sangria

It's a bit late, but this could be a chant for the next Bonfire Night. Remember, remember The size of Roy's member

The media don't report news, they tell a narrative. What is going on isn't important to them, what's important is the story they want to tell. That's why I don't trust the media, and anyone who repeats media analyses. If the media say something, I'm only going to notice if it's something out of the ordinary, that's not part of the usual narrative.

It's not unfortunately. It's Hodgson's comments about Johnson not being worth his place, reversed to apply to himself. The most apt way of doing it, of course, would be for the owner to challenge Hodgson to prove himself, then drop him before he gets the chance.

Glen Johnson's Take On Roy Hodgson's Form So Far This Season "The big thing with Roy Hodgson is whether he is good enough to take charge of a team like Liverpool. That is the major question, rather than the recruitment process, because he is allegedly England's best manager, and if he manages like an England manager, you would expect him to get his reputation back. "But he would have to be managing like an England manager for that to happen, and up to now this season, to be quite frank, he has not performed at the level you would expect. Not very often, anyway. "The reasons? You would have to ask him that. Perhaps you should ask him, "Do you think you are managing at the top of your form? Do you think you are really performing like the best manager in the country when you manage your club?" If the answer is "yes", then we will have to agree to differ. If it is "no", you could ask him why not." Wise words indeed... http://jonnymacc.blogspot.com/2010/11/glen-johnsons-take-on-roy-hodgsons-form.html

Hodgson's attempt to portray himself as close to Dalglish, and Benitez as distant and cold-shouldering Dalglish, is almost the opposite of existing accounts. Kenny has spoken well of his relationship with Benitez, including a recent newspaper column on the Inter-Spurs matches where he speaks warmly of Benitez's time at Anfield. Paul in a recent interview has said his dad has hardly set foot in Melwood in recent times.

On the fraud part, hesbighesred at RAWK points out something that might accurately describe Hodgson as a fraud. He probably took the job on the basis that he can do a better job with existing resources than the previous manager. By talking about the need for significant rebuilding, he's doing a different job than the one he promised when he took the position. Unlike nearly everyone else, HBHR took the trouble to research Hodgson's record before he became Liverpool manager, pointed out a number of concerns which came to pass, and accurately described in detail the type of football he would go for, down to why the tactics wouldn't work with this squad of players.

“He was one of the best coaches I worked with but he was nowhere near being the best manager,” one former Blackburn player told Goal.com UK. “The spirit just drained out of the team and nobody wanted to play for him anymore. We would come into work every day and be moaning about training before it had even started because we didn’t like his methods. “Some players weren’t happy and it was obviously difficult for him – but you have to change things up when it’s going badly. He was too passive and was just hoping the results would turn by themselves. “He wasn’t proactive enough to move away from his comfort zone of being on the training ground and organising how to defend set-pieces. “Once two players squared up on the fight and he just stood there doing nothing – it was like he had no idea how to handle the players anymore, other than to tell them where they should be when he was pointing at a tactics board.” Neither the players nor the fans could get their heads around Hodgson’s defensive tactics when he took over the reins and some have suggested it reflects a mentality suited to mid-table clubs. “I've worked under him in the past and he's the best coach I've ever had,” former Blackburn star Lars Bohinen told Norwegian television last month. “However, he focuses too much on the defensive structure of a team. He doesn't really have a clear philosophy when it comes to attacking football. He used a similar style of play at Blackburn Rovers, Inter and Fulham. “Hodgson is the right man for a club that wants to defend a certain result, but I'm not sure whether he's the right man for Liverpool. “His preferred tactics suit a club like Fulham, but he's not much into attacking football and creative players. I expect [steven] Gerrard and Torres to continue suffering under Hodgson.” http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/10/29/2188495/liverpool-manager-roy-hodgson-has-failed-in-the-premier

He's trying to get sacked with full compensation. Hodgson leaves Udinese after criticising club The former Switzerland and Internazionale coach, who endured an unsuccessful spell at Ewood Park in 1997-98, only took over at Udinese in the summer after taking FC Copenhagen to the Danish title, their first championship since 1993. Hodgson was quoted in the press at the weekend as saying: "Obviously I'm very happy to be back at this level of football, but I could have chosen a better club to come back to. It's an extremely strange club."

Someone at RAWK has theorised they might be wanting to put a proper structure in place to back the new manager against any resurgence of player power. This fits in with reports that they're extremely unhappy with Carragher's new contract, which commits £9m over 2 years and was signed just before they got in, and Benitez's comments, reported here the other day, that he lays the blame on Purslow for not backing him rather than Carragher for undermining him.

April. Warnock put down a wreath for the 96 before the game.

He's not much liked in Switzerland and Italy either apparently. He has a reputation in these countries of a personality which we're starting to see here.

Djphal says Hodgson sees himself as long term and won't be resigning tonight.