Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolves : Hodgson turns on Kop fans
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Liverpool 0 Wolves 1: Roy Hodgson's future looking bleak as Stephen Ward grabs winner for basement boys
Rudderless crew: Ngog (left), Lucas, Torres and Gerrard are not amused by Wolves' goal
WOLVES won for only the second time in 25 trips to Anfield to heap more pressure on Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson.
Mick McCarthy's men have picked up all their away points on Merseyside this season, having drawn 0-0 with Everton back in August.
Stephen Ward got the winner, a cool finish after a defensive mix-up. It was no less than Wolves deserved as Liverpool's big guns, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, again failed to impress.
Raul Meireles missed a glorious early chance for the hosts after some quick thinking from Torres.
The Spanish striker lofted in a free-kick, which George Elokobi made a total hash of, but Meireles' side-footed effort came back off Wayne Hennessey who had spread himself well.
Wolves also had their chances, especially when Soto Kyrgiakos dwelt on the ball and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake almost made him pay.
Under pressure: Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson
Hodgson's side looked rusty, which was not surprising seeing as they had not played for 18 days.
Gerrard, who had returned to the heart of Liverpool's midfield after six weeks out with a hamstring injury, hit one superb first-half cross that needed Richard Stearman to head behind with David Ngog lurking.
Christophe Berra dragged Kyrgiakos to the ground from the resulting corner but referee Peter Walton waved away home penalty claims.
It was end-to-end with McCarthy's men not looking anything like a side rooted in the bottom three since October 2 — and with seven away defeats on the bounce to their name.
They worked hard, closed the home side down and frustrated the Reds, while playing some attractive football of their own.
Berra again rode his luck at a corner when he had his hands all over Kyrgiakos right in front of the ref who again failed to judge that the rough treatment on the Greek defender warranted a spot-kick.
After the break Glen Johnson's neat feet set up Ngog but he could not wrap his foot around the ball enough and his shot went wide of Hennessey's upright.
Wolves then went close themselves, Ronald Zubar turning well in the box and forcing Pepe Reina into a full-length save.
And the visitors took the lead on 56 minutes when some poor defending saw Ward run onto Ebanks-Blake's through ball and slot past Reina.
More calamity defending soon after gifted Kevin Foley a great chance and he should have put Wolves two ahead.
The Anfield side were rattled and Hodgson made a raft of changes with Ryan Babel, Joe Cole and Fabio Aurelio all coming on.
But it was too little too late and the Reds lost at home in the final game of a calendar year for the first time since Manchester City's 3-1 triumph in 1981.
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel, Konchesky (Aurelio 73), Kuyt, Gerrard, Lucas, Meireles (Cole 73), Torres, Ngog (Babel 62). Not used: Jones, Agger, Maxi, Poulsen. Booked: Johnson.
WOLVES: Hennessey, Zubar, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi, Foley, Milijas, Hunt, Jarvis (Edwards 89), Ward (Fletcher 78), Ebanks-Blake. Not used: Hahnemann, David Jones, Bent, Mujangi Bia, Batth. Booked: Elokobi.
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FER HEAVEN'S SAKE ... Torres can't believe itLIVERPOOL
Reina 4
Johnson 4
Kyrgiakos 5
Skrtel 4
Konchesky 3 (Aurelio 5)
Kuyt 6
Gerrard 6
Lucas 5
Meireles 5 (Cole 5)
Torres 3
Ngog 6 (Babel 5).
Subs Not Used: Jones, Agger, Maxi, Poulsen.
Booked: Johnson.
WOLVES
Hennessey 7
Zubar 7
Stearman 8 - SUN STAR MAN
Berra 7
Elokobi 7
Foley 7
Milijas 8
Hunt 8
Jarvis 7 (Edwards 6)
Ward 7 (Fletcher 6)
Ebanks-Blake 8.
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, David Jones, Bent, Mujangi Bia, Batth.
Booked: Elokobi.
REF: P Walton 7.
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Report from soccernet mentioned that there were "Hodgson for England" chants from the crowd.
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Hodgson turns on Kop fans "Ever since I came here the famous Anfield support hasn't really been there"
KOP THAT ... Roy Hodgson "I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support"ROY HODGSON watched Liverpool complete their worst start to a Premier League season - then turned on The Kop.
He said: "Ever since I came here the famous Anfield support hasn't really been there. "I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support - we are not deliberately losing."
Boss Hodgson claimed the constant baiting he has to endure is beginning to affect the players.
Long before Stephen Ward's 56th minute strike condemned Liverpool to a record eighth Premier defeat before the turn of the year, home fans were mixing songs of praise for Kenny Dalglish with ironic chants of 'Hodgson for England.'
One banner called for the return of Rafa Benitez.
Hodgson admitted: "It was a sad way to end 2010 and a sad way to play the first game for a few weeks in front of our own supporters.
"We let them down and they showed us what they thought of it - and I would probably have done the same.
"Maybe we are lacking quality and lacking confidence, and the negativity doesn't help.
"The players are not getting on the ball for fear of making mistakes."
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Originally posted by Cristiano@Red_Devils.com:
Report from soccernet mentioned that there were "Hodgson for England" chants from the crowd.
It's very sick that they treated him this way... He doesn't deserve this. But the problem is, Kenny Dalglish, he made it known before Roy was appointed that he wanted the job. So the fans now keep asking for him...I honestly hope they get their wish cos Roy don't deserve the treatment they are doing to him... Take his big pay day and leave the club, he can do better elsewhere like he did at Fulham... And also, I like to see how badly Dalglish will do... And everyone can tell the Liverpool fans, You asked for it... lol.
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seriously i dont think its the manager fault
its the 2 gays that destroy liverpool and now every 1 left in liverpool have to pick up the mess ..............
the player are also to be blame.
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what is so big deal about kenny dalglish as a manager?
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It seems like either Torres's heart isn't there alreadly and he is just going through the motions or his poor form is still ongoing from last season... Given only a 3 for ratings... O my, the lowest amongst all 22... Sorry, 27 on last night to be precise including subs. Even Ngog got double of that... lol.
Time to go Chelsea to get his game going again... Cos he doesn't look to be in the mode anymore at Liverpool...
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i tink hodgson is not the right manager for this job.
he's just not flexible enuff.
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hodgson is hopeless.
i had no idea what he was doing last night playing kuyt on the left and meireles on the right. you dun bring in a central midfielder and keep playing him out of position. babel came on for the last what 15 min? and did so much better than torres did in the whole match.
the players he brought in during the transfer market are also wtf.
- joe cole (now hes trying to push the blame for the sale)
- poulsen ( 4m 30 year old useless player)
- konchesky (easily one of the worst player last nite, the goal could be blamed on him)
and the thing about dalglish is that he won 3 league titles as liverpool manager b4 retiring from football in 1991. than from then on liverpool went downhill.
that is the big deal about dalglish
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Ah Roy have himself to blame if he is being booted out of Anfield in Jan 2011.
The players basically lost faith in his management and most of them are just playing without any commitment.
They are playing lousy to boot him out.
He is not doing himself any good by deploying the players in the wrong position and gutless in grounding torres for his lousy effort.
Now, he have commited suicide by attacking the KOP fans.
It will be interesting if the players ganged up against him and sit out in the match against bolton this sat.
He would be at home eating peanuts if he was serving the curry pork owner of rovers.
He should be sacked before the bolton match.
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Ultimately the responsibility falls with the manager.
And it's easier to change the manager than to change the whole team regardless of who was worse.
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I just saw the replay.
Ngog is just hopeless and Ah Roy did not make use of the 14 days to make the team stronger.
He know in the 1st place that it is a hot seat and he will not be forgiven when Liverpool play badly, not like fulham.
Ah Roy should be sacked immediately.