West Brom 2 - 1 Pool; Revenge is sweet for jubilant Hodgson

zocoss SG

Saturday, 2 April 2011

West Brom v Liverpool 10:00 Mio 102 / 110

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish insists Roy Hodgson will have nothing to prove when his West Brom side welcome the Reds to the Hawthorns this weekend.

Hodgson will come up against his former employers for the first time since he left Anfield in January after just over six months in charge.

Much of the pre-match focus has centred on Hodgson coming up against his old side, but Dalglish insists the spotlight should be on the game and not the experienced tactician.

"Roy hasn't got anything to prove to anybody," said Dalglish.

"If you say he has extra motivation then you are doubting the man's integrity and implying he never had enough motivation before.

"It's Liverpool versus West Brom and we'll face a team that has been prepared by Roy. I don't have a problem with that. It'll be nice to see him again.

"West Brom were tough to beat here when Roberto (Di Matteo) was in charge. They played very well here. We won 1-0 but it was a very difficult game.

"Roy brings his own management style to the club and they have done well since he went in there. We are looking forward to the game and it will be nice to see Roy again.

"I have great respect for him as I said when I came in here and that isn't going to change now that we are playing against each other.

"So for me, the game is about Liverpool against West Brom and that's the way I'll go into it. I'll see an old friend of mine standing in the opposite dugout.

"Everyone knows he's an excellent coach so we know what to expect. We know how they will play so it's up to us to be better than them on the day."

zocoss SG

Roy Hodgson's unhappiness at Liverpool was clear for all to see

Former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson says the presence of Kenny Dalglish as part of the club's backroom staff meant managing at Anfield "wasn't easy".

The former Fulham and Inter Milan boss was swiftly replaced by Anfield legend Dalglish, who has masterminded a dramatic recovery, with the Merseysiders now up to sixth place.

Now West Brom manager, Hodgson welcomes his former club to the Hawthorns on Saturday, hoping to get one over on his former employers.

And the Englishman believes he faced an uphill challenge at Anfield because many people had wanted Dalglish to be appointed instead of him.

"It's difficult to compete with icons,'' Hodgson said. "I came to the right club, perhaps I didn't come at the right time because Kenny did make it clear at that time that he wanted the job.

"The people who were making the decisions at that time decided to go for me, and as a result that left Kenny in a difficult position because he is one who wanted the job.

"So when things didn't go well, having him in the background wasn't easy and wouldn't have been easy for any coach.''

However, Hodgson added this scenario was by no means exclusive to Liverpool.

"That happens at virtually every football club, to be quite honest. There's always someone in the wings who's a little bit of an icon and who's ready to take over if the results don't go that way.''

Hodgson was keen to stress his sole motivation ahead of the match lies with keeping West Brom in the Premier League, rather than proving a point to his previous employers.

"There is no vindication factor at all,'' he said. "I enjoyed my time at Liverpool, well, I say I enjoyed my time, that would probably not be strictly true. I was treated correctly in every respect and by everyone at the club.''

The former Fulham boss never had the full support of the fans at Liverpool, who made their disappointment clear from the terraces on a number of occasions. For this reason, Hodgson said he is unsure of the reception he will get from the travelling supporters on Saturday.

"The reaction to my appointment from a large body of the fans was not positive so I don't know if that would have changed now I'm no longer there. Whatever the reaction is, we as managers have to accept that and get on with it.

"It would be nice if their response was not a negative one, but if it is, I'll have to learn to live with it. Hopefully the West Brom fans will will try to buoy me up in the other direction.''

Despite his torrid experience at Anfield, Hodgson has no regrets about taking the job.

"I still think that it was the right thing to do,'' he said. "I was realistic, I knew the risk when I went into the job. I'm still disappointed that it didn't work out in a better way, but I have no regrets and I have no bad feelings about Liverpool as a city, certainly I don't have any bad feelings about the football club and I have only good feelings about the people I work with there.''

zocoss SG

Roy Hodgson lived painfully in the shadow of Kenny Dalglish at Anfield until, after six months of near-humiliation, he was relieved of his duties in January. Hodgson exacted some small measure of revenge over Dalglish as his new side, West Bromwich Albion, snatched a stirring victory over Liverpool.

Dalglish – called "an icon" by Hodgson on Friday – will have been less than pleased. Liverpool's caretaker manager watched in horror as his players relinquished a 1-0 lead by conceding two second-half penalties, both dispatched by Chris Brunt. The second, in the 88th minute, arrived after Pepe Reina had fouled Peter Odemwingie.

In an unspectacular yet engrossing first half, neither side were able to produce much in the way of goalscoring opportunities. Scott Carson, the West Brom goalkeeper, did have to save well to deny Dirk Kuyt after Andy Carroll's flick-on and Reina had to move similarly smartly at the other end to keep out a Steven Reid header.

That was about it for the half, apart from Carroll's persistent battle with almost any home defender who moved. He tangled with Reid, Abdoulaye Méïté and Jonas Olsson, and earned two warnings from Martin Atkinson, the referee, as well as a yellow card for a late challenge on Reid.

Keeping Carroll on the pitch – and away from the red card waiting to happen – appeared to be Dalglish's main problem but the Scot also had two early injuries to keep him occupied. Sotirios Kyrgiakos replaced Glen Johnson only for the curse of the left-back to strike again, with Danny Wilson stepping on for the stricken Daniel Agger.

West Brom did not lack intent, with Simon Cox testing Reina with a fierce volley after he had been released by Jerome Thomas. Carson tipped over a powerful effort from Carroll but could do nothing when Martin Skrtel guided in a laser header from a Raul Meireles corner.

Responding admirably, it took West Brom only 12 minutes to find the equaliser. Kyrgiakos clumsily fouled Odemwingie in the area, although he did touch a portion of the ball, and Brunt slammed in his first spot-kick. Soon afterwards, only a fine save from Reina prevented Odemwingie from giving West Brom a 2-1 lead, but there was still time for the home team to manage just that.

TIB1167D SG

This kind of match also can lose on purpose. Must be kelong one lah

Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1) SG

all pump long ball to suarez

west brom juz intercept can lia0

Rock^Star SG

kyrgiakos weak leh....just one push and muscled off the ball by.....kenwyne jones? forgot liao but damn hopeless man. Cannot fall like that when you're the last man.

Anyway, i think with dalgish behind the scenes last year, it was always an uphill battle for hodgson. The former had publicly stated he wanted the job. Well, in all fairness, hodgson looks more like an effective mid to low table management guy. West Brom have been unbeaten for 5 matches now. I do miss Di Matteo's italian scarfs and trench coats though.

zocoss SG

Hodgson has taken West Brom to safety. If still under Di Matteo, they could very well be in the bottom 3 or right at the bottom... lol.

Hodgson showed that even with a less superior team, he can still beat the richness within the Pool squad under Kenny... Even if Kenny have the most feared almost $60m strikeforce in the country according to Gerrard...

The Pool fans are very unfair... Just like what the Fanzone guy said last night. Had it been Hodgson in charge of Pool last night the fans will surely slaughter him for the loss and their performance...But because it's Kenny... They are willing to suck egg and accept it willingly... lol.

I hope Kenny gets the job permanently soon and they don't go for another guy... Cos I am sure one fine day after more days like this... The Pool fans will finally crack and ask for Kenny to go too... That would be a fitting end for a back stabber...

I think Pool should have given Roy more time and it could have paid off... Afterall, it's Kenny who got them knock out of the FA cup, Europa cup and the Pool fans just quietly suck egg. For that they deserve Kenny...

Rock^Star SG

i watched the match actually and carroll looked non existent. Then i thought back to gerrard's claim that they have the most fearsome strike force. Suarez does look very lively and i believe he's a good addition. Carroll is still unproven at the highest level and as shown in many matches, he can be anonymous most times. Doesn't look a natural striker to me and he has promised goals. That's only putting pressure on himself.

zocoss SG

Warm welcome: West Brom manager Roy Hodgson shake hands with Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish before the match

Roy Hodgson got a pre-match hug from Kenny Dalglish then had the satisfaction of putting one over the man whose presence proved too much for him at Anfield.

Hodgson was replaced by Liverpool icon Dalglish in January after 191 days in charge, the shortest managerial spell in Liverpool's history.

Hodgson admitted in the build-up that he had never had a chance at Liverpool because the fans always wanted Dalglish, who had asked for the job last summer.

Hodgson did not gloat after presiding over Albion's first win against Liverpool in 30 years.

'The pleasure I take is from beating Liverpool FC.' he said. 'Not something we do at West Bromwich very often! I'm very happy with the performance, apart from the first 10 minutes, after which we took the game to Liverpool and played some good football.'

Hodgson was pleased that his team scored their first goals and got their first points against Liverpool in nine Premier League attempts after going a goal down to Martin Skrtel's header.

Hodgson victory maintain Albion's unbeaten five-match run under their new manager.