Chairman : Why We Chose Roy ?

(taken from LFC.tv)

Martin Broughton today explained why Roy Hodgson was the number one choice to become Liverpool Football Club's 18th manager.

The Chairman lifted the lid on a rigorous interview process during which Hodgson was grilled by Christian Purslow, Kenny Dalglish and Broughton himself.

In the end the board decided the former Fulham boss met every requirement outlined after Rafael Benitez's departure at the start of June.

Broughton told reporters at Hodgson's Anfield unveiling: "You take the League Managers' Association's Manager of the Year - that shows the respect his peers have for him. It's a respect that's been earned not only over the last year, which was outstanding, but over a long period of time.

"Roy brings precisely the sort of experience we were looking for. He's been around and dealt with lots of different international players.

"He's English but he's cosmopolitan. He wasn't chosen because he was English - he was chosen because he was the best man for the job.

"We need someone to steady the ship at this stage and I think Roy has got all of the talents we were looking for."

Broughton added: "Can I just express on behalf of the club our appreciation to Mohammed Al Fayed and the Fulham team for allowing Roy to talk to us and for being so good about the whole process."

Hodgson was quickly installed as the bookies' favourite once the Anfield hotseat became vacant - but Broughton revealed the board started their search with an open mind.

He said: "We didn't start off with a first choice. We wanted to have a proper and professional process. We didn't say A was favourite or B was favourite. We talked to quite a lot of people.

"There were a lot of applicants and we approached some others. There were a number of telephone interviews to get a shortlist. Then there were a number of face-to-face interviews which Christian Purslow and Kenny Dalglish carried out.

"They put their conclusions to the board and the board agreed it would be a good idea for me and Christian to meet the last two. That was last weekend and Roy was our choice."

One man who wanted the job was Kenny Dalglish.

Asked if the man known as King would now stay in his ambassadorial role through the Hodgson era, Broughton responded: "Yes. Kenny put his name in for it. He wanted the job. We appreciate the fact he wanted to do it but for us he was never a candidate. I explained that to him.

"Kenny has an excellent future at this club. He's happy in his current ambassadorial role and we would like to build on that role. We haven't defined what that building will be because that's for Roy and Kenny. They know each other from a long time back."

One journalist asked the Chairman if, after bringing Dalglish into the selection process, the board proceeded to ignore his advice.

"We have taken Kenny's advice," said Broughton. "Kenny wanted the job for himself and I told him he wasn't a candidate. Kenny, along with Christian, were asked to interview the various candidates - they did that and Roy was Kenny's recommendation."

The Chairman was pressed on why he became involved in the appointment of Hodgson.

"My principle role here is to come in, oversee the sale of the club and then go out," he said.

"I am, however, Chairman, and chairmen have certain fiduciary duties. Obviously the appointment of a manager is a board issue. The board has run this process. The board appointed Christian and Kenny to do the interviews and we took their advice. I obviously then came in at the end of that process.

"It's obviously appropriate that the manager's appointment is a board issue and I'm Chairman of the board - I need to get involved. I don't get involved in the day to day organisation - that's for Christian, Ian Ayre and Phillip Nash, and they're doing a great job."