{"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
<\/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
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
Manager<\/th>\n | Games Played<\/th>\n | Games Won<\/th>\n | Games Lost<\/th>\n | Win Percentage<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
---|---|---|---|---|
William Edward Barclay & John McKenna<\/td>\n | 127<\/td>\n | 77<\/td>\n | 30<\/td>\n | 60.63%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Tom Watson<\/td>\n | 742<\/td>\n | 329<\/td>\n | 272<\/td>\n | 44.34%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
David Ashworth<\/td>\n | 139<\/td>\n | 70<\/td>\n | 29<\/td>\n | 50.36%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Matt McQueen<\/td>\n | 229<\/td>\n | 93<\/td>\n | 76<\/td>\n | 40.61%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
George Patterson<\/td>\n | 366<\/td>\n | 137<\/td>\n | 144<\/td>\n | 37.43%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
George Kay<\/td>\n | 357<\/td>\n | 142<\/td>\n | 122<\/td>\n | 39.78%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Don Welsh<\/td>\n | 232<\/td>\n | 81<\/td>\n | 93<\/td>\n | 34.91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Phil Taylor<\/td>\n | 150<\/td>\n | 76<\/td>\n | 42<\/td>\n | 50.67%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Bill Shankly<\/td>\n | 783<\/td>\n | 407<\/td>\n | 178<\/td>\n | 51.98%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Bob Paisley<\/td>\n | 581<\/td>\n | 380<\/td>\n | 70<\/td>\n | 65.40%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Joe Fagan<\/td>\n | 131<\/td>\n | 71<\/td>\n | 24<\/td>\n | 54.20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Kenny Dalgish (I)<\/td>\n | 307<\/td>\n | 187<\/td>\n | 42<\/td>\n | 60.91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Graeme Souness<\/td>\n | 157<\/td>\n | 66<\/td>\n | 46<\/td>\n | 42.04%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Roy Evans<\/td>\n | 226<\/td>\n | 117<\/td>\n | 53<\/td>\n | 51.77%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Gerard Houllier<\/td>\n | 307<\/td>\n | 160<\/td>\n | 74<\/td>\n | 52.12%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Rafa Benitez<\/td>\n | 350<\/td>\n | 197<\/td>\n | 79<\/td>\n | 56.29%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Roy Hodgson<\/td>\n | 31<\/td>\n | 13<\/td>\n | 10<\/td>\n | 41.94%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Kenny Dalglish (II)<\/td>\n | 74<\/td>\n | 35<\/td>\n | 22<\/td>\n | 47.30%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
Brendan Rodgers<\/td>\n | 166<\/td>\n | 85<\/td>\n | 42<\/td>\n | 51.20%<\/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 |