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His reputation as a great coach
and manager was build on a life as a player in the amateur leagues in
England. He moved to Sweden and made a sensational start in management
with Halmstad.
This has really been the life of Roy Hodgson, bringing success to
smaller clubs fighting the giants. He is also a wanderer. He has also
been a coach at international level with Finland and Switzerland.
Temporary and short spells in Norway, Denmark and Sweden was switched
with a chance in Italian football. He was in charge of Inter Milan twice
without winning any major trophies.
Hodgson did an admirable job at Fulham and he lifted the London club
from a relegation fighter into a top half team. But the job at Liverpool
is a different story.
Liverpool dominated the English game for almost 30 years winning their
last league title in 1990. after being almost unbeatable in the years
before.
Liverpool must also be regarded as a successful team also after 1990,
winning the FA Cup three times in 1992, 2001 and 2006. They also played
in the 1996 final and ended runners up.
The Carling Cup (League Cup) has found the way to Anfield three times
since 1990. Liverpool won this tournament in 1995, 2001 and 2003.
They have been runners-up in the Premier League twice, in 2002 and 2009.
The UEFA Cup was won in 2001 and we all remember that fantastic
Champions League win in 2005 and the final in 2007.
You can also ad a silver medal in the FIFA World Championship in 2005 to
the collection.
This is not a bad record when you look at it with an open mind and not
with historical Liverpool eyes.
Rafael Benitez would be considered a hero almost everywhere else in the
World with a fantastic record since his arrival in June 2004.
Roy Hodgson is a gamble and the fact that the man is 62 years of age
makes you wonder what the clubs criteria for a new boss have been.
Hodgson is used to navigate "sail boats" and turn almost everything
upside down when he comes in, at Liverpool he is in charge of a
"supertanker" and other skills are needed.
They let a 12 year younger manager leave the club, a man that has
probably more years left in management than he have behind him and
appointed someone that would be close to his pension, without a previous
life at Liverpool.
Liverpool fans have a history they must honour and not believe that it
will be up to Roy Hodgson to copy something like that.
Roy Hodgson has one target this season and that is to bring Liverpool
back to a Champions League position. The season Liverpool won the
Champions League in 2005, we all remember them also missing out on the
4th place and got a wild card into the tournament for the next season.
You can always find negatives about managers and use those negatives and
bring them to the highest level when you make a decission. The Benitez
sacking was not one that is well understood among footballing people.
Liverpool will never dominate the game the way they did 20 to 30 years
back. They will be lucky if they can copy what they have done in the
last 20, which is not bad, and they should have appointed a younger
manager with a long term strategy.
Hodgson could not turn down Liverpool and say no to one of the most
challenging manager positions in the World, and hopefully he will manage
to bring the Reds up among the 4.
Managers of Liverpool, and the age they had when they were appointed
1959-1974 - Bill Shankly (46)
1974-1983 - Bob Paisley (55)
1983-1885 - Joe Fagan (62)
1985-1991 - Kenny Dalglish (34)
1991-1994 - Greame Souness (38)
1994-1998 - Roy Evans (45)
1998-2004 - Gerard Houllier (51)
2004-2010 - Rafael Benitez (44)
2010 - Roy Hodgson (62)
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