Last week I said that a top four position by the end of November is not out of the question. Right now I'm not so certain we will even be in the top half of the table by the end of the month. I am a Liverpool supporter, I will never stop cheering for the team and being positive about the club. That being said, being a Liverpool supporter does not mean that I have to support the manager any more and I simply cannot continue to do so. Roy Hodgson is clearly not the right man to take the club forward, I thank him for trying his best and taking on the job in the summer, but now it is time to say goodbye and keep some semblance of dignity. I don't expect him to come out and publicly start slagging off his players, like he did to Glen Johnson a few days ago, but coming out and saying things that aren't even true just embarrasses everybody. Here are a couple of his latest pearls of wisdom after the Stoke game.
"We did okay in the first half. We dealt with the pressure of the throws, the corners and the long balls forward reasonably well."
"I don't want to be seen to be making cheap excuses. We lost to a strong team who out-battled us in certain occasions."
Roy has now won just eleven away games in six seasons as a Premier League manager with Blackburn, Fulham and Liverpool. In December 1998 he was sacked by Blackburn after a poor start to the season and unfortunately too much damage had been done and they were relegated. I know that a few players like Shearer had departed but this was still a club that had won the league just four seasons earlier. Armed with information like this surely the alarm bell must be ringing loudly around Anfield and amongst the owners. If they are not then I am seriously concerned about what direction the club is heading in. John Henry has made numerous comments in support of Roy, saying things like how he has been a great teacher in the ways of football. These don't sound like the comments of a man about to sack the manager. If things are allowed to continue we will be very lucky to even have Europa League football to offer players next season, forget about Champions League. If we cannot offer top level European football we cannot expect to attract the very best players available, nor can we honestly expect to keep the best players we have, no matter how loyal they may appear to be now. Man City have shown that by offering ludicrously high wages and paying over the odds in transfer fees, you can still attract decent players without Champions League football to offer. We do not have that kind of unlimited wealth at our disposal to be able to do the same, though to be honest I don't really a want a bunch of money grabbing mercenaries at the club anyway. Regardless of the money situation, Man City have something else to offer that we cannot do, that is the strong potential to be amongst the top four in the league and playing Champions League football in the near future. We on the other hand look to be at least two seasons away from being there, and in my opinion that would take a lot of work and a completely new management structure in football terms.
I am currently very concerned about where the club is heading and continuing to trot out that tired cliche about there still being loads of games to go isn't going to wash with me any longer. I can clearly see a pattern emerging this season that I believe will continue, unless drastic measures are taken quickly. We will probably beat West Ham next Saturday and Roy and his pals in the media will say we have turned a corner, then we will get walloped by Spurs the following week and we will be back where we are now. I can't see anything other than the odd win here and there mixed with draws and defeats for the rest of the season with Roy in charge. This won't get us relegated but it will not see us any higher than mid table mediocrity, just like Fulham which I think has now been conclusively proved is about Roy's level.
Liverpool FC | Supporters Club | Vancouver, BC, Canada
