The Soccer Blog: Roy Puts Foot in Mouth Again, News at 11

Saturday 30 October 2010

Roy Puts Foot in Mouth Again, News at 11

By: Noel | October 29th, 2010
be quiet

“We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players that we have brought in for next to nothing.”

Just when you thought that Hodgson might make it through the week without sticking his foot in his mouth, he goes and says something daft. Turns out he’s just not happy if he’s not throwing his players under the bus. Unless he’s taking about Poulsen. Or maybe Konchesky, since he cost the club four million pounds plus three youngsters worth at least that much, and probably more. I wouldn’t mind so much if it was them he was throwing under the bus, preferably right before he leapt after them

Knowing our boy Roy, though, he’s probably thinking of the latter being amongst those “good players brought in for next to nothing.” I mean, he only invested a net of eight million plus pounds in an older and thoroughly average fullback. That has to count as smart business, right? Definitely. It must be expensive internationals like Agger and Johnson who are under-preforming for him because he doesn’t have a clue how to use them that are the failures. Because he has thirty-five years experience and can do no wrong.

It’s all a part of more defeatist talk about needing to rebuild a squad largely responsible for that run to second two years back, and with it Hodgson just keeps showing those vaunted man management skills the press is always talking about. Right before they start talking about what a nice man he is as he snaps at another reporter. Meanwhile, after last week’s good showing, he spends the rest of his press conference talking down expectations for the Bolton match. He also takes pains to explain that the biggest probable with worrying about matches in Europe is that it doesn’t give you a full week to spend drilling the squad in what you want them to do.

So, no time to prepare equals the effort against Blackburn. And lots of time to prepare equals… Everton? I’m so confused. And scared. And also kinda angry at him again after a week when he faded into the background, out of sight and out of mind almost. That good result and a week of him not saying much had almost started to make me feel guilty about wanting him out so badly. Then he had to go and open his mouth.

***

Righteo. For those who didn’t check out the last thread’s comments, Galahad passed along John Henry’s response to the media getting all pissy that their precious Roy might not get a gajillion dollar transfer budget in January; Grubb passed along a deconstruction of a bit of horribly lazy “journalism” that completely ignored that NESV owns the Red Sox in order to argue that NESV would run Liverpool as though they were the Oakland Athletics; and there was talk about how we may have dodged a bullet when Kenny Huang backed out of buying the club back in the summer.

Elsewhere, Guillem Balague says the Torres and Reina rumours were, as expected, complete bullshit, though the Times does some really fucked up things when I try to get to the actual article–mostly in that it won’t actually let me navigate to the article–so I can only link to his twattering that links to his article. Perhaps you’ll have more luck than I.

And finally–finally–we’re starting to see a bit of pushback in the press about the idea that it’s all big bad Rafa’s fault and that Saint Hodgson can do no wrong. I don’t agree with all the author’s points, which isn’t surprising since he apparently thought far less of Benitez than I did, but it is perhaps more noteworthy for the fact that somebody who wasn’t pro-Rafa in the least is the one taking a few shots at the lazy and self-serving narrative being offered up by much of the London media.

Ed returns tomorrow–and not a moment too soon–so I’ll see all y’all in the comment sections until next week.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Friday News and RamblingsMore Bad News on the Pitch for LiverpoolQuick Friday Thoughts and News Run-DownStatement from the Club, News on Masch and Predictions for SundayRafa Offered £3 million to Leave: Does This Count as Real News?

Category: Team News

Tags: Causes of Alcoholism, John Henry, Kenny Huang, Rafa Benitez, Roy Hodgson, Team News
« Friday News and Ramblings | Home | GrubbSeems Uncle Roy and Arsene Wenger have different opinions about our players...

Woy: “We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players.”

Wenger: 'They have a quality squad.'
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2010/10/29/2189768/arsenal-boss-arsene-wenger-refuses-to-rule-out-liverpool
GrubbHopefully his time at the club is short, I can't stand the feeling of him smiling blankly at the press when it is clear he is not cut out for this job. (Seriously, a win against Blackburn and suddenly some people were willing to parade him around the streets in an open-top bus. Ludicrous.)

The quote about the squad under-performing is so unprofessional I tweeted it straight to Mr Henry. My voice is hopefully just a drop in the ocean of condemnation rising against Roy.

How can a manager criticise his squad so publicly and heavily and then expect them to perform well for him? I think the man in charge is the manager and he has to be the one who takes responsibility for tactics, selections and the subsequent performances that stem from those decisions (which he alone makes).

So far we've heard excuses about 'expensive failures' in the squad (bullshit - we sent Keane back), and that he has 35 years of experience, which apparently negates any bad results (bullshit - we're in the relegation zone after 9 games) and that we're going to show teams what we're all about with pressuring high up the pitch (bullshit - we've only done it once, and the opposition were poor).

So like Galahad has said, the best thing is NESV are thinking long term, and long term the future is not Roy Hodgson. But the question will remain as to exactly how long he'll manage to er... manage.

My preference would be for a young, enthusiastic manager to coach the players in a tactical and technical style of play. This should start sooner rather than later, building should begin now. I also like the idea of the front office making decisions, the manager just managing the players at his disposal. I'm all for managers identifying weaknesses in squads, but I like the idea of 'many minds' to solve the problems that have kept us from winning #19.GalahadThreepwoodRAWK has posted the first part of an interview with John Henry on their forums. Good stuff. I was especially encouraged by this bit:

9. Liverpool FC needs a sustained period of stability. Liverpool supporters will be patient as long as we can sense that we are moving in the right direction. How long are you planning on staying? Are we a long-term (10 years+) or a shorter term project?
Long-term. Everything we do is for the long-term.

Now if he'll just show Roy the door...
JoelWhen I clicked the link for the Huang story, all I saw on my new tab was "REVEALED:..." and I thought it was a Jaime Kanwar story. Nearly had to gouge my eyes out to avoid reading it!MrJI feel like I'm in one of those horror movies where I'm trapped in the room with the bad guy (Roy), someone happens to stumble upon us (the press) and I think I'm going to be saved. But with the gun in my back, I can't say anything and Roy just smiles and convinces the press that everything is fine and that he and I are having fun together. The press looks puzzled but just kind of smiles and then walks away, closing the door behind them.

Inside I'm screaming HELP ME! HELP ME! CAN YOU NOT SEE THE LOOK IN MY EYES!!! I DON'T CARE HOW CHARMING-GRANDPA-ISH HE LOOKS!!! HE'S THE KILLER!!! HE'S THE KILLER!!!LiverpoollucanThe things that come out ofthis guys mouth never cease to amaze me. How can he say this kind of stuff and then wonder why he fails to motivate the tam. He is constantly negative and deals with links for our players and comments about our team in as much of a non-combative nature as possible, this makes him a nice guy but doesn't give him any appeal or credibility with the fans.
Seriously everyone likes hodgeson as a person but if he had been a little wiser with his words to the press there might be a few more supporters willing to give him more time to shine.
Who out there wouldn't have liked him more if instead of saying he was worried about losing Torres to Man U he had said, Torres isn't for sale and even if he was Liverpool are not in the habit of selling to Man utd.
He is far too defeatist, I can only imagine half time talks to be anything but motivating.blog comments powered by Disqus

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Saturday 30 October 2010

Roy Puts Foot in Mouth Again, News at 11

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