Saturday

Hodgson leaves Liverpool FC



8th Jan 2011 - Latest News
Liverpool FC confirmed today that manager Roy Hodgson has left the club by mutual consent.
Principal Owner John Henry commented: "We are grateful for Roy's efforts over the past six months, but both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down from his position as team manager. We wish him all the best for the future."
Roy Hodgson said: "Being asked to manage Liverpool Football Club was a great privilege. Any manager would be honoured to manage a club with such an incredible history, such embedded tradition and such an amazing set of fans. Liverpool is one of the great clubs in world football. I have, however, found the last few months some of the most challenging of my career. I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool. The club has some great, world-class players, with whom it has been a pleasure to work and I wish the entire squad well for the rest of the season. I thank those with whom I have built up a close working relationship at the club for their loyalty and support during very testing times, and finally of course to the Liverpool fans, your passion and dedication to the club will see Liverpool at the top of the game once more." 
Club legend Kenny Dalglish will assume control of team matters for Sunday's third round FA Cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Henry added: "We are delighted that Kenny Dalglish has agreed to step in and manage the team for Sunday's FA Cup tie at Old Trafford and for the remainder of the season.

"Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants. We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season."
Chairman Tom Werner said: "No one who cares for this great club has been happy with the way this season has unfolded and we have examined options and considered at length what is best for us going forward. Kenny will bring considerable experience to the position and provide management and leadership for the rest of the season."
Author: Liverpool FC
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Thursday

Fagan’s Fight Factor Needed at Anfield



Posted on 06. Jan, 2011 by Liam Tomkins in Blog
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Anyone who has had the misfortune of witnessing Liverpool FC in action this season will have been left utterly appalled by the lack of fight being shown for the shirt.
This club has been blessed with some great players over the years, and some even greater honours. 18 league titles, 5 European cups, 7 FA cups, 7 league cups and 3 UEFA cups sit proudly in the trophy cabinets at Anfield as a glittering reminder of what those in Red have achieved as a result of giving their absolute all. What is most significant about these triumphs is that Liverpool have very often been the underdog.
Regardless of the occasion and regardless of the opponent, though, every time a player crosses the threshold into battle with a Liverbird upon their chest they should be straining their every sinew; pushing the boundaries of what is mentally and physically possible until they have nothing left to give, and then pushing some more – all in pursuit of the points and pride that come as a result of overcoming their opponents.
Take this short story from club legend Tommy Smith, for example:
When I watch the modern game and see certain players going through the motions on the pitch with one eye on the ball and the other on their wage slips, I often think back to those days when Shankly, Paisley and Fagan were in our dug-out, demanding that we sweat blood for Liverpool.
I remember what was effectively a meaningless end of season game in Spain which was part of our summer break. We were playing the equivalent of a non-league team in Benidorm, but a lot of people had turned up because it was Liverpool FC.
The game was going nowhere. We were just going through the motions and I could see Joe on the line getting increasingly fed up. His logic was that you gave it everything in every match, whether it was a European Cup Final or a game against the local Spanish waiters.
After 20 minutes, he called me to the touchline. With a glint in his eye, he said: “Start a fight, Smithy.”
“What was that Joe?” I said.
“Start a fight!” repeated Joe earnestly, which seemed a little bit harsh, considering we were only playing a bunch of semi-pros and that the game had nothing on it . . . except the pride of Liverpool FC.
I got the message. I went back out and the next time the ball came near their centre-forward I was straight into him. They were suddenly screaming and shouting and the crowd woke up. More than that, so did we. The red blood was starting to boil and it was Mission Accomplished as far as Joe was concerned.
He wasn’t asking me to do anything sinister. It was just the old trick of jerking people out of their complacency. We won at a canter. Joe smiled. Once again, I got the message.
Throw this alongside the 3-1 defeat to Blackburn in comparison and the difference between the two generations of players is astonishing.
The problem with the Liverpool side of 2010/11, bar a few such as Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, is that they have absolutely no idea just how privileged they are to be wearing the shirt.
Back in the days of Fagan, Paisley and Shankly the team wouldn’t dare put in a no show for fear of facing up to the manager afterwards. Now, though, it seems anyone can pull on a red shirt, have a casual kickabout, go home a few grand richer and have absolutely no trouble sleeping at night.
If we are going to have a squad consisting of such spineless individuals who each feel that it is the other’s duty to take responsibility and not their own, then we must have a manger who is commanding enough to get them to perform.
Joe Fagan knew how to do this, as did Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly. More recently, even Rafa Benitez managed to calculate a winning formula by recruiting players that had previously captained their former clubs and so, as a result, were natural leaders. Unfortunately for us here, today, Roy Hodgson doesn’t seem to possess any of the necessary attributes to motivate a team at this level.
Granted, those who are fortunate enough to play for Liverpool really should not need motivation, but the sad matter of the fact is that they do. I named Steven Gerrard as an exception to this rule earlier but, unfortunately for us, he cannot instil his own never-say-die attitude into the minds of those who don’t and never will understand what it means to be a red. It is worth noting that without goals or assists from the skipper this season we would be loitering in the relegation zone.
For as long as the current manager remains in charge of this team I fear the players will continue to go into games with a complete lack of self-belief, and a total disregard for the honour that has been bestowed upon them.
If we are to return to the days when Liverpool set out to crush any opponent regardless of their stature, then we need to be led by someone who will enforce that policy. I don’t know who that man is, but I know who it is not; Roy Hodgson.
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Blackburn Rovers 3 Liverpool 1: match report


Read a full match report of the Premier League game between Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool at Ewood Park on Wednesday Jan 5 2011.

BLACKBURN

3 - 1
FT

LIVERPOOL

Wednesday, January 05 20:00
Premier League
Ewood Park
Olsson (32)
 
Benjani (38, 57)
(HT 2-0)
ATT: 24,522
Gerrard (81)
Blackburn Rovers 3 Liverpool 1: match report - Roy Hodgson
Image 1 of 2
In the firing line: Roy Hodgson is on the brink at Liverpool Photo: PA
Mark Ogden
By Mark Ogden 10:00PM GMT 05 Jan 2011
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14 Comments
The last time Roy Hodgson lost his job following a defeat at Ewood Park, his fate was sealed with a tap on the shoulder from Jack Walker and a club statement hastily-scribbled on the back of a cigarette packet.
Liverpool’s tormented manager was spared a similar personal touch from his masters at the Fenway Sports Group in Boston on Wednesday night, but if he survives another day at Anfield following this abject defeat at Blackburn Rovers, it might just up there with the miracle of Istanbul.
Having apparently left Ewood Park in tears after being sacked as manager by Walker following a 2-0 defeat at home to Southampton in Nov 1998, Hodgson might have approached this fixture with a shiver running through his spine due to his precarious position at Anfield.
Few managers can have suffered the misfortune of twice losing their job at the same ground, but on an evening when his players deserted him and the club’s supporters called for him to be sacked, can Hodgson really expect to survive in his position long enough for him to be in charge for the FA Cup tie at Manchester United on Sunday?
Two goals from Benjani and one from Martin Olsson sealed Liverpool’s fate long before Steven Gerrard’s late consolation, but Blackburn also sealed Hodgson’s?
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Liverpool’s victory against Bolton at Anfield on New Year’s Day secured precious breathing space for Hodgson and, perhaps, delayed the inevitability of his departure as manager.
Yet as a result of the performances of his team and his own critical comments about the Liverpool support following last Wednesday’s defeat at home to Wolves, each fixture is accompanied by suffocating pressure for Hodgson.
Liverpool’s record against Blackburn – 1 defeat in their last 24 league games – should have offered some consolation, but like the other statistic, that the two away league victories in 2010 came against clubs beginning with ‘B’ – Burnley and Bolton – it was ultimately meaningless once the two teams took to the pitch.
Blackburn, enduring a different kind of turmoil thanks to the bewildering decisions of their new owners, the India-based Venky’s poultry processors, are not quite as unstable on the pitch as they appear to be off it, however, and Steve Kean’s team showed within the opening ten minutes that they were capable of inflicting further misery of Hodgson’s Liverpool.
They may have been without key figures such as goalkeeper Paul Robinson, Phil Jones, Brett Emerton and striker Nikola Kalinic, but Blackburn immediately displayed more intent and cohesion than their confidence-shorn opponents.
The Liverpool malaise even extended to the travelling contingent in Ewood Park’s Darwen End. Traditionally, the 7,000-capacity enclosure is full of red and white when Liverpool come to town, but on this occasion, red and white was sprinkled with the light blue of the empty seats left exposed by the failure of the Merseysiders to sell their allocation.
With Saturday’s attendance at Anfield the lowest for a league game since 2004, the message to Hodgson and the Liverpool hierarchy is clear – fans are voting with their feet and in large numbers.
Many of them took to their heels and headed out of the ground once Benjani’s 37th minute goal had put Blackburn 2-0 ahead following Martin Olsson’s opener, six minutes earlier.
With their team trailing 2-0 and Blackburn fans taunting their former manager Hodgson with chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning!’ the end result appeared blindingly predictable.
Olsson’s goal was merely a reward for Blackburn’s bright start, during which they should have scored when Mame Biram Diouf fluffed a free shot from six yards on 16 minutes.
Swedish midfielder Olsson was much more clinical, however. Diouf’s neat ball into the penalty area was met by Olsson, who guided a first-time shot through the legs of Pepe Reina to make it 1-0.
Liverpool’s back four was nowhere to be seen and the defensive frailties that have haunted them all season resurfaced as Benjani struck to double Blackburn’s lead.
The Zimbabwean forward received the ball from Morten Gamst Pedersen on ten yards from goal and, despite the imposing stature of Sotirios Kyrgiakos, he turned the Greek centre-half with ease before aiming a right-foot strike into the roof of the net.
Liverpool’s second-half improvement needed to be swift and dramatic if they were to save themselves, and probably their manager, but the first sarcastic chorus of ‘Hodgson for England’ came from the Darwen End just four minutes after the restart.
A Steven Gerrard shot, pushed wide by goalkeeper Mark Bunn, and a 20 yard effort by Joe Cole were merely the twitchings of a corpse.
And once Benjani made it 3-0 at the near post on 58 minutes, following hopeless defending by Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel against the pacy Junior Hoilett, the Liverpool supporters began to vent their full fury on Hodgson.
Chants of ‘Dalglish’ came first followed by the one which will have been heard across the Atlantic in Boston – ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning!’
That was bad enough when it came from the Blackburn supporters, but this rendition was as Scouse as a Beatles number one.
Gerrard’s goal, a powerful strike from ten yards, reduced the deficit, but the game had already been lost.
And if was a late attempt to save Hodgson, it is unlikely to work.
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Wednesday

Liverpool la Bucuresti

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