After yet another defeat away from home Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has come out fighting, stating his firm belief that no-one else could do better given the circumstances surrounding the Merseyside club.
Despite pre-season expectations of a top four spot the Reds currently lie ninth in the Premier League - nine points off the Champions League places - and have won just one game away from home, the fourth worst record in the division.
Hodgson made the move to Merseyside in the summer while previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were battling to keep control of the club. During that time the prohibitive debts they had piled onto the Reds during the initial takeover were becoming harder to maintain.
Because of that Hodgson feels he has had one arm tied behind his back on the transfer front and believes an urgent cash-injection is needed in order for the club to progress He also worryingly believes that he “can't do more than I am doing….. I can't work harder, I can't work better."
Hmmm…
While I agree things haven’t been exactly easy since the 63-year-old made the move from Fulham, Hicks and Gillett were slowly paralysing the club after all, it can’t be denied he has made a less than convincing start.
Signings like Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen have failed to set the world alight while poor away form is something that follows Hodgson around. Out of 82 Away fixtures in the Premier League with Blackburn, Fulham and now Liverpool Hodgson has been on the winning side on just 13 occasions. A 16% win ratio is simply not good enough for a club with top four aspirations.
And if this is Hodgson at his best how are things going to improve?
The fans are already starting to get a bit restless and despite new owners NESV pledging their support of the 63-year-old you do wonder how long their patience will last. The events of the past week have demonstrated how trigger happy rich owners can be in the Premier League.
Liverpool now face a busy run of six games in 21 days ahead of a date at Old Trafford in the FA Cup on January 9th. If Liverpool’s woes spill over into the New Year and their old rivals dump them out of the cup, time could rapidly run out for Roy Hodgson.
We're "over staffed" er, I mean "The squad's too thin". No make that "it's not my squad". How about "it's the turmoil behind the scenes"? Remember I'm a 'feted' (sic) manager with 35 years of failure behind me.
ReplyDeletehe was praising the players after the villa win, saying how he did not sell the players, but after the loss said that it's not his squad. wth ???!!!
ReplyDeleteHi mate....nice work...i would like to make an exchange of links with you....is it possible? come to visit mine and let me know if you are interested in it..have a good day
ReplyDeleteRafa had one arm tied behind his back and needed a cash injection for new players. I am sure if Rafa was still in charge we would be doing a lot better already this season. He wasn't perfect and may not have been the man to get us the premiership but we should not have got rid of him until we had a real replacement lined up - not Hodgson!
ReplyDeleterijkaard, hiddink, mourinho, benitez, dalglish, o'neil, guardiola, redknapp, ancellotti, hitzfeld, del bosque, guardiola, pellegrinni, ferguson will all do far better than hodgson under the circumstances. the man lacks character, lacks charisma, is tactically inept + not fit to sit in bob paisley's chair. NESV please do the rite thing and get him out. NOW
ReplyDelete