Roy of the Albion!

Tuesday, 10/05/2011

Fulham fans were sad to lose Roy Hodgson last summer. Liverpool supporters were glad to see the back of the boss when he left Anfield in January.

Hero to villain - and now back to hero as Hodgson has once again shown his true managerial credentials by turning around the fortunes of West Brom.

Appointed to the Hawthorns hot seat in February, he replaced Roberto Di Matteo who had seen the Baggies lose 13 of the previous 18 matches. They were in relegation form and heading back to the Championship.

Fans knew that despite his previous sterling work as a coach Hodgson had a mighty task on his hands to save Albion. He's done it with time to spare, an incredible feat.

Add to that a victory against Liverpool and three wins and three draws in his first six games and Baggies followers might even forgive him for the slip last weekend against rivals Wolves.

Yet ironically Liverpool are now chasing for a place in Europe with virtually the same team that he left behind - his replacement Kenny Dalglish only bringing in the talented Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll who has hardly played, and blooding promising youngsters.

Likewise, Hodgson has had to work with what he was given. It was too late to bring in new faces. Incredibly, Hodgson's win success rate with Albion isn't as good as it was with Liverpool! Hard to believe, but true...

With Premier League football now guaranteed at the Hawthorns next season there is even the chance that the Baggies could finish up as the Midlands' top side (ok, so Villa, Birmingham and Wolves have had bad campaigns - but top dog is still worth bragging rights).

Hodgson's biggest challenge will come over the summer when he has to try and get stars like Peter Odemwingie to stay - and bring in his own players too.

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