Things Can Only Get Better
The affable and well-respected Roy Hodgson took over at the helm at the beginning of last season with an eye on steadying a sinking ship – oh, what a wonderful thing hindsight is. He was expected to be a steady hand on the tiller, a full-time caretaker if you will, but everything Hodgson did during his short stay on Merseyside couldn’t help but portray a man simply not cut out for the big occasion. Initially his honest approach found favour among embittered fans, but after a while it simply began to grate. A rudimentary failure to inspire his players, outdated tactics and terrible performances on the pitch helped turn Liverpool into the nation’s laughing stock and after the insipid derby day display in their defeat to Everton, the club plummeted as low as 19th place. The entire side looked bereft of confidence and that comes from the manager downwards. The long-ball tactics were an eyesore. Hodgson failed to back his players in public and even critically and crucially turned on the fans after a lacklustre home defeat against Wolves. Liverpool are well-known throughout the footballing world for not being a sacking club, but the thought of going through the entire season witnessing the complete and utter dross on display week-in, week-out simply proved too much for the club’s new owners to bare and Hodgson was quite rightly sent packing in January. Sometimes moves just don’t work out – the club’s star players failed to perform and Hodgson endured some pretty rotten luck during his time at the club, but with concerns to his appointment, it was very much a case of great man, wrong club and very much at the wrong time. Brought in to steady the ship, Hodgson’s short and disastrous tenure did anything but and he left the club in absolute disarray.
Continue to next lesson – A fallen giant?
