A Tribute to Roy Hodgson - his LFC legacy in quotes

[B20]

Seeing as Roy has now found his level at a new club, I thought I should entertain the caf with a tributary account of his time at Liverpool FC in his own words. I began compiling this dossier once it became apparent that was an exceedingly quotable manager whose words of wisdom should not be forgotten.

I present to you now, Roy Hodgson Liverpool Manager 10/11 (parts of it anyway). Believe it or not, about 40% of the quotes were removed for the sake of brevity

On goals and ambitions for the club:

'I believe, and I've got a track record that demonstrates it, that I can take the existing players, get much better performances out of them and buy constructively to build for a better future. The number one priority is to try and help the team do a bit better than last year and get back into those Champions League spots, where the club has always been and still wants to be.”

--- Hodgson is optimistic he can improve on 7th at the start of the season

"Our goal at the start of the season was to compete for a Champions League place, but perhaps that means you are automatically going to compete for the league because quite often the difference between first and fourth place isn't a vast number of points. If we are good enough to get into the top four, who knows, maybe we can get closer to the number one position.”

--- Roy remains ambitious despite a loss at Old Trafford

"I would accuse you of being unrealistic if you are suggesting we should be doing what Arsenal, who have had the same team for the last six years, and Chelsea, who have just won the league, are doing.. We finished seventh last season. I don't understand why you are suggesting we should be comparing ourselves every day with Chelsea or Manchester United at this early stage of the season."

--- What he was saying a little while later.

"I can guarantee that at the end of the season we won't be sitting there at the bottom.” –

A little while later still, expectations had been downsized further.

“Maybe what we have realised is there is plenty of work to do here but I am certainly very satisfied with the job I have done here and I don’t feel any dissatisfaction whatsoever.” –

After getting out of the relegation zone, Roy is quite happy with 9th place.

“I’m at a club where people expect great things. When we’re nearer the middle of the table than the top, people will suggest, ‘If someone else was here it would be different’. I’m not sure that’s the case. A lot of intelligent people understand that.”

--- Roy argues midtable is the best that can be attained under any circumstances. And that you're stupid if you disagree.

”Judge me after ten games.”

--- Roy sets the time frame for reasonably evaluating a manager's performance early in the season.

It is starting to feel more like my side,but it is still a team that I have not put together. I want to make that clear. I took the team over and I have not made that many changes... ...So to really call it my team, I would have had to make a slightly bigger impact on those who have been brought in. I am more than happy to take responsibility for this squad but it takes a coach more than five or six months to make his stamp on a club. I am hoping we will do some good business in transfer windows to come and then I will be able say, ‘If you don’t like it then I have no one to blame but myself’.

--- of course, it's not really his team and he'd need his own players to really make a difference.

On pre-match motivation:

"Having a game of this magnitude coming so early in our time here isn't exactly ideal. I'm hoping we'll give it our best shot and give a good account of ourselves. Then we'll see what the game brings.”

- Roy feeling upbeat before the Man Utd game.

”They'll be a formidable challenge - there's no question about that.”

- Roy on league two giants Northampton. Who did indeed prove too formidable as Liverpool crashed out of the league at Anfield against them.

On Motivating his players:

"He did well but the fact is he came on in extra-time and people were tiring. We think Jonjo Shelvey is a player with a bright future, but I have to say I am not in the mood for talking about positives.”

--- Roy provides encouragement for a young fringe player, by insisting he only impressed because the opposition was tired. And he didn't feel like talking about a good performance from him anyway.

"No doubt if, by January, he hasn't succeeded in convincing me that he is the player we need then he will have to accept we will be in the transfer market for a centre-forward once again.

--- Roy gives Ryan Babel a motivational boost in the press.

”I don't want to be taking people's leftovers. We've got those types of players ourselves.”

- Roy gives another vote of confidence in his players.

“Agger missed two weeks with the injury he picked up in the Sunderland game but he made a miraculous recovery in order to go and play for Denmark where he got injured again."

--- Roy doesn't feel above sarcastic critiques of his own players in public.

"we get two good ones back, but lose a good one in kuyt"

– Roy after Torres and Konchesky were passed fit, but Kuyt and Agger weren't.

“I shouldn’t get involved in that. Sir Alex is entitled to any opinion he wants to have.”

- Roy backs his star striker after Ferguson brands Torres a cheat.

I don't know if I would have considered using Fernando had David Ngog been fit. But he isn't and, having had a chat with Fernando, I think he'll enjoy it. It's not as if he'll be playing with a bunch of also-rans. I'm not asking him to play in the reserves.

--- Roy thinks highly of his reserve team.

“At the moment arguably one or two of the players that you are suggesting are very different to the Fulham players maybe are not playing any better than the Fulham players played.”

--- Hodgson bigs up his team by suggesting they are about on par with his Fulham in quality.

"I think I'd have to say we'd cross that bridge when we come to it. I am pretty sure when a great player like Wayne Rooney is looking to leave his club, Manchester United will be in a position to target an awful lot of players around the world. They will have the opportunity to replace him with many star strikers around the world, so all I can say is I am not naive to the situation. I am not naive enough to think there is no danger we will ever lose a player like Fernando Torres.”

--- Roy looks to end a 46-year mutual transfer embargo between the two arch-rivals by issuing a 'come and get him' plea to Alex Ferguson concerning his star striker.

"I was involved in the discussion with him, but the initiative and the desire to take Joe did come from the managing director perhaps more so than myself... ...He's not so much a player I can really take responsibility for.”

- Roy makes a point of disowning Joe Cole's suitability for Liverpool with a stirring 'the son I never wanted' assesment.

On the Squad and transfer strategy:

”We were unbelievably over-staffed when I came to the club and, if the truth be known, we still are over-staffed.”

- Hodgson thinks the squad has too many players in september

"I preferred to put my weight behind David Ngog and Ryan Babel, who's never really been given a proper chance at centre-forward at the club. We have Fernando Torres, we have good players who can play behind a lone striker."

- A day later, he backs his strikeforce as more than adequate.

A club like Liverpool shouldn't have to rely on non-specialists like Dirk Kuyt or Ryan Babel ‘doing a job’ up front when they are primarily wide players. ...The first thing people say when I walk down the street is ‘We need a front player’. They can't all be wrong and we aren't that stupid either.

- About a month later, he is singing from a different hymn sheet.

I have a very clear picture now of what we should and need to be doing and the squad is stronger and getting stronger. It was probably stronger than I realised at certain stages in the early part of the season when we were losing games. Hopefully that will mean we won't need to do too much in the January transfer window

– A month later, in November, Roy is feeling optimistic about his squad again.

”Unless there is a major influx of cash into the club and the team is going to be changed from one moment to the next, then whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.”

- A month later still, there can be no improvement whatsoever without major investment.

"I accept I may make a rod for my own back by not bringing in people, but we are targeting players whose clubs don't want to let go even if we offer them good money, and that makes it tricky," he explained. "However if by any chance Fulham, Blackburn or Stoke are willing to release such players then I am sure we would be an appealing prospect as Liverpool is arguably the second most important club in the country"

--- Roy on the difficulties of making signings when you target the best of the best.

 

[B20]

Performance vs results:

"It's pointless to try and be positive and say the second half was better and we could have got an equaliser because we lost the game:”

– Roy's perspective after losing to Blackpool at Anfield.

"I am confident we can get out of the situation we are in and I base that on our performance at Manchester United, which is a very difficult place to go and play. And I will base it on our performance at Everton, which is another very difficult place to go and play."

--- A bit later, two losses can be encouraging stuff after all.

Post Match Analysis:

"It would have been a shame if we beat Birmingham today"

--- Fair is fair, Roy doesn't really mind a draw.

"to be honest it would have been unfortunate for them if we'd won the game tonight"

– Roy being equally sympathetic to Uthrecht.

“that famous victory against Trabzonspor”

--- Hodgson remembers a special night in Turkey. No, not the CL final in Istanbul. The qualifying leg for the Europa League has quickly been written into the annals of liverpool lore.

“The second half was as good as I have seen a Liverpool team under my management play, that is for sure,” he said. “I think it was a very good second-half performance. I am refusing to accept it was a bad team performance.We did not score goals and Everton did, but I refuse to sit here and accept we were in any way outplayed or in any way inferior.”

”I’m pretty sure I’ll be backed up by David Moyes, our performance today was a good one. I can’t ask more of the players than they’ve given the club. Everton were fortunate enough to be able to defend on the back of a two-goal cushion. I think it might have been a different story had they not had the two-goal cushion. To get a result here and win the game would have been utopia. But I can only analyse the performance and there is no point in attempting to analyse dreams."

--- Hodgson analyses the facts after the 2-0 defeat at Goodison, finds that his team could have gotten a point if only Everton hadn't scored two goal, classed the defeat the best performance of the season and judged it utopia to think his team could have won in the first place.

"We allowed Everton to get on top of us in the first 20 minutes by passing the ball too short and never turning them round.

"I saw the statistics the other day from the Everton game and I've never in my Premier League career seen statistics as positive as they were in terms of passing, accuracy and tempo of passing, number of shots and crosses. Those statistics hearten you because you know you are not playing badly but they don't get you any points. We had the same level of passing and intensity against Blackburn but we were much more incisive, getting behind them down the flanks more.

"Jamie Carragher was bombing forward like Carlos Alberta of old. It was the right sort of performance; we've got to give another 29 like that and if we can do that then we won't go too far wrong."

--- Hodgson revisits the game a week later and finds that the defeat was statistically the best performance in his premier league career.

"I don't think we can play a lot better than we did against Blackburn. With the team we have at the moment, if people expect us to really play a lot better football than we did for 70 minutes at the start of the Blackburn game they are going to be asking a lot. What could happen is we could get a lot more goals for that performance but I don't think we could play better.”

--- Roy evidently does not believe the sky is the limit.

On Away Games:

“I’m afraid in this league away victories are hard to come by I believe if we continue to play the way we did against West Ham we may get one or two.”

- Roy sets the bar high.

”we are not stupid. We know that if you go to Tottenham it could be two defeats in nine but if we play like we did against West Ham we can make sure Tottenham don’t have a cake-walk. And if we can keep Fernando Torres and David Ngog firing we may spring a surprise.”

--- Roy is not expecting much at white hart lane.

"I've had several bad experiences," he said. "Even at Halmstad in the 70s, in the year we won our second championship, it took until the second half of the season to win our first game away and that broke a record going back two seasons. We went over two seasons without winning an away game, which is quite strange for a team that won the league in '76 and again in '79."

- Roy in an astonishing display of lacking self-awareness, fails to spot the red thread in his away record over 35 years.


Hodgson on others:

"The protest does not help but it is something I have had to live with since I came to the club,"

--- Roy shows his heartful relationship with the fans

“Are you from Denmark?” “No, Norway,” replied the journalist. “Ah, two countries I never want to work in again.”

--- Hodgson solidifies his relationship with Liverpool's strong Scandinavian fanbase.

“Rijkaard has just been sacked from Galatasaray - he must be a great manager to have been sacked by Galatasaray!”

--- Hodgson reacts to stirrings in the press linking Rijkaard to his position. Nevermind the fact Rijkaard never commented on the speculation himself.

Hodgson on Hodgson:

"Of course, my track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as [Alex] Ferguson enjoys today, but people don't talk about what I've done outside England"

- 8 years ago

"It is insulting to suggest that because you move to a new club, your methods suddenly don't work when they've held you in good stead for 35 years and made you one of the most respected coaches in Europe. It's unbelievable. My methods have translated from Halmstads to Malmo, to Orebro, to Neuchatel Xamax, to the Swiss national team and many other jobs as well.

--- Roy talks about his astonishing resume and expresses his bemusement at why what worked for Malmö & Neuchatel Xamax shouldn't also work for Liverpool FC.

"Everyone I know in football respects the job I’m doing here and aren’t too surprised it hasn’t been an easy start. In fact, 95 per cent would have predicted it as [Jose] Mourinho did. ‘Liverpool will get worse and worse’ is what he said and if the great man Mourinho says it, I don’t know why you don’t quote him.

--- Roy argues that since even Mourinho think he would do a terrible job, it's alright.

"Clubs have virtually been destroyed by people making bad decisions. It's not because the owners haven't given money or supported the manager. It's just that they have brought in the wrong people”

- Roy finally gets one right

 

[Bryan_Munich]

I thought he was fantastic at Liverpool.

 

[kietotheworld]

Why are you posting this here?

 

[nimic]

Agent Roy deserves nothing but our respect. He didn't last as long as Agent Rafa, but he did a valiant job.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

Agent Roy deserves nothing but our respect. He didn't last as long as Agent Rafa, but he did a valiant job.

Agent Rafa was more subtle. Winning the hearts and minds of the Liverpool folk before showing his true hand as a ruinous force. Agent Roy went for the kill too soon and was found out and couldn't continue his mission beyond 6 months.

I have more respect for Agent Rafa than Agent Roy.


Also B9, bitter much?

 

[Peasplease]

A manager who doesn't have faith in his own team is an immediate sack-able offense for me. What else was clear was that he didn't care about Liverpool, he justed wanted "Liverpool F.C." on his CV. Contrast this with Dalglish who indirectly reiterates his confidence in the team with every press conference and cares a lot for this club.

 

[Brwned]

"Of course, my track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as [Alex] Ferguson enjoys today, but people don't talk about what I've done outside England"

Hehe.

 

[Rado_N]

 

[Boss]

Roy did half talk some serious shite

 

[Aboutreika18]

He's vermin, isn't he, B9?

 

[Bilbo]

Don't get the attitude towards Hodgson. His biggest mistake was taking the job in the first place.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Don't get the attitude towards Hodgson. His biggest mistake was taking the job in the first place.

This.

 

[M'n'M]

Imagine Gary Megson managing United and have a re-think.

 

[Donkey's Ears]

Yes that is a fair comparison.

 

[Brwned]

Don't get the attitude towards Hodgson. His biggest mistake was taking the job in the first place.

Because he's a midtable manager?

 

[Sarni]

Don't get the attitude towards Hodgson. His biggest mistake was taking the job in the first place.

Anyone would have taken it. A huge club with a decent squad, and in fact they were realistic in that they didn't expect him to win the league, had he managed to compete for 4th which was definitely a possibility he would have stayed. Instead he got them playing like Blackburn Rovers.

 

[Boss]

Don't get the attitude towards Hodgson. His biggest mistake was taking the job in the first place.

yup, he's too shite

 

[BaldwinLegend]

Don't get the attitude towards Hodgson. His biggest mistake was taking the job in the first place.

Agreed, but don't ever expect anything approaching a fair appraisal of of him from some here.

 

[Sam.G]

Agent Roy deserves nothing but our respect. He didn't last as long as Agent Rafa, but he did a valiant job.

Most of you lot rated him and thought he was doing a good job given 'the mess left behind by Benitez'.

hmmm..

 

[B20]

Why are you posting this here?

Most of you lot rated him and thought he was doing a good job given 'the mess left behind by Benitez'.

hmmm..

also, it's a good laugh for those not having to squirm out of arguing he was a passable manager for lfc after the first months.

 

[Rado_N]

Most of you lot rated him and thought he was doing a good job given 'the mess left behind by Benitez'.

hmmm..

He was left a mess by Benitez, but he did a pretty shit job of changing anything for the better to be fair.

It's funny from a United fan's perspective but I'd be rightly pissed off if it was us.

 

[Boss]

"Of course, my track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as [Alex] Ferguson enjoys today, but people don't talk about what I've done outside England"

Hehe.

that one irked me


he seems to be up his own arse for somebody perceived as humble

 

[Bilbo]

Because he's a midtable manager?

I'm always sympathetic to any manager that isn't giving a decent amount of time. Half a season is nowhere near enough time to improve a club in transition. He needed at least two seasons.

 

[Boss]

I'm always sympathetic to any manager that isn't giving a decent amount of time. Half a season is nowhere near enough time to improve a club in transition. He needed at least two seasons.

I really don't think any big team these days will wait 2 whole seasons for a manager to get his act together

 

[BaldwinLegend]

that one irked me


he seems to be up his own arse for somebody perceived as humble

What does Roy Hodgson have to do for you to forgive him?

 

[Crustanoid]

Absolute legend in my eyes.

Shame he wasn't given a few more months to finish his work

 

[Dumbstar]

Thanks B9, thank God I can look back at this and laugh. Could have been a lot, lot worse had he stayed. And thank God Commolli came in just in time to stop him throwing money out the window on Carlton Cole and his ilk.

 

[Bilbo]

I really don't think any big team these days will wait 2 whole seasons for a manager to get his act together

It depends on the club in question. Liverpool aren't known for sacking managers, and their fans are usually very supportive of thier managers. I think their minds were made up on Hodgson from day one personally, and I think it filtered down to the team.

It was just an ill-fated appointment from the start, and I'll bet Hodgson had serious reservations about taking the job but couldn't resist the opportunity.

I certainly hope that we give Fergusons successor a fair crack of the whip, whoever he turns out to be.

 

[Dumbstar]

Absolute legend in my eyes.

Shame he wasn't given a few more months to finish his work

When's Ferguson retiring again? McLaren's free again. Not long now, suck it in.

 

[B20]

that one irked me


he seems to be up his own arse for somebody perceived as humble

He is not humble at all. This little gem was left out of the collection before I posted them:

"I think it would be a sad day for football and for Liverpool if someone who had been brought in with the pomp and circumstance, and the money it took them to release me from my previous contract, and being feted as one of England's best managers – if after eight games people are deciding this guy has got to go".

Sadly I can't find the other great one, were he talks about how maybe the fans expected too much, how they saw the brilliant things he did with Fulham and thought he could work miracles for us too.

massive stick up his own arse.

He's obsessed with media acclaim. That is what he wanted most of all from taking the job.

 

[B20]

Thanks B9, thank God I can look back at this and laugh. Could have been a lot, lot worse had he stayed. And thank God Commolli came in just in time to stop him throwing money out the window on Carlton Cole and his ilk.

yup. This quote:

"I accept I may make a rod for my own back by not bringing in people, but we are targeting players whose clubs don't want to let go even if we offer them good money, and that makes it tricky," he explained. "However if by any chance Fulham, Blackburn or Stoke are willing to release such players then I am sure we would be an appealing prospect as Liverpool is arguably the second most important club in the country"

Scared the shit out of me at the time.

 

[BaldwinLegend]

He is not humble at all. This little gem was left out of the collection before I posted them:

"I think it would be a sad day for football and for Liverpool if someone who had been brought in with the pomp and circumstance, and the money it took them to release me from my previous contract, and being feted as one of England's best managers – if after eight games people are deciding this guy has got to go".

Sadly I can't find the other great one, were he talks about how maybe the fans expected too much, how they saw the brilliant things he did with Fulham and thought he could work miracles for us too.

massive stick up his own arse.

He's obsessed with media acclaim. That is what he wanted most of all from taking the job.

I'm kind of getting bored now of you taking his quotes out of context or misunderstanding them. It's small time, especially doing it on here.

Some of you remind me of Rory Bremner when Blair left office - you're left there with a load of vitriol about a guy who didn't deserve it in the first place and is now long gone anyway.

Why not get on with enjoying what may be a brief upturn in your club's fortunes, and stop making a scapegoat out of someone who was unintentionally one of several reasons your season has gone tits up.

 

[Bilbo]

I'm kind of getting bored now of you taking his quotes out of context or misunderstanding them. It's small time, especially doing it on here.

Some of you remind me of Rory Bremner when Blair left office - you're left there with a load of vitriol about a guy who didn't deserve it in the first place and is now long gone anyway.

Why not get on with enjoying what may be a brief upturn in your club's fortunes, and stop making a scapegoat out of someone who was unintentionally one of several reasons your season has gone tits up.

I never understood the instant dislike. It was almost like a rebellion against the reputation they have of blindly worshipping any other manager they've had.

 

[WeasteDevil]

Most of you lot rated him and thought he was doing a good job given 'the mess left behind by Benitez'.

hmmm..

Nobody as far as I can tell though said that he was doing a good job, simply that with him you were never going to be relegated. Benitez did leave him with a pile a shit, a pile of shit that Benitez himself could only drag up to 7th. You lot win a few games and it seems that your season has turned around and the shit smells like roses again. However, I will give you a bet that you'll still end up 7th or worse, and the shit will still stink of shit. What will you all do then, start turning on Dalglish?

 

[Brwned]

I certainly hope that we give Fergusons successor a fair crack of the whip, whoever he turns out to be.

I'd hope so too as long as it's not Hodgson. I don't think he was ever at that level. I said this back in July too:

It's been very apparent recently that many people are a bit worried about Hodsgon and for the life of me I couldn't understand why. Very good job at Fulham no doubt, but I don't even think he's proven himself to be at the level of a Everton/Villa never mind a Liverpool....

I do agree that I think we should give our next manager time but if it isn't Mourinho I think that's going to cause a bit of resentment from the get-go from a lot of United fans given their strange obsession with him, and maybe even vice-versa given there's a strong division of opinion on Mourinho now. No matter what there's going to be a tremendous amount of pressure on our next manager from the fans if he doesn't get off to a good start, as disappointing as that is.

I'd like to think there's enough patience within fan groups that it won't ever look like we're turning on our manager so quickly though (in the media especially).

 

[B20]

I'm kind of getting bored now of you taking his quotes out of context or misunderstanding them. It's small time, especially doing it on here.

Ah, context. I agree, it is vitally important. If only Roy had appreciated the same.

Me thinks you're being a wee bit too serious about this. His performance were no laughing matter and the quicker they are forgotten the better.

His quotes are, now that he is gone, straight up entertainment.


The fiver knows the score:

BOING! ROY BOUNCES BACK

Highly respected middle-management type Nice Roy Hodgson had enjoyed a glittering 35-year career, having won the 1978 Shippams Paste Shield with Halmstad, got to the final of the 1982 John West Tuna Chunks In Brine Fotbollkupp at Viking, and impressed many English journalists while at Internazionale by ordering a pizza in a restaurant using only Italian. And last summer, these spectacular achievements finally earned him what he both deserved and coveted most: a big job in England. "Gertcha," he laughed as he settled into the manager's chair at Anfield, "a plush office of my own at last! I've got my name on the door, a big comfy chair, and a massive desk and pens and pencils and a flip chart on which to write facile nonsense and other assorted items of stationery and everything. I've made it now, and no mistake."

But it wasn't long before the dream turned sour, and Nice Roy had accidentally punched several holes in his tie, stapled a blotting pad to his earlobe, and rubbed his face so hard a spark flew off, setting fire to the flip chart and the trousers he was wearing. "Gawf!" he cried, as he ran round his office in demented circles while Liverpool plunged towards the relegation places, almost as though he'd been winging it for years and, having been found out, had absolutely no effing idea what to do next, "this is all the fault of Rafael Benítez, Gerard Houllier, Phil Taylor, Don Welsh, Joe Cole, and especially those pesky kids who I picked to play against Northampton, the ungrateful little scrotes!"

Sadly, Nice Roy's bosses at Liverpool didn't listen to this reasoned argument, and after taking the opportunity afforded by the flaming emergency to beat Nice Roy about the legs with heavy sticks for several minutes, marched the highly respected middle manager off the premises and sent him skittering down Walton Breck Road on the charred seat of his pants, issuing beneficial advice regarding opportunities to come back while they did so.

But you can't keep a good chancer down, and today Nice Roy took over at West Bromwich Albion, where he will replace former boss Roberto Di Matteo's attractive but ineffectual passing game with a more pragmatic but ineffectual hoofing style. Nice Roy has committed himself wholly to the West Brom cause by signing a massive one-and-a-half year contract, and will take over from caretaker boss Michael Appleton after tomorrow's relegation six-pointer against West Ham, therefore absolving himself of any blame should that go nipples up.

He will then, if his behaviour in the north-west is any guide, spend the next couple of months desperately trying to gain the approval of Mick McCarthy at the expense of his own players and the fans of the club who pay his wages.
All eyes will then be on the visit of Liverpool to the Hawthorns in early April, when the highly respected middle manager will take credit for any points the Baggies earn, or plaudits for his part in building The New Liverpool should the visitors trolley West Brom 5-0 as they usually do.

 

[B20]

Nobody as far as I can tell though said that he was doing a good job, simply that with him you were never going to be relegated.

Not true. There were plenty here arguing, like Roy himself, that he was doing the best job possible with the players available to him. Twilight zone stuff at times.

You lot win a few games and it seems that your season has turned around and the shit smells like roses again. However, I will give you a bet that you'll still end up 7th or worse, and the shit will still stink of shit. What will you all do then, start turning on Dalglish?

I'll take that bet.

 

[Red Dreams]

Nobody as far as I can tell though said that he was doing a good job, simply that with him you were never going to be relegated. Benitez did leave him with a pile a shit, a pile of shit that Benitez himself could only drag up to 7th. You lot win a few games and it seems that your season has turned around and the shit smells like roses again. However, I will give you a bet that you'll still end up 7th or worse, and the shit will still stink of shit. What will you all do then, start turning on Dalglish?

I do rate this post

 

[WeasteDevil]

if it isn't Mourinho I think that's going to cause a bit of resentment from the get-go from

I'd bet my bottom dollar that the majority of United fans don't want Mourinho anywhere near the club. So that's bollocks.