Time Ticks on Roy Hodgson

Barring a court appeal the new Liverpool owners look set to arrive at the Paisley gates amidst a media frenzy. But should Roy Hodgson be welcoming them with open arms or starting a premature search for his next job? After losing to Blackpool last week, Hodgson managed to briefly make himself less popular than Liverpool’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillet, as cries of Kenny Dalglish echoed down the Kop. 

Roy Hodgson’s arrival at Anfield has coincided with the club’s worst start to a league season for 57 years. The club embarrassingly languish in the relegation zone after only winning one out of their first seven games, a record that simply is not good enough for a ‘top four’ team. However a glimmer of hope has shone on Anfield with the news that Red Sox owner John Henry made a successful offer to buy the club before Asian millionaire, Peter Lim, made an even bigger offer.

News that Liverpool’s ownerships saga is reaching its final hurdles will have relieved Hodgson more than anyone. On the surface, not only has it given him the potential to reinforce his squad in January but it has also managed to take the spotlight off the club’s dismal on-field performances.

However he should be under no illusions, once the new owners- whoever they may be – take control of the club; the spotlight will be put back on him with ten times the glare. No longer will the club be able to hide behind the excuse of boardroom issues affecting the players’ performances.

After announcing the successful bid of the Red Socks group NESV, Martin Broughton revealed that Roy Hodgson’s contract contains a dismissal-clause. It was scrawled into the manger’s agreement under the requirement of Broughton to provide a back-up plan should new owners come in and want a change of management.

The clause comes as no surprise; even in July when Hodgson signed he was billed as the ‘safe’ choice. He was the manager who could provide the safe pair of hands to steer Liverpool through choppy seas. After recent poor form, he himself even pledged to ride the club out of the storm, and there is no doubt that he will. But when safer financial waters return to Liverpool it seems inevitable that Liverpool’s new owners will want a world-class manager to match the world-class players they are supposedly going to invest in. Hodgson can be described in many flattering terms – but ‘world-class’ is not one of them.

After 34 years in management he has failed to win any major honours in any major countries. Granted, he overachieved with Fulham for two seasons, but when overachieving with Fulham is the highlight of three and a half decades in management then there is a strong argument to suggest that he does not have the talent to take Liverpool back to its past echelons. His record at other ‘big’ clubs is not very flattering either - at Inter Milan, where he won no trophies, his record was mediocre at best. His time at Blackburn Rovers, Premier League champions two years previously can be seen as a resounding failure. He was sacked after a series of expensive player purchases flopped – a fact that could worry any new owners who want to invest in the squad in January.

The former Inter manager is now in a very difficult position; he arrived at the club to find an over-sized and under-strength squad. If he were to be shown the door now, he would not have even been given the chance to put his own stamp on the club.

His only option seems to be to succeed with a weak squad until January. But by then the new owners will reach their next conundrum. Will they want Hodgson spending money when the possibility of new boss looms? A different manager will have different ideas and want different players to Hodgson, while the owners will not want to invest in new players twice.

Liverpool fans could be instrumental on Hodgson’s future. They want a manager who can create a bond between the crowd and manager as Bill Shankly did in the 60’s. However, so far Hodgson has failed to endear himself to the Liverpool faithful with some strange movements in the transfer market and a string of baffling tactical decisions that do not differ hugely from his much derived predecessor, Rafael Benitez. The British manager has adopted the same 4-5-1 formation as the Spaniard when most fans would prefer to see a move towards a more offensive formation. While the signings of Christian Poulsen, Paul Koncesky and Brad Jones have filled an already bloated squad with yet more average players.

Although talk of sacking Hodgson after only five months in charge is unfair, after all only five points separating fourth place from the relegation zone. It is too early to judge. In the current market there are not many better alternatives. If Hodgson’s job is in the question, then Kenny Dalglish’s name should not be in the answer. The Scot is the fans’ choice but he has not managed for almost a decade now and the Premier League has changed beyond recognition since the days he last won the title with Blackburn 15 years ago. Hodgson now has the perfect chance to banish talk of Dalglish and create a rapport with the fans in the Merseyside derby this weekend; if Liverpool can beat their rivals then Hodgson will at least defer pressure for the immediate future.

But whatever the result against Everton, there is certainly a ticker on Roy Hodgson. The harsh reality is that since he took over, with a squad of international players, Liverpool have won only one in seven league games and in that time they have suffered humiliating home defeats to Northampton and Blackpool. If Liverpool are to compete in next year’s Champions League then Roy Hodgson will have to prove to the new owners that he is not just a safe mid-table manager who can guide the club through times of transition, but a man who can take the club back to the to the glory days of Shankly and Paisley; time ticks against him…

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