Roy Hodgson believes that the shadow of Kenny Dalglish undermined his chances of succeeding at Liverpool from the day he became manager.
Today the West Bromwich Albion manager comes up against the man who replaced him in January after only six months in charge. But while he claims he has no regrets or resentment towards anyone at Anfield, he still believes that Dalglish’s presence in the background left him on a hiding to nothing once Liverpool had a bad start.
Hodgson, fresh from being named manager of the year for his achievements with Fulham, succeeded Rafael Benítez last summer but only after Dalglish had asked to step down from his duties in advising the previous Liverpool board on who should take charge because he wished to be considered himself. Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the previous owners, opted for Hodgson ahead of Dalglish, but, as Liverpool dipped towards the relegation zone and lost at home to Northampton Town in the Carling Cup, the writing was on the wall.
Dalglish remained working as an ambassador at Anfield, where he graced the club as player and manager a generation before.
“It’s difficult to compete with icons,” Hodgson said. “I came to the right club, [but] perhaps I didn’t come at the right time because Kenny did make it clear at that time that he wanted the job.
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“But the people who were making the decision at that time decided to go for me. And of course, as a result, that left Kenny in a difficult position because he was the one who wanted the job so, when things didn’t go well, having him in the background wasn’t easy.”
Amid the takeover by John W. Henry’s Fenway Sports Group in October, Liverpool mustered 25 points from Hodgson’s 20 league games and, with the Kop chanting Dalglish’s name, he was dismissed in January.
“I took the job in good faith,” Hodgson said. “I knew I was taking a risk because there was a change of ownership in the offing and I knew that in order to win the fans over we would have to have a flying start.
“When you don’t get that flying start and there is a change of ownership, I’m afraid you are at risk as a manager, especially when there is a man of Kenny Dalglish’s iconic stature waiting in the wings and prepared to take over.
“But I have no regrets about going to the club. It was an honour and a privilege to work there. I would have liked to work longer, I make no secrets about that. But . . . I am very happy to be here, at a club that obviously wants me.
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“As a result, I can look back on the time [at Anfield] and just chalk it off as an experience [where] I got the chance to work with some top-class players and possibly even to win respect.”
Hodgson believes that Dalglish, still working in a caretaker capacity as Liverpool, should have his appointment rubberstamped immediately. “Yes, I do, because the fans want him to have the job,” he said.
“He’s got the backing of the fans and the fans are very important at Liverpool. If they don’t give him the job now, it’s going to be a very difficult job for the next man who gets it.” As Liverpool seek to climb from sixth place, West Brom are a point above the relegation zone, despite being unbeaten in the manager’s four games at the helm.
“We’re unbeaten but it’s only one victory,” he said. “If teams in our situation can take six points from every four games they will be very happy. That would give us 12 points from the last eight games and if you are relegated with 45 points, you’re very unlucky.”
Anfield rap: Hodgson said his poor start at Liverpool meant the urge to replace him with club legend Dalglish was likely to prove irresistible to the new board