Kenny Dalglish
“A step back or a step forward for the mighty reds? Kenny Dalglish is back at Liverpool and wears the Anfield suit far more easily than the ill-fitting Roy Hodgson. Liverpool is the pool of life. Welcome to IBWM Matt Savage.” In Bed With Maradona

Roy vs Rafa: Endgame.
“Following on from his comparisons between last season and this, Andrew Beasley looks at the final 20 league games of Rafa Benítez and Roy Hodgson. A lot was made of the fact that Liverpool weren’t very good in 2010 before the change took place, so this piece examines that belief.” Tomkins Times

Steve Clarke: A step in the right direction for Liverpool
“Liverpool’s recent woes have been all too well documented in the national press, the club’s nigh on disastrous form under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson this season having seen any realistic chance of silverware long since evaporate. However, with little to lose and a reputation to regain, recent developments at the club in terms of its managerial structure would appear – at least from the external perspective of a neutral – to be of a largely positive nature.” The Equaliser

“So, Roy Hodgson has left Liverpool by mutual consent, and has been replaced by Kenny Dalglish for the remainder of the season. Hodgson leaves with a dignified statement, but his time at the club was disastrous (although the man who replaces him knows the true meaning of ‘disaster’).” Tomkins Times

“Here’s a thing about Roy Hodgson. An intelligent man, one of the few football types who knows which way up to hold a book, Hodgson’s favourite novelist is JP Donleavy. A grand choice, is that; the Irish-American is one of the 20th century’s greatest writers. But Roy’s pick from the Donleavy canon – defined by the bona fide 1955 classic The Ginger Man – is a throwaway 1979 effort called Schultz, a novel the author himself would struggle to recall. This is like saying your favourite Shakespeare play is Timon of Athens, or that your favourite Beatles song is PS I Love You. Or that the most dependable left-back in the world is Paul Konchesky.” Guardian

“As I wrote before for Russian-speaking supporters, I had been very sceptical to Roy Hodgson since I heard he would be appointed as a manager of Liverpool FC for the first time. It seemed really obvious for me he wasn’t good enough to be a manager for the club like ours, and his experience meant nothing because he was a flop with two big names he tried to manage.” AnfieldRoad

Henry silence only adds to Hodgson’s agony and state of crisis at Anfield
“The graffiti scrawled on a Melwood wall yesterday stated ‘Hodgson Out’ but the Liverpool manager was in at an early hour and still at his desk late into the afternoon, even though it was a designated day off for most of the players whose capitulation at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night left his job in such jeopardy.” Independent

“In any season, some ‘winnable’ games will not be won. You can’t win ‘em all. Sometimes, shit happens. C’est la vie, as Robbie Nevil put it. But having dropped points at home to Blackpool and Sunderland, and away at Everton, Wigan and Stoke, the fixtures against Newcastle, Wolves, Bolton and Blackburn were supposed to be where the balance was redressed. “We’ve played the hard teams” was the (semi-valid) excuse at the start of the season, even though performances were often well below acceptable standard, with timid tactics and aimless hoofing.” Tomkins Times

Blackburn Rovers 3 – 1 Liverpool
“Roy Hodgson has survived many low points in his short spell as Liverpool manager but a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn would seem to be one disaster too far and could hasten his exit from Anfield. Even before Saturday’s injury-time winner against Bolton the suggestion was club owners New England Sports Ventures were actively looking for a replacement.” ESPN

Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute

“Below are Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on January 4, 2011 & January 5, 2011. The full edition of MOTD can be viewed here.” The 90th Minute

“Exclusive: Liverpool’s owners are so determined to end Roy Hodgson’s reign as manager that they are now prepared to delay the search for his long-term successor until the summer and install a caretaker until June, raising the prospect of an emotional return to the club for Kenny Dalglish.” Telegraph

Grumbling on towards an inevitable conclusion
“Football supporters turning on their club’s manager is not new but for a manager to turn on his club’s supporters is more unusual. Roy Hodgson’s dismal and utterly predictable time as Liverpool manager effectively came to an end last Wednesday night. Hodgson is just a patsy, one of the last remaining figures from the old regime. The hopes of the Fenway Sports Group that the club could stagger on until the summer vanished with that defeat to Wolves.” Independent

Liverpool 2 – 1 Bolton Wanderers
“Liverpool earned manager Roy Hodgson some breathing space, but nothing more, with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Bolton at Anfield. With reports suggesting owners New England Sports Ventures are now actively seeking a replacement, the 63-year-old knows he is living on borrowed time after a woeful six months in charge.” ESPN

Liverpool 2-1 Bolton Wanderers – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute

François Perrier, Olinde et Sophronie sur le bûcher
“With the derisory and ironic chants of ‘Hodgson for England’ from the Anfield crowd ringing fresh in his ears, following Liverpool’s stunning and stultifying 1-0 home loss to then bottom-placed Wolves, coach Roy Hodgson committed probably the final fatal two verbal missteps in what has been a tortuous six-month reign.” SI

The Media Narrative In Full Swing.
“Originally published on July 1st 2010. As much as I remain a fan of the Guardian and its football output, I continue to find Paul Hayward’s take on Liverpool as daft as any I’ve encountered. But it’s not like I’m being wise after the event…” Tomkins Times

An historic year in review
One of the most dramatic years in the history of Liverpool Football Club is almost at an end, so we asked those who support, work for and write about our famous institution for their reflections on 2010. From new owners and boardroom battles to a change of managers and on-the-field pain, the last 12 months will never be forgotten by those who lived through them.” Liverpool FC

“The news that the unemployed Rafa Benítez has returned to his Liverpool home creates remarkable artistic opportunities for the staff of The Run of Play. Our problem is to decide among the many options.” Run of Play

Liverpool vs Wolves – A Horror In Chalkboards.
“I’m back to take another depressing look at the chalkboards. Skipped a few games in between largely down to the fact that the chalkboards didn’t have any interesting tale to tell. While the news from the Wolves game isn’t positive, there are a few things worth noting.” Tomkins Times

Ward’s strike leaves Hodgson reign hanging by a thread
“Roy Hodgson has been waiting a long time to hear the Kop sing his name but never did he think it would be quite like this. The bitterly ironic barbs of ‘Hodgson for England’ rained down on him last night as his Liverpool side fell to a dispiriting and justified defeat to a club which arrived with the worst away record in all four English divisions.” Independent

Broughton: The big interview
“Liverpoolfc.tv spoke exclusively to Chairman Martin Broughton about the appointment of Roy Hodgson as well as the future of the club.” Liverpool FC

Hodgson hits back at Kop boo boys
“Under-pressure Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has risked incurring further wrath from disgruntled fans by claiming they should be getting behind the team instead of directing their anger at him.” ESPN

Wolves slay troubled Reds
“Liverpool’s lack of match practice cost them dearly as they lost an ei,ghth Premier League match of the season and bottom side Wolves picked up their first three-point haul since last March with a 1-0 win.” ESPN

Liverpool 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute

“AS people who still believe Roy Hodgson is the right man for the job at Liverpool are finding out (Hello Patrick), defending the indefensible is nigh on impossible.” WELL RED

“AS people who still believe Roy Hodgson is the right man for the job at Liverpool are finding out (Hello Patrick), defending the indefensible is nigh on impossible.” Well Red

“On Monday night, in a positive move, John W Henry and Tom Werner sat down at the club’s TV station to answer questions from fans on how they plan to run the club. Despite this bold decision, it may take a while for Liverpool’s new owners to speak the same language as the club’s fans. We may share English as a mother tongue, but there are cultural differences that may lead to a few misunderstandings along the way.” Tomkins Times

“TTT subscriber Tim Godden takes a look at the misfiring Liverpool striker’s record in his first 16 games of each season since arriving at Liverpool.” Tomkins Times

Hodgson suggests 11th is “right up there”
“With Liverpool playing Utrecht at home tonight in the Europa League Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson had to sit in front of the press and answer questions. The press conference came the day after the new owners had done their live phone-in, with many callers asking why on earth Roy was still in charge at Anfield.” Anfield Road

“Andy Carroll and Joey Barton combined to hand Alan Pardew a winning start to his Newcastle reign as jeers turned to cheers at St James’ Park. The 21-year-old England international’s 10th goal of the season cemented a priceless victory for the Magpies after Scouser Barton’s 80th-minute strike had restored their lead.” ESPN

Alan Pardew’s Newcastle era begins with a gutsy win against Liverpool
“There have been almost as many fake messiahs as false dawns on Tyneside, but for a brief moment at least Newcastle fans have reason to believe that Alan Pardew may prove an unexpected answer to their woes after all. A gritty, gutsy win will not erase the mystification and misery induced by the club’s bizarre decision to sack Chris Hughton last Monday but at least it buys the latest messiah time to implement his personal blueprint for Geordie salvation.” Guardian

“It’s only fair to acknowledge that Liverpool have been playing well and moving up the league of late. After a fairly terrifying start to the campaign in almost all respects, things have settled into a more comfortable pattern. It took 16 games, but the Reds are finally into positive goal difference, the latest arrival at that point since 1964/5.” Tomkins Times

“The first instalment of our Writers series is with noted sportswriter, Paul Tomkins. Paul has authored 9 books now, including his most recent work, Pay As You Play, an inside look at the financial implications of winning in the Premiership. Paul and his collaborators created a new metric, TPI (Transfer Price Index) to evaluate the transfer performance of managers since the inception of the EPL. Applying the precision of an accountant to the at times “intuitive” nature of football transfers, Pay As You Play depicts a much more accurate picture of which managers are great at what they do and which aren’t (although they may claim otherwise!)” 12 Yards Footy

Mutual respect for mediocrity spawned this fine bromance
“We’ve all had enough pain. We’ve all had enough misery and dissembling. But the next 24 hours will bring more, although it will be disguised as a heart-warming story of friends re-united. Gerard Houllier returns to Anfield tomorrow and he will be met there by his great friend Roy Hodgson. If you had Roy Hodgson’s away record, you too would have many friends in football. Since August 2009, Hodgson has won two league matches away from home, so it is no surprise he is greeted warmly wherever he goes.” Independent

“Liverpool’s future is a subject that has dominated debate over the course of two, traumatic years. Yet while optimism about the seasons to come has been restored now that New England Sports Ventures have replaced Tom Hicks and George Gillett as the owners, Jose Reina’s appraisal of events at Anfield included a few words of warning about the club’s prospects in the short term.” (ESPN)

“When this site and a number of other Liverpool FC fan sites ran a poll to find out the thoughts of fans about the future of Roy Hodgson it wasn’t a surprise to see the ‘winner’ of the poll was ‘sack Roy immediately’. What was surprising was how few supporters felt the club should at least wait. Reasons for waiting crop up from time to time in conversation and are often well argued. Yet just 3% of supporters in the poll said no to sacking Roy on the spot.” (Anfield Road)

“It was hardly a proper test of being able to cope without Steven Gerrard but Liverpool did more than enough to dispose of a woeful West Ham at Anfield. With the captain out for a month with a hamstring tear manager Roy Hodgson called for his players to step up to fill the void and the Barclays Premier League’s bottom side provide the perfect opposition.” (ESPN)

Woeful Hammers provide no test
“Humour, cruelty and piercing honesty can go hand in hand on the terraces. The greater a club’s plight, the more illuminating the insights from the supporters can prove, and the more absurd their flights of fancy can become. If it tends to be worth watching the side at the top of the league, it’s instructive to listen to the fans at the foot of the division.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)

“Liverpool Football Club have new owners; they inherited a manager who has overseen an extremely poor start to the season. Many players are understood to be unhappy with Roy Hodgson or with his tactics and coaching methods.” Anfield Road

“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)

“Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard came to his side’s aid once again as his late hat-trick inspired the side to a 3-1 Europa League victory against Napoli which highlighted the gulf in class within the squad. The Reds were deservedly behind to Ezequiel Lavezzi’s goal after a dire first-half performance but the England midfielder’s introduction at the interval changed the dynamic.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3-1 Napoli – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Europa League
(The 90th Minute)

“Much like Rafael Benitez’s time as Liverpool manager the arrival of Damien Comolli at Anfield as the club’s director of football strategy is likely to divide opinion both with fans and pundits – good or bad, genius or idiot?” (BBC)

“There was pressing. There was a higher defensive line. There was no Poulsen to slow the game down. Meireles was not marooned on the wing. The game was taken to the opposition. There was passing and movement, playing to the strengths of the players. It was what so many of us have been calling for. Play like that in six of the next eight games, and Roy Hodgson might find the criticism from fans (myself included) dissipating. So that’s my promise: more of this, on a consistent basis, and all can still be forgiven.” (Tomkins Times)

“Striker Fernando Torres ended his six-match goal drought with the winner against Blackburn to provide a much-needed boost at Anfield. Goalkeeper Paul Robinson had kept the Reds at bay until Sotirios Kyrgiakos’ 48th-minute header and although a Jamie Carragher own goal quickly levelled things up Torres struck only his second of the season soon after.” (ESPN)

My Promise To Roy
“There was pressing. There was a higher defensive line. There was no Poulson to slow the game down. Meireles was not marooned on the wing. The game was taken to the opposition. There was passing and movement, playing to the strengths of the players. It was what so many of us have been calling for. Play like that in six of the next eight games, and Roy Hodgson might find the criticism from fans (myself included) dissipating. So that’s my promise: more of this, on a consistent basis, and all can still be forgiven.” (Tomkins Times)

Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn Rovers – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)

“It was no surprise that Liverpool lost the 214th Merseyside derby given their woeful start to the season. No Liverpool fan, not even the most pessimistic of follower, would have fathomed such baffling results and such perturbing performances on the field given the strength of their squad at the start of the season. With some trading-up and trading-down from both Rafael Benitez and Roy Hodgson over the past couple of seasons, the majority of the Liverpool team still remain from the title challenging season of 2008-09. Crippled by the Hick’s and Gillett’s unwillingness to service the promises they provided when they took over the club, Liverpool stumbled around the Premier League last season, like a common drunk who is just about on their last legs before slumping face first into the bar.” (Talking About Football)

Napoli 0-0 Liverpool: the home side not brave enough when going forward“A fairly uneventful 0-0 at the Stadio San Paolo. Napoli played broadly their usual system, although here it frequently looked like a 3-4-3 rather than a 3-4-1-2 or a 3-4-2-1, as has been more accurate in recent games. Michele Pazienza and Walter Gargano started in midfield, whilst Hugo Campagnaro was in on the right side of defence, with Salvatore Aronica on the other side.” (Zonal Marking)

Napoli 0-0 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats
(The 90th Minute)

“We have all been there. Whether it is a way to pass time in school or a pub debate, we have created an all-star football eleven. Variations within the definition of the team can range from the best players you have seen in person to the best eleven to have played in your lifetime. I’m sure you’ve done it.” (Micro LFC)

“In ‘Pay As You Play: The True Price of Success in the Premier League Era’, one of the forms of assessment we use to judge the performance of a manager and his team is ‘cost per point’. That way, if you have a relatively low budget, and you don’t get lots of points, it’s still possible that you did a good job. In other words, you are judged by your resources, and compared against others with similar resources. If you were to get relegated with a team that cost pennies, but still won 30 points, you did well.” (Tomkins Times)