Posted on Wednesday, 15th December 2010 by David Tully
I
know it is a bit unfair to highlight one photograph with Liverpool’s Joe Cole looking forlorn (after all there were probably times in the training session yesterday when he did have a smile on his face), but I think the shot of him to the left says it all about his Anfield career so far. Injuries have certainly played their part in Joe’s difficult start to his career on Merseyside, but as he said himself, his confidence was at an all time low even before his most recent injury:
“I have never had a period like this before, I need to find my form somehow. I need to do a lot better, but I’m only looking at myself, no-one else. I am desperate to do well for Liverpool and, every minute of every day, I am thinking about how I can get there. I know I’m not playing well. I expect a lot better of myself, but at least I am at a club who are going to help me through it.”
So what is Joe’s problem? Although he was never the player he was built up to be when he signed on a free transfer in the summer (Stevie Gerrard’s comments on his skills certainly didn’t help matters), he is also by the same extent a very good player who is just not living up to his potential. If we disregard the wage issue and the reasons behind his move to the Reds, Cole moved away from London in the expectation of getting first team football at a club who weren’t even in the Champions League. A move to Spurs certainly would have been easier, considering his close ties with both London and the team’s manager Harry Redknapp, but he opted to go out of his comfort zone by moving up North with his family.
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Tags: Chelsea, Europa League, FC Utrecht, FK Rabonicki, Joe Cole, Liverpool, Maxi Rodriguez, Roy Hodgson, Steaua Bucharest, Steven Gerrard
Posted in View from the Kop | Comments (32)
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December 15th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
sack roy now or i will never watch another lfc game again and trust me their are hundreds thinking the same thing!!!!!
wake up lfc and get on with it now,
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desi g Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
v true samuel.
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RedRag Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Great comment Sam Love to see real fans getting behind their team.
Here we are in a bad patch – mind you we’ve been in one for about 20 years apart from 2 x ‘one season cup wonders’ and here you are blaming Roy for all of this.
The reason Roy came was that LFC sacked Rafa – why because he took the club backwards in his last year (a justified sacking – I think not)
Houllier sacked because he didn’t move the club forward.
Evans sacked for winning cups again!!!
The list goes on.
We have not had a strong team that can challenge for the league on a REGULAR basis since the one Dalglish inherited and tweaked / built.
So sack Roy – great – who will you bring in then?
Jose/Hiddink/Rijkaard/Wenger/Kenny
Will they get more than 6 months to rebuild a club that started to crumble in the early 90′s? They would be hounded out just like Rafa, Roy the Yanks ( a good thing i add)
Liverpool needs money, time, strong players but more importantly fans (weve been patient for 20 years) lets get it right this time so that once we are back we stay back!!!!!
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Joe Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Here Here!
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Jam Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I’m with you RedRag, we should be backing the team AND manager and give them time to build a decent squad and invest in the right players for us. All this slagging of Roy does my head in, give the man a chance for f*ck sake.
You can’t continually blame Roy for the problems, the teams not exactly changed a massive amount since he’s been here, for me the players are more to blame.
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December 15th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
We need a few more defeats first, we may scrape a draw or narrow win ton ight to paper over the cracks, but maybe ‘when’ we lose away at Blackpool the board may act, get Rijkarrd!
And we don’t want Rafa the moron back either when Inter sack him in January for wrecking the European champions.
In 6 months.
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December 15th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Rijkaard would be a disaster as well in my opinion. What do people think about Owen Coyle? would love us to get a young up and coming manager perosnally
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Eric Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Owen Coyle is the same type of manager as old Woy. Old-fashioned British guy who can only manage mid-table teams. We need someone like Hiddink.
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jo Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
I think Owen Coyle is quite a good manager considering he changed Bolton from the Gary Megson/Roy Hodgson football style and now they are very easy on the eye with the same players that were hoofing their way around since Allardyce.
One other curious liverpool connection to Allardyce brand of football is Sammy Lee who was his assistant then had a short stint as manager. He must feel right at home with the Hodgson style of football management.
The Liverpool football management team need to be overhauled including all the assistants, coaches and scouts.
The club needs a fresh blueprint or at least involve the likes of Roy Evans in a coaching capacity to retain some tradition.
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Jay Wright Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
What logical reason is there to believe that Riijkaard would be a “disaster”??
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rolando Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
his record!? –
Sparta rotterdam – relegated for the first time in their histroy
Barcelona – very bad start, recoved but already had a very strong team
Galatasry – sacked after 4 defeats in first 8 games.
not exactly amazing reading is it!
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Snappy Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 4:40 am
I don’t know how you can just brush over Barcelona role by saying they “already had a good team”. When he took over they hadn’t won the league for 6 years and he turned them into La Liga and Champions League champions within two years. Barca undoubtedly has the best youth system going round but it is one thing to have young talent at your disposal however the real trick is to bring them through into the first team (something Rafa was terrible at).
No one doubts that Roy is a very good mid-table team manager but the tactics he is familiar with are not sophisticated for teams aspiring to be the worlds best. The fact that Rijkaard succeeded when given the talent says a lot about his sophisticated understanding of the game, and the fact that this didn’t translate to lesser teams is probably not all that surprising.
His downfall at Barca came after a bust up with Ronaldinho, who has proven since to be a lazy good-for-nothing, and I reckon if he is given another chance with a big club he will produce an attractive and classy team. After all, Johan Cruyff hand-picked him for the Barcelona job.
As for Roy, I am all about giving someone a chance to prove himself but we have seen enough to pass judgement on his managerial style by now, and his talking down of our players talents is an utter disgrace no matter what he actually thinks of them.
Jay Wright Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
BTW, there was an opportunity to take a risk in the summer – unfortunately we decided to take a risk with an ageing, mid table manager, instead of with a young, aspirational manager.
Now is not the time to ask an unproven rookie to come in, immediately make the adjustment to a club at a whole new level and fix the mess at our club.
Riijkaard would be a far safer bet than ANYBODY right now
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December 15th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
In the 4411 he doesn’t have a position – he’s not enough of a goal threat to be our lone attacker behind the striker, he doesn’t have the pace to effectively get up and down the wings and he doesn’t have the defensive aptitude to play in the middle (then again, Modric does it for Tottenham, so…)
In the 433 he’d be able to compete for a central role (Gerrard, Meireles, Cole, Pacheco & Shelvey competing for two spots), where he could pick up the ball deeper with more time on the ball and more options ahead of him to pick out passes to, or play as a wide forward on the left as he used to do to good effect for England.
Hodgson’s negative system is just doing a disservive to most of our players
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December 15th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Roy isn’t the kind of manager who can motivate players and get the best out of them. Roy clearly doesn’t know Joe’s best position and usually just plays him out wide in the hope that he can do something. Having said this, Joe Cole needs to get himself in form and force himself back into the first team. He’s a special player who can compliment Torres well and create chances so hopefully we can see the best of him soon.
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December 15th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
there arent any good managers available…deshamps will be a good manager…but seems roy has so much suppport from the dressing room…
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December 15th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Cole was meant to be one of the those final pieces of the jigsaw to help us push on and get number 19.
I like JC – he is talented but how can you place that much responsibility on pne player. In football you need all 11 players to step up, we need not one captain but 11 captains on the pitch playing together as a team.
Far too long this season players have looked as if they just can not be bothered. I personally put his down to management – Roy can NOT motivate the players at LFC – a club who everyone should want to play for and put in blood sweat and tears to perform. Roy can only motivate mid table teams as he did with fulham (no offence).
For god sake NESV – if Blackburn had the guts to get rid of him when he had s***e results then why can’t you – and do it NOW please? Atleast we can get a manager who can play football the liverpool way and then NESV can back him in January with funds instead of wasting money as they will do under the current regime.
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December 15th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
REDRAG I agree totally
I think since the SOS screaming in the street bandwagon the fans seem to think they can scream and shout to get what they want but they are only putting the same bad atmosphere around. GIVE ROY a break and give him till the end of the season, respect himfor taking the job when H&G were here…at least he had the balls to come knowing they may still be in charge god forgive…
Be thankfull H & G have gone and get behind your team if you are a true Liverpool fan!
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December 15th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Roy should never have gotten the managers job in the first place. One day at the club was one day too many.
Sack him ASAP.
P.S. spot the clueless fans wanting Roy to stay.
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December 15th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
roy shud go he is a true gent but his tactics and management is not gud enuff even the players r moaning abt his methods tactics. even the board dont trust his judjment in players either thats why we av a french sporting director 2 over see transfer targets that 4 me says it all so since they dont trust him why dont they just get rid and get a manager that they cud trust
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December 15th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
i am 100% behind roy and he can stabilise the bad things in the club.but he surely needs to tell the owners to buy in january and he needs to realise that our squad is small.reina,jones as goalkeepers-carragher,agger,skrtel,kyrgiakos are a good set of center backs.johnson,kelly are good for the right back spot and then aurelio is the only decent left back we have.sell konchesky now.lucas,meireles,gerrard are a good set of center midfielders where poulsen is one of the worst players to wear the liverpool shirt.joe cole,maxi and jovanovic good for the wings and babel,torres,kuyt and ngog up front..we definitely need a left back,coentrao, and a partner for torres(suarez,hulk,aguero,cassano,toivonen,..).play 4-4-2 and ATTACK!!Reina-Johnson-Carragher-Agger-Coentrao-J.Cole-Gerrard-Meireles-Maxi-Suarez-Torres..Subs:Jones,Skrtel,Kyrgiakos,Aurelio,Kelly,Lucas,Jovanovic,Kuyt,Babel,Ngog.bring players in january as ROBBIE FOWLER said pleaseeee……..In Roy i trust and i give him a chance this season
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December 16th, 2010 at 1:23 am
My feeling is that the demise started even earlier, maybe even around the time when we lost the F.A cup to Wimbledon and coincidentally we started mocking ‘United’ with shout’s of PLC when we thought they sold out to commercialism.
Where once Liverpool where the pioneer’s we now fall way behind in terms of Stadia and the whole Ethos of what matters in football, nobody wants to say it but we lost 20 years of moving forward under the drunken fool that was David Moore’s.
It is very unfair to blame one man (Hodgson) for our downfall but a calamity of error’s over a longer period of time is more like it.
We will re-build but it will take time, probably a very long time so by then Hodgson will not be manager anyway and the new owners know this!
Knee jerk reactions never do any good except to the person who receives compensation when fired Ie…. Hodgson and i have no desire to give him any more money than he currently get’s.
Stand behind our team and we will be great again!!!!!!!!!
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December 16th, 2010 at 1:26 am
One more thing…. Will everybody stop playing Championship Manager with our f*cken team!!!!!
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December 16th, 2010 at 5:54 am
Stavros Have a Word with yourself mate! Either you like mid-table mediocrity, or you are a scum fan.
I can’t for the life of me see why we got rid of Rafa and installed This Ikea Cup winning Berk.
All I can say is no flipping wonder Manure fans hated Rafa as he gave us back our identity. To stick by this Idiot is to not just waste another year. It will mean our Better players will leave. Thus setting us back even further. GO NOW ROY YOU WASTE OF SPACE!
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December 16th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Honestly I would love to see Didier Deschamp as coach. He is young with new ideas. Guided Juventus up from serie B to seria A. Won the French leauge with his current team. He is French which will help him with the new Director of football. Used to work with a director of football!! His team plays nice attacking football. His Interviews are quite but with a winning mentality.
So my wish would be stick with Roy till the end of the season and then get in Didier early to start the building process.
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December 16th, 2010 at 8:36 am
Can no one seethat it isnt just the managers that are costing us good players. ive supported lfc all my life and in the last few years it seems we are out to ruin players careers. joe cole, robbie kean, cisse, morrientes, pacheco- who is the most promising young striker in euroupe but we play him anywhere but that position, nemeth who was a goal machine but nah lets not give him a chance SELL SELL SELL
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December 16th, 2010 at 8:37 am
oh and Aqua the list is endless
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December 16th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I don’t mind whether Roy goes or stays – one thing I feel very strongly about though is that Martin O’Neil is NOT the man to replace him – no charisma whatsoever. That would be jumping from the pan into the fire imo. Also, Martin just abandons ship when the going gets tough, without a thought for the fans or the players! I’m not saying Blackpool’s Holloway is the right man for the job but LFC needs someone with his type of charisma – says what he thinks & doesn’t cosy up to the likes of Ferguson! Calls a spade a spade & everyone knows where they stand.
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December 16th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Right Now I’d even bring Souness in over this clueless plonker!
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December 16th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
We need a winner, not a manager with alzheimer’s that keep taking him back to his Gothenburg days. And refusing to shoulder any blame, but steeps it on others (see Pacheco after Northampton game).
We do need to be cautious who we bring in of course, but I would gladly have Rafa back as we have important players here who wanted to play for him. His last season was also an anomaly as you don’t go from being 2nd with 86 pts to being atrocious. His job was made extra hard by public slagging matches with the previous clown owners, and terrible injuries to Torres, Gerrard; losing Alonso and not getting the money to spend.
Don’t read too much into Inter either. He has inherited an aging squad with no investment.
Managers I’d consider:
Coyle/Hiddink/Lippi/Van Gaal/Juan Carlos Garrido/Benitez/Deschamps
Definitely not:
O’Neill/Klinsmann/Rijkaard/McClaren/any other muppet
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RedRag Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
We also need to forget the past, the good and the bad. History will never ever go away but what we need to do is stop the comparisons all the time. We think we’re a bit club but we’re not really – lets get back to being one!
It pains me to say it but the Mancs won more in one season than we’ve won in 20 years – I know we’ve won cups but the big one’s have eluded us every year bar that magical night in Istanbul (is wonderful, oh Istanbul is wonderful) They won the 2 big ones in the SAME season.
We can get back, we just need to be behind them. We’re in a worse state than when Shanks took over but he didn’t get compared to the past all of the time, he was given time and look what he did and later made for Paisley. How he is the past and what a wonderful past it was but now time for the future, lets get behind the team, the manager (whoever it is) and lets knock those Mancs off our fu@king perch!!!!!!!!
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December 20th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Bring Rafa back.
He could be in for the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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