“It’s never a good time of year in England, is it? British Summer Time is at an end and with it goes daylight beyond 5pm at night. Seasonal Adjustment Disorder (SAD, aka Seasonal Affective Disorder) is very real: sunlight makes us feel more optimistic. Right now I – like a lot of others – am suffering with HAD: Hodgson Adjustment Disorder. We’re not adjusting at all well to him and his methods, and he’s not adjusting at all well to Liverpool and its demands and expectations.” (Tomkins Times)

“A third of the Premier League season, and not even a third of games won. That’s how bad it’s been. As noted here, Liverpool won just three of the first 10 league matches, and in the next three, it’s been only one win. There’s a pattern present. Roy Hodgson sees the Stoke result as a ‘blip’, but when you’ve failed to win nine of 13 games, the blip appears to be the victories. Maybe he’s spent too long as a big fish in a small pond. His own words tend to prove the theory.” (Tomkins Times)

“Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson was disappointed to hear fans chanting for former boss Kenny Dalglish during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Stoke and said such singing is unhelpful to the club.” (ESPN)

Hodgson: Putting the Gaffe in Gaffer.
“A few weeks back, someone emailed me a list of Roy Hodgson’s PR gaffes, to put onto this site. I decided against using them, thinking it might be seen as unfair, but they do paint the picture of a man who underestimated the pressure at Liverpool FC, and who has looked hopelessly out of his depth.” (Tomkins Times)

Stoke City 2-0 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)

“Had Steven Gerrard‘s shot that hit the crossbar bounced down and in to give Liverpool the three points against Wigan, Roy Hodgson’s side would have moved up to fifth in the league – just three points behind Man City in fourth. However, had Liverpool won this game it would have been a huge case of papering over the, rather large, cracks in their performance and manager’s tactics. Not to mention a huge injustice for a Wigan side who outplayed their more illustrious opponents for 70 minutes.” (This is Anfield)

What the hell is Moneyball?
“I’ve seen many reference to ‘Moneyball’ since John W. Henry prised Liverpool F.C. from the cold, obnoxious palms of Tom Hicks and George Gillette last month, but what does it mean? And, given that it’s a baseball thing, can it be applied to football?” (The Long Ball Tactic)

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)

“This week sees the long-anticpated (by at least three people) release of ‘Pay As You Play: The True Price of Success in the Premier League Era‘. The Transfer Price Index website is now fully live, and includes extracts and links to order the book. It will also feature new articles based on the TPI work used in Pay As You Play.” (Tomkins Times)

Ten out of 20 Ain’t Bad.
“Now that the Reds have got some kind of foothold under Roy Hodgson, unless results take a disastrous turn for the worst, the 20 game mark appears to be the fairest time to draw further conclusions. (And as such, I’m not going to say too much until then, for fear of repeating myself; I will of course continue to interact with subscribers of this website and write about Liverpool FC, but not analyse every last performance in a make-or-break fashion.)” (Tomkins Times)

Damien Comolli at Spurs: A TPI Case Study
“2nd November 2010. Tottenham beat the European champions Internazionale 3-1 at White Hart Lane with a scintillating display of attacking football. Exactly two years earlier they were rock bottom of the Premier League after 11 games (and 17 points behind Liverpool). Tottenham’s manager in that period has been Harry Redknapp and he has done a fine job, albeit with a lot of the components already in place.” (Pay As You Play)