Premier League - Roy Hodgson set to sign for Liverpool
Liverpool parted ways with the Spaniard Rafael Benitez soon after the 2009-10 Premier League season ended. Benitez spent 6 years at Anfield and won only one Champions League and an FA cup, while Liverpool could not muster any serious challenge for the domestic league title. In fact in his last season the team did not even manage to finish 4th, and failed to qualify for UEFA Champion’s League. Following that a settlement was established between the Liverpool board and Benitez which saw him make his way out, and he soon joined the newly crowned European champions Inter Milan, after Jose Mourinho decided to move to Real Madrid.
Since then the hunt for a new manager has been going on at Liverpool, several names had been thrown into the hat and the man leading the race is Fulham Manager Roy Hodgson.
It is believed that Hodgson is all but certain to put pen to paper and join Liverpool, he is believed to have agreed a deal worth 3 million pounds a year. There was reportedly a dispute over some bonuses that Fulham were supposed to give him, but regardless of that he may be appointed as soon as Thursday.
Hodgson over the years has made such a name for himself that he was even being considered to replace Fabio Capello as the England manager, if Capello decided to leave following England’s dismal show at the 2010 World Cup.
Liverpool though maintain that there is no hesitation from their part to sign Hodgson even if Capello decides to leave or FA fire him, and neither are they going to put in a clause in his contract that will not allow him to leave when the national team comes calling. The Football Association of England has asked for a time of around 10 days to make the final decision on Capello.
Hodgson is expected to have a contract till 2012, that is also when Capello’s contract with FA expires, and in case Capello leaves and FA decide to call Hodgson the FA will have to pay heavy compensation to Liverpool, given that Hodgson does put pen to paper on Thursday.
It is said that Hodgson is very keen on joining Liverpool, and the thought of rebuilding a club with such rich history is something that excites him, and he would not let the opportunity go by.
The Fulham manager is expected to come to Anfield along with his right hand man Mike Kelly, who is his assistant at Fulham, but that does not mean that Rafa’s number 2 Sammy Lee will be axed, in fact he will be accommodated at the club in some other capacity.
Kenny Dalglish who is in charge of Liverpool’s academy is also expected to carry on his job. he earlier openly expressed his frustration about not being offered the post of club manager which he had held in 1991.
Roy Hodgson has been in the managerial business for a while now, but last season saw probably his greatest or maybe almost his greatest achievement, when he took a mediocre club like Fulham who are at best a mid table club in England to the final of the Inaugural Europa League.
It was like a fairytale, the London club on their path to the final overcame some big European names and none more so than Juventus and AC Milan; two absolute powerhouses of European football, but in the final Fulham were outplayed by Atletico Madrid.
However that did not take away much from Hodgson and his team, but Fulham knew this success will come at a price ,and they knew that clubs all around would now be eyeing their manager and that is exactly what is about to happen.
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