Andre Villas Boas- A Closer Look At Hodgson’s Potential Sucessor

Source

With Roy Hodgson seemingly on his way out of Anfield, speculation is rife as to who will be his successor. As expected, the usual suspects in terms of household managerial names are doing the rounds in the papers; the likes of Rijkaard, Hiddink and Martin O'Neill continue having their names linked with the soon to be vacant managerial position at Anfield.

However, NESV's arrival at Anfield along with their innovative outlook, has resulted in a shortlist of relatively unknown managers being continually linked to the Liverpool managers job. Jurgen Klopp, Ralf Rangnick, and Andre Villas Boas being those receiving the most attention in the national media. With Guus Hiddink being the only available household name worth considering in my opinion, a lot of excitement is beginning to surround the names of the relative unknowns of the managerial world, particularly that of Andre Villas Boas.

In just six months as manager of FC Porto, Villas Boas has done his reputation immeasurable amounts, particularly as outside of Portugal it's fair to say his reputation was non-existent prior to his appointment as manager. At the age of 33, with no prior experience of top-flight management, Villas Boas has become one of the hottest properties in world football. Like any young Portugese manager with great potential and no previous footballing experience, the Jose Mourinho comparisons have become somewhat inevitable.

A former scout and assistant to Mourinho, Villas Boas has come into the spotlight in quite spectacular fashion. The last few years has seen Porto become less of a threat in European competition whilst also losing their stranglehold on the Portugese League they became accustomed to winning. Along with the sale of Bruno Alves and Raul Miereles, Porto lost two of their best players, they were expected to fall further away in the running for the title. Twelve wins out of fourteen so far this season suggests Villas Boas has every chance of winning the title with his new team. He currently holds an 89% win ratio in all games in his short time at Porto, a remarkable record for a young man new to the high pressure environment of big club management. To those about to question his credentials when things aren't going so well, you only have to look at the job he did at Academica, his first managerial job, who were rock bottom of the league without a win until he took over and subsequently secured an eleventh placed finish, with a run to the semi-finals of the Portuguese cup thrown in for good measure.

His short career so far certainly suggests he is a Mourinho in the making, but would he be the right man for Liverpool? If the rumours are to be believed, NESV are keen to employ a young up and coming manager and Villas Boas certainly fits the bill in that respect. With regards to Liverpool though, this may a big step too soon for the young man. Despite his CV looking too good to be true, the step up to the Premier League would be a huge one for him. The pressure and expectancy on his shoulders from the media and the fans would be enormous and could prove, as it has done in the past, debilitating for certain managers. Particularly in a league which is considerably more competitive than the Portugal's Premier Division. On the other hand, although in hugely different circumstances, a novice manager like Pep Guardiola has coped and succeeded under massive pressure from fans and the media; he was a risk who truly paid off.

His age may also cause concern for some, particularly those in the dressing room. A manager younger than certain members of the playing squad may have difficulties earning his team's respect, particularly when that manager hasn't achieved at the highest level; something many Liverpool players have been used to in recent years, Hodgson aside. For those that argue that Guardiola hadn't, I imagine his reputation within Barcelona was already fairly formidable given his illustrious playing career and close ties to the club and city.

The free-flowing, attacking football Villas Boas has got Porto playing would be well received by the Anfield faithful. However, the English and Portuguese games have major differences. Portugal is a nation that arguably nurtures more technically gifted players than England, and along with the physical nature of the Premier League that many foreign managers struggle to begin with, and this may cause significant problems for a relatively inexperienced coach like Villas Boas. Another problem that has caused great difficulty for foreign managers in England is the language barrier. This could possibly be a reason Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher are rumoured to be so much in favour of British managers. Fluent in English, Andre Villas Boas would jump over that huge hurdle before even arriving at Anfield.

Despite recently signing a new contract with Porto, I’m sure John Henry and Co. won’t abandon their recently acquired knowledge regarding the worthlessness of footballing contracts, and still try to attempt to get him on board despite his commitments. Any man or club has their price, and although he may perceive the Liverpool job to be too early in his career, working for Liverpool would turn any manager’s head.

Unfortunately, Liverpool may have had a better chance capturing him six months ago, as the potential for success he has displayed at Porto in his short time there will have interested a lot of clubs. It is probable this man will have more than one offer on his table next summer.

A young, forward-thinking, charismatic Portuguese manager with a similarly analytical and academic background as Mourinho, already proving to be a success in his homeland whilst playing attractive, attacking football does sound quite appealing. Combined with fitting NESV’s specification immaculately he looks like a more than interesting candidate. I, for one, would be prepared to take the risk.

Submitted by Some Team Up North

MUST READ ARTICLE BY DION FANNING(IRISH INDEPENDENT)

Date: 03 January, 2011 22:49

Today's awesome article at the Irish independent by Dion Fanning, defo worth a read.

Grumbling on towards an inevitable conclusion
The establishment's choice to be Liverpool boss, Roy Hodgson has failed utterly, writes Dion Fanning

By Dion Fanning


Sunday January 02 2011

F ootball supporters turning on their club's manager is not new but for a manager to turn on his club's supporters is more unusual.

Roy Hodgson's dismal and utterly predictable time as Liverpool manager effectively came to an end last Wednesday night. Hodgson is just a patsy, one of the last remaining figures from the old regime. The hopes of the Fenway Sports Group that the club could stagger on until the summer vanished with that defeat to Wolves.

Hodgson's contribution after the game, when he criticised the lack of support he has received from the supporters, might have deflected from the defeat but not as he imagined. Once more, he demonstrated why Liverpool is not only too big a club, even in its dysfunction, for him to manage but also a club he doesn't understand.

The chant of 'Hodgson for England' was a hydra-headed beast. It was the first time Liverpool fans had chanted Hodgson's name and they were only doing it to discard him. In the process they were offering him to an entity they care nothing about: England.

Hodgson was the establishment's appointment. It played well among certain opinion-formers, opinion-formers who had been very impressed with Christian Purslow. Last Wednesday night, Liverpool fans demonstrated that these men know nothing about Liverpool Football Club and its otherness.

Those who felt it was significant that Liverpool appoint an English manager failed to grasp the qualities that make the club, in the eyes of its supporters at least, different. Hodgson was coming from middle England. He is a church warden, a desk sergeant, a man whose reasonableness is only matched by a sense of persecution that he has not been given a fair deal. In another life, you could see him complaining if the 7.47 from Clapham Junction was running late.

In this life, he has complained about everything: the players he has had to work with, the number of times Liverpool appear on television and the scrutiny of the media (no manager has had such powerful backing from press and television). His grumbling has confirmed that he cannot do the job. At times, he almost seems to think it himself. "I don't think they [the fans] got behind my appointment," he said on Friday, "and there's no reason why they should."

He was an appointment made in crisis. Hanging over the club in the summer was the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett (Jose Mourinho let it be known that the ownership would have to change before he would consider the job) but while that ruled out top managers, it was not the conflict that led to Hodgson's appointment.

Christian Purslow fancied himself as a football man. He was considered a financial wizard. "He saw himself as the Fernando Torres of finance," said one who worked closely with him. Purslow would be vindicated on the financial front in one respect: he helped get Hicks and Gillett out of Liverpool.

His involvement in anything to do with the football side of Liverpool was another story. In the last unhappy year of Rafael Benitez's time as manager, Purslow was never slow to offer an opinion. He became a sounding board for influential players, who expressed their dissatisfaction. There was rarely a point during Benitez's time when players weren't dissatisfied -- that was part of his managerial style. Yet, on the field, until last season, results would often mask the dissatisfaction. Victory usually does.

In Benitez's last season, decay set it. The reasons for this would be disputed by all those involved but when Benitez was worn down by the endless feuds and his contribution to them, a different appointment had to be made.

Despite talking to other candidates, Purslow was always drawn to Hodgson. He offered reasonableness and an ability to talk intelligently about other subjects, to mention Philip Roth or John Updike, where Benitez would just want more.

After a manager who saw everything in terms of war, Liverpool wanted peace. It was an appalling reading of the situation. Liverpool imagined a more harmonious club with a manager who would offer hugs and kind words where Benitez would just seek endless, tiring improvement.

Well, the hugs don't work. Hodgson has been defensive, not open, and those who felt he would bring an improvement in Liverpool's style of play had really not paid attention during his career. He was always in an impossible position. A significant minority of supporters mourned Benitez and there is something of the post-Saipan atmosphere at Liverpool at the moment.

The fans who have turned on Hodgson are not, as some suggest, falling victim to modern life's impatience. If they were merely impatient, it would not explain why some remain loyal to Benitez. Sky can dismiss the idea of Benitez returning but they would be better asking why some supporters remain loyal to the former manager and never felt close to Hodgson, except to demonstrate some ex officio loyalty.

As in so many things, they misread the club when they say it is unlike Liverpool to turn on a manager. Liverpool has never appointed a manager like Hodgson before.

Before the game against Wolves, Hodgson once again defended himself and insisted he was the right man for the job. "I know that I am capable of doing this job, but maybe the expectations and ambitions of the club were too high and weren't lessened by the fact that I came off the back of such a good season." In other words, he could manage a club like Liverpool if it wasn't a club like Liverpool. If it was, say, Fulham. Other managers have battled with the expectation of Liverpool supporters but none has gone about setting the bar as low as Hodgson.

After a win against Aston Villa, Hodgson was asked by his friends at Sky, Martin Tyler's Monkey and the hairy-handed halfwit, if this was title-winning form. The friends dissolved in laughter. The Fulham manager was laughing. Liverpool challenging for the title wasn't always as preposterous.

Nobody expected Liverpool to do that this season, but there has been a dismantling of expectation. That night, two friends and bullshitters met. Hodgson and Houllier. Houllier made his own disastrous misreading of Aston Villa supporters when he waved to the Liverpool fans but not his own at the end of the game. Last week, he backed Hodgson to get it right. It could have been the kiss of death. In fact, he might have kissed himself to death.

A few weeks ago, Hodgson spoke about how he had to overturn decisions made by Purslow about players the then managing director felt should leave the club.

It was another astonishing glimpse into the summer's chaos. Purslow, it turned out, was no judge of a player. He pursued Joe Cole for his signature when other voices who were then at the club described the player as "brainless".

Hodgson explained how he had kept some players Purslow didn't rate. A few pointed out that Purslow had appointed Hodgson too.

Those who defend Hodgson by saying he has not changed as a manager since last summer when he won the Manager of the Year award are getting close to the truth. Hodgson hasn't got any worse, he was never good enough in the first place.

On Wednesday, as he talked about a lack of respect to Wolves if people expect Liverpool to beat them easily and droned about the result not always matching the expectations of the supporters (his expectations were clearly different), he sounded again like a man drained of ambition.

He believed his achievements in the past year entitled him to the Liverpool job. He has the bureaucrat's mindset: he works slowly and methodically and eventually becomes an assistant secretary. "To some extent it was a reward for the work I had put in, not just at Fulham but in the years before. It was a recognition of my competence."

Hodgson used to compare his record to Alex Ferguson's if only people would take the Scandinavian leagues into account. "Those of us who work in the game and have been working in the game a long time know that the magic wand doesn't exist," he said last week.

Again it is a reasonable position but the managers who make a difference at Liverpool, Manchester United or Arsenal believe they can change everything. They believe in their own magic. Hodgson's strength is making mediocre teams slightly less mediocre and of never expecting too much.

The chants for Kenny Dalglish that were heard again on Wednesday do not necessarily mean that the fans see him as the saviour. This is not Newcastle, longing for the return of Kevin Keegan. Simply, Dalglish represents everything Hodgson is not and, in fairness, everything Hodgson could or would not hope to be.

Dalglish watched people die supporting his football club and then felt it was his duty to allow this tragedy to consume him. If he could be a temporary appointment, it would at least have the benefit of unifying the club. Dalglish, however, may no longer be interested in a caretaker position.

Liverpool will need to look for a man of ambition after that. Those who suggest the senior players at the club should be consulted are in danger of making the same mistakes again.

Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher felt they could work with Hodgson when their relationship with Benitez had broken down. One of the new manager's biggest tasks will be to confront the problem of Gerrard, who has lost his explosiveness, and gently ease Carragher, who is past it, out the door. Carragher signed a new contract on the last day of the old regime which was another curious decision in a summer when many were made.

Hodgson's appointment was the most calamitous of all. In six months, he has dragged Liverpool into a relegation battle and, in his own way, remodelled the club in his image.

If part of his job specification was to shatter the expectations at Liverpool Football Club, then he can walk away with his head held high.

- Dion Fanning

[www.independent.ie]

Roy Hodgson argues for change of boss at Liverpool FC

Source

Jan 3 2011 By Ben Thornley

OF all the voices who have argued for a change of management at Anfield this season one man has consistently made the most compelling case – Roy Hodgson.
There has never have been a Liverpool boss as universally disliked by supporters as the Londoner.
But it’s not just the regressive tactics, awful signings (Christian Poulsen and Paul Konchesky) and pitiful away form (six defeats in nine games with a goal difference of -10) that has turned the Kop against him.
Liverpool supporters have become accustomed to their managers being equally skilled as orators, a trend begun by the great Bill Shankly. Even the quieter men among the club’s roll call of bosses like Bob Paisley could be relied upon for cutting sound bites.
Not Hodgson. Barely a press conference goes by without the former UAE coach embarrassing himself and the club, alienating a player or enraging fans.
Here is a collection of the worst efforts of his first – and hopefully only – six months in charge:

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. I'm hoping that between now and Christmas we'll have ample quality to see us through that period.
On not buying another striker

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.
Hodgson changes his mind a month later.

They'll be a formidable challenge – there's no question about that.
On Carling Cup opponents, struggling league Two side Northampton

I thought we did quite well when (Northampton) they took the lead in the extra time and we threw caution to the wind it gave us the equaliser.
Hodgson uses the words ‘throw caution to the wind’ about playing a League Two side. At Anfield.

That was as good as we have played all season..... To get a result here – against Everton – would have been Utopia.
After the wretched loss to Everton

I know Sir Alex (Ferguson) is not really a Liverpool man so I’m a bit concerned about my excellent relationship with him.
I sincerely hope he forgives me for moving north and hopefully we can have a glass of wine together, maybe in secret.
Hodgson endears himself to Liverpool fans everywhere

I prefer to talk about the game and talk about issues that interest me. Mr Ferguson is entitled to any opinion he wants to have but I'm not going to come here and say I agree or disagree.
Hodgson refuses to defend Fernando Torres against accusations of cheating

I understand (Frank) Rijkaard has just been sacked from Galatasaray – he must be a great manager to have been sacked by Galatasaray.
'Nice guy' Roy on the Champions League and La Liga winning manager

You would have to ask (Glen Johnson) '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?
Showing his man-management skills

The protest does not help but it is something I have had to live with since I came to the club.
Criticising the fans’ protest against the club’s former owners

I was disappointed – and I've told him this – that he – Dalglish – applied for the job in the summer because I don't think that was ever really going to happen for him.
Putting Liverpool legend Dalglish in his place, a man who has won more trophies than Hodgson has Premier League away games in his entire time in England

I've been involved in some big derbies in my career and you know how much they mean to the fans.... I didn't like losing in those games, which I did quite often. I did poorly so it would be nice to change that.
Hodgson shows he’s the man for the big occasion before losing 3-2 to Manchester United.

He’s a quality player and we will be working hard on our tactics to make sure he doesn’t dominate the game.
No, not Lionel Messi, rather Fulham’s Danny Murphy, who was sent packing by Liverpool six years ago.

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
Showing his modest side.

Are you from Denmark? (No, Norway replied the journalist) Ah, two countries I never want to work in again.
Insulting a Norweigian journalist and a large part of Liverpool’s fan base.

We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players that we have brought in for next to nothing.
Having a dig at Champions League winning former Reds boss Rafa Benitez and his transfer record

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.
Reeling off some of the massive clubs he’s managed. Not so much a who’s who of European football as a who are they?

Today was a famous victory
No, not Liverpool’s win in Istanbul but a 1-0 triumph over Bolton at the Reebok.

There aren't many quality left-backs around in the world, never mind in England – so to find an English one ( Paul Konchesky) who can go straight into the team without any adjustment problems is a big advantage.
Hodgson, who sold Roberto Carlos to Real Madrid while manager of Inter Milan, knows a good left back when he sees one.

Christian (Poulsen) is an all-round player. He is capable of scoring goals, a good passer of the ball and a good defender.
After paying £4.5m on the 30-year-old plodder.

He's not that bad on the ball.
After seeing him play.

It is very early for me to make very strong judgements about where his best position is.
Hodgson shows the depth of his research on £11.5m signing Raul Meireles, who has played his entire career in central midfield. Until he came to Anfield.

I don't understand questions about Liverpool and Fulham players being different types
Who said Hodgson doesn’t grasp how big a club Liverpool is?

I've had several bad experiences. Even at Halmstad in the 70s, in the year we won our second championship, it took until the second half of the season to win our first game away and that broke a record going back two seasons. We went over two seasons without winning an away game.
On his wretched away form throughout his career.

Fans make their frustrations felt every time we lose, but unfortunately they may have to do that a few more times, because I can't see us going through a season winning every game.
Roy promises the good times are going to roll again after the 2-0 defeat to Stoke

I don't know where the stories came from that Gerrard would be fit for Newcastle.
From your Head of Sports Medicine Dr Peter Brukner, Roy.

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.
Asking Torres to play against Utrecht while also motivating his reserves

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.
Revealing who picks the team.

I think we will cross that bridge when we come to it... I am not naive to believe there won’t be any danger and we will never lose a player like Torres, I understand these things can happen
Issuing a stern hands-off Torres warning to pal Ferguson. Well, kind of.

When it was mooted the club wanted me for the job I made it clear to Kenny I wanted him on board and it wouldn’t be like it was with Benitez where he’d be here in name only. It wouldn’t be the case that Kenny would be never be allowed to step foot into Melwood.
Having another dig at the Spaniard, a claim which was exposed as a lie by the Champions League winning manager

He's not so much a player I can really take responsibility for. I'd have to share the responsibility for Joe, less so than for people like [Christian] Poulsen, [Raul] Meireles and [Paul] Konchesky, who are players I was quite happy to bring to the club.
Washing his hands of Joe Cole a week before the former Chelsea midfielder earns Liverpool a 2-1 victory over Bolton

Ever since I came here, the famous Anfield support hasn't really been there.There was the problem with the owners and Kenny being so popular and the job going to me, so I have had to live with that. I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support. We are not deliberately losing games.
Roy puts the final nail in his coffin

____________________________

Hodgson Putting the Gaff in Gaffer

A few weeks back, someone emailed me a list of Roy Hodgson’s PR gaffes, to put onto this site. I decided against using them, thinking it might be seen as unfair, but they do paint the picture of a man who underestimated the pressure at Liverpool FC, and who has looked hopelessly out of his depth.

There have been moments of good humour from the boss, but mostly it’s been spikiness and a desire to protect his own reputation before that of his players.

This is not intended as a personal attack, simply a demonstration of a man who appears to have bitten off more than he can chew.

I haven’t included his more recent gaffes (the Rafa/Dalglish lie, slating players in public, etc) ; there appear to be enough here, in what was sent to me.

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/boss-we-ll-rise-to-challenge

29 July 2010 – “It’s a massive step up.”

(Describing the challenge facing the squad he took to Macedonia. A squad that included Cavalieri, Soto, Skrtel, Agger, Aquilani, Lucas, Jovanovic and N’Gog.)

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/we-don-t-need-overhaul

30 July 2010 – “I don’t think I’ve ever said the squad is in need of a major overhaul,” said the boss. “We need to add one or two players to the team.

“It is important we keep the nucleus from last season and a nucleus of players who are maybe just behind the first team.”

Contrast with:

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-reflects-on-summer-deals

9 September 2010 – “We should be very happy [with summer dealings].” “We were unbelievably overstaffed when I came to the club and, if the truth be known, we still are overstaffed.” [Could mean fringe players here. But his own signings have only added to the deadwood.]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_6473926,00.html

29 October 2010 – “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.”

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8097807/Liverpool-manager-Roy-Hodgson-insists-Pepe-Reina-and-Fernando-Torres-will-not-be-sold.html

29 October 2010 – “I do not want to be taking people’s leftovers. We have got those type of players ourselves. If we are going to improve, we need better.”

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/hodgson-no-striker-regrets

10 September 2010 – “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 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.” (Saying he didn’t regret not signing a striker in the summer.)

Contrast with:

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/10/31/2191550/roy-hodgson-stresses-need-to-bring-in-strikers-in-january-as

31 October 2010 – “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.”

“In training, I can’t have practice games where each team plays a 4-4-2 because I don’t have the front players to do that.”

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/forget-man-city-warns-hodgson

25 August 2010 – “I thought for long periods of the game it was fairly even and both teams passed the ball fairly well in the middle of the park. But the difference, as in all games, is goals.” (After Man City 3-0 loss. Simply not an accurate reflection of the game.)

* * *

Describing the Trabzonspor win as “a famous victory”.

http://www.insidefutbol.com/2010/10/04/liverpool-boss-roy-hodgson-admits-current-relegation-battle/30690/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-01/liverpool-manager-roy-hodgson-hails-famous-win-to-end-barren-away-run.html

“Today was a famous victory because we hadn’t won more than once away in the whole of 2010,”

* * *

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Liverpool-boss-Roy-Hodgson-claims-to-know-nothing-about-Loic-Remy-article528957.html

16 July 2010 – “He’s a player I know very little about.” (About French international striker, Loïc Rémy.)

* * *

4 October 2010 – “There are 31 games left, but when you are in the relegation zone you are in a relegation battle.” (After Blackpool defeat.)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/bbc/offthepitch/2010-10/05/content_11378535.htm

“Unfortunately, when you give yourself an uphill task with a 0-2 you’ve got to expect it’s going to be very difficult in the second half against a team of Blackpool’s quality.”

Liverpool hadn’t lost a home game to a promoted side since 1999.

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-no-david-vs-goliath

16 September 2010 – “You don’t play in the Europa League to play against poor opponents.”

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-show-us-you-are-lfc-class

22 September 2010 – “They’ll be a formidable challenge – there’s no question about that.” (About Northampton Town. Who were at the time 17^th in the 4th tier of English football.)

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-s-view-on-cup-defeat

23 September 2010 – “Northampton were clearly better than one would have expected from a team playing where they play.” And on 18-year-old Shelvey’s debut…. “He did well but the fact is he came on in extra-time and people were tiring.”

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-s-reaction-to-2-2-draw

26 September 2010 – “…in many ways it was the performance we wanted.”

“I think over the 90 minutes we were certainly more than worth the point we got.” (After dreadful Sunderland performance. A team we had dispatched 3-0 the previous year.)

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-reacts-to-utrecht-draw

1 October – “So it’s a good point to take back to Liverpool. Four points out of two games. It’s the first time we haven’t won one of these games but to be honest it would have been unfortunate for them if we’d won the game tonight. They would have felt hard done by. For me, a draw was a more than satisfactory result.” (After Utrecht 0-0. They’re not even in the top 100 European clubs by UEFA coefficient.)

* * *

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-boss-Roy-Hodgson-left-raging-after-an-insulting-question-from-a-journalist-about-his-training-methods-article593189.html

2 October 2010 – “What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmsteds to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team.”

* * *

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/roy-s-everton-verdict-1

17 October 2010, after 2-0 defeat at Everton “This was always going to be a difficult game to win.” (It wasn’t for the previous two Reds’ managers.)

“To get a result here and win the game would have been utopia.”

“I hope that fair-minded people see the game the same way. I think it’s a bit unfortunate that after such a good game of football, everything revolves around the fact that Liverpool didn’t win it.”

“We didn’t score goals and Everton did but I refuse to accept that we were in any way outplayed or any way inferior. I watched the performance and the second half was as good as I saw a Liverpool team play under my management that is for sure.”

* * *

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2010/10/21/liverpool-fc-manager-roy-hodgson-fears-man-utd-move-for-fernando-torres-100252-27515832/

21 October 2010, responding to alleged interest from Manchester United in Torres – “With Torres, I think we will cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Hodgson. “There will always be speculation.

“When a great player like Wayne Rooney is looking to leave his club, Manchester United will be a position to target a lot of players around the world.

“I don’t think Fernando Torres will be the only striker they target and I don’t think that we will be the only club that will be worried their striker can be targeted.

“I am not naive to believe that there won’t be any danger and we will never lose a player like Torres.”

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“I hope we don’t get beaten too heavily” … before the friendly with Al Hilal

“I hope we don’t get beaten 6-0” … before the Man City game.

* * *

Do you think, Torres is more suiteable to playing alone, or with a striking partner?

RH: “I don’t know.”