ENGLAND'S EURO 2012 SQUAD:
KEEPERS: Joe Hart, Robert Green, John
Ruddy.
DEFENDERS: Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, John
Terry, Joleon Lescott, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Leighton
Baines.
MIDFIELDERS: Theo Walcott, Stewart Downing,
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry, Frank
Lampard, Scott Parker, Ashley Young, James Milner.
STRIKERS: Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Andy
Carroll, Jermain Defoe.
England squad and numbers for Euro 2012:
1 Hart, 2 Johnson, 3 Cole, 4 Gerrard, 5 Cahill, 6 Terry, 7
Walcott, 8 Lampard, 9 Carroll, 10 Rooney, 11 Young, 12 Baines, 13
Green, 14 Jones, 15 Lescott, 16 Milner, 17 Parker, 18 Jagielka, 19
Downing, 20 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 21 Defoe, 22 Welbeck, 23
Butland.
In January 2011, Roy
Hodgson was dismissed in shame as Liverpool manager and King Kenny
returned.
Fast-forward 16 months and the King was dethroned after a
disappointing Premier League campaign as Hodgson was announcing the
England squad for Euro 2012.
Dalglish's second coming was initially a success, guiding the
Reds to sixth place, after they had languished in the bottom half
under the current Three Lions coach, and signing Andy Carroll and
Luis Suarez, at the time, two of the most hyped strikers in
Europe.
Hodgson did not wait long to make his way back into management,
appearing at West Brom just over a month later tasked with
arresting an alarming slide down the table that had seen Roberto Di
Matteo sacked at the Hawthorns.
Hodgson succeeded, lifting the Baggies to a record 11th place by
the end of the season, then going on to better it this campaign,
finishing 10th, a first top-half Premier League finish securing an
unprecedented third-consecutive term in England's top tier for the
west Midlands side.
This season has also been record-breaking at Anfield, but for all
the wrong reasons.
Crippled by an appalling home return of six league wins all season
and a desperate lack of luck in front of goal (no team struck the
woodwork more than Liverpool during 2011-12), Dalglish saw his
top-four contenders slump to eighth in the table, below Everton for
the first time in seven years and with a worst points total for
almost six decades.
The Reds' signings failed to inspire, Stewart Downing could not
score or create, Jordan Henderson was unsure of his role and
Charlie Adam could not replicate his Blackpool variety act of goals
and assists.
Meanwhile, Carroll was not the destructive force of late 2010,
becoming a one-man pantomime while an ugly storm brewed over Luis
Suarez's alleged racist abuse of Patrice Evra.
Dalglish's defence of Suarez, even after he had been found guilty,
bordered on worrying. The 'You'll Never Walk Along' culture of the
Kop looked to be going one step too far, and the Scot seemed to be
straining under the brunt of negativity with increasingly curt
media appearances.
In the Midlands, however, Hodgson had completely rebuilt his
reputation. Ben Foster was a solid acquisition between the sticks
while Shane Long had brought his terrier-like forward play to the
Baggies with goal-getting reward.
Hodgson won his first battle with his former employers, a 2-1 win
at the Hawthorns in April 2011 thanks to a Chris Brunt double, but
Dalglish took the second round, coming out on top 2-0 at the same
venue six months later.
Then the third and final meeting. With just five games remaining in
the 2011-12 season, Liverpool were eyeing an FA Cup final and,
although he was not aware, the Football Association were eyeing the
Baggies boss.
West Brom swept to victory in Hodgson's return to Anfield thanks
to Peter Odemwingie's strike, to give him what turned out to be his
last win at the club.
After that match Hodgson insisted that he took no extra pleasure
from beating his former employers, but even one of the most affable
of bosses might have smiled wryly as Dalglish left Melwood on
Wednesday and thought how lucky he had been to get out when he
did.
Thanks to his Anfield failure, the Three Lions boss has a solid
reputation for success in limited surroundings, perfect then,
perhaps, for the promising but often crushing environs of the
England job.
