An Ode To Roy Hodgson

 

 Hodgson: In his natural environment

I hate raking over old ground and my word did I rake over this topic between August and January but the wounds have been reopened as a certain owl faced manager has opened his mouth again. As Liverpool and Roy Hodgson go head to head for the first team since King Incompetent bit the bullet it’s given him another opportunity to moan about the treatment he received from the Liverpool fans. 

The fact that Hodgson points the finger at the fans tells you everything you need to know about the man. I am convinced he is made Teflon; criticism does not stick to him. Instead of looking at the reasons why he left Liverpool on the back of some of the worst displays Liverpool fans have seen for years and sitting just four points off the relegation zone, he deflects attention away from his own failings and towards the supporters and Kenny Dalglish. It’s the hallmark of Hodgson; just ask the Inter Milan fans who threw coins at him before he was removed from the San Siro. It was results which got Hodgson sacked, the fans calling for Dalglish was just a consequence. To manage Liverpool or indeed any club that expects to be in the mix for trophies you need to show spirit, fight and crucially win games. Roy Hodgson fails on every count.

I can say I was NEVER behind his appointment from day one but I can also say that Hodgson did initially receive backing from a large section of the fans that were “willing to give him a chance”. The fans only turned when the more patient amongst the Liverpool support caught up with the rest of us in realising the man was a moron. I remember the day well, when Blackpool gave Liverpool a true footballing lesson on their own turf.

Hodgson was working under difficult circumstances, there is no doubt about that but he created a whole new set of circumstances all by himself. The respective results of Hodgson and Dalglish this season tell their own story, Hodgson took 25pts from 60pts available to him; Dalglish has taken 20 pts from 30pts available. The statistics are damning and make Hodgson’s cries even more laughable. 

For Hodgson to claim his downfall was working in the shadow of “an icon” is ridiculous. His downfall was his diabolical transfer policy, his negative football, his refusal to change his tactics and his cringeworthy interviews.  In Roy’s World, he knows best, he has the 35 years of experience to back it up. I stress, in Roy’s World. Thank fuck Liverpool aren’t in that world anymore.