Paul Tomkins is a writer for whom I have enormous respect and who often influences my views on LFC matters but inevitably there are times when I don’t agree with him. I couldn’t disagree more with his recent assertion that “the 20 game mark appears to be the fairest time to draw further conclusions” on Hodgson’s tenure. Coming after the win over Chelsea, the comment smacked of knee-jerkism.
As good as that result was and as good as the three results preceding it were, the performances have remained abject. Had a single good result been obtained with a poor performance amongst a run of generally good performances, it wouldn’t be an issue but the reality is we have been dreadful in every one of 22 fixtures under Hodgson with the exceptions of the Rabotnicki and Blackburn home games.
In a single match you could argue that end justifies the means but you cannot say the same about a run of 22 games. Football fans are not solely interested in the final scores. If they were, they would check teletext or SKY Sports online an hour after games and not waste 2 hours of their lives actually watching them.
I know nothing about fishing but I would guess that for lovers of that pastime as much as they might enjoy the ‘thrill’ of catching a fish, equally integral to their experience are the peace, tranquillity and the feeling of being outdoors. If a fishing enthusiast was forced to fish in a stinking cesspit with a group of drunken yobs playing loud music and shouting obscenities in the immediate vicinity, would you expect him to be happy if he still caught a fish?
The whole experience of watching Liverpool play is being ruined by Hodgson. There are few if any opportunities to appreciate a good passing move by my team. Moments of goalmouth excitement and anticipation are rare. The confidence that we’re going to win the game never comes. It feels like waiting in a really, really long queue when you don’t even know if the kiosk will be open when you eventually get to the front.
As it is, on most occasions when we’ve fished in this cesspit we’ve caught nothing and on the rare occasions we have caught something it has been barely edible.
After the latest debacle at Stoke, Hodgson has to go now. Come on, NESV, act!
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Wigan 1 Liverpool 1: Yet another total Hodge up
After the Merseyside derby, Hodgson looked as though he was beyond the point of salvation. Slightly fortuitous victories over Blackburn and Bolton changed nothing. An awkward and undeserved third consecutive victory over Napoli did not alter opinions. Then victory over Chelsea finally sowed the tiniest seed of doubt into the minds of the man’s detractors. Yes the football was as ugly as Harry Redknapp in drag and slightly less exciting than pulling a cheap Christmas cracker, but with four successive victories and a rare defeat of the Premiership Champions, could it be that this style of football might be effective enough to actually improve on our 7th placed finish last season? Particularly when a win over a Wigan team sitting in the relegation zone could have put us at least 5th in the table – a remarkable turnaround after our recent spell in the bottom three.
If Hodgson has been successful at anything during his tenure as Liverpool manager, it has been lowering, nay demolishing expectations and he moved swiftly to ensure that anyone contemplating giving him support was immediately dissuaded.
An 8th minute lead after a spritely opening was quickly forgotten as Hodgson reverted to type, instructing his team to retreat into their own half, hoof long balls to no one and invite Wigan to attack for the remaining 80 minutes. That Wigan scored was no surprise. That they only scored once was a sign of their own lack of quality.
After it seemed the penny had dropped regarding Christian Poulsen, Hodgson brought the useless tosser on at half time. True Meireles was struggling as a central midfielder being played on the right wing but even struggling, Meireles is twice the player Poulsen is. Poulsen is shit and Hodgson wasted nearly £5m on signing him. Having seen him struggle in previous League games, bringing him off the bench here was an act of gross negligence – a sackable offence in itself.
Wigan were there for the taking yet Hodgson with his small club mindset was happy to take a point.
“It would have been harsh on Wigan had we won it and they can probably feel the 1-1 result flatters us more than them,” said Hodgson.
The man makes these statements as though commenting on something over which he had no control. Why did we allow a situation where defeat would have been harsh on Wigan? Why didn’t we put in a performance that would have resulted in Wigan deservedly losing? Surely Hodgson can join the dots and see that the likes of West Brom, Sunderland, Blackpool, Bolton and Wigan can all feel as though they deserved to win against us - clearly indicating that our approach in these games is the reason. In fact, the only team this season that deserved to be beaten by us on the day was Blackburn. Chelsea dominated us last week and but for failing to take their chances and the brilliant finishing of Fernando Torres, they would have won.
Hodgson then went on to bemoan the size of his squad. “You can put it [the result] down to Napoli, Blackburn, Bolton and Chelsea with a small squad of players.” Small squad? Hang on there, Hodgson, would this be the same squad that you were saying was too big not so long ago?
“We were unbelievably over-staffed when I came to the club and truth be known, we still are over-staffed,” said Hodgson back in September.
It’s quite clear that the man gives no thought to what comes out of his mouth either before or afterwards. It’s just one garbage statement after the next.
I said after the Chelsea game that he shouldn’t be sacked even if we lost to both Wigan and Stoke but I’m now reneging on that position. When I wrote that, I just didn’t expect us to totally revert to how we were playing before our recent run and for the manager to be so culpable in that.
He is a meandering buffoon and I’m just so exhausted with the debate around whether to sack him or not. This ship has now sailed. Hodgson has to go. The only question is when rather than if. To me, the answer is as soon as possible. I no longer care that some will call his removal harsh. He will cause more damage than good the longer he stays.
NESV need to carefully select Hodgson’s successor and in the meantime put Kenny in charge or even Sammy Lee – neither could do worse than the fucking idiot in situ right now.
If Hodgson has been successful at anything during his tenure as Liverpool manager, it has been lowering, nay demolishing expectations and he moved swiftly to ensure that anyone contemplating giving him support was immediately dissuaded.
An 8th minute lead after a spritely opening was quickly forgotten as Hodgson reverted to type, instructing his team to retreat into their own half, hoof long balls to no one and invite Wigan to attack for the remaining 80 minutes. That Wigan scored was no surprise. That they only scored once was a sign of their own lack of quality.
After it seemed the penny had dropped regarding Christian Poulsen, Hodgson brought the useless tosser on at half time. True Meireles was struggling as a central midfielder being played on the right wing but even struggling, Meireles is twice the player Poulsen is. Poulsen is shit and Hodgson wasted nearly £5m on signing him. Having seen him struggle in previous League games, bringing him off the bench here was an act of gross negligence – a sackable offence in itself.
Wigan were there for the taking yet Hodgson with his small club mindset was happy to take a point.
“It would have been harsh on Wigan had we won it and they can probably feel the 1-1 result flatters us more than them,” said Hodgson.
The man makes these statements as though commenting on something over which he had no control. Why did we allow a situation where defeat would have been harsh on Wigan? Why didn’t we put in a performance that would have resulted in Wigan deservedly losing? Surely Hodgson can join the dots and see that the likes of West Brom, Sunderland, Blackpool, Bolton and Wigan can all feel as though they deserved to win against us - clearly indicating that our approach in these games is the reason. In fact, the only team this season that deserved to be beaten by us on the day was Blackburn. Chelsea dominated us last week and but for failing to take their chances and the brilliant finishing of Fernando Torres, they would have won.
Hodgson then went on to bemoan the size of his squad. “You can put it [the result] down to Napoli, Blackburn, Bolton and Chelsea with a small squad of players.” Small squad? Hang on there, Hodgson, would this be the same squad that you were saying was too big not so long ago?
“We were unbelievably over-staffed when I came to the club and truth be known, we still are over-staffed,” said Hodgson back in September.
It’s quite clear that the man gives no thought to what comes out of his mouth either before or afterwards. It’s just one garbage statement after the next.
I said after the Chelsea game that he shouldn’t be sacked even if we lost to both Wigan and Stoke but I’m now reneging on that position. When I wrote that, I just didn’t expect us to totally revert to how we were playing before our recent run and for the manager to be so culpable in that.
He is a meandering buffoon and I’m just so exhausted with the debate around whether to sack him or not. This ship has now sailed. Hodgson has to go. The only question is when rather than if. To me, the answer is as soon as possible. I no longer care that some will call his removal harsh. He will cause more damage than good the longer he stays.
NESV need to carefully select Hodgson’s successor and in the meantime put Kenny in charge or even Sammy Lee – neither could do worse than the fucking idiot in situ right now.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0
Well, that was unexpected!
What does it mean for Roy? Well basically it gives him some breathing space. Even defeats to both Wigan and Stoke in our next fixtures wouldn’t lead to his dismissal after this run. It hasn’t always been pretty but after 4 wins Hodgson has earned some respite from the pressure he brought on himself.
It doesn’t change my opinion that he is the wrong man for the job. Today’s performance was at times good but at times less so. From an attacking perspective, it seemed as though the best parts of the performance stemmed from talented players clicking and doing what they were capable of rather than as a result of any sort of tactical plan. By contrast, from a defensive perspective, we appeared to be well drilled and clearly adhering to the manager’s instructions. That impression is entirely consistent with everything we’ve come to understand about the manager’s approach. Today that worked but I don’t believe such an approach will ever deliver the League title or would restore our experiences of regularly scalping Europe’s biggest giants as was the case under Rafa.
More sophistication is required if we are to progress to any level that I would consider acceptable.
That said, today it worked. There were mitigating circumstances. Deprived of Lampard and Essien and with Drogba severely inhibited by illness, this was probably a weaker Chelsea team than any Rafa faced in 26 matches over 6 years. Clearly things went for us today. Torres delivered the goods while Chelsea’s forwards fluffed their lines. Reina was fortunate with a couple of saves in the second half – one where the shot hit him as he made himself big and another where the ball amazingly rebounded off the crossbar – as Roy’s defensive tactics completely gifted Chelsea the initiative.
However, credit must be given to Hodgson. He looked down and out after the derby. He seemed beyond the point of no return. Somehow (and it mystifies me) he has won each of the four games since. In each game, the opposition played surprisingly poorly but, as the cliché goes “you can only beat what is in front of you” and Hodgson’s team has done so. Defensively we are seeing signs of improvement and one of the biggest positives today was the performance of Martin Kelly at right-back. He will ensure a continuing Scouse (and English) heartbeat at Anfield after messrs Carragher and Gerrard hang up their boots. It was also pleasing – though a tad risky – to see Shelvey and Spearing brought on ahead of more established yet underperforming squad players. Meanwhile N’gog did great after coming on and my Man of the Match was Lucas who was absolutely fantastic. Seeing Lucas today was like watching Mascherano on form. This was his best performance under Hodgson and it seems that Roy has finally twigged that Lucas needs to be in his first XI and Poulsen needs to be on Mars or further away if possible.
I’m actually buzzing right now. That is the first time since Hodgson took charge.
To be clear, I support the team; not the manager. I don’t want to see the brand of football Roy advocates and I don’t believe that Roy’s brand of football can deliver the successes I crave as a supporter. However, given the choice, I would rather win than play well. If Roy can continue to deliver wins – however ugly or fortunate they might appear – perhaps there will come a point where I have to concede his methods are more effective than I thought. I still don’t believe that will happen but then I didn’t believe we would win today.
I don’t want Roy as our manager but for as long as he is in post I want him to change my mind.
What does it mean for Roy? Well basically it gives him some breathing space. Even defeats to both Wigan and Stoke in our next fixtures wouldn’t lead to his dismissal after this run. It hasn’t always been pretty but after 4 wins Hodgson has earned some respite from the pressure he brought on himself.
It doesn’t change my opinion that he is the wrong man for the job. Today’s performance was at times good but at times less so. From an attacking perspective, it seemed as though the best parts of the performance stemmed from talented players clicking and doing what they were capable of rather than as a result of any sort of tactical plan. By contrast, from a defensive perspective, we appeared to be well drilled and clearly adhering to the manager’s instructions. That impression is entirely consistent with everything we’ve come to understand about the manager’s approach. Today that worked but I don’t believe such an approach will ever deliver the League title or would restore our experiences of regularly scalping Europe’s biggest giants as was the case under Rafa.
More sophistication is required if we are to progress to any level that I would consider acceptable.
That said, today it worked. There were mitigating circumstances. Deprived of Lampard and Essien and with Drogba severely inhibited by illness, this was probably a weaker Chelsea team than any Rafa faced in 26 matches over 6 years. Clearly things went for us today. Torres delivered the goods while Chelsea’s forwards fluffed their lines. Reina was fortunate with a couple of saves in the second half – one where the shot hit him as he made himself big and another where the ball amazingly rebounded off the crossbar – as Roy’s defensive tactics completely gifted Chelsea the initiative.
However, credit must be given to Hodgson. He looked down and out after the derby. He seemed beyond the point of no return. Somehow (and it mystifies me) he has won each of the four games since. In each game, the opposition played surprisingly poorly but, as the cliché goes “you can only beat what is in front of you” and Hodgson’s team has done so. Defensively we are seeing signs of improvement and one of the biggest positives today was the performance of Martin Kelly at right-back. He will ensure a continuing Scouse (and English) heartbeat at Anfield after messrs Carragher and Gerrard hang up their boots. It was also pleasing – though a tad risky – to see Shelvey and Spearing brought on ahead of more established yet underperforming squad players. Meanwhile N’gog did great after coming on and my Man of the Match was Lucas who was absolutely fantastic. Seeing Lucas today was like watching Mascherano on form. This was his best performance under Hodgson and it seems that Roy has finally twigged that Lucas needs to be in his first XI and Poulsen needs to be on Mars or further away if possible.
I’m actually buzzing right now. That is the first time since Hodgson took charge.
To be clear, I support the team; not the manager. I don’t want to see the brand of football Roy advocates and I don’t believe that Roy’s brand of football can deliver the successes I crave as a supporter. However, given the choice, I would rather win than play well. If Roy can continue to deliver wins – however ugly or fortunate they might appear – perhaps there will come a point where I have to concede his methods are more effective than I thought. I still don’t believe that will happen but then I didn’t believe we would win today.
I don’t want Roy as our manager but for as long as he is in post I want him to change my mind.
Liverpool v Chelsea: Preview
I know some people have actually been wanting us to lose matches just to ensure Hodgson goes. I can empathise but for the Blackburn and Bolton games, I’ve just wanted us to pick up the points to stave off the scarily real threat of relegation. In truth, I wasn’t unhappy when we were 1-0 down to Napoli in mid-week after another inept display and when Stevie G’s one-man show saved us from another fine Hodge up I had mixed emotions. On the one hand, I didn’t want our proud European record taking another battering and I certainly enjoyed Gerrard’s performance, despite his total disregard for tactical discipline and team work, but on the other hand, I wondered whether this might hand another stay of execution to our inept manager.
To me, Hodgson should have gone after the Derby if not before. However, I understand that the timing wasn’t right due to the takeover of the club. John W Henry simply couldn’t dismiss the incumbent manager within days of taking over the club. He has rightly been taking his time to look at all aspects of the club and put in place a board before taking any major decisions. Having been spared by circumstances, Hodgson was walking a tightrope and defeats in either of our last two League games could and should have pushed him off.
Fortunately for him, both games were won – in the case of the Blackburn game, deservedly so but the Bolton game was certainly won in spite of Hodgson; not because of him.
While I remain 100% convinced that he needs to go as soon as possible, I maintain that it would be wrong to sack the man after a win. Doing so would enable the critics to argue that he needed time to implement his methods and that the win was evidence of things starting to click. That such claims are complete bollocks is irrelevant. The new owner does not need the media slating him and painting him as trigger-happy. The club, meanwhile, does not need any more negative press and Hodgson’s successor (who would presumably be foreign) doesn’t need the media against him because they think their English pal was not given a fair chance.
I fully expect us to lose at home to Chelsea today and regardless of the three wins preceding it, that defeat should be enough justification for the new board to call time on this most disastrous of appointments. Critics may still argue that it is harsh to sack him so soon but those critics are the same misguided fools who lay the blame for all our ills at Rafa Benitez’s door. Those same idiots will not be swayed any time this season.
I would simply point to Hodgson’s record in the League this season which would read: Played 11, Won 3, Drew 3, Lost 5 and with a Goal Difference of at least -5. Nothing can change the fact that it is simply not good enough – not by a long way. Throw in the arguments that every performance bar 1 has been dreadful; Roy’s summer transfer dealings served only to weaken the quality of the squad and resulted in millions of pounds being wasted on average players at the wrong ends of their careers, and Roy embarrasses himself and the club every time he gives an interview or press conference and you have clear and compelling justification for his dismissal.
Should the new owners opt for a lenient approach with the bumbling boss, at least the appointment of Damien Comolli as Director of Football Strategy should ensure damage limitation. People’s reactions to the appointment has been typically ignorant. From questioning the need for such a role to criticising the man himself, the reactions have all been negative. “I don’t know what a Director of Football does!” I heard a moron exclaim this week as if that statement somehow decries the role. If you don’t know what the role is, don’t comment on it. How can you have a view on something you don’t understand? Fucking idiot.
Someone else (a Blueshite) said “Oh yes, he’s the one who signed Darren Bent for Spurs” – the insinuation being that he is therefore crap because Bent was a flop at Spurs. That Harry Redknapp couldn’t get the best out of Bent doesn’t mean he’s a bad player and he has since proven to be an excellent signing for Sunderland but citing Bent alone is clearly taking a one-sided view. The man was also responsible for the signings of Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Jenas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Dimitar Berbatov, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Heurelho Gomes, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka to name but a few. Most of those are currently key players in the Spurs’ team whose “successes” Harry Redknapp graciously milks the over-the-top plaudits. Meanwhile the signing and resale of Berbatov netted the club millions. It’s quite clear that Comolli played a significant role in reviving Spurs’ fortunes and it is to be hoped he will do the same for us.
What he will do is ensure that even if Hodgson is still in situ when the transfer window opens, we won’t be frittering away sums like £8 million on shite like Christian Poulsen (£4.6m) and Paul Konchesky (£3.5m) who, at 30 and 29 when signed have little or no resale value. We can expect to see a return to Rafa’s more sensible policy of investing in young players whose sell on values will increase so that even if they don’t cut it in the first team, we can generate income to reinvest in new players. For example, compare Hodgson’s £8m spend with the following players whose combined fees cost Rafa a similar amount: N’gog (£1.5m), Insua (£1.3m) and Lucas (£5m). For a combined value of £7.8m we signed 3 players worth an average of around £5-8m each. That’s good business.
To me, Hodgson should have gone after the Derby if not before. However, I understand that the timing wasn’t right due to the takeover of the club. John W Henry simply couldn’t dismiss the incumbent manager within days of taking over the club. He has rightly been taking his time to look at all aspects of the club and put in place a board before taking any major decisions. Having been spared by circumstances, Hodgson was walking a tightrope and defeats in either of our last two League games could and should have pushed him off.
Fortunately for him, both games were won – in the case of the Blackburn game, deservedly so but the Bolton game was certainly won in spite of Hodgson; not because of him.
While I remain 100% convinced that he needs to go as soon as possible, I maintain that it would be wrong to sack the man after a win. Doing so would enable the critics to argue that he needed time to implement his methods and that the win was evidence of things starting to click. That such claims are complete bollocks is irrelevant. The new owner does not need the media slating him and painting him as trigger-happy. The club, meanwhile, does not need any more negative press and Hodgson’s successor (who would presumably be foreign) doesn’t need the media against him because they think their English pal was not given a fair chance.
I fully expect us to lose at home to Chelsea today and regardless of the three wins preceding it, that defeat should be enough justification for the new board to call time on this most disastrous of appointments. Critics may still argue that it is harsh to sack him so soon but those critics are the same misguided fools who lay the blame for all our ills at Rafa Benitez’s door. Those same idiots will not be swayed any time this season.
I would simply point to Hodgson’s record in the League this season which would read: Played 11, Won 3, Drew 3, Lost 5 and with a Goal Difference of at least -5. Nothing can change the fact that it is simply not good enough – not by a long way. Throw in the arguments that every performance bar 1 has been dreadful; Roy’s summer transfer dealings served only to weaken the quality of the squad and resulted in millions of pounds being wasted on average players at the wrong ends of their careers, and Roy embarrasses himself and the club every time he gives an interview or press conference and you have clear and compelling justification for his dismissal.
Should the new owners opt for a lenient approach with the bumbling boss, at least the appointment of Damien Comolli as Director of Football Strategy should ensure damage limitation. People’s reactions to the appointment has been typically ignorant. From questioning the need for such a role to criticising the man himself, the reactions have all been negative. “I don’t know what a Director of Football does!” I heard a moron exclaim this week as if that statement somehow decries the role. If you don’t know what the role is, don’t comment on it. How can you have a view on something you don’t understand? Fucking idiot.
Someone else (a Blueshite) said “Oh yes, he’s the one who signed Darren Bent for Spurs” – the insinuation being that he is therefore crap because Bent was a flop at Spurs. That Harry Redknapp couldn’t get the best out of Bent doesn’t mean he’s a bad player and he has since proven to be an excellent signing for Sunderland but citing Bent alone is clearly taking a one-sided view. The man was also responsible for the signings of Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Jenas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Dimitar Berbatov, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Heurelho Gomes, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka to name but a few. Most of those are currently key players in the Spurs’ team whose “successes” Harry Redknapp graciously milks the over-the-top plaudits. Meanwhile the signing and resale of Berbatov netted the club millions. It’s quite clear that Comolli played a significant role in reviving Spurs’ fortunes and it is to be hoped he will do the same for us.
What he will do is ensure that even if Hodgson is still in situ when the transfer window opens, we won’t be frittering away sums like £8 million on shite like Christian Poulsen (£4.6m) and Paul Konchesky (£3.5m) who, at 30 and 29 when signed have little or no resale value. We can expect to see a return to Rafa’s more sensible policy of investing in young players whose sell on values will increase so that even if they don’t cut it in the first team, we can generate income to reinvest in new players. For example, compare Hodgson’s £8m spend with the following players whose combined fees cost Rafa a similar amount: N’gog (£1.5m), Insua (£1.3m) and Lucas (£5m). For a combined value of £7.8m we signed 3 players worth an average of around £5-8m each. That’s good business.
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