come to think of it

what did he actually do at all these clubs?

1976?1980 Halmstad
1982 Bristol City
1982 Oddevold
1983?1984 ?rebro
1985?1989 Malm? FF
1990?1992 Neuch?tel Xamax
1992?1995 Switzerland
1995?1997 Internazionale
1997?1998 Blackburn Rovers
1999 Internazionale
1999?2000 Grasshopper
2000?2001 Copenhagen
2001 Udinese
2002?2004 United Arab Emirates
2004?2005 Viking
2006?2007 Finland
2007?2010 Fulham
2010?2011 Liverpool
2011?2012 West Bromwich Albion
2012? England

There`s bit of reading here, it should keep you quiet for a while.................enjoy

Managerial career
Early career

Hodgson started his managerial career in 1976 at Swedish top division side Halmstad, having been recommended by then Malm? FF manager Bob Houghton.[5] Hodgson spent five years at Halmstads, winning the league championship in 1976 and 1979. His success with Halmstad in 1976 is considered one of the biggest surprises of all time in Swedish football.[8] The year before, Halmstad had struggled against relegation, and before the 1976 campaign began they were almost universally tipped for relegation. Hodgson himself says that "my greatest achievement would have to be the water-into-wine job at Halmstads BK."[8] Early in his career, he was dubbed the nicest man in the world.[9]

In 1980, he moved to Bristol City in his native England, where he was assistant manager and later manager. Due to the club's financial problems he was largely unsuccessful and was sacked after four months in charge.[10] In 1983, Hodgson moved back to Sweden to take over Oddevold and then ?rebro.[10] In 1985, he took over at Malm? FF, which he led to five consecutive league championships, two Swedish championships (at the time the Swedish championship was decided through play-offs) and two Swedish Cups. Due to his successful time at Malm?, Hodgson is still highly appreciated by the club's fans who have unofficially named a section of the new Swedbank Stadion "Roy's H?rna" (Roy's Corner).[11] His greatest continental achievement at Malm? was knocking the Italian champions Internazionale out of the European Cup, winning 1?0 at home and drawing 1?1 at the San Siro. Hodgson continues to be held in high regard at Malm? where he is known as "Royson".[12] His period as manager of the club is seen[by whom?] as one of the best in the club's history.

Malm? offered Hodgson a lifetime contract, but he declined, saying later that "moving to another place seemed exciting. The decision was also financial. Swedish taxes were so high that even if you were being paid reasonable money, after losing 65% in tax there wasn't a lot left."[8] Hodgson moved to Swiss side Neuch?tel Xamax in 1990. He led Xamax to European victories over Celtic and Real Madrid.[13]

His early coaching career was closely linked to that of his friend Bob Houghton; they worked together at Maidstone, Stranraer and Bristol City, and they both worked in Swedish football at the same time. The pair are credited with transforming Swedish football, bringing in zonal marking for the first time.[14]
Switzerland

Hodgson took over as manager of the Switzerland national team from Uli Stielike on 26 January 1992.[15] Stielike had been the first Swiss coach to have a winning record,[15] winning 13 of the 25 games he was in charge. As Hodgson was succeeding Stielike at the national level, Stielike took over the job Hodgson had just vacated at club level with Swiss Super League side Neuch?tel Xamax.

Hodgson took the Schweizer Nati to the 1994 World Cup, losing only one game during qualification, from a group that included Italy and Portugal. The Swiss took four points off Italy, who, managed by the successful former coach Arrigo Sacchi, went on to make it to the World Cup final and lose only on penalties. In the game in Italy, the Swiss were at one stage leading 2?0 before being pegged back to 2?2. This was Switzerland's first World Cup since 1966. At the 1994 World Cup, the Swiss finished runners-up in their group, qualifying for the Round of 16 where they lost to Spain.

The Swiss easily qualified for Euro 1996, but Hodgson left immediately after qualification, on 15 November 1995, to join Italian club F.C. Internazionale Milano. He had in fact been doing both jobs from October of that year.[citation needed] Without Hodgson, the Swiss had a difficult time at Euro 1996 losing to the Netherlands and Scotland. Switzerland finished bottom of their group with only one point from three matches.

At their peak while managed by Hodgson, Switzerland were rated the third best international side in the world, according to the FIFA World Rankings.[8]
Internazionale

Before the European Championships, Hodgson joined Italian Serie A giants Internazionale, where he worked from 1995 to 1997. With significant investment, he presided over a rebuilding phase. Inter had finished 13th and sixth in the seasons prior to his arrival. After a terrible start to the season, Hodgson was brought in and guided the club to seventh place in the 1995?96 season, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The 1996?97 season saw Hodgson leave Inter after 14 wins, 13 draws and five defeats in Serie A, with Inter placed 3rd in the league, and he was replaced by Luigi Simoni whose side finished second in the league in the 1997?98 season and won the UEFA Cup. In 2009 Hodgson recalled his time at Inter: "We lacked stars, apart from Paul Ince. It wasn't the Inter we see today of household names. They weren't the best technically but physically they were like machines. The Premier League is like that now, but back then Italy was far ahead."[8]

Hodgson managed to get his Inter team, containing Javier Zanetti, Youri Djorkaeff and Ince, through to the 1997 UEFA Cup Final where they played Schalke 04. Given that Inter had a recent history of winning UEFA Cup finals, with victories in both 1990 and 1994, the Italian side started as favourites. When the German underdogs won the final in Milan on penalties, Inter fans pelted Hodgson with coins and lighters.[16]

Hodgson later admitted that, throughout his one-and-a-half seasons at Inter, there had been regular speculation that he would get the sack, but he insisted he had had the support of the owners.[17] The directors did support him in a disagreement that he had with Roberto Carlos whilst at the club. Hodgson wanted to exploit Carlos' attacking flair by playing him in an advanced position but Carlos was adamant in his desire to play as a a left back, the position that he held when playing for Brazil and to which he felt best suited.[18] Carlos told FourFourTwo magazine in May 2005 that he spoke to club president Massimo Moratti at the time "to see if he could sort things out and it soon became clear that the only solution was to leave."[18] Carlos subsequently departed for Real Madrid in 1996.
Blackburn Rovers

In the 1997 close season, Hodgson was tempted by Jack Walker to become manager of Blackburn Rovers. Rovers had finished 13th the previous season ? only two seasons after winning the title ? and had been in danger of relegation. Manager Ray Harford had quit on 25 October 1996 with Blackburn winless, bottom of the Premier League and just knocked out of the Football League Cup by Division Two underdogs Stockport County. Manager Tony Parkes had been put in charge for the rest of the season, and had overseen an improvement in league form to secure survival, but it was clear that chairman Walker wanted a more experienced man to build a side capable of regaining the form of a few years earlier,[citation needed] and Hodgson accepted the offer to take over.

In the 1997?98 season, his first season in charge, Blackburn finished sixth, qualifying for the UEFA Cup and appearing to be in the ascendancy, especially as they had been outsiders in the title race for more than half of the season and Hodgson had been voted Premier League Manager of the Month on two occasions; however, the team's form collapsed dramatically in the second half of the season, and it was only on the last day of the season that they secured a UEFA place.[19]

Hodgson's second season with Blackburn did not match the relative success of the first, due to numerous injuries,[20] dressing room unrest, the failure to find an adequate replacement for departed central defender Colin Hendry,[21] and a succession of poor buys ? notably the ?7.5 million Kevin Davies. As a result, Blackburn had a disastrous start to the season and Hodgson was sacked on November 21, 1998, with the club bottom of the league table.[22] As Hodgson later explained, Blackburn's owner gave him the chance to resign honourably, but he refused to do so, leaving the club with no option but to sack him: "To Blackburn's honour, Jack Walker wanted me to resign, he wanted to still pay for the rest of my contract. He said, 'Why don't you resign? You've had enough, it's not working out.' I refused to do that, arrogant of course as I was in those days. I thought if they stuck with me I'd save them from relegation. I do think that the players were very much still with me, so I couldn't resign because that would be a suggestion that in some way I was doing something or something was happening which I didn't see to be the case or the truth. I gave him no choice but to sack me".[23] His final game was a home defeat by Southampton.[22][24]

Hodgson later complained that his failure at Blackburn tarnished his reputation in England, whilst his record on the continent should have made him comparable to Sir Alex Ferguson: "Of course, my track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as [Sir Alex] Ferguson enjoys today, but people don't talk about what I've done outside England", he says. "Here, they just talk about Blackburn Rovers, but that's just a very small part of a 26-year career. To most English journalists it's the only part. I've got an excellent track record in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and in Denmark, where FC Copenhagen was my last job before I went to Udinese. We won the league there by seven points. Admittedly, the fact that I walked out and went to Italy to some extent tarnished that reputation..."[25]
Return to Inter, Grasshopper

In 1999, Hodgson was shortlisted to become the next manager of the Austrian national team but the role went instead to Otto Barić.[10] Hodgson then had a brief second stint as caretaker at Inter before returning to Switzerland to coach Grasshopper for a season. In 2000, Hodgson was one of three candidates to take over as England manager;[10] however, after having agreed to move to FC Copenhagen prior to the FA offering him a contract, he was obliged to refuse any offer and the job went to Sven-G?ran Eriksson.
Copenhagen, Udinese

Hodgson moved to Denmark and became manager of F.C. Copenhagen, where he proved an instant success, taking a team that had finished seventh and eighth in the two previous seasons, and winning the Superliga championship in the 2000?01 season ? the club's first championship since 1993. In 2001, he left Copenhagen to move to Serie A side Udinese. With the club five points above the relegation zone, Hodgson was fired after just four months after allegedly stating that he regretted taking up the post.[26] Newspapers quoted him saying: "Obviously I'm very happy to be back at this level of football, but I could have chosen a better club to come back to. It's an extremely strange club." Hodgson denied making the comments[27] but later claimed that he wanted to leave so was happy to be sacked.[25]
United Arab Emirates

Hodgson took over as manager of the United Arab Emirates in April 2002,[28] managing the senior and Olympic sides.[29] He was sacked in January 2004 after a fifth-placed finish in the 2003 Gulf Cup of Nations.[10] Speaking of his time as manager of the United Arab Emirates, Hodgson said: "That was a period where I didn't know where my career was going. But all these experiences enrich you and it was good to know I could get my message to players who many say are uncoachable. It's hard work; they're basically lazy. But I had them drilled and pressuring opponents almost like an English team. Most coaches who go there are just fannying around, but it's not my nature."[8]
Viking

In May 2004, Hodgson moved to Norwegian club Viking.[30] The club had finished fifth in the season before Hodgson took over, but finished ninth under Hodgson in their first season in a new stadium, Viking Stadion. Following a spell at the top of the table, Viking finished fifth in the 2005 season.
Finland

Hodgson narrowly failed to reach UEFA Euro 2008 with Finland, a country who have never qualified for a major tournament.[31] Although Hodgson's win ratio of just 27.3% was the worst of any Finland manager since 2000, all six of his wins came in official qualifying matches allowing Finland to come fourth in their group with a respectable 24 points,[32] missing out on qualification by three points.[13] Indeed, Finland still had a chance to qualify in their last match. Hodgson's Finland were praised for well organized defending but criticized for inefficient attacking ? five of Finland's 14 qualification games ended in 0?0 draws. Hodgson's contract expired at the end of November 2007, and although the Finnish FA expressed their willingness to extend it, he decided to move on.[33] Prior to taking up an ambassadorial role at Inter, Hodgson was linked with the vacant Republic of Ireland manager's job.[34] He was also considered an outside candidate to replace Steve McClaren as England manager,[35] having been linked previously to the job after the departures of Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan,[28] and given his international management record and nationality.
Fulham

On 28 December 2007, in a surprise appointment,[36] Hodgson accepted the post of manager at struggling Premier League team Fulham, with his contract beginning on 30 December 2007.[37] He initially endured a run of very poor results with the club, including being knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties after two draws against League One side Bristol Rovers. Apparently certainties for relegation to the Championship, Fulham picked up just nine points from Hodgson's first thirteen league games. However, a run of twelve points from the last five games of the season, including a 3?2 win over Manchester City after being 2?0 down with twenty minutes remaining, secured the Cottagers' survival on the final day of the season.[38]

In the 2008?09 season, Hodgson led Fulham to unprecedented success, guiding his side to seventh place in the Premier League, the club's highest ever finish, and ensuring qualification for the new UEFA Europa League.[39] There were calls for Hodgson to be given the Premier League Manager of the Year award,[40] and he received much praise for the signings of Mark Schwarzer, Andy Johnson and Brede Hangeland, and for the improvement in Bobby Zamora's performances.[41] Hodgson's spell at Fulham greatly revived his reputation in England after his time in charge of Blackburn over a decade earlier, with renewed speculation linking him to the England job should Fabio Capello have left.[42]

In the 2009?10 season, Hodgson enjoyed an impressive run in the Europa League. The club's campaign, which started in July 2009, featured impressive performances in the group stage, including defeating Basel at the hostile St. Jakob-Park in the final group game to qualify for the knockout stage at the expense of the Swiss club. In the following rounds, Fulham went on to eliminate holders Shakhtar, Italian runners-up Juventus and German champions Wolfsburg. The victory against Juventus was especially memorable as Fulham came back from 4?1 down on aggregate to win the tie 5?4. On 29 April 2010, Hodgson guided Fulham to their first major European final in their 130 year history, winning the home leg 2?1 to gain a 2?1 aggregate victory over Hamburg in the Europa League semi final.[43] In the Premier League they finished 12th.

In May 2010, Hodgson was voted the 2010 LMA Manager of the Year by a record margin. Hodgson received the award after a poll of coaches, including managers from the top four leagues in England.[44] Two days later, his Fulham side lost the club's first European final 2?1 to Atl?tico Madrid of Spain in Hamburg.[45]

On 30 June 2010, the Liverpool Echo reported that Hodgson would be named as the new Liverpool manager after the club had agreed a ?2 million compensation deal with Fulham.[46] The announcement came after weeks of speculation following the departure of Rafael Ben?tez.
Liverpool

On 1 July 2010, Hodgson was appointed as manager of Liverpool, signing a three-year contract.[47] The appointment came against the backdrop of an unexpected candidacy bid from former Liverpool striker and manager and current club ambassador Kenny Dalglish.[48] Dalglish's application was rejected by the club, who publicly never gave a reason for their decision but it was suggested that he had been away from management for too long.[49] Instead, Hodgson was chosen as the candidate that could use his extensive experience in management 'to steady the ship'.[50][51][52] With the club up for sale at the time, Liverpool were likely to face some turbulent times, but Hodgson's appointment met with mixed reactions from fans, particularly after Dalglish's interest in the position. There were suggestions of insufficient experience with 'big clubs' despite his tenure at Inter, and that he might struggle to manage high profile players.[53] Former Marseille and Juventus manager Didier Deschamps later claimed that he had been offered the job before Hodgson, but turned it down.[54]

Having signed Milan Jovanović and Joe Cole, Hodgson's first game as manager was a friendly against one of his former clubs, Grasshopper Z?rich, on 21 July, which ended as a goalless draw.[55] On 29 July, his first competitive game in charge was a 2?0 away win against FK Rabotnički in the Europa League.[56] In the return leg at Anfield, Liverpool again won 2?0, winning the tie 4?0 on aggregate. Hodgson's first league game with Liverpool was against Arsenal, being denied a debut win only after a last minute own goal by Pepe Reina resulted in a draw.[57] Hodgson made further signings in goalkeeper Brad Jones, defenders Danny Wilson and Paul Konchesky, midfielders Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles, as well as re-signing full-back F?bio Aur?lio, who had been released by the club earlier in the summer. Meanwhile, Benitez signings Albert Riera, Diego Cavalieri and Javier Mascherano were all sold, whilst Alberto Aquilani was loaned out to Juventus, and Emiliano Ins?a was loaned out to Galatasaray. On 29 August, Hodgson achieved his first league win, defeating West Bromwich Albion 1?0 at Anfield.[58]

After that, Liverpool had a series of disappointing results, one of which saw the club eliminated from the League Cup on 23 September by League Two strugglers Northampton Town at Anfield, losing on penalties.[59] Prior to the home game against newly-promoted Blackpool on 3 October, Hodgson responded to his critics, describing himself as "one of the most respected coaches in Europe" and said it was "insulting" to suggest he couldn't handle Liverpool's big-name players.[60] Liverpool lost the game 2?1,[61] leaving them third from bottom after seven games, and Hodgson admitted that his side were potentially facing a relegation battle.[62][63] It was the club's worst start to a season in 82 years.[64]

By late October, speculation was rife that Hodgson would be sacked.[65][66] Hodgson stated that he had no intention of resigning and responded aggressively to suggestions that Frank Rijkaard, who had won the Champions League as manager of Barcelona, would be appointed in his place.[67][17][68] Three straight Premier League victories, including a 2?0 home win over league leaders Chelsea, reduced speculation as Liverpool returned to the top half of the table. New club owner John W. Henry stated his backing for Hodgson.[69]

Performances remained erratic and on 29 December 2010, Liverpool were beaten 1?0 at home by bottom of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers, the club's first loss to Wolves in 27 years.[70] After the defeat, Hodgson criticised Liverpool fans for not supporting him from the beginning of his tenure.[71] At the turn of the year, Liverpool had their lowest points total since the 1953?54 season.[72] A 2?1 home win over Bolton Wanderers in their next game appeared to lift the pressure slightly,[73] only for a 3?1 defeat at Blackburn on 5 January 2011 to cause the club's owners to reconsider his position.[74] After 31 games in charge, the shortest managerial reign in Liverpool history, Hodgson left the club by mutual consent on the morning of 8 January 2011, with Kenny Dalglish announced as his replacement.[72][75]

Hodgson was dogged throughout his time at Anfield by suggestions that the job was beyond him, in addition to the continued presence of fan favourite Dalglish ? whom a significant proportion of the support preferred over him as manager.[76][77][78][79][80]
West Bromwich Albion

Hodgson was appointed manager of West Bromwich Albion on 11 February 2011 signing a contract until 2012.[81] Hodgson replaced Roberto Di Matteo after a poor run of form which saw West Brom lose 13 of their previous 18 matches.

Roy Hodgson's first game in charge ended in a 1?1 home draw against West Brom's Black Country rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers. Hodgson helped West Brom to 5 wins and 5 draws from 12 remaining games, including an important 2?1 win at the Hawthorns against the club that had sacked him earlier in the season. They finished 11th in the final table ? their highest league finish for three decades.[82]

Despite having to deal with West Brom's notoriously frugal approach to the transfer market, Hodgson made some solid if not spectacular signings in the summer of 2011, replacing much-maligned goalkeeping duo Boaz Myhill and Scott Carson with former Manchester United ace Ben Foster on loan from Birmingham City and drafting in M?rton F?l?p from Ipswich Town on a free transfer. Experience and height was added to the backline in the form of Northern Ireland international Gareth McAuley on a free transfer and recently relegated Preston North End's player of the season Billy Jones also arrived to add cover at fullback. Prior to the start of the season, former Hawthorns hero Zolt?n Gera also returned on a free transfer from Fulham and a summer-long chase for Shane Long was finally ended with the Irish international signing for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of ?4million. Long joined the club in time to make a scoring debut in the season's opener.

Following good performances against Manchester United and Chelsea in their opening two fixtures it was clear Hodgson's preferred 4?4?1?1 formation was going to be implemented leading to some derision from the crowd.[citation needed] Having developed a reputation for fluid football under their predecessors West Brom's players appeared to struggle to adapt to Hodgson's rigid and disciplined style with their home form suffering.[citation needed] By the turn of the year his side had beaten only perenial Premier League strugglers Bolton Wanderers and local rivals Wolves at The Hawthorns, in stark contrast to their scintilating away form which saw only Manchester United and Manchester City pick up more points on the road than West Brom in the first half of the season.

Despite his side being continually beset with injuries to key players and the season long loss of Zoltan Gera to a cruciate ligament injury in only his second start after returning, Hodgson's side always remained well above the relegation zone until the Christmas period when successive 2?1 home defeats to newly promoted duo Swansea City and Norwich City as well as to bottom club Wigan Athletic saw them move within three points of 18th place Bolton Wanderers.

With Hodgson repeatedly stating his ambition for the season was to ensure a third season of Premier League football for West Brom for the first time in almost thirty years, he once again raided Ipswich and Birmingham City for midfielder Keith Andrews and full back Liam Ridgewell respectively in the January transfer window adding balance and fluidity to his struggling side and the impact was instant.[citation needed] In February 2012, he led Albion to successive four-goal wins over local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, and Sunderland at The Hawthorns.

On 29 April 2012, it was reported that Hodgson was approached by the FA for the vacant England manager job.[83] He was appointed as England manager two days later, but continued to manage West Bromwich Albion until the end of the 2011/12 Premier League campaign.[84]

Posted By: emmaroyds, May 16, 20:02:52