Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson believes he was doomed from the start as Liverpool manager.
In 2010, the Reds were in disarray after finishing seventh and parting company with Rafa Benitez. Champions League qualification had been the norm but discontent had grown over the Spaniard’s defensive tactics.
A successful spell at Fulham - where he helped them reach the Europa League final - saw Hodgson named as Benitez’s replacement. However, his time at Anfield lasted just six months, with Liverpool sitting 13th in the Premier League after a 3-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
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Hodgson’s biggest job at club management ultimately ended in failure but, over a decade on, he has claimed the move was always destined to fail. The 75-year-old - enjoying an end-of-career renaissance at Palace - told The Overlap Extra: “I went to a club (Liverpool) where there was a change of ownership and no one really knew what they wanted.
“There were large swathes of fans who didn’t believe I was the right man for the job (and thought) Kenny Dalglish was the man they wanted to come back. That was clear straight away, and even more clear when the new owners came in. We weren’t winning.
“To have any chance of success at all, from the first game, I had to start winning, getting results and playing good football, rather than struggling as we were near the middle of the table - in the same way Liverpool were doing until recently this season. It was always going to be an uphill battle from that.”
The former England manager also revealed a conversation he had with then vice-captain Jamie Carragher. Hodgson, like Benitez, was renowned for his pragmatic style - an observation that was not lost on Carragher or the Liverpool fans.
“Jamie Carragher told me what my biggest mistake at the club was,” Hodgson added. “He (Carragher) said, ‘We’ve been coached, we’ve had Rafa Benitez for two and a half years, and his coaching and messages were pretty rigid.’
“Jamie is a big fan of Benitez, so this wasn’t a criticism in any way. Jamie said, ‘You’ve come in and done the same thing. You’d have been better off adopting a different approach.’
“My approach worked well at Fulham and Blackburn – people accepted that we were going to be very structured and organised and play that type of football, so I’ll do that here and we are going to get better. Maybe it’s not always possible to do that.”
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