Three red cards in the Old Firm derby, business as usual then. USA captain Carlos Bocanegra was one of them. He's obviously imbibed the local attitude.
😉
Would Liverpool trade the Carling/FA Cup trophy (Dalglish) for a Champions/Europa League spot at a fraction of the money they've spent (Pardew) though?
These days any team would trade anything for a Champions League spot. the Champions League is everything. Only a couple clubs can realistically expect a title (Fergie has won about half of them since Sky invented the game), so the CL spots are what they really care about.
I know Dalglish has tenure, legendary status and is wanted by fans but is he actually the man for the job. Has he surpassed Hodgson...not really. If you put Pardew in his seat would LFC be better off...i wonder.
Sure Dalglish has a trophy in the cabinet but it wasn't particularly convincing (Cardiff could've easily nicked it) and pretty much stumbled on it.
I guess what happens in the summer and next season will make things clearer. I think i'm just really surprised because i was really wary of LFC at the beginning of the season and had them down as one to look out for along with City given the fresh faces but surprised at the current state.
Dalglish has not done better than Hodgson in terms of league position. I would argue that the team is playing a
little better than they did under Hodgson. He has won a cup, but that alone counts for little.
It's been a long time since Kenny won a title with Liverpool. The game has changed. He still has all the qualities that he had then, but he also has a much weaker squad to work with. He and Comolli have made a couple bad buys. He can't afford to blow money like that again. He needs to rectify the mistake with Carroll and Henderson by making his next couple signings pay off for us.
It's a mixed bag in the end. We took a risk on a new/old manager and a couple young prospects. The latter didn't work out, the former is still a matter of debate. If we finish 6th/7th and take the FA Cup in addition to the Carling Cup, I'd have to call it a successful campaign, with some reservations. If we fail to win the FA Cup and finish 7th in the league, we're hardly better off than we were last season. The key will be improving on that next season. I'd gladly trade both cups for a 4th place finish. Having Carroll and Henderson (and Adam) not pan out is a significant setback - those players now need to either be replaced or somehow made to perform.
A year or so ago I got roasted by some Liverpool fans for sticking up for Hodgson a little and being skeptical of the automatic faith some placed in Dalglish. Some of those same fans are now lamenting the squad weaknesses and poor performances, and the fact that Roy Hodgson's West Brom have score more goals than Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool this season.