My take:

Hodgson is a manager of a decent calibre. He's done a really good job at Fulham and I don't think anyone can begrudge the Liverpool board for giving him the opportunity to replace Rafa. (FWIW, I never wanted to see Rafa leave) He has been dealt with a harsh hand of cards to begin his reign with, he probably didn't get to sign as many as he would have wanted in the summer, he definately wanted to bring another forward in. Losing Mascherano was also massive. Any team who loses two of its best players within 12 months of each other would suffer from a hangover. So with all that taken into account, he, like any manager in a new job, ought to be presented time to get things right.

HOWEVER
I'm extremely unhappy with what he's been coming out with in the media in the past month. I'm equally unhappy with the signing of Poulsen, who is already behind Lucas in the pecking order. Aquilani, assuming he wanted to stay at the club, should never have been allowed to leave. I didn't want to see Insua go either, to be replaced by an aging full-back who has already reached his potential. That said, I think Konchesky will go on to become a decent enough signing. Until the last two games, where the performances have been a bit more encouraging, you'd also have to point at his tactics at being completely wrong. Some of the football we've played has been woeful thus far.

I was calling for his head like many others. However, now I've calmed a bit, and we've got six more points on the board, it's probably wrong to get rid before he's allowed the chance to get it right. He needs to get us in contention for a top four finish come Christmas though, or the season is going to be another write-off, and we can kiss Fernando goodbye.

I can and will. He was never the right man for us. Never. He done well with a limited squad, he got them playing limited football, with limited tactics where he could grind out results through grit. His side never possessed any class, any superior tactical style or anything particularly impressive. They were workman-like, disciplined and hard to break down, but were very rarely 'favourites', nor were they ever coached by a great European tactician before he arrived. He is a small time manager who does well with small jobs, he had no greater case for himself than the likes of Pulis, Coyle and O'Neill. They are all very average coaches.

Best get those 'Yanks Out' flags and banners out of the bin lads... www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... ol-takover

Best get those 'Yanks Out' flags and banners out of the bin lads... www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... ol-takover

The blokes an idiot, always has been always will be. He needs help

Quote Ian 77 Redux="Ian 77 Redux"Best get those 'Yanks Out' flags and banners out of the bin lads... www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... ol-takover'" Not really. 'Debt' on its own is not a problem, plenty of businesses and football clubs operate with different sizes of debt. The problem is paying the debt and interest on the debt, as far as I know, the new owners have said that the interest on the debt is only a few million a year, something like £5m. I am cautious with the new owners as I want to see how sensible they are when making decisions, they aren't football people, so they need to recruit football people to point them in the right direction. January and particularly the summer will be huge for the new owners in terms of showing their commitment. Nobody wants Citeh or Chelsea like investment, as nice as it would be, I'd prefer to see us become a well run club that is able to run on its own two feet. That won't be able to happen instantly, so I hope the owners remain committed to their 'we want to win' antics. Our 'scouts' have apparently been out watching some of Europe's better young players, whether we can compete for - and sign - those players remains to be seen.

Quote Ian 77 Redux="Ian 77 Redux"Best get those 'Yanks Out' flags and banners out of the bin lads... www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... ol-takover'" Not really. 'Debt' on its own is not a problem, plenty of businesses and football clubs operate with different sizes of debt. The problem is paying the debt and interest on the debt, as far as I know, the new owners have said that the interest on the debt is only a few million a year, something like £5m. I am cautious with the new owners as I want to see how sensible they are when making decisions, they aren't football people, so they need to recruit football people to point them in the right direction. January and particularly the summer will be huge for the new owners in terms of showing their commitment. Nobody wants Citeh or Chelsea like investment, as nice as it would be, I'd prefer to see us become a well run club that is able to run on its own two feet. That won't be able to happen instantly, so I hope the owners remain committed to their 'we want to win' antics. Our 'scouts' have apparently been out watching some of Europe's better young players, whether we can compete for - and sign - those players remains to be seen.

Is this what you thought at the time Hodgson took over Robbie Rotten?



When you say this, does this not remind you of some of Rafa's Liverpool sides in 05, 07 in particular?

Yes, we had great players in Torres and Gerrrard, and then the likes of Xabi and Masch. However, we were coming up against the Chelseas and Barcas as massive underdogs in Europe. Even our great league season of 08/09, we were regarded as a team with having only having a handful of top class players but were extremely hard to beat and made the most of what we had.

Maybe that's what the Liverpool owners saw in Hodgson?

No value in the transfer market Fergie? The defence presents exhibit A Rafael Van Der Vaart £8mil

There is an absolute difference between Liverpool as underdogs and Fulham as underdogs. Fulham were underdogs against pretty much every side away from home in the league, Liverpool were the underdogs in about 5/6 games a season. During Benitez's 'solid' years i.e. 06/07, 07/08 and 08/09, we were a seasoned top class side, to the point where we'd be considered at least equal to the likes of Madrid, Barca and Chelsea, if not favourites in some cases. Roy is only a good manager when he can make his side play like that, look at how he has us playing, two lines of 4 very close to each other, sitting deep and showing little adventure. If I was to describe our current formation, it would look like this: 4-4---1----------------1.

As for what the owners saw, they saw a man who taken over a struggling club and made them 'solid', they felt that, with the ownership in a dire situation, somebody with experience and the ability to solidify the team was needed. His generally quiet character probably aroused them as well. The thing is, the decision wasn't made by footballing people, that's why a manager like Pellegrini was overlooked despite being a far greater choice. The whole point of sacking Rafa was to find an improvement so we could get back into Europe, there is no way under any circumstances that Roy is a better manager than Benitez. I'm not saying Pellegrini is better, but he could certainly have been 'as good as'.

Pellegrini off to Malaga according to reports.

Scored a couple of great goals toneet. Some cracking counter attacking by Benfica.

He, alongside Bale, is looking like the next best left winger/wing back. Coentrao will probably stay in defence whilst Bale will probably stay in midfield, though. Still, neither player has impressed me more than when I seen a young Yuri Zhirkov playing in Russia. Not sure why Zhirkov hasn't quite turned it on at Chelsea, he's one of the most complete wingers around IMO.

How did you manage to catch footage of a young Yuri Zhirkov playing in Russia? I thought ESPN had only started screening it the past 2 or 3 seasons. Are there some good links?