Roy Hodgson only lasted six months as Liverpool boss, but he still managed to make some serious faux pas in his time with the Reds.
His mistakes were many and one less well-known blunder came when Hodgson mistakenly sold the wrong player to his former club, Fulham, in the summer of 2010.
With Hodgson intent on signing Paul Konchesky, Liverpool offered Fulham £3.5 million along with youngsters Lauri Dalla Valle – who made one senior Reds appearance – and Alexander Kacaniklic.
However, Hodgson didn’t realise the latter was being sold until it was too late, as Kacaniklic revealed on a fotbolskananelen podcast.
He said: “Before I signed (for Fulham), I had a conversation with Roy Hodgson on the phone, where we concluded that he replaced the wrong Alex.
“In his head, he thought he was trading away another Alex for Konchesky. But then it was too late. It’s a bit funny.”
Hodgson then tried to convince Kacaniklic to change his mind on the move, but the Swede had already accepted his fate.
Kacaniklic continued: “Then he just told me that I was welcome back in Liverpool with open arms, but that I should do what I felt like.
“By then I had already changed my mind and was very excited about coming to Fulham.”
Not all of the blame lies with Hodgson for this mistake – some must surely be apportioned to others at the club involved in the transfer – but this didn’t improve how Kacaniklic felt about his former boss.
The ex-Liverpool academy player, who is now 32 years old and playing for AEL Limassol, wasn’t taken by Hodgson and criticised his attitude to bringing through youngsters.
“I was very much into Liverpool in my head, that it would go all the way there,” Kacaniklic said.
“When Roy Hodgson came to the club it was a bit different, a big change. Benitez had been there before and made the club his own with everyone who worked at the club.
“When he left and took all his people with him, things got a little turbulent.
“Hodgson didn’t look too much at us younger guys, he wanted quick results. He wanted Paul (Konchesky) from Fulham.”
That last sentence sums up much of Hodgson’s short time on Merseyside. He ignored the culture of the club and wanted instant success.
To achieve success, he was convinced the likes of Konchesky, Milan Jovanovic and Christian Poulsen were the answer. Enough said.
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