Posts Tagged ‘Roy Hodgson’

Why John Terry should never play for England again

Posted: April 27, 2013 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
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Terry: Petulant child

Terry: Petulant child

Just when you think John Terry might be going gently into the good night, he manages to find a way to put his massive ego slap-bang back in centre stage.

Stripped of the England captaincy, retired from international football and slipping down the pecking order at Chelsea it seemed that JT was in danger of quietly exiting the stage unnoticed.

So what does he do? He has a few trusted stooges put the word around the press corps that he fancies playing again for England. Cue tiresome hysteria.

You’d think that a man who has embroiled English football in a succession of crises – too wearisome to be worth repeating – would have the sense to spare us this latest farrago. Unfortunately, John Terry is too selfish for that.

Like a petulant child Terry flounced out on England back in September. Now he’s let it be known that he fancies a free holiday in Brazil next summer.

In a cowardly move, sadly typical of the man, Terry has not personally said that he is available for selection again. No, he’s put the word out indirectly via his advisers.

Should Roy Hodgson be anything less than effusive about a possible international return, well Terry can stay quietly retired, pretend he’s no idea where the rumours started, and save himself the embarrassment of public rejection.

In all this it’s Hodgson I feel most sorry for. No doubt still smarting from the debacle surrounding Rio Ferdinand’s recent call up, he now has the unenviable task of negotiating another call-up controversy.

Terry has treated a place in the national team as a personal right and not privilege to be earned. Even if it’s merited by form and fitness, Terry should never play for England again.

Written by James Albin

5 people who benefit from John Terry’s international retirement

Posted: September 24, 2012 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
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Steven Gerrard celebrating John Terry‘s international retirement (or possibly just a goal)

After announcing his decision to spend more time with his – or possibly someone else’s – family, we pick 5 people who are likely to benefit from John Terry’s retirement from international football.

1. Steven Gerrard

Even without the armband, John Terry liked to style himself as the de facto leader of the England team – casting a long shadow from which it was hard for players to escape.

The accumulated baggage that Terry brought with him to the England camp was a burden the rest of the squad never needed or benefitted from.

With Terry’s departure that’s now gone, leaving Gerrard as as the undisputed leader within the England team. Galvanised by his appointment as captain, Gerrard was arguably England’s best performer at Euro 2012. Hopefully, without Terry to cramp his style, his influence over the squad will grow.

2. Roy Hodgson

Despite regularly praising JT’s virtues as a player, Roy Hodgson is also likely to be breathing a sigh of relief. As we pointed out during Euro 2012, Terry’s days as a top level international looked increasing numbered due to his declining pace and vulnerability to the ball in behind the defence.

Terry’s decision to go into self imposed exile has spared Hodgson the inevitable soap opera which would have followed attempts to phase out, let alone drop, the Chelsea defender. And given that Terry did on occasion seem to believe that he was the England manager and in charge of team selection (see the fiasco at the World Cup in South Africa) Roy will no longer have to worry about him sparking another mutiny.

3. Phil Jagielka

With one of the big beasts of the England squad put out to pasture there is, what I like to imagine anyway, a Phil Jagielka shaped hole in the centre of England’s defence. A consistent performer over many seasons, he’s missed out at international level due to the plethora of centre back options and a preference for Champions League hardened defenders. Back in the spotlight with Everton’s impressive start to the season, Jagielka finally has the chance to make the England no.6 shirt his own.

4. Rio Ferdinand

Could the door to an England return for Rio Ferdinand have opened? Whilst the obstacle that was John Terry has been removed, it is Hodgson himself who now remains the problem.

Ahead of selection for the Euro’s the England manager was put into an impossible situation by the bad blood between the two players. Dealt a bad hand, Roy played it as best he could, enduring several awkward media grillings as he tried to justify excluding Ferdinand from the squad. Having been through the mill on that it’s hard to imagine Hodgson putting himself through a similar inquiry by selecting Rio. Stranger things have happened in football though.

5. Roberto Di Matteo

I’ve long thought that John Terry wouldn’t play much after 30. Injuries have taken their toll and the aforementioned lack of pace is catching up with him. Reluctant ever to miss a game, the Chelsea captain has played with injuries on many occasions, often to the detriment of his performace.

But with the international weeks providing regular for rest and recuperation, the ultimate beneficiary of Terry’s retirement may be Roberto Di Matteo who will have a fully fit player in his dressing room, eager to show people what their country are missing.

 Written by James Albion

Are England better off without Wayne Rooney?

Posted: September 8, 2012 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
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Rooney: does absence makes the side grow stronger?

Are England better off without Wayne Rooney?

Heresy? I don’t think so. Because the more I watch England the more I become convinced that the team would be better off without Wayne Rooney.

Last night’s match against Moldova and Tuesday’s match against Ukraine are a chance to see what an England side could look like without the Manchester United front man.

For all his individual talents, Rooney distorts the England team. Tactics are centered around “getting the best out of him”. However, whilst the rest of the side are expected to sacrifice their own games for the sake of Wazza’s, the scouser rarely returns the favour.

For such an experienced international, Rooney continues to cause problems with his tactical indiscipline. All too often, when he’s frustrated with a game, Rooney will drop deep into midfield to involve himself in the game.

Despite the frequency with which this happens, I’ve yet to see the match where this has ever made a difference. It only ever results in England’s midfield becoming clogged and the remaining striker becoming isolated.

We were given a chastening example of this during the European Championship and England’s quarter-final match against Italy. With Pirlo the danger man, Rooney and Danny Welbeck were tasked with dropping onto him and restricting his influence.

The plan worked perfectly – for 20 minutes. England started the match brightly, causing Italy problems with some well-worked attacks. During this spell, Welbeck and Rooney stuck to their task, sitting on Pirlo when England lost possession.

But Rooney just couldn’t help himself. After 20 minutes, bored of his sporadic involvement in the game he again drifted into midfield in search of the ball. Pirlo suddenly started pulling the Azzuri’s strings and England had no-one to play the ball up to and relieve the ever growing pressure.

The fact England somehow made it to penalties in the match was more to do with the heroic efforts of his team mates than anything Rooney contributed.

I can only imagine the frustration Roy Hodgson felt watching the game and seeing his carefully conceived strategy torn up, by one player who’s got the hump about how much of the ball they’ve had.

Euro 2012 also reminded us of a another long-standing Rooney problem: his continued failure at international tournaments. It’s now a long time since Euro 2004, but it remains the only time where Rooney has fired on all cylinders at a major competition.

Given that he neither plays well, or can be relied upon to stick to a plan, it’s legitimate to ask whether we want to go Brazil in 2014 only to see Wayne fail. Again.

England’s qualifying group is as close to a passport to Brazil as you could realistically hope for. In the fixtures ahead Hodgson has the chance to build a team without Rooney. Most importantly, a team which can actually function as ‘a team’, and not as servants to a selfish talent.

Five things we learnt about Hodgson’s England

Posted: June 20, 2012 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
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1. Euro 2012 should be John Terry’s last tournament

England celebrate

Celebrations involving Terry should soon become a thing of the past (photo via Daily Mirror)

In a telling moment in the England Sweden game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic – hardly the world’s quickest footballer – accelerated past a lumbering John Terry. Last night, a lapse in his positioning was only saved by a blundering official. It illustrated just why this should be Terry’s last international tournament for England. Never the quickest, Terry’s advancing years and injuries are only going to diminish his speed. In recent years, Chelsea have compensated for this lack of foot speed by having the right defensive partner alongside him. However, it’s a problem that his club and country now need to address. As AVB discovered last season, Terry’s lack of pace is a tactical impediment to a whole team – stopping his plans to maintain a high defensive line, enabling Chelsea to press aggressively in the opposition’s half.

Ultimately, with a court appearance looming next month, the decision to phase-out or ditch Terry may be taken out of Roy Hodgson’s hands.

2. Playing in straight lines will take us straight out the tournament

England play in straight lines, with the holy sacrament of English football continuing to be the desire to play in two banks of perfectly symmetrical four.

This rigidity, coupled with England’s poor ball retention, will not take us much further in the tournament. You can choose the strength of your own adjective (inept, poor, disappointing) to describe England’s performance at this competition, but we can all agree that haven’t played well. We’ve failed to dominate a single game, and the tactical ease with which a very average Ukrainian team gave us the run around, highlights how limited we are as a team.

We can only look on enviously at the tactical fluidity of Slaven Bilic and the Croatian team. Their performance against Spain, and their second half showing against Italy – after a half-time change of formation and tactics – have been two of most impressive showings at Euro 2012. But then Croatia are out the tournament and England are still in, so hey, what do we know?

3. Johnson’s defensive frailties are limiting who gets picked in front of him

The fact that Johnson is not a great defender is nothing new. But the absence of Walcott or The Ox starting directly in front of him suggests that Hodgson simply doesn’t have enough faith that England won’t be torn apart without a more defensive-minded right-winger. While James Milner ‘puts in a good shift’ (i.e. runs around a lot, normally to cover for the AWOL Johnson) he often seems like a worker-bee in a flower-free environment – lots of buzzing around, but no nectar at the end of the day.

Does Johnson really offer more going forward than one of the attacking wingers not in the side?

4. Gerrard is excelling as captain

The best player coming out of the group stages. It’s remarkable to think that giving Gerrard the captain’s armband was even in question not too long ago. He’s clearly relishing the role, and now anchored in that central role he’s delivering the goods – leading by example in each of the three games so far. Which makes you wonder why we didn’t do both things years ago.

5. Lescott has greatly exceeded expectations

With all the brouhaha about Gary Cahill’s injury and the exclusion of Rio Ferdinand from the squad, Joleen Lescott’s promotion to first team duties have gone somewhat under the radar. Which is unfortunate, as the Manchester City centre back has been an assured performer in all three matches. Given the way that England have made heavy weather of the group, no-one can claim he has yet to be properly tested. As we’re unlikely to win the tournament with attacking flair, defensive solidity is our best hope of progressing further – and Lescott has contributed as much as anyone towards that.

Written by James Albion

Time for you to go Roy…

Posted: May 1, 2012 by onefootinthegame in England
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Roy Hodgson, Fulham Manager

Roy Hodgson, Fulham Manager (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now that Roy Hodgson has been unveiled as the new England manager the time has surely come for him to resign.

Hodgson’s afternoon in charge of English football has been marred by failure. He has failed to bring success to the national team. In fact, he has failed to win a single football match. There is no hiding the fact that it is an awful record.

Apologists for Hodgson urge that he be given more time. Some deranged loyalists even arguing that he be given as long as tomorrow lunchtime.

They point to the fact that he hasn’t yet had the chance to choose a squad let alone play a game. But what his loudest cheerleaders choose to ignore is the truth that football is a results driven business, and the bottom line on the balance sheet is currently empty of trophies.

Hodgson has also singularly failed to make any impact on the English game. He was meant to be the architect for coaching and football in this country, but he has not only failed to build that future he hasn’t even shown us the blueprints for its construction.

England are one of the great football nations. As the country which gave birth to the beautiful game, it is unbecoming of our status in the global game to allow such a record of ignominious failure to continue. Hodgson is an honourable man.

In the parlance of the game he is a ‘proper football man’. There is no doubting his patriotism or his good intentions to end our country’s long drought of success.

However, the honeymoon period is over. We are now at a point where we must ask critical questions. We cannot shy away from uncomfortable answers, nor from the difficult conclusions we are forced to draw.

Roy, for the sake of English football, go now.

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FA given permission to talk to Roy Hodgson

Posted: April 29, 2012 by onefootinthegame in England, FA Cup, International football
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Roy Hodgson as a head coach of Fulham F.C. Рус...

Roy Hodgson as a head coach of Fulham F.C. Русский: Рой Ходжсон на посту главного тренера ФК «Фулхэм» (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The FA have confirmed that West Brom have given them permission to talk to West Brom manager Roy Hodgson.

The FA statement says:

Roy is the only manager we have approached and we remain on course to make an appointment within the timescale we set-out soon after Fabio Capello’s departure.

“Further conversations will now take place with Roy and my Club England colleagues before any further announcements can be made.”

With all the media led hype for Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp being the only candidate is this a smoke screen? Or will Harry be approached next?

The mood amongst Spurs fans is mixed after a poor run of results that mirrored last season.

Who knows, but you can’t argue with Roy’s credentials as a manager in Europe and managing International teams he’s got the experience.

We’ll see if the FA now make an approach for Redknapp too…

The nomad: A Football Manager story Part 1

Posted: February 6, 2012 by onefootinthegame in Uncategorized
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Jan Breydel stadion en oefenvelden

Jan Breydel stadion en oefenvelden (Photo credit: Frank Van Hevel)

Chapter One: The end of the beginning

The knees. It’s always the knees.

It happened when I jumped up to get above Heskey early in the game, we were 2-0 up and cruising but I wanted big Emile Ivanhoe Heskey to know that even though he was 4 inches taller than me and at least 5 stone heavier I was going to beat him in the air.

I did.

I just didn’t land properly. I fell awkwardly and twisted my already torn knee ligaments.

I never played again. I was 28.

I didn’t want to know about football for months, a World Cup passed – I’d played in one for Italy and was due to play in another – but I couldn’t even watch. I lived alone and just sat around trying to find some solace.

I dabbled in a bit of commentary for ESPN but Ian Dowie and I had never gotten on, he’s just an idiot. A lovable idiot but still. I remember when he wanted to sign me at Newcastle, I laughed, he never forgave me and always slated me in the press.

I didn’t want to watch the Premier League, or Serie A. I’d won both and thought I could have added another at least, now they were just haunting me.

I did my coaching badges and ran away and this is my story. In my words.

I remember speaking to Roy Hodgson just before he got his dream job at Liverpool, he said: “Roberto, make sure you travel, you can learn lots about containing an opposing team by doing it in 4 or 5 countries. I mean if you can get the Swiss to run like clockwork, it will work anywhere won’t it?”

I wasn’t sure what to make of Roy’s comment, I mean the Swiss knew more about clockwork than anyone, I knew Roy was trying to be simple and profound, he always tried to be simple and profound, I was just missing it.

I decided he meant I should travel and manage across the world. Serie A, La Liga and the Bundesliga, those were my gospels now. After all I’ve got league winners medals, I’ve played in a World Cup and in a Champions League final – I’d walk into a job.

And so I did.

I just never expected it to be in Groningen, population 190,000; 50,000 of those were students. Jesus. Is this what winning a Champions League gets you?

At least their kit was nice.

The City was lovely, quiet and liberal. I could do whatever I wanted and fans wouldn’t even recognise me. It was like being in London but with more cheese.

First things first, I needed to assess the team, I tried to bring in my own backroom staff but the chairman wasn’t having it. I learnt the hard way that I’d never get on with Chairmen, more of that later, you give them the world and they’ll ask for Mars and Jupiter – that’s their problem. Never happy, like my ex- wife – at least she kissed me before she fucked me.

Anyway, the team I found was decent, Luciano was mad as a box of cats but what do you expect of a Brazilian keeper? I decided to bring in the wonderkid I’d seen at the Dallas Cup a few years before while scouting for Harry Redknapp, he was another Brazilian; Guilherme, he’d would become the best keeper in the world I knew he would.

In the midfield I was missing a real play maker, I liked to play on the ground, I was born of the Sacchi era, and that was tweaked with a bit of Pep’s system at Barca. I liked a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-3-2 with flying wingers and a deep lying playmaker like my best man Andrea Pirlo – oh what I’d give to have Andrea with me here I though.  Tim Sparv, captain and centre midfielder was my only real option, not quite Andrea Pirlo more Andrea Borcelli, but beggers can’t be choosers. And I couldn’t add a bastard to the team anyway. I sold 20 players from the first team and U21 level and bought in 8. I soon realised that attracting players to this pocket of the Netherlands was going to be harder than trying to get Richard Keys to talk to a woman without getting his cock out.

I bought Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink – on the condition he used his whole name on his shirt – we needed the cash, that’s for sure.  I also brought in a young Ivorian by the name of Wilfred, people said he was injury prone, but I knew class when I saw it and I liked his style -  quick and strong, he’d clean up in this Division. The day after I signed him, he was out for 6 months. The perfect forward partnership was over before it had begun, I was never able to play them both in my time at Groningen.

I bought the young Tomic, a flying winger from Partizan hoping he’d swing some croses in for Jan. First game of the season couldn’t have been harder, away at Ajax, but what a game it was. Sparv was proving me wrong, running the midfield in a 4-1-3-2. Jan was bullying the young Ajax side, hassling and getting on the end of most crosses. We went 1-0 up, Jan on his debut, no one wanted him, but I took a punt and he owed me that and I told him so at half time. Ajax then turned the screw and went 2-1 up. A test of my coaching badges, what would Arrigo do now?

I decided to continue as I was. I gave the team a passionate half time speech. Come on lads, where’s the passion? Sparv seemed to wake up again and he started to run the midfield again, that was Tim’s problem – inconsistency, in training he’d hit a couple of good freekicks and think he was the main man I remember challenging him to a crossbar competition with 50 balls on the edge of the area, he got 13, I got 50 – he never had the stomach for the fight, or the technique and I only had one knee. Maybe that wasn’t the best motivator actually…

Anyway, Sparv was actually pulling his finger out, we were running the show, and duly equalised, Jan again on the end of a Tomic cross, this was perfect. A point away at the Champions. This will do me nicely.

But then it got better.

Sparv, was over a freekick – “Leave it to Tomic! Leave it to Tomic!” I shouted, he’s the freekick taker. Tim didn’t listen, he took a short run up and smashed it – hitting the bar and in. 3-2  – we’d done it! Lucky bastard, but who cared! 3-2 against the champions!

The match ended and I felt like I was on top of the world. We’re going to do something special here I told the press, we’ll upset the apple cart – and the oranges too and you wait and see what we do to the lemon cart you lucky bastards.

Little did I know that would be the only points we’d pick up for 6 games, including an embarrassing 1-4 home loss to VVV. Jan, with his 3 year contract had decided he didn’t need to train as hard as he did in preseason and Sparv was still talking about that freekick. Bloody hell I thought – I’ve been stitched right up here.

We won 2 games in the next 5, both 1-0, both from Tomic freekicks, I’d taken Sparv off them after he started shooting from 45 yards out. He was doing my head in.

We were struggling in 14th for most of the year, RKC beat us 5-2 at home. Injuries were piling up. I tried changing the preparation but no dice. We just couldn’t score, Wilfred was still nursing an injury and hadn’t played a minute this season.

“I need more time – my main striker hasn’t played and the boys are still gelling. We beat Ajax – that’s the kind of thing I can do.”

“We’re 15th in the league and we’ve won 9 games in 40 in call comps. We just can’t do it anymore, Tim Sparv came to speak to us today and said he was sick and tired of being told what to do – you’ve lost the dressing room Roberto, and when that happens you know what they say? “

“Get a new one?”

“Afraid not, I’m sorry to bring you in on Christmas day, but it’s better this way.”

“Trust me – you’ll live to regret this, I’ve given you the foundation of a golden team here, a league winning side. Maybe not this year, but you watch. You’ll beg me to come back one day.”

“Merry Christmas Roberto, good luck and can you drop off the company car keys next week? We hear Ian Dowie is available so we’d like him to step in asap and he wants a car and wants to clean it of your failure he said, sorry but you know our business.”

“Whatever you say. You’ll see, you’ll all see!” I said pointing at everyone in the room – there was only one other person around, but it felt like the right thing to do.

I left the Netherlands and went back home to my London flat. Christmas was always tough, but being sacked made it even harder. I did some more commentating this time with SKY but I couldn’t get into it, I mean Scott Minto – what’s he ever bloody won!?

I was gagging for a new opportunity. Then I got a call.

“Hi, hi – is this Roberto?”

“Yes, yes it is.”

“We’d like to offer you a job”.

“Fantastic” – he sounded Dutch, I knew Feyenoord were looking for a manager – I knew my stock hadn’t dropped too low, YES! I’ll show those idiots at Groningen, and only 4 months later.

“I work for Westerlo, we’re in the Belgian second division, well, we will be, we’ve just been relegated. Roy Hodgson said you’d be perfect for us – we’re small.”

“Oh, Westerlo. Did he now, that’s kind of him, where did you finish last year?”

“Bottom, by 20 points”

“Only way is up I guess.”

Little did I know that this was the beginning of a real legend.

To be continued….

Popular But Stupid: The FA’s Obsession With Englishness

Posted: December 11, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Corruption, England, FA Cup, FIFA, International football
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World cup England

Image by doug88888 via Flickr

Trevor Brooking’s recent statement that Fabio Capello could yet be persuaded to stay on beyond Euro 2012 should have come as no surprise to any football fan. The only real surprise is that it took so long for someone in the FA to put forward such a view, and that the FA is persisting with its stated intention of only having an English manager replace Capello.

British football, and England in particular, have long been accused of insularity and a resistance to new ideas. That thought holds some weight as far back as the 1930s with the FA declining to participate in the first three World Cups seeing the competition as nothing more than a silly fad. Fast forward 80 years and the same accusation of insularity might seem harsh given the advancement of the game, the existence of the Premier League (still technically ‘licenced’ by the FA) and the influx of foreign talent.

Excepting the fans, and look at the other most important elements of English football though, the players and the managers, and for all the money and glamour, the game still has its philosophy rooted in the mid 20th century. Very few English players ever play overseas, even fewer coaches do so and those that do, with the exception of David Beckham, tend to disappear from the national consciousness.

It is this culture and the FA’s desire to appease the press and fans that has led to a situation whereby the next national manager will be drawn from a tiny pool of talent. Fans are not blameless in this – whipped up by the press, the majority of England’s supporters seem to believe that Capello’s nationality is the main factor in the lack of success over the last 4 years. The press meanwhile, also point at Capello’s age and his lack of international experience.

All three of these criticisms clumsily ignore several important facts. First, that the majority of England’s players over the last 15 years have spent almost all of their club careers under foreign coaches, with a remarkable degree of success. Secondly, that the only current English manager with international tournament experience is Roy Hodgson, with his time with Switzerland. And lastly, that the two most eligible candidates, Harry Redknapp along with Hodgson, are both in their mid-60s, which is hardly a blueprint for the future of the current squad. In fact, there are only four top-flight English managers to choose from: Redknapp, Hodgson, Alan Pardew and Neil Warnock. None of them come close to being as decorated, successful or internationally experienced as Capello or the other potential foreign candidates such as Hiddink

It is worth considering Redknapp for a moment. In a managerial career of almost 30 years, his only achievements of any note are an FA Cup with Portsmouth, and leading Spurs into the Champions League. His recent heart trouble is well documented and at 64, he would be almost 72 by the time he’d taken England to two World Cups. If off the pitch affairs are also criteria for selection, as they wrongly were for Terry Venables, then Redknapp’s looming court appearance for tax evasion makes his popularity amongst the press and fans almost inexplicable.

The FA’s stance begs a question: What other organisation or industry willing to pay up to £6 million a year for the top job would choose to constrain the talent they recruit by nationality? Would Tesco or HSBC declare that their next CEO must be English? Do clubs at any level of the game declare that their next manager will be from the local area? And with a similar paucity of good candidates for the job, would any other nation insist their manager must not be foreign? English clubs and the game overall have made huge leaps in success and quality, due in large part to the influx of foreign players, managers and coaches. Consider the advances that Arsene Wenger and Gerard Houllier brought to English football, both of them receiving OBEs in 2003 for their contribution to the game.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for an English manager is that it keeps international competition a genuine test of the relative strengths of each nation – the best players under the best manager. Yet this too is undermined by the many other nations with foreign managers helping to maximise the potential of their players – look no further than across the Irish sea at another successful Italian helping a national side to over-achieve. In any case, until UEFA and FIFA mandate that managers must come from the country they represent, why should the FA impose such an artificial barrier on the England team? What England need is the most qualified coach for the job, not the most English.

So here we are, trapped in what Brooking refers to as a “mindset for change”, with the FA committed to employing an under-qualified English manager in one of international football’s toughest jobs. Not all change is for the better.

Liverpool United?

Posted: January 4, 2011 by onefootinthegame in Liverpool, Premier League
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Am I the only person who is starting to think that Liverpool are slowly becoming a poor imitation of Newcastle United?

Hear me out:

  • A club overly-romantic about past glory.
  • Fanatical supporters who believe they’re entitled to success.
  • A succession of beleaguered managers that have failed to win the title.
  • Fandom overriding rational logic.
  • Disgruntled players who see their future elsewhere.
  • A belief that a messiah in the form of an ex-player/manager will come and save the day.

You see, not such a far-fetched comparison is it? Some similarities are uncanny. The only thing missing is a fat, meddling, buffoon from London! Hold on, isn’t Roy Hodgson from Croydon? (ok, that was a little harsh).

As a Liverpool fan I’ve been perturbed and a little surprised about all the column inches Liverpool FC have been consuming over the last few days. There seems to be genuine hysteria emanating from the club.

It was embarrassing to hear cries of “Hodgson for England” and “Dalglish” from the fans during the recent home defeat to Wolves. Alright yes, Roy Hodgson hasn’t done a good job as Liverpool manager. Actually in truth, he hasn’t even done an average one but the level of hostility towards the man is becoming unacceptable.

Every interview he has conducted has been brutally assassinated and taken out of context. Even something as banal as Hodgson rubbing his face is now up for discussion on the LFC internet forums. Ex-players who in the summer were praising his appointment have now trickled out of the woodwork to publicly damn him.

Hodgson isn’t the only one to have fallen foul of the Liverpool fans of late. Paul Konchesky, a limited but willing player has become a target of the boo boys in the last few weeks. It would appear that a few disparaging remarks made by Konchesky’s mum about the city of Liverpool and its fans on Facebook (I know…. Facebook???) has done a lot of damage. Didn’t she have anything better to do, like change her profile picture or send a friend request???

Liverpool fans are supposed to be the most knowledge football fans around (truly a self-proclaimed notion). Therefore, can they not see that the club as a whole is going through a rebuilding process and need some patience? A magic wand will not be waved and everything will be rosy again. No plaster or band-aid can cover over the mistakes made in the last 18 months.

The new owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG or formerly known as NESV) will need time to evaluate the structure and long-term planning of the club. Changes will be made, I’m certain. These changes however, need to be the correct ones for the club. No quick-fixes here please! Whilst I admire and greatly respect Kenny Dalglish (affectionately known as ‘the King’ by many). He is a man who has not managed a football club for 11 years!

I watch with baited breath to see how Liverpool football club conducts itself over the next two transfer windows. Most importantly the current one, which is already four days old. New players are a priority and prudence as well as conscientiousness will have to be exhausted. The question is, will the board back Hodgson and give him the money he desperately needs?

It will seem inevitable that there will a parting of the ways between the club and manager at some point in the near future. My only wish is that it’s done at the end of the season in an amicable way. That will allow Hodgson to leave with some dignity instead of with his tail tucked between his legs.

The words “You’ll Never Walk Alone” are paramount to the club. Enough of the witch-hunts and agenda’s.  It’s time to be united.