Roy Hodgson on the brink as Liverpool slump to ninth league defeat• 3-1 reverse at Blackburn sends Liverpool to new low
• Hodgson refuses to discuss future in press conference
Roy Hodgson's position as Liverpool manager became even more precarious last night when a ninth league defeat of the season left him refusing to answer questions about his future.
Fenway Sports Group, the club's newly-titled owners, are under increasing pressure to bring forward plans to replace the 63-year-old after only six months in charge following a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool's seventh loss in 10 Premier League away fixtures this season.
Hodgson vowed not to resign in the wake of last week's home defeat by then bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers but came in for renewed and sustained criticism from Liverpool supporters at Ewood Park. Afterwards, in a press conference that was brought to a halt after three minutes and three questions, the Liverpool manager admitted to being dejected and disillusioned but would not elaborate on his own position at the club.
"I am not prepared to talk about my future," said Hodgson. "At this moment I am depressed enough with the performance and the result. I am not here to talk about that. I have no comments to make and I don't intend to answer any questions on the subject." With that, the press conference was called to an end by Liverpool's director of communications, Ian Cotton.Liverpool were three goals down after 58 minutes to a Blackburn side missing eight senior players through injury and Asia Cup duties. They are now only five points off bottom place, out of the Carling Cup and face Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Before addressing the third question regarding his hold on the Liverpool job, Hodgson expressed sympathy with the club's travelling support for serving up another miserable performance. "We are very dejected, we have feelings of bitter disappointment and frustration," he said. "We thought they were poor goals to concede. In the second half the players gave it their best shot, we had plenty of the ball. Who knows, if Steven's [Gerrard] penalty had gone in we could have salvaged something from the game. We are very frustrated and disappointed for the fans.
"If you are Liverpool and you lose away to Blackburn then it is impossible to put a positive slant on it. As far as I'm concerned, it's a really bad day. We had a very large travelling contingent and I know they were dejected at the end. What the fans are feeling, I can assure them that if they came into the dressing room they would see people similarly dejected."
Hodgson again intimated he had no intention of walking away from Anfield. He added: "In football you keep going as best you can. You try and make sure the next result is a better one but that's all you can do. Football throws up good and bad moments, and in a bad moment no amount of talking can change that."
Liverpool's principal owners, the chairman Tom Werner and John W Henry, are understood to be assessing potential candidates to succeed Hodgson but their search is complicated by availability at this stage of the season and their reluctance to appoint Kenny Dalglish, the fans' favourite and now club ambassador, even on a temporary basis. A demanding sequence of fixtures – starting with United, a trip to Blackpool next Wednesday and then the Merseyside derby at home to Everton – may protect Hodgson against an immediate change but, equally, he may not survive more damaging results over that period.
Prior to the Wolves defeat, FSG were reluctant to dispense with the former Fulham manager until the end of the season. However, with attendances at Anfield dropping, continued revolt in the stands and a several dreadful results, the pressure to sack Hodgson is mounting.
Steve Kean, meanwhile, Blackburn's new manager, insisted the club's ambitious move for Ronaldinho is not yet dead despite the Brazilian's stated desire to remain in his homeland. "We will pick that one up tomorrow and see where we are," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/06/roy-hodgson-liverpool-ninth-league-defeat
