{"id":533,"date":"2016-06-28T13:35:23","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T13:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=533"},"modified":"2016-06-28T13:35:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T13:35:23","slug":"is-roy-hodgson-the-worst-liverpool-manager-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/is-roy-hodgson-the-worst-liverpool-manager-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Roy Hodgson The Worst Liverpool Manager Of All Time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s be honest, were any Liverpool fans out there surprised by England\u2019s defeat to Iceland last night? If you were then I can only assume it\u2019s because you didn\u2019t even expect our national side to make it out of the group, such is Hodgson\u2019s complete and utter ineptitude.<\/p>\n

\"Roy<\/p>\n

Anyone who watched Liverpool lose at home to Blackpool under Hodgson\u2019s management or heard him discuss the \u2018formidable\u2019 nature of Northampton Town will have known for years that he is simply not up to the task of managing a top-level club. As one of his West Brom players once said, \u201cRoy makes bad players average. But he makes good players average too\u201d.<\/p>\n

And so I can\u2019t help but ask the question: Is Roy Hodgson the worst Liverpool manager ever?<\/p>\n

The Stats<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no better place to start when exploring a manager\u2019s success or failure in comparison to others than with the stats. Now the whole problem with Hodgson is about so much more than just the football he got the Reds playing, but I\u2019ll get to that in due time. For now, it\u2019s the numbers I\u2019m most interested in.<\/p>\n

Below is a table with the games played, won and lost under the leadership of every manager in the club\u2019s history according to Wikipedia. I\u2019ve also included their win percentage. There\u2019s no point including points won as some of the managers were in charge at a time when a win only earned two points.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve intentionally not included Ronnie Moran\u2019s brief spell as caretaker, nor have I included the period of time when Houllier and Evans were \u2018joint managers\u2019. Equally there seemed little point including George Patterson\u2019s first spell in charge, given that he was manager of the club during the First World War and only took charge of Liverpool for eighteen games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Manager<\/th>\nGames Played<\/th>\nGames Won<\/th>\nGames Lost<\/th>\nWin Percentage<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
William Edward Barclay & John McKenna<\/td>\n127<\/td>\n77<\/td>\n30<\/td>\n60.63%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tom Watson<\/td>\n742<\/td>\n329<\/td>\n272<\/td>\n44.34%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
David Ashworth<\/td>\n139<\/td>\n70<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n50.36%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Matt McQueen<\/td>\n229<\/td>\n93<\/td>\n76<\/td>\n40.61%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
George Patterson<\/td>\n366<\/td>\n137<\/td>\n144<\/td>\n37.43%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
George Kay<\/td>\n357<\/td>\n142<\/td>\n122<\/td>\n39.78%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Don Welsh<\/td>\n232<\/td>\n81<\/td>\n93<\/td>\n34.91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phil Taylor<\/td>\n150<\/td>\n76<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n50.67%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bill Shankly<\/td>\n783<\/td>\n407<\/td>\n178<\/td>\n51.98%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bob Paisley<\/td>\n581<\/td>\n380<\/td>\n70<\/td>\n65.40%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joe Fagan<\/td>\n131<\/td>\n71<\/td>\n24<\/td>\n54.20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kenny Dalgish (I)<\/td>\n307<\/td>\n187<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n60.91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Graeme Souness<\/td>\n157<\/td>\n66<\/td>\n46<\/td>\n42.04%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Roy Evans<\/td>\n226<\/td>\n117<\/td>\n53<\/td>\n51.77%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gerard Houllier<\/td>\n307<\/td>\n160<\/td>\n74<\/td>\n52.12%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rafa Benitez<\/td>\n350<\/td>\n197<\/td>\n79<\/td>\n56.29%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Roy Hodgson<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n41.94%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kenny Dalglish (II)<\/td>\n74<\/td>\n35<\/td>\n22<\/td>\n47.30%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brendan Rodgers<\/td>\n166<\/td>\n85<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n51.20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

So there you have it. Hodgson is not the worst Liverpool manager of all time from a statistical point of view, in the sense that he had a better win percentage than some other managers. However he was also only in charge for 31 games, so one can only guess how badly he\u2019d have performed if he\u2019d had longer.<\/p>\n

As a side note, that table also draws attention to why Bill Shankly is such an important figure in the history of Liverpool Football Club. Since he took over the club\u2019s win ratio has dropped below 50% on just three occasions, with one of those being Kenny Dalglish\u2019s second spell when it was 47.30%.<\/p>\n

\"Olga

Olga Popova \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

So whilst Roy might not be the worst Liverpool manager of all time, he is statistically the worst manager of the post-Shankly era. His win percentage of 41.94% is even worse than Graeme Souness\u2019 42.04%. Though Souness is now considered to be the manager that started the rot that has taken hold of modern Liverpool, he at least is able to point to his 1992 FA Cup win as some small consolation for his time at the club.<\/p>\n

Lowering Expectations<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s difficult to think of a more perfect, distilled version of Roy Hodgson\u2019s desire to lower expectations than his post-match press conference last night. Let\u2019s ignore, for a second, how disgracefully cocky England were about the fact that Iceland were their opponents and look simply at the bare basics of their situation. They are a nation that has more volcanoes than professional footballers. Their population is the size of London borough.<\/p>\n

And yet Roy Hodgson went into the match with a pre-written resignation letter, just in case. He\u2019d already spoken to Gary Neville and Ray Lewington about them all stepping down together in the event that England were defeated. It was almost as if the Iceland victory came as no surprise to him.<\/p>\n

\"Vlad1988

Vlad1988 \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Liverpool fans have seen it all before, of course. It\u2019s worth reading that quote about Northampton Town in its entirety to truly appreciate it. \u201cThey’ll pressure us, they’ll be young and athletic, and our scouts have been quite impressed by what they’ve seen. They’ll be a formidable challenge – there’s no question about that\u201d. This about a team in the fourth division of English football. He went in to the game expected the challenge to be so tough that Liverpool might not be able to cope with it. What an absolute disgrace.<\/p>\n

When Liverpool travelled to St. Andrews to play Birmingham City under Roy Hodgson\u2019s management they managed a 0-0 draw. After the game he said he \u2018didn\u2019t expect to win\u2019. What kind of attitude is that to take at any football club, let alone at Liverpool FC?<\/p>\n

I know Liverpool fans are often mocked with the refrain \u201cThis will be our year\u201d, but should every club not try to achieve the very best they can? Do newly promoted teams enter the Premier League convinced they\u2019re going to go straight back down, or believing that they can stay up? It seems a pretty obviously answer to me, but then I\u2019m not Roy Hodgson.<\/p>\n

Understand The Values Of The Club<\/h2>\n

Roy Hodgson once told Tony Barrett, a Liverpool born journalist who covers the club for The Times, that his \u2018problem\u2019 was that he was \u2018too Scouse\u2019. I\u2019m just going to let that sink in for a minute or two.<\/p>\n

Imagine being given a job in Liverpool and thinking slagging off how \u2018Scouse\u2019 someone is was a clever idea. Sadly this ignorance is a huge part of why Roy Hodgson was never a good appointment for LFC. He didn\u2019t understand the culture of the club or the fans before he arrived and he made no attempt to do so whilst he was here. He was firmly part of the metropolitan elite that no doubt would have encouraged Thatcher\u2019s \u2018managed decline\u2019 of the city if he had half a chance.<\/p>\n

Hodgson only ever saw Liverpool as a stepping stone to where he wanted to be – in the England hot seat. That was clear in the way that he responded to several incidents during his time at the club. When Liverpool played Manchester United in September of 2010 Torres went down under a challenge. After the game the United manager accused him of diving. What was the Liverpool manager\u2019s response? Knowing that Liverpool fans hate Manchester United with a passion and have no time whatsoever for their red-nosed manager, did Hodgson go on the attack and put Fergie in his place?<\/p>\n

\"The

The Kop in full flow<\/p><\/div>\n

In a word, \u2018no\u2019. He said, \u201cSir Alex is entitled to any opinion he wants to have but I’m not going to come here and say I agree or disagree. I thought the referee refereed the game very well and I have a very ambivalent attitude to those type of things\u201d. \u2018Ambivalent\u2019 is the appropriate word alright. Hodgson\u2019s entire career is one of ambivalence.<\/p>\n

What about when Liverpool fans were protesting over the ownership of the club by Hicks and Gillett? The American owners were taking the club towards bankruptcy and everyone knew it. Both the people of Liverpool and the club\u2019s supporters themselves have a history of protesting against things they know are not right, so did Hodgson back them up and applaud their attitude?<\/p>\n

\u201dThe protest does not help but it is something I have had to live with since I came to the club\u2026.I knew the situation existed before I arrived and it doesn’t help. But it is often the case that when things are conspiring against you there is always an extra thing to come in and make it that little bit worse\u201d. That\u2019s right, during his spell at Liverpool things were \u2018conspiring against him\u2019. Those pesky fans trying to save the future of the club that they\u2019d supported for most of their lives were just an irritant to poor Roy.<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/p>\n

You remember Jos\u00e9 Mourinho, don\u2019t you? The Portuguese cretin who has long been annoyed that Liverpool chose Benitez over him in the summer of 2004. The man who shushed the Liverpool supporters after Gerrard\u2019s own goal in the League Cup final in 2005. He\u2019s not exactly ever been popular with the Anfield crowd, so one would assume that any Liverpool manager bringing him up would be doing so to mock him or dismiss his opinion.<\/p>\n

Roy, though, is not every manager. He once said, \u201cEveryone I know in football respects the job I\u2019m doing here and aren\u2019t too surprised it hasn\u2019t been an easy start. In fact, 95 per cent would have predicted it as Mourinho did. \u2018Liverpool will get worse and worse\u2019 is what he said and if the great man Mourinho says it, I don\u2019t know why you don\u2019t quote him\u201d. The great man Mourinho.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

There are many, many stories that can be told to criticise Roy Hodgson as a football manager. Just last week he decided to forgo the opportunity to watch Iceland play in the flesh, for example, and instead joined Ray Lewington on a boat trip around Paris. He was paid \u00a33.5 million per year to manage England.<\/p>\n

The reality is, though, that he was never the right man for Liverpool. He got teams playing the wrong sort of football, he had no time for the people of the city or the values of the supporters, and he cared about nothing more than his own advancement.<\/p>\n

He may not be the worst manager in the club\u2019s entire history when it comes to the stats, but he definitely is when it comes to the personality. The dark days of Hodgson\u2019s reign are far behind for Liverpool fans. They are now over for England supporters. Who will be the next club to fall for the idea that he\u2019s a \u2018good football manager\u2019 and an \u2018honourable man\u2019?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s be honest, were any Liverpool fans out there surprised by England\u2019s defeat to Iceland last night? If you were then I can only assume it\u2019s because you didn\u2019t even expect our national side to make it out of the group, such is Hodgson\u2019s complete and utter ineptitude. Anyone who watched Liverpool lose at home to Blackpool under Hodgson\u2019s management or heard him discuss the \u2018formidable\u2019 nature of Northampton Town will have known for years that he is simply not up to the task of managing a top-level club. As one of his West Brom players once said, \u201cRoy makes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":537,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}