Roy Hodgson's Liverpool side crashed to a miserable 1-0 reversal at home to Wolves last night, leaving the former Fulham manager bereft of support from the stands as a chorus of boos from disillusioned supporters rung poignantly around Anfield on the final whistle.
A terrible performance lacking any sort of passion, determination or attacking threat was punished by the energetic visitors as Stephen Ward took full advantage of some shocking defending to score what turned out to be the winner for Mick McCarthy's men, who were propping up the table prior to kick off.
Before the match there was a minute's applause celebrating the lives of former Liverpool players Avi Cohen and Bill Jones, who both sadly passed away this week. That rousing reception, alongside the return of club captain Steven Gerrard, appeared to inspire the team early on when they created our best chance of the match after only seven minutes had been played.
A clever quick free kick from Fernando Torres released Raul Meireles inside the box but unfortunately his effort was well blocked by the desperate Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey. From then on though Liverpool struggled to create any clear-cut chances and Wolves looked comfortable despite their abysmal away form so far this season.
Hunt's strike from the edge of the box landed on the roof of Reina's net on 9 minutes after Kuyt could only clear a corner as far as the Wolves midfielder before Ebanks-Blake shot from distance failed to test our Spanish keeper.
Ward then sent a dangerous looking cross into the area on 24 minutes however thankfully nobody in a golden shirt was there to convert, as the away side grew in confidence whilst the hosts were restricted to pot shots from distance that were all quickly blocked by the conscientious Midlanders. Lucas, Kuyt and Torres all had efforts easily blocked before Paul Konchesky blazed into the Anfield Road end to epitomise our attacking frustration just past the half hour mark.
Fittingly Wolves had the final half chance of the first period when Hunt headed Jarvis' deep cross off target at the back post three minutes before the break. Although most managers surely would have demanded more attacking verve from their players at this point Hodgson seemed to show no desire to do so as his under-performing troops were even worse during a nightmare second half.
Despite this it was the home side who created the first two opportunities of the second half. First, Ngog looped a header straight at Hennessey before the young French striker steered a shot wide from six yards after receiving a cross from the twisting and turning Glen Johnson.
Crucially though those were our only sights of goal throughout a frankly abysmal second period as Wolves controlled proceedings with poise and purpose, in stark contrast to the disorganised disaster Liverpool had become. After 51 minutes Liverpool had a massive let off when Ebanks-Blake couldn't make the most of a poor Pepe Reina clearance that went straight to the Wolves striker, before Zubar held off Kyrgiakos in the box and forced Reina into a good save low down.
Ebanks-Blake then headed Zubar's inviting cross over the bar before a costly collective mistake from Skrtel and Kyrgiakos allowed Ward to run through on goal and slot the ball beyond Reina and into the net. It was a simply shocking piece of 'defending' from two centre backs who represented their countries at the World Cup this summer.
Worryingly Wolves continued to dominate and the expected pressure from Liverpool that usually characterises matches when the Reds are trailing with time running out never materialised. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who has only managed four goals this season, terrorised our fragile defence as he burst into space and saw his shot blocked on the hour mark before he curled just wide of the target with only eight minutes remaining.
Liverpool almost stole a completely undeserved point in the dying stages when Gerrard delivered a free kick into the box and Skrtel rose to head home, however Wolves brave backline had outwitted the Reds as they rushed out seconds before the kick, leaving everybody in a Red shirt in an offside position.
Possibly the worst thing about this unacceptable result is that it is not unusual. In fact, under Roy Hodgson fans have come to expect the worst with this embarrassing loss adding to the humiliation suffered after defeats at home to Blackpool and Northampton Town.
The great Bill Shankly built Anfield into a bastion of invincibility and ever since teams have been frightened to visit because of the spine-tingling atmosphere generated that would almost inevitably spur the team onto yet another victory. Now teams looks forward to playing at Anfield, as they know the confidence-stricken outfit guided by a hopeless and hapless manager opposing them will provide little significant opposition. No matter how poor the visitors may be they know that if they have a go and boldly attack us they can easily escape Anfield with all three points safely in the bag.
With 97% of fans wanting to see Hodgson dismissed immediately according to many polls and chants such as the ironic "Hodgson for England" emanating from the Kop on a frequent basis, NESV must now act swiftly and sack the inept Hodgson. He has left us in 12th place in the League; only three points outside the drop zone following half a season of pain that has seen us suffer eight defeats.
There is no future for Hodgson or his outdated, ineffective and simply boring tactics. It is now simply a matter of when he will be fired, not if.
YNWA
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