At long last, the mistake is rectified!

I take no pleasure in saying this but I predicted back when Hodgson was appointed that he would become the first Liverpool manager since Phil Taylor to fail to win a trophy in his tenure and I was absolutely spot on. I would have been delighted had he proved me wrong but it was clear as soon as he set out with his 4-4-2 formation at Man City in only our second league game of the season that that was never going to happen.

That Hodgson has finally been given the boot today is fantastic news for everyone with the best interests of Liverpool Football Club at heart but the truth is he should never have been appointed into the post in the first place. He was appointed by people who shouldn’t have been at the club in the first place and who collectively dragged the club out of the top four and into mediocrity.

Gillett, Hicks and Christian Purslow were the main culprits. Hodgson was merely one of their mistakes. Gillett and Hicks got their comeuppance when the courts humiliatingly stripped the club off them resulting in massive financial losses. Purslow got the sack when the new owners took up office although the feeling remains he deserves a heavier punishment for his roles in ousting Rafa Benitez, in appointing Hodgson and in the farcical transfer dealings of the summer.

After these three had departed, we found ourselves still stuck with Hodgson as our new owners with no knowledge of English soccer attempted to sort the truth from Hodgson’s lies, excuses and other bizarre utterances.

Now the way has been cleared for a golden future but, to paraphrase the famous song, we have a little more storm to weather before we will see the golden sky and hear the sweet silver song of the lark. Depending on how you see things, Kenny Dalglish has a massive job on his hands to turn around the fortunes of this club.

I have every confidence that he can coax an instant positive response from a bunch of disillusioned players who are far better than results this season have suggested. I no longer fear relegation but neither do I expect us to challenge for the Champions League places. From where Hodgson has left us (12th) I would accept us finishing in the top 7 or 8 and therefore maintaining our record of having never finished below 8th in the Premiership. Finishing 6th would be a real achievement and higher nothing short of miraculous.

The hope is that he can restore a feel-good factor that gives the longer-term successor something to build on when he takes over in the summer. However, even if under Dalglish the team just goes through the motions and finishes in the top 10, at least we will have avoided the ultimate humiliation of relegation that had looked such a frightening possibility under Hodgson.

Hodgson should never have been Liverpool manager but then Gillett and Hicks should never have been the club’s ‘custodians’. Let us hope the future features no more villains from within the club and we can focus on taking on those we love to hate amongst our rivals.