Liverpool FC Forum

[maguskwt]

If going season by season then Hodgson has to get us into the CL surely as well as reaching the latter stages of said competition - maybe a couple of semi finals the odd final all of which far out weigh any trip to wembley for a domestic cup IMO . Mick was Hodgson one of those top managers you were alluding too . As for not winning trophies etc our new manager has been trying for 30 years and still not won anything of significant yet and that half a season with Blackburn ended with them being relegated - as well as gaining less points than Sanchez in his half of that season - winning 4 games away in two seasons .

oh well some people can be extremely happy with that kind of track record...

[bigmick]

It's going to be harder this season than it was last to get into the top four I think. Two of the spots are already taken before the season starts almost, and I think Man City will challenge for the title and very possibly win it. I know that will generate a bit of mirth, but that's my view anyway. If I'm anyway near right, that'll mean that in order to get into the top four we've got to get ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham (I'm going to take Villa, Birmingham etc out of the equation as I'm confident that under our new manager we'll be well ahead of those).

Arsenal will improve this season IMHO, as they've signed Chamakh and also it's too much to expect van Persie to be injured all season like he was last. I actually think him being injured cost Arsenal a very serious punt at the title last season. Spurs are a good team and well managed, but they are catchable IMHO.

Overall then, I think if I was a betting man (and I am) I'd say we will finish fifth in the league, and I have a sneaking suspicion we'll go alright in the domestic cups. Obviously that could change if we signed a couple of new players (unlikely I know) or if we sold say Masherano, Gerrard and Torres, but as things are, that's how I see it. I'm also factoring in the sale of Masherano, I think we will be fifth without him.

[Benny The Noon]

Why dismiss villa and spurs ? They will both strengthen more than us especially spurs who have the lure of CL to use to get better players - Joe Cole the prime example . The vision that people expect us to leap back up the table with no investment or money will get shattered the minute Torres gets injured or Gerrard gets injured or both leave and the reality is we will end up fighting everton and Birmingham for that last Europa cup spot . A change in manager doesn't always mean a change in fortunes if there is still problems higher up

[bigmick]

Fair enough. If Torres and/or Gerrard are injured all season, then obviously it will have an effect on how we get on. I prefer to be positive however, I always thought we actually had good players and changing the manager doesn't make them bad ones. Some people prefer to look at the potential negatives, but as always I'm going to try and be positive.

As for "dismissing" Villa and Spurs, I aren't. I'm not sure you are actually reading my posts before you fire out your questions to be totally honest. Usually, the answers you seek are contained in a previous post, and this is just such an example.

[Maickito]

See I'm actually okay with Hodgson as our manager because  I thought it was time up for Rafa however I do feel that Hodgson must get us Champions league.

If he manages to hold on to Torres and Gerrard then he must deal with the same expectations Houllier and Benitez worked under.

I see Arsenal struggling big time without Cesc Fabregras; I also think Spurs will struggle because we won't be as bad as last season.
. Mancini didn't do enough last year to impress me; despite the array of attacking talent at their disposal I'm not sure they are dead certs either. Mancini;s conservative approach to the game won;t necessarily get the best out of the Silva's of this world.

Liverpool should be challenging for the Champions league. End of.
If they don;t then Im not advocating the sacking of the manager,
Saying that finishing 5 or 6 shouldn't be met with optimism.

[Reg]

It's going to be harder this season than it was last to get into the top four I think. Two of the spots are already taken before the season starts almost, and I think Man City will challenge for the title and very possibly win it. I know that will generate a bit of mirth, but that's my view anyway. If I'm anyway near right, that'll mean that in order to get into the top four we've got to get ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham (I'm going to take Villa, Birmingham etc out of the equation as I'm confident that under our new manager we'll be well ahead of those).

Arsenal will improve this season IMHO, as they've signed Chamakh and also it's too much to expect van Persie to be injured all season like he was last. I actually think him being injured cost Arsenal a very serious punt at the title last season. Spurs are a good team and well managed, but they are catchable IMHO.

Overall then, I think if I was a betting man (and I am) I'd say we will finish fifth in the league, and I have a sneaking suspicion we'll go alright in the domestic cups. Obviously that could change if we signed a couple of new players (unlikely I know) or if we sold say Masherano, Gerrard and Torres, but as things are, that's how I see it. I'm also factoring in the sale of Masherano, I think we will be fifth without him.

Hi Mick,

Inevitably finance will influence the destination of the EPL for the next 2-3-4 years. The financial system is looking very precarious and many clubs are under serious financial strain whether they want to admit it or not. The Liverpool situation is a general reflection of the leagues inability to find fresh shareholder capital and I´m sure, transfer funding/working capital loans are equally hard to find.

Only those clubs that live outside normal circumstances will strengthen their squad and I´m sure Citeh will be top 4 next year if not higher. I sense Ure will need to reduce their debt and Arseneal have always been tightly run so wouldnt be surprised to sell a couple of players simply to balance the books.

I sense a changing of the order, financial management first, football second. ManUre will start to fade replaced by Citeh´s money, Chelsea to maintain their presence but no new buys, Spurs have 2 seasons to make it work before they will have to cut back. LFC have 3-4 more years in limbo.

I hope the gain from all this will be lower transnfer fees and wages.

[Benny The Noon]

Surely saying Villa is out of the equation and saying spurs are catchable is dismissing them - even more so with the case of villa

[bigmick]

I think it's worth being sensible, and giving the manager a good go. He's fairly obviously been left a lot to do in terms of the balance of the squad he's been left, so while I would expect him to get us into the top four he may not do it immediately. Seventh to fourth is quite a big jump, but I certainly would expect if he were to be given six seasons like his predecessor, he would match his record of four out of six top four finishes and one title challenge.

It's all conjecture though, we'll soon see and then we can all be wiser after the event. First priority is to improve on last seasons abysmal effort, and that means doing better than 7th.

[Maickito]

Spurs got Champions league because we were absolutely shocking by the way. Even when they strengthen their side then I dont see either of them better than our current side ( this is all based on us just loosing Mascherano )

[bigmick]

Good post Reg and I agree with pretty much all of it. Just about the only club which has been run sensibly is Arsenal, and as such it would be reasonable to expect them to be stronger in the event of any financial meltdown.

Man Utd are the strangest club. Having sold Ronaldo, I firmly believe last season was Fergusons finest hour given they almost won the league and the Champions League despite having horrendous injuries and some fairly average players by their standards. I fancy them to be third or fourth next season, with Man City winning it from Chelsea.

[tubby]

but I certainly would expect if he were to be given six seasons like his predecessor, he would match his record of four out of six top four finishes and one title challenge.

... based on what? His past record? 

He is being given a go but Reg is right. It's time to balance the books and try work towards lower transfer fees. Id prefer if we follow Arsenal's method and just spend money on youth and blood them into the team. We don't have anywhere near the resources to compete with the likes of City or Chelsea so we should just try to balance the books until we get a new owner and stadium.

[bigmick]

I don't really know why people show such disrespect to the manager and his record, I can only assume it's because they don't know it. On another forum I posted up what he had achieved, and his record wherever he has been (aside from 5 months of a second season Blackburn) is excellent. He won the title five years on the bounce in Sweden, and won it twice with another club in a success which was described as the biggest shock in the history of their football. He rescued Inter Milan when he worked there and had an excellent record, building an excellent team, and he got Switzerland into the top rankings of International football. He saved Fulham from relegation and got them up into 7th in the league, which while it wasn't that impressive for us was the highest finish in their history.

His record in on Wikipedia in great detail, why people can't be bothered to read it before making foolish comments I'll never know. Our previous manager has an interesting record too. Aside from his successful spell at Valencia there are one or two blemishes on his cv which make Hodgsons time at Blackburn look like a roaring success.

Like I said before though, people can respect him or disrespect him or rate him or not, that's entirely up to them. They can reconcile amongst themselves the irony of their stances on two managers, but I'll do what I've always done. I'll support the manager 100% until he categorically proves that he's not taking the club forwards. I don't myself think you can make that judgement for at least 3 seasons or so, but that is of course only my own opinion. Some people have made their minds up about him already, but like I say that's up to them.

[Benny The Noon]

Titles in Sweden mean nothing in the wider world - as for saving fulham from relegation you do realise in the second half of the season when he was in charge they actually got less points than they did under Sanchez .

[Reg]

I fancy them to be third or fourth next season, with Man City winning it from Chelsea.

First time round I expect they´ll bottle it during teh run in, but Man City are WELL on the way to establishing themselves like Chelsea. 1-2 more good seasons and they are there to stay. 

My prediction:  Chelsea, Citeh, Arsenal, Ure, Spurs.

[Lando_Griffin]

Well you pair are full of sh*t, I see...

Do everyone a favour and knock your heads together to save your pimp the bother.

Liverpool 442 could teach you both something.

Full of sh'it you say?
Are you denying what Ive said here?
Are you contradicting the FACTS?
You are in truth the one whos chocker, brimming to the top full of excrement

Look again, (edited to remove banning ammo). Your post has 1 fact and 1 fact alone - that we won nothing for 4 seasons.

The rest of it is your misguided, backwards opinion.

Now go and (banning ammo) a welk, you perverted little (BA).