Dirk Kuyt shares how he really felt about Roy Hodgson as Liverpool manager

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As Liverpool prepare to wave goodbye to their most successful manager of the modern era, Dirk Kuyt has looked back on the coach at the other end of that scale.

It will be a sad old day on Merseyside when Jurgen Klopp calls time on his Liverpool spell. Unfortunately for Reds supporters, that day is coming. Klopp’s Anfield farewell is now less than three months away.

Not every manager of recent years has evoked the same emotion from fans, though. If Jurgen is by far and away top of the popularity polls as Liverpool boss, then Roy Hodgson is rock bottom.

Hodgson is obviously a very good manager and up until this week was still coaching at 76. But his six-month stint at Anfield in 2010 was a disaster. Nevertheless, speaking to Stadium Astro about the former England boss today, Kuyt has claimed that Hodgson ‘deserved more’ at Liverpool.

“Unfortunately it didn’t work out but I had a great relationship with him [Hodgson],” says the Dutchman.

“I actually felt sorry for him because he’s such a gentlemen, a hardworking man. He was already at that stage a little bit older but still a man with a lot of energy. I felt horrible after he left because I think he deserved more.”

Kuyt looks back fondly at Hodgson

Hodgson’s time at Liverpool is strange to look back on now. It was undoubtedly a low point in the club’s history.

That wasn’t all necessarily down to the man in the dugout, though. The whole club was a mess from top to bottom.

Taking over at the time of the old ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Roy was arguably doomed from the start. These were dark times at Anfield.

As a result of the goings on in the boardroom though, expectations among the fanbase were at an all time low.

Amid chaos with Hicks and Gillett, Rafa Benitez couldn’t save the sinking ship. Liverpool finished seventh in 2009/10, just a year on from coming within four points of the league title.

From there, you’d have though that the only way was up. Hodgson was coming in at a time where it was almost a free hit. However, instead of pushing Liverpool on to better things, the Londoner took the Reds even lower.

The summer signings were the first sign that something wasn’t right. Hodgson oversaw some shocking business. At one point, the manager even claimed that the team weren’t too good for a relegation battle. Shocking.

Consequently, it’s hard to share Kuyt’s view that Roy ‘deserved more.’ He never tried to understand the club, the city and the people and was arguably given longer than his results merited.

Nevertheless, the Dutchman isn’t the first player to come out in supporter of Hodgson. At least from the player’s side he seems to fondly remembered. Ask any supporter though Dirk, they’ll tell you a different story.