Woy defends time in charge of Rovers

Former Rovers boss and new Liverpool gaffer Roy Hodgson has defended his time at Ewood Park saying he does not consider his time in East Lancashire a failure.

Hodgson got off to a good start as boss here and bagged himself a top 6 finish in his first full season, a year after the club avoided relegation by one point.

But in the second season he attempted a mini spree of transfer dealings which were to boost on field performance but instead found the club bottom after the first portion of the season and this lead to his sacking.

Roy spoke to Sky Sports and said - 'Blackburn was the only place I have been sacked and that was somewhat harsh,'

'I took a team which had avoided relegation by one point into European football and then lost four of the very best players - three to injury and one to a forced sale to Rangers - the following year.

'Admittedly the start of the following season was not as good and we built up expectations but it is difficult for me to see Blackburn as a complete failure.

'I did make mistakes there; you always make mistakes when you fail somewhere.

'I have analysed those failures but I don't think they were quite as blatant as some people would like to think.'

'Blackburn were a top side when I went there, we finished sixth in the league, Udinese have had success in the past and the four years I had with the Swiss national team going to the World Cup and European championships was successful.

'I regard comments like that as far too insular.'

I think Roy has every right to defend himself here and his time here was a bit better than some people who only remember the bad end seem to think.

But he DID make some mistakes and he has rightly been sounded out for them. As much as he did good he also did make some errors that cost him in the end.

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