Mark Lawrenson: Roy Hodgson Fits The Bill – But He Has A Fight To Keep Liverpool FC Stars

Roy Hodgson might not have seemed like the ideal candidate to be Liverpool manager a year ago.

But when you consider the current plight the club finds itself in, he fits the bill perfectly.

This appointment is not about scouring the continent for a bright, emerging coach, as was the case when Liverpool chased down Rafael Benitez when they were last in the hunt for a manager.

This is about taking someone who isn’t afraid of a challenge and has a proven record of turning round a club’s fortunes.

He’s seen it all before. He’s gone to a place like Inter Milan and changed the whole make-up of the side. He could still be there now, in a behind-the-scenes role taking it easy – but he wants more of a test than that.

He’s dealt with big name foreign players and managed on the international stage.

And, most importantly, he proved in his time at Fulham that he can take a set of players and make them better.

That could be vital at Liverpool because, as good as I think the appointment is, I don’t think he holds the key to persuading the top players to stay.

If a player wants to leave a club, he can be told a new manager’s plans, he can have the vision sold to him, but it’s unlikely to change his mind.

But I genuinely feel Hodgson wouldn’t be fazed by this.

If Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres decide it’s time to leave, even if Hodgson gets half of the money into his transfer budget then that’s good business.

He has a decent record in the market in recent times, proving that he can get results without necessarily relying on superstars.

If he did lose Liverpool’s two best players he would be disappointed – but he would have a plan B.

I think the board has also been sensible in their recruitment, in not going for major upheaval.

They know that if a sale comes through, the new owners could change things drastically and Hodgson could just turn out to be a short term appointment.

No reflection on him, that’s just the way football is.

So we won’t have a situation similar to Benitez, who brought in all his own staff from Spain.

I don’t think Hodgson will bring a whole entourage with him and a lot of the current Anfield staff seem keen to stay so it saves the board money and inconvenience of overseeing wholesale changes.

So all in all it makes sense. I spent a couple of days with Hodgson in South Africa when he was working for the BBC and there’s no doubt that he is a nice guy who is easy to get on with.

But there’s also no doubt that underneath all that he is tough – and the players will respect him.

He is exactly the right person for this job at this time.