During Hodgson's tenure stress levels were high for Roy and The Kop
With Liverpool due to resume Premier League action at West Brom this Saturday, facing the man who oversaw the reds’ opening 20 games of the season, the discussion at the press conference swiftly turned to Roy Hodgson.
Dalglish batted away the question – suggesting that the two teams were the most important aspect of the game.
“Roy hasn’t got anything to prove to anybody.
“If you say he has extra motivation then you are doubting the man’s integrity and implying he never had enough motivation before. It’s Liverpool versus West Brom and we’ll face a team that has been prepared by Roy. I don’t have a problem with that. It’ll be nice to see him again.
“West Brom were tough to beat here when Roberto Di Matteo was in charge. They played very well here. We won 1-0 but it was a very difficult game.
“Roy brings his own management style to the club and they have done well since he went in there.
Roy is unbeaten in his first four games at West Brom, with 3 draws and a win. This included a draw against title-chasing Arsenal at home, and an away victory.
His Premier League record at Liverpool however was the reds worst period on the pitch in over 50 years.
“We are looking forward to the game and it will be nice to see Roy again.
“I have great respect for him as I said when I came in here and that isn’t going to change now that we are playing against each other.
“So for me, the game is about Liverpool against West Brom and that’s the way I’ll go into it.
“I’ll see an old friend of mine standing in the opposite dugout.
“Everyone knows he’s an excellent coach so we know what to expect. We know how they will play so it’s up to us to be better than them on the day.”
One comment from Hodgson’s reign at Anfield earlier this season will hopefully come back to haunt him:
“I was disappointed – and I’ve told him this – that he (Dalglish) applied for the job in the summer because I don’t think that was ever really going to happen for him.”
LFC Managers Premier League 2010/11
Roy Hodgson: P20 W7 D4 L9 (1.25 points per game – 35% win record – 55% unbeaten)
Kenny Dalglish: P10 W6 D2 L2 (2 points per game – 60% win record – 80% unbeaten)