- Don Welsh (51-56)
- Graeme Souness (91-94)
- Roy Evans/Gerard Houllier (98)
- Roy Hodgson (10-11)
- Brendan Rodgers (12-15)
- Other - specify in comments
0 voters
Okay lads and lassies. There’s been a lot of negativity this season… so how about a bit more? If anything, it’s the type of negativity that gives us a bit of perspective on how excellent we’ve had it under Mr Klopp.
It’s probably arguable if all of these mangers were “bad” per se, particularly as we’re more blessed than most clubs in terms of our history, but what I’m looking for is to discuss which individual reign was the worst. I’ve left out the two wartime managers as that feels a bit unfair given what was going on. Matt McQueen also didn’t have the greatest win record, but he did win the league in 1923 (almost exactly 100 years ago)! I also left out King Kenny’s second reign - I just love the man too much to include him, even though our league form wasn’t exactly great under him. I’d argue he steadied the ship at an important time, which can’t be understated, and picked up a trophy along the way,
The case for each:
Don Welsh 1951-56
I appreciate virtually no one on this board will be old enough to remember Mr Welsh’s reign, but on paper he had the worst win percentage of all Liverpool managers. He was the first manager to guide Liverpool to relegation in half a century. After this, Liverpool would stay in the Second Division for eight more seasons. His successor Phil Taylor failed to promote Liverpool, but survives this list by virtue of not having relegated us.
Graeme Souness 1991-94
Case in favour: he presided over our decline after decades of dominance; he prematurely sold some of our best players and brought in some comically bad ones; he rushed to impose a new culture without full buy-in from the players; we sunk down to mid-table; and he gave an interview to the Scum on the anniversary of Hillsborough, which he later profusely apologised for but did illustrate his terrible judgement.
Case against: He won an FA Cup; he was right to try and improve diet and culture etc. as we moved into the PL era, particularly with an ageing squad; and we must also factor in his health problems at the time.
Roy Evans & Gerard Houllier 1998
For clarity, neither of them would be on this list for their individual terms. Roy Evans coached one of the most exciting attacking teams in England and renewed a lot of fans’ passion for the club after the Souness era. Houllier won multiple honours and brought the club into the 21st century.
But their joint reign - terrible. It lasted a few months and made such little sense, very few clubs have ever sought to replicate this model, with the club hierarchy ultimately admitting it didn’t work.
Roy Hodgson 2010-11
Woy may be lauded for his ability to fire-up mid-table fodder like Crystal Palace, and his international experience (the nations managed rather than his multilingual skills), but he really didn’t get Liverpool did he? An abysmal reign characterised by baffling signings, low ambition, an inability to manage Liverpool’s star talent and a poor relationship with the fans. He was sacked not long after leading us into a welegation [sic] scrap.
Brendan Rodgers 2012-15
On one hand, this guy arguably coached Liverpool to what was their closest title challenge in over two decades at the time. There’s no doubt he has some tactical acumen and the likes of Stevie G have commended his one-on-one management ability. But there was also something faintly comical about him, as illustrated in the David Brent-esque “Being Liverpool” documentary that aired early in his reign.
There was also the weird signings (with most accounts suggesting it was the controversial transfer committee that pushed for Sturridge and Coutinho, whereas Balotelli was all Brendan); and the odd soundbites ("You can live without water for many days, but you can’t live for a second without hope”). All in all, the biggest issue of all in the end was the results towards the end and the state he left the club in, which makes Klopp’s achievements all the more impressive.
Have at it…
