covid. Sure, we were too big for him but save the bitterness for our neighbours.

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56 minutes ago, Bad Red Bull said:

Forgetting what he did with us and how he managed us and putting all bitterness aside, I hope we give him a standing ovation for having been in the game so long. He's 74 years old and when the pandemic came, it was his age group that were at the risky end but he didn't chose to resign and got on with it even when he knew there was always a risk of him getting covid. Sure, we were too big for him but save the bitterness for our neighbours.

It's not the fact that he was unsuccessful with us that bothers me. It's the fact that he couldn't open his mouth without talking insulting shite.

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'That was as good as we have played all season, and I have no qualms with the performance whatsoever. I only hope fair-minded people will see it the same way.'

 

Repeat this over and over you owl faced cunt after we dropkick you and your shitehawk football in to the longrass and retirement.

 

 

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In six fucking months he said and did this, i can't say it strongly enough, fuck you, Roy.

 

'4 July: "I like a high-tempo passing game"
All the things I’ve always liked are the things Liverpool were famous for in their heyday. Pass and move, always move it quickly and once you lose it get back in to position. That was the mantra which took Liverpool through their great years. I like a high-tempo passing game. I like players to work hard, I like players to get back in position. Those are my principles. I was influenced by the Liverpool team which dominated the 70s with all its great players and playing the football they played.

5 August: "Look into the mirror rather than look for excuses elsewhere" (On player complaints about squad quality)
As a player you have a chance to change things. If you don't think the team is doing as well as it should, as a player you can do something about it. If you are a big player, maybe you will. My attitude is that we want our big players because they will help the team to win. Now if they are not playing well and not helping the team to win, I will be advising them to look into the mirror rather than look for excuses elsewhere and blame the owners for not having spent £500m.

13 August: "It was a very simple decision when I heard he might be available"
Christian (Poulsen) is an all-round player. He is capable of scoring goals, a good passer of the ball and a good defender too. I don't see him being limited to one particular role. For me, it was a very simple decision when I heard he might be available at what we considered to be a very reasonable price.

9 September: "Unbelievably overstaffed" (After beating West Brom)
We were unbelievably over-staffed when I came to the club and, if the truth be known, we still are over-staffed. It was just as big a job making sure some of the players who never feature for the first team move on and that we limit our squad to players who are either in the frame to play first-team football or who have a bright future who are still anxious to play academy and reserve team football.

9 September: "He's a good player and he's the right man for the job" (On Konchesky)
There aren't many quality left-backs around in the world, never mind in England - so to find an English one who can go straight into the team without any adjustment problems is a big advantage. He is a player I know, a player I have worked with and he knows the way we try to play and the things we try to do. That's another little advantage, but the main reason for bringing him here is because we think he's a good player and he's the right man for the job.

10 September: "We'll have ample quality to see us through" (see also 30 October)
I preferred to put my weight behind David Ngog and Ryan Babel, who's never really been given a proper chance at centre-forward at the club. We have Fernando Torres, we have good players who can play behind a lone striker. I'm hoping that between now and Christmas we'll have ample quality to see us through that period. And in the meantime we have chance to do thorough scouting so that if the money is available, we could look into the situation again. I will be using David Ngog and Ryan Babel in certain games to give Fernando Torres a rest and it's up to them to prove to me that there's no need to look further than them.

20 September: "It is very early for me to make very strong judgments about where his best position is" (On Meireles)
He had two training sessions and played on Thursday night and he played again on Sunday so it is very early for me to make very strong judgments about where his best position is. The work we do on the training field will show me how best to use him. He actually went out wide right late in the United game and did okay there also. All I can say is he has a lot of qualities and I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of him.

20 September: “Sir Alex is entitled to any opinion he wants to have” (After Ferguson accused Torres of diving)
I prefer to talk about the game and talk about issues that interest me. Sir Alex is entitled to any opinion he wants to have but I'm not going to come here and say I agree or disagree. I thought the referee refereed the game very well and I have a very ambivalent attitude to those type of things.

22 September: “They’ll be a formidable challenge” (Before facing Fourth Division Northampton Town)
They'll pressure us, they'll be young and athletic, and our scouts have been quite impressed by what they've seen. They'll be a formidable challenge - there's no question about that.

23 September: "These players have to accept responsibility" (After the defeat to Northampton)
These players have to accept responsibility. I accept responsibility for changing a lot of players in the team, I did it because I honestly thought the players I put on the field were good enough to win the game and they weren't. The obvious conclusion to that was I shouldn't have changed that many players but we should have been strong enough to get a result. We must all take our responsibility. I am just bitterly disappointed that the team I had so much faith in did not repay that faith this evening with the exception of one or two performances.

24 September: "The protest does not help"
The protest does not help but it is something I have had to live with since I came to the club. I, like everyone else at Liverpool, would be very happy if the ownership situation was clarified and in particular if we got a very good owner that could help us move forward. It is a major issue for a group of people who are very much anti the owners and anti the current people who are trying to solve the situation. I knew the situation existed before I arrived and it doesn't help. But it is often the case that when things are conspiring against you there is always an extra thing to come in and make it that little bit worse.

25 September: “I didn't think it was necessary to say it" (On not responding to Ferguson's Torres "diving" accusations, six days prior)
I didn't think it was necessary to say it because it was insulting people's intelligence. For me, it was one of Alex's inflammatory little digs to make his victory even sweeter and our defeat even harder and that's part of the game

25 September: “We deserved our point” (After drawing at home to Sunderland)
There are no easy home wins in the Premier League, you have to fight for everything. The way we came back from 2-1 down was very commendable and towards the end of the game we were creating a lot of chances. We deserved our point.

1 October: “We don’t play with wingers” (On why Meireles was played on the right of midfield)
We don't play with wingers. The way he plays and the way Joe Cole plays, we think (playing wide midfield) is more than suited to their qualities. We saw evidence of that in the game because they often got into situations where they received and turned with the ball - especially in the first half. I think we can get some use from Raul Meireles there with his passing ability.

3 October: "From Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax..."
What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting. To suggest that, because I have moved from one club to another, that the methods which have stood me in good stead for 35 years and made me one of the most respected coaches in Europe don’t suddenly work, is very hard to believe.

3 October: "I don't understand questions about Liverpool and Fulham players being different types"
I don't understand questions about Liverpool and Fulham players being different types. At the moment arguably one or two of the players that are suggested as being very different to the Fulham players maybe aren't playing any better than the Fulham players played. So maybe people should be having a look at that.

6 October: “I don't think I have suddenly changed or lost any ability”
I know the question is going to get asked but it shouldn't really be asked by people who have been in football a long time, because we all know in the game you have good and bad moments. At the end of May I was having a fantastic moment and here at the beginning of October I'm having bad moments. But I don't think I have suddenly changed or lost any ability which has served me so well in 35 years of coaching.

17 October: "Feted as one of England's best managers"
I think it would be a sad day for football and for Liverpool if someone who had been brought in with the pomp and circumstance, and the money it took them to release me from my previous contract, and being feted as one of England's best managers – if after eight games people are deciding this guy has got to go. It would be sad for me. These things happen in football. You can't have the years in football I've had without ever being sacked, but it would be a sad day for Liverpool because that isn't Liverpool's style. So I find that type of question insulting to me and even more insulting to the club.

17 October: "As good as we have played all season" (After the woeful loss to Everton)
That was as good as we have played all season, and I have no qualms with the performance whatsoever. I only hope fair-minded people will see it the same way.

17 October: “To get a result here would have been Utopia” (Also after the defeat to Everton)
To get a result here would have been Utopia. But I can only analyse the performance. There is no point trying to analyse dreams.

17 October: “Maybe it is just a bit of dust” (On the poor start to the season)
Like everyone else I get really immersed in the subject. I start looking through the eye of the microscope at the miniscule particles of dust, trying to see if there is an atom there. Maybe it is just a bit of dust.

21 October: "We will cross that bridge when we come to it" (On rumours of Torres to Manchester United)
I think we will cross that bridge when we come to it. There will always be speculation. When a great player like Wayne Rooney is looking to leave his club, then you know Manchester United will be in a position to target a lot of players around the world. I don't think Fernando will be the only striker they target - and I don't think we will be the only club worried that their striker is in their sights. I am not naive enough to believe that there won't be any danger and we will never lose a player like Torres. I understand these things can happen. I don't believe we will lose him.

29 October: "It's all to do with how good your scouting and your eye is"
I think you can pay an awful lot of money for poor players and you can pay not very much money for very good ones – it is all to do with how good your scouting and your eye is. There are a lot of things here that the club has got to get right. We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players that we have brought in for next to nothing. Free transfers don’t necessarily mean that you have got a bargain. My experience of them has been very mixed. You need to be sure that the player you get can do the job you want from him.

30 October: "They can't all be wrong and we aren't that stupid either"
A club like Liverpool shouldn't have to rely on non-specialists like Dirk Kuyt or Ryan Babel ‘doing a job’ up front when they are primarily wide players. ...The first thing people say when I walk down the street is ‘We need a front player’. They can't all be wrong and we aren't that stupid either.

30 October: “We’ve got those types of players ourselves”
We all know January is often a market for clubs trying to move on players they don't want. I don't want to be taking people's leftovers. We've got those types of players ourselves. If we are going to improve we need better.

30 October: "That's what he's good at" (On Dalglish)
He is doing a great job alongside us and we involve him in our scouting while he still works at The Academy and plays an ambassadorial role. That's what he's good at.

31 October: "A famous victory" (1-0 at Bolton)
Today was a famous victory because we hadn’t won more than once away in the whole of 2010. When you’re down the bottom, and keep being reminded you’re down the bottom, anxiety kicks in.

31 October: "He was here in name but not allowed to set foot in Melwood"
When they wanted me for the job, I made it clear to Kenny that he would be with me - not like with Benitez, when he was here in name but not allowed to set foot in Melwood and it was 'we don't want anything to do with you

12 November: "He's not that bad on the ball"
Unfortunately I can't do anything about the fans, but he's (Poulsen) had one or two games in front of our crowd where he's not played well and he knows he hasn't. He is devastated by that and the crowd, who aren't stupid, know he's not played well. It's a fact of life. He can only keep working hard and when he gets his chance he has to get on with his job. He had a job to do against Wigan and without his introduction, with a very tired Maxi Rodríguez and Dirk Kuyt, who knows we could even have lost the game. But he's got quality, he's a good defensive midfield player. He's not that bad on the ball, but let's not beat about the bush and try to disguise the fact – he's had a bad start.

13 November: "He's not performed -- very often at least -- to the level I'd expect of him"
(Johnson) is the England right-back and, if he plays like that, one would expect him to come back in when he's fit. But then he'd have to play like the England right-back and up to now, to be quite frank, he's not performed - very often at least - to the level I'd expect of him. You would have to ask him 'do you think you're playing at top form and are you playing like the best right-back in the country for your club?' If he says yes, obviously we will have to agree to differ and if he says no, then you'd have to ask the question 'why not?

14 November: "I didn't realise I had been accused of criticising him"
It amazes me that when you make a statement of such obvious veracity people want to make headlines out of it. Everyone is saying what I am saying. I hope I am honest and I hope the players are honest. I didn't realise I had been accused of criticising him; I don't normally criticise my players and I'm sorry if that has been suggested.

20 November: “In his naivety and frustration” (After previously not commenting on Capello reneging on the agreement to substitute Gerrard)
I don't know if I am being diplomatic, I am simply refusing to prolong a debate. Our fitness coach, Darren, in his naivety and frustration, was foolish enough to voice an opinion on Twitter and that's led to these two days of vitriol. I think it's time we got it stopped.

20 November: “There will always be a certain number of people who wanted a different manager”
Every time I speak to you about fans, you seem to have a complete monopoly on how every fan thinks. How many of them? There will always be a certain number of people who wanted a different manager and are probably still unhappy they did not get that manager. I have every faith in Liverpool fans. Every manager who has come to this club has been well supported by the fans. Every manager has gone through periods where the team has not achieved what the fans would like them to achieve, so I have no fears in that respect.

26 November: "We won't need to do too much in the January transfer window" (After beating West Ham)
I have a very clear picture now of what we should and need to be doing and the squad is stronger and getting stronger. It was probably stronger than I realised at certain stages in the early part of the season when we were losing games. Hopefully that will mean we won't need to do too much in the January transfer window

27 November: “’Liverpool will get worse and worse’ is what he said”
Everyone I know in football respects the job I’m doing here and aren’t too surprised it hasn’t been an easy start. In fact, 95 per cent would have predicted it as [Jose] Mourinho did. ‘Liverpool will get worse and worse’ is what he said and if the great man Mourinho says it, I don’t know why you don’t quote him.

2 December: "He isn't a naturally confident character" (As Joe Cole returns from injury)
He isn't a naturally confident character. He suffers when things are not going his way. Everyone at the club has worked hard to make sure he doesn't take it too hard and take too much on himself, because he's quite happy to take responsibility. Sometimes those players can take too much on themselves and push themselves even further down.

9 December: "I don't know where the stories came from" (After Brukner said Gerrard could be fit, on 30 November)
I don't know where the stories came from that Gerrard would be fit for Newcastle. We have always been thinking he would be fit to face Fulham the following weekend, it would be much too early to consider him for Newcastle.

10 December: "He has been the first to recognise what a good job it was that we didn’t do these things" (On not letting Babel, Lucas et al leave)
Christian (Purslow) was here for two years and is a big fan with strong opinions about players. He fed me the information. I listened, of course, but made it clear I was not going to act on it. To be fair, when we’ve spoken or texted he has been the first to recognise what a good job it was that we didn’t do these things, because the boys have turned out well.

11 December: "For a team that wants to be in the top half of the table it's not good enough"
Our away form continues to be very, very poor and it's something we need to do something about. If we'd played the whole of 90 minutes as we played the first 45 minutes maybe I wouldn't be as disappointed as I am. For a team that wants to be in the top half of the table, our away form is not good enough.

14 December: "Unless there is a major influx of cash into the club..." (After losing to Newcastle)
Unless there is a major influx of cash into the club and the team is going to be changed from one moment to the next, then whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.

14 December: "We are right up there in terms of results" (having won 7 points from 18 and being 11th in the form table)
The only team with better results than us over the past five or six games is Arsenal or Manchester United. If you take the last five or six games we are right up there in terms of results

14 December: "I can't work harder and I can't work better"
The owners have made it perfectly clear they are in it for the long term. They realise it is going to take time. They realise we can't turn things round overnight and they also realise the team I am working with is not the team I put together. It [the speculation] doesn't bother me because I can't do more than I am doing. I can't work harder and I can't work better.

15 December: "A bunch of also-rans"
I don't know if I would have considered using Fernando had David Ngog been fit. But he isn't and, having had a chat with Fernando, I think he'll enjoy it. It's not as if he'll be playing with a bunch of also-rans. I'm not asking him to play in the reserves.

15 December: "They made me see sense"
I thought it would be a nice game for him (Torres) and a chance for him to get his confidence back. But I also had a talk to our fitness people and they made me see sense that it wasn't the wisest thing to do. And of course it would be very bad for us if he picked up an injury. The same applied to Pepe Reina. They made me see sense, I listened to the reason around me and I changed my mind.

19 December: "The other players I have inherited"
It is starting to feel more like my side,but it is still a team that I have not put together. I want to make that clear. I took the team over and I have not made that many changes. I brought in [Paul] Konchesky to play left back, Raul Meireles to replace [Javier] Mascherano and Joe Cole came in at the same time as me as well as Christian Poulsen. The other players I have inherited. I think I would be a good comparison with Tottenham because Harry [Redknapp] came in there just as I came into Fulham so he will just be completing three years and he has brought in a lot of players. So to really call it my team, I would have had to make a slightly bigger impact on those who have been brought in. I am more than happy to take responsibility for this squad but it takes a coach more than five or six months to make his stamp on a club. I am hoping we will do some good business in transfer windows to come and then I will be able say, ‘If you don’t like it then I have no one to blame but myself’.

20 December: “I'm frightened as a manager that I might get rid of a player who will be good for the club”
I'm frightened as a manager that I might get rid of a player who will be good for the club on the basis that there might be a name out there that looks a bit higher than the player you already have at the club. When that player comes in and you work with them for two months, you realise that the name is great and it rings big bells but, in actual fact, he is no better than the player you let go. He maybe even worse.

20 December: “I don’t think this group of players will let the club down”
I don't think it would be a bad thing for us to keep testing out this squad of players. Before I start bringing players in, I've got to be aware that when I do, I will be pushing Shelvey or Kelly back…I don't think we should be encouraging them to throw a lot of money at it straight away.,,I don't think this group of players will let the club down. I think they will play plenty of good matches between now and the end of the season. Whether we are going to start breaking into the top four or hitting the heights without some additions, I'm not prepared to say. I would like to keep my powder dry.

20 December: “Clubs have virtually been destroyed by people making bad decisions”
Clubs have virtually been destroyed by people making bad decisions. It's not because the owners haven't given money or supported the manager. It's just that they have brought in the wrong people.

23 December: “He's [Joe Cole] not so much a player I can take responsibility for.”
I was involved in the discussion with him, but the initiative and the desire to take Joe did come from the managing director perhaps more so than myself. I played my part in persuading him it was a good move, but I made it clear I couldn't promise him a certain position. He’s not so much a player I can take responsibility for. I’d have to share the responsibility for Joe, less so than people like Poulsen, Meireles and Konchesky, who are players I was happy to bring to the club.

23 December: " When you get a job like this, should you be working for the long-term good of Liverpool or trying to get an extra result or two for Roy Hodgson? "
When you get a job like this, should you be working for the long-term good of Liverpool or trying to get an extra result or two for Roy Hodgson? I'd like to think I am big enough and confident enough to take the long-term view, even though it might work against me. I might even prefer that in some ways because I would be very disappointed if I went out in January and spent a lot of money on the wrong players and then, come the summer, we are no better off. All we would be doing is adding a few more players who we don't think are good enough to the roster. I would be disappointed if I did that. I can't guarantee it won't happen but it is not my intention.

25 December: "Having been deified people have then started to crucify me"
I suppose you might say it’s been topsy-turvy in the sense that having been deified people have then started to crucify me but that’s part of the business... Getting the job at Liverpool was another major feather in my cap and the fact it hasn’t gone as well as I’d have hoped results-wise is just the nature of football. Maybe what we have realised is there is plenty of work to do here but I am certainly very satisfied with the job I have done here and I don’t feel any dissatisfaction whatsoever.

26 December: “Fans are waiting for a man with a magic wand”
Fans are waiting for a man with a magic wand that can turn all of the ills that everyone has seen into something different. Those of us who work in the game and have been working in the game a long time know that magic wand doesn't exist.

26 December: "I haven't worked any differently here than I did in the last six months at Fulham"
Maybe what we have realised is that there is plenty of work to do here, but I am certainly very satisfied with the job I have done here. The fact that it hasn't gone as well as I'd have hoped results-wise is just the nature of football. I haven't worked any differently here than I did in the last six months at Fulham. Yes, it's been topsy-turvy in the sense that having defied people they have started to crucify me, but that's part of the business and the way things are. Pedestals are built to put people on then knock them off and I have a fairly mature attitude to that. I can't do more and the players can't do more so we hope that work will turn our fortunes around and we get some batter results.

27 December: "The less results you get, the less leaders you have"
Steven helps all players and it is harder to find leaders in the world of football today. You think of the great teams of the past and their leaders jump out at you. Often there were several in the same team. Danny Blanchflower and Dave Mackay at Spurs, the great Arsenal team with Adams etc. Today it is not so easy to pick out the leaders. We are lucky to have one or two but what you are fighting for as a coach is to get more leaders in your team. The less results you get the less leaders you have though, it’s as simple as that.

29 December: "0-0 would have been a reasonable result for us" (On losing at home, to bottom of the table Wolves)
I'd like to give Wolves credit, but I think we were a bit unlucky to lose the game, probably 0-0 would have been a reasonable result for us. But we didn't do anything to deserve more than a 0-0.

29 December: "The famous Anfield support has not really been there" (After being asked if the booing at the end of the Wolves game was understandable)
The fans have left angry and that's understandable. We've let them down. I am getting used to it, that is the way it is. We've had to live with that for quite a long time now as ever since I came here the famous Anfield support has not really been there. It is sad and I don't like hearing those things because I am trying to do the best job I can do. I am working as hard as I can so I can't say it is something I really appreciate.

29 December: “I have to hope the fans will become supporters”
We are not deliberately losing games.I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support. We are not deliberately losing games.

31 December: “I didn't mention the fans”
I didn't mention the fans… I think the fans will always get behind and support the team. They even did it the other night. After aiming a few jibes at me they were very quick to suddenly get behind the team and scream us on. All I can do is apologise if I've offended anyone and make it perfectly clear there was nothing offensive in my comments.

5 January: “It'll be the next performance which could change things” (After losing again on the road, this time to Blackburn 3-1)
In football you do what you always do. You keep going as best you can, you make certain you try and get over the result, you make certain the next result is a better one and hopefully wipes away the memory, but that's all you can do. It'll be the next performance which could change things.'

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I would hate to lose out on 4th place to this prick and have to watch his stupid grill splutter and snort like some sort of beaked-up Walrus. 

He would love to stand there with his hand in his pocket, rubbing his Viagra induced steamer, and bask in the fact he denied us 4th place. 

 

I was one of the thick cunts who thought he could "steady the ship". I'm a thick cunt sometimes. 

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4 minutes ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

I would hate to lose out on 4th place to this prick and have to watch his stupid grill splutter and snort like some sort of beaked-up Walrus. 

He would love to stand there with his hand in his pocket, rubbing his Viagra induced steamer, and bask in the fact he denied us 4th place. 

 

I was one of the thick cunts who thought he could "steady the ship". I'm a thick cunt sometimes. 

Negged for not realising he was a useless twat.

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No idea what's going on at Palace but he's leaving a pretty fucking clean slate for his successor - I know a lot of these aren't first choice, and some may yet extend but still:

 

image.png

 

Hodgson in a nutshell. No vision, no plan, no philosophy, nothing. Just inch forward one point at a time.

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2 hours ago, Bad Red Bull said:

Forgetting what he did with us and how he managed us and putting all bitterness aside, I hope we give him a standing ovation for having been in the game so long. He's 74 years old and when the pandemic came, it was his age group that were at the risky end but he didn't chose to resign and got on with it even when he knew there was always a risk of him getting covid. Sure, we were too big for him but save the bitterness for our neighbours.

 

This is one of them "respect your right to an opinion" rather than "respect your opinion" type situations.

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He was a pretty terrible manager for us, although in fairness the manager's job was a bit of a poisoned chalice at the time; I doubt very much that anyone could have had much success in the circumstances. We beat the league leaders Chelsea 2-0 on 7th November 2010 and this was our bench: Hansen, Wilson, Spearing, Poulsen, Shelvey, Jovanovic, Ngog. Absolute bobbins.

 

As the thread title alludes, the biggest issue was the absolute wham he chatted. That was the thing that made him most unsuitable for the job.

 

The club and the fans don't really owe him anything, but to spend nearly 60 years in the game is an achievement, and I'd hope and expect that we were classy enough to respect that, which Jurgen seems to be on board with.

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He’ll be waving good bye to a half empty ground..... just like in 2010.

 

I won’t be clapping him off but I also won’t jeer him. 
 

Hopefully he gets a nice send off in front of their supporters on Wednesday, Palace win the game, they turn upto Anfield not arsed and I never have to see his morbid, defeatist, stupid fucking face ever again. 

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2 hours ago, Manny said:

No idea what's going on at Palace but he's leaving a pretty fucking clean slate for his successor - I know a lot of these aren't first choice, and some may yet extend but still:

 

image.png

 

Hodgson in a nutshell. No vision, no plan, no philosophy, nothing. Just inch forward one point at a time.


As back up, I’d take Van Aanholt.
 

It would be physically impossible for him to offer less than Tsmiskas has this season. 

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6 minutes ago, Marko121 said:


For anyone who doesn’t want to sign up to read it. This is quite on the money. Good find, Marko.

 

Quote

Debunking the myth of Roy Hodgson

A faux sophistication has been projected on to Hodgson and it has created an illusion. His reputation is greater than his achievements

Tony Evans

Roy Hodgson is a national treasure. The Crystal Palace manager is regularly lauded for his intelligence, urbanity and longevity. Want to spend an evening with a Premier League manager? Then the 72-year-old is your man. Literature, film, music – the conversation will flow. Just don’t talk about football.

 

So let’s talk about football. The visit of Liverpool to Selhurst Park tomorrow brings into the debate the section of fandom who almost universally loathe Hodgson. It’s not unusual for the people of Merseyside to be out of step with mainstream thought processes and it is easy to write off Liverpudlian antipathy to the former England manager as bitterness over his short spell at Anfield that ended almost nine years ago. But what if they are right?

 

Hodgson has done very little to earn his sainted reputation. He is projected like a kindly grandfather but, make no mistake, he is often as sour and prickly as Jose Mourinho. Like the Portuguese, he can be charming. When it suits him.

 

As for his sophistication, even the most obsessive managers have other interests. They are frequently at their most fascinating when discussing topics outside the game. The majority are excellent company in the right circumstances. Sir Alex Ferguson is compelling on horse racing and politics. Martin O’Neill is engrossing when talking about criminology and serial killers. Kenny Dalglish is remarkably funny in private and far from his dour image. Most managers are similar. When the subject of football comes up, a switch flicks and their inner sociopath comes to the fore. All their biases and resentments flow out. Hodgson is no different.

 

Why do people like him? Well, he speaks a lot of languages. This has been given as evidence of his genius for more than 20 years, since his time at Blackburn Rovers. That’s hardly a surprise. He has managed across Scandinavia, in Switzerland, Italy and the Middle East. There’s a peculiar British stupidity in lauding the language skills of people who work abroad – it’s the flip side of shouting in English at uncomprehending foreigners. What’s surprising about learning to communicate in the places you work?

 

Rafa Benitez speaks with players in his native Spanish, English, Italian and French. Benitez has been in Dalian for the past six months and has already picked up phrases in Chinese. That is what international managers do.

Fantasy Premier League tips: Gameweek 13

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<b>Opponent:</b> West Ham (A)
<br><b>Price:</b> £10.8m
<br><b>Ownership:</b> 15.2%

 

Hodgson is also praised as a trailblazer for his nation-hopping career, but as a rather mediocre player he merely followed the money abroad. One of his early stops was South Africa during the apartheid era. He broke the sporting boycott because he was “desperate to play football on a regular basis.” He “didn’t give the political system much thought.”

 

It was, as Hodgson has pointed out, almost half a century ago and much has changed. Some things haven’t. Like right and wrong.

While Hodgson honed his management skills scuffling about Scandinavia in the 1980s, other British coaches took foreign jobs at higher levels, learning languages and skills and developing their style in more competitive environments. Few of them receive the praise directed at Hodgson.

 

Gordon Milne, for example, spent six seasons at Besiktas in Turkey and a year in Japan with Grampus Eight. To hear some of the hagiography of Hodgson, he was a lone adventurer in alien lands during his early career instead of being one of many Englishmen abroad.

 

His durability is praiseworthy, especially in the face of limited success. At Inter Milan he reached the Uefa Cup final and was pelted with missiles and abuse after his team lost to Schalke on penalties. A decade ago, Hodgson recalled: “We lacked stars, apart from Paul Ince. It wasn’t the Inter we see today of household names.”

 

The side contained Javier Zanetti and Youri Djorkaeff. It could have featured Roberto Carlos but the Brazilian left the San Siro because the manager played him out of position.

 

Hodgson is a good organiser and has a fine grasp of tactics. While at Fulham he worked out more quickly than most that Patrice Evra was Manchester United’s outlet ball and the key to putting pressure on Ferguson’s side was squeezing the left back. Yet his teams, even at their most coherent, lack thrust.

 

They underperform slightly. He is loved most at Craven Cottage but Fulham never rose above their expected level in the league.

 

Their famous cup run, to the Europa League final in 2010, was uplifting and the 4-1 victory over Juventus in the quarter-final was memorable but it was against a forgettable Juve side who finished seventh in Serie A that year. Injuries hurt them in the final against Atletico Madrid but there was a lack of conviction about Fulham in Hamburg.

 

The Juventus result went a long way to securing the role at Anfield. There is little to say about his tenure on Merseyside except it was an impossible job. The conditions at the club were so bad that almost any manager would have failed. Hodgson did not help himself, though, with his attitude to the players, the fans and the local media. He could not understand what it took to be successful at a place like Liverpool.

There is little to say about Roy Hodgson's tenure at Liverpool

There is little to say about Roy Hodgson's tenure at Liverpool

(PA)

His time at England encapsulated his career. He failed to use talented players in the correct role, the team punched below their weight and when he left after the humiliating Euro 2016 defeat by Iceland, it was with breathtaking bad grace. “I really don’t know what I’m doing here,” was his spiteful opening gambit in the press conference, conducted the day after the embarrassing result and his resignation.

 

It’s hard to know what he is still doing in the affections of so many people. If he keeps Palace up it will be seen as another feather in his cap. Once again the bare minimum will be regarded as a triumph.

 

A faux sophistication has been projected on to Hodgson and it has created a myth. His reputation is greater than his achievements. He may be excellent after-dinner company but he is a very ordinary manager.

 

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