Friendship suspended.
Two of England’s most erstwhile managers, Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson have forged a strong friendship throughout their many years in football. Today that friendship will be suspended for 90 minutes as their Tottenham and Liverpool sides meet at White Hart Lane.
“You have colleagues and acquaintances, but me and Harry are a bit beyond that stage,” Hodgson told the Daily Telegraph. Redknapp had words of support for his ally, whose inability to turn things around immediately at Liverpool – in the way Redknapp was able to upon being appointed Spurs manager in October 2008 – has been the cause of discontent at Anfield. “Once he gets his team sorted out like he wants it, Liverpool will come back as a real force,” he predicted.
Hodgson has final say over Comolli.
Although commonplace in Europe, in England the appointment of a sporting director remains the cause of suspicion. The all-encompassing role of the manager is perceived to be undermined. In light of Damien Comolli’s arrival at Liverpool, Roy Hodgson felt moved to say that the final decision on transfers would be his; especially important with a busy January predicted at Anfield.
“The final say on signings has always got to be with the manager,” he told the Sunday Mirror. “The manager and coach pick the team, work with the team, organise the tactics, so it’s got to be that way because I work with the players on a daily basis.”
Roy wants more goals.
Roy Hodgson has been criticised for an overly cautious approach during his first four months as Liverpool manager. The statistics, especially on the road, are damning. Liverpool have pierced the net just four times away from Anfield. The time for change has come, Hodgson tells skysports.com.
“We haven’t scored enough goals away from home or created enough goalscoring chances,” he admitted. Positivity is required for this poor record to change, Hodgson said. “This is something we work on all the time and something we are attempting to rectify.” With goals easier to come by, Liverpool would surely be looking to push on from their current ninth position in the Premier League.
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