Roy Hodgson’s time as Liverpool’s manager was far from ideal.
The Englishman took over from the extremely successful and loved Rafa Benitez and found himself inheriting a team towards the end of their golden era.
Hodgson only had six months in charge of the Anfield outfit, and during that time, he failed to achieve all that much.
Indeed, Fernando Torres had just left, but with players such as Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher still knocking around, he should’ve done far better.
His tenure coincided with Fenway Sports Group taking over the club, and since hiring him was their first act while in charge, nobody knew how it would end up, with the owners even being a bit sceptical themselves.
FSG were asking supporters whether Roy Hodgson was the right man to hire for Liverpool
As mentioned, since Hodgson’s Liverpool era only lasted for six months, it was clear that things didn’t work out as anyone had planned.
The manager had just come off the back of a few impressive years that saw him in charge of Fulham, Finland and Viking.
Although he returned to management fairly swiftly with West Brom after his Liverpool exit, fans still frown upon his short stint in charge of the Reds.
And, while speaking to Gary Lineker on the Rest is Football Podcast, Hodgson was reflecting on his time in charge of Liverpool when he said something about FSG that left Lineker in shock.
“The first thing that the new owners did when they come over, of course, not really knowing much about the club, they went round to all these supporter clubs [and asked] ‘what do you think, have we got the right man?,” Hodgson said.
To which Gary Lineker replied: “Oh god.”
Hodgson then added that the fans then said: “‘No, we’ve not, he’s no good, we should’ve done this’ and that was being backed up on the field because we weren’t winning.
“The team actually wasn’t really very good at that stage. We lost Torres, of course, [and] what was left of that team was Jamie [Carragher], I suppose.
“Steven Gerrard was still there, but I mean, really, you weren’t talking about the great Liverpool team that had done so well.”
FSG have learnt from their mistakes and are well over the days of Roy Hodgson now
Liverpool’s fanbase haven’t always seen eye to eye with FSG, and to be honest, it’s not hard to see why.
Before the Jurgen Klopp era, being a Liverpool supporter was mainly full of suffering, with the odd win here and there to keep your spirits up.
However, when Klopp was announced as the Reds’ new manager after Brendan Rodgers, it was like a sleeping giant had woken up.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, the Reds were actually playing with some passion, with fans feeling like their team was back.
Of course, things got even better as the years went on and now, with Arne Slot at the helm, things haven’t ever been better.
Liverpool have spent over £400million on new players this summer, with the club genuine favourites to win both the Premier League and Champions League this season.
Indeed, it may have taken its time to get to this point, but now they’re here, the Reds’ fanbase should be able to bask in the glory of their team and enjoy every moment for as long as possible.
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