More pressure for Hodgson as Stoke beat Liverpool

Just as Liverpool had looked liked they had managed to turn things around and had started to progress back up the Barclays Premier League table they have hit another stumbling block in their campaign. They have only managed to gain 1 point out of their last two League games and have recorded a loss which has seen them lose their 6 match unbeaten run.

Liverpool could only manage to scrape a 1-1 draw against 17th place club Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium. Although Fernando Torres opened up the scoring in the 7th minute for Liverpool this was cancelled out by Rodallega’s 52nd minute goal and the match could have easily have ended in a win for Wigan as they piled on the pressure against the visitors.

This was followed by another away match against Stoke City on Saturday, where they lost the game 2-0. The win for Tony Pulis’s side gave Stoke their first League win over Liverpool since 1984. The result of the win pushed Stoke out of the relegation zone and all the way up to 10th place where they leapfrogged Liverpool who are now 11th.

Liverpool’s new owner John Henry must be very frustrated at seeing his team return to their previous poor form and Roy Hodgson’s position of manager at Liverpool could once again be hanging in the balance. The recent run of results has seen Hodgson’s odds of being the next Premiership manager to sacked go to 6/1 with bookmakers Victor Chandler, putting him just behind Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini and West Ham’s Avram Grant.

Bruce spent a good amount of money in the summer including £10million on record signing Darren Bent and although he has done well at the club the fans and the Manager himself had to be expecting a top half finish this campaign, that looks unlikely at this stage and at present they sit just three points above the drop zone. That is a worrying stat for Sunderland fans as we enter the home stretch of the season, their poor form is also reflected in the Next Premier League Manager To Be Sacked Betting with Steve Bruce looking in a shaky position according to the bookies. His odds on being the next Premier League Gaffer out of the door are being chiseled at on a weekly basis and that is in sharp contrast to just a couple of months ago when the former Wigan Manager looked as safe as houses.

January was a particularly difficult month for Bruce with the team struggling on the pitch while Kenwyne Jones was being publicly courted by Liverpool which only served to anger the Manager, Bruce feared that Jones’ head had been turned and his form appeared to have taken a dip in the last couple of weeks. Bruce has made a couple of signings during the window with the likes of Benjani and Matthew Kilgannon coming on board, the Manager will hope that they will help the team get back to winning ways as soon as possible with some crucial fixtures on the horizon. Sunderland Chairman Niall Quinn appears to be backing his Manager at the moment but he will want to see points on the board when the team play Wigan and Portsmouth in the next week or two if he is to stick by his man.

Despite being a relatively young Manager, Steve Bruce has been through his fair share of clubs and has been known to move on to another club given half a chance as he did in moving from Wigan to Sunderland, Bruce has also had spells in charge of Sheffield United, Birmingham and Crystal Palace before arriving in the North East last Summer. If they are not careful then Sunderland could slip into the relegation battle leaving Steve Bruce with an almighty task to keep the side in the Premier League as well as fighting to keep his job at an ambitious side who are expecting the team to show signs of improvement.