SOCCER:ROY HODGSON, in his first press conference since taking over as the new manager of West Bromwich Albion, admitted he had been "wounded" by his chastening experience at Liverpool.
Hodgson went from being manager of the year with Fulham in May to an acrimonious exit from Anfield in the space of just eight months. The 63-year-old was dismissed by John W Henry, the new Liverpool owner, in January and replaced by Kenny Dalglish.
“I didn’t feel drained (by what happened at Liverpool) but of course you do feel wounded,” Hodgson said. “I’ve had a very good spell in my career and it was a long while since I’d had a serious knockback in my career. It hasn’t dented my belief or confidence but I can’t lie and say it didn’t hurt me or I didn’t care. I’ve had an awful amount of praise and when you get the opposite it’s not something you necessarily embrace.”
Hodgson was appointed by the former owners of Liverpool, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, after guiding Fulham to the Europa League final and the club’s highest finish in the Premier League. But the former Internazionale and Blackburn Rovers manager said he had not felt accepted during his stay at Anfield and admitted to bitter disappointment over the manner of his departure.
“The people who wanted me at Liverpool didn’t last too long. I think the new owners found themselves in a very difficult situation because we weren’t winning enough games and the fans made it perfectly clear they wanted me gone and somebody else in,” he said.
Hodgson, whose new club surrendered a three-goal lead to fellow strugglers West Ham United in a 3-3 draw last Saturday, returned to management after a break of five weeks by accepting the challenge of keeping Albion in the Premier League. He argued he has nothing to prove after a 35-year career in management. “I can’t for one minute suggest I felt wanted at Liverpool,” Hodgson said. “But at West Brom I think everybody will accept that the club made quite a concerted effort to get me, and persuade me that I should come and be with them and help try to preserve the status, so of course I feel more wanted here.
“What happened at Liverpool doesn’t make me more determined, I couldn’t be more determined. I don’t feel I’ve got anything to prove.”
Hodgson, who has signed an 18-month deal at The Hawthorns, engineered an escape act at Fulham on the final day of the 2007-8 season with a 1-0 win at Portsmouth.
The situation at his new club is less grave than the one he inherited in west London, even if Albion are out of the relegation zone only on goal difference and have lost 13 of the last 19 matches. His first game is against Wolves on Sunday and he admits he would settle for another act of escapology if that is what it takes to secure Premier League survival.
“I would settle for the last day, absolutely. I don’t care how we stay in the Premier League as long as we stay there.”
