Liverpool 1 Blackpool 2:FOURTEEN GAMES as Liverpool manager and the Kop has returned its verdict on Roy Hodgson.
It was 11 minutes before five o'clock, Blackpool were seconds from a thoroughly merited win that cemented the Anfield club's position in the bottom three and then it started: "Dalglish. Dalglish, Dalglish!" came the chant.
On current form, it will not be the ownership that changes hands in mid-October, but a manager who is looking increasingly out of his depth.
Blackpool passed Liverpool into submission in the first half and broke with more invention throughout. Ian Holloway's team were rightfully applauded off by all four sides of Anfield after a famous and perhaps defining result.
They attacked in more numbers, with greater invention, unsettled Liverpool's defence with the pace and constant harrying of DJ Campbell and, in Charlie Adam, had the best passer of a ball on the pitch.
Alongside David Vaughan, Blackpool also had the two most authoritative central midfielders on display until Liverpool's essential second-half revival.
Jose Reina was the only goalkeeper seriously tested in the opening half-hour and the breakthrough encapsulated the performance of both teams.
Joe Cole, one of many in red to disappoint before being shifted into the centre at half-time, sent Hodgson apoplectic on the touchline by losing possession on the edge of the Blackpool area.
The visitors broke instantly and accurately, the ball quickly finding Luke Varney, who cut in from the left and tumbled over Glen Johnson's leg for a clear penalty. Reina got a hand to Adam's powerful spot-kick but could not prevent the Blackpool captain finding the bottom corner.
The second demonstrated Blackpool's confidence and intricacy when outside the Liverpool box. Elliot Grandin surged down the right and found Gary Taylor-Fletcher inside.
The former Dagenham and Redbridge midfielder delivered a nonchalant flick into the area, where Varney just beat the offside trap and shot low under Reina, who was booked for protesting afterwards.
Liverpool departed to a primeval roar of disapproval when the half-time whistle sounded. Hodgson's reputation in the eyes of the club's support rested on the reaction he could conjure inside the dressingroom. Here, at least, he did find a positive.
Cole was moved into the middle to play off David Ngog, called into the fray when Fernando Torres limped off with a suspected groin injury after just 10 minutes.
The improvement was immediate, with the home side reducing the arrears when Steven Gerrard's quick free-kick from the right caught Blackpool napping as Sotirios Kyrgiakos powered a header past Matthew Gilks.
The introduction of Keith Southern into central midfield stemmed the flow and Blackpool should have won by a greater margin as a dishevelled Liverpool finished the game with Gerrard at centre back, Raul Meireles at left back and with Kyrgiakos up front.
They are a shambles on and off the pitch.
Guardian Service
