Source: Team_Talk
No room for sentiment - Hodgson
Roy Hodgson hopes his long friendship with Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson will be tested now he is manager of Liverpool.[LNB] Predecessor Rafael Benitez's relationship with Ferguson was far from cordial but, prior to that, Gerard Houllier was well respected by the United boss and it is the same with Hodgson.[LNB]Hodgson and Ferguson face each other for the first time as managers of arch rivals at Old Trafford on Sunday, but the Englishman does not expect hostilities to be resumed.[LNB]However, he is not averse to annoying the man he considers the greatest British manager of his generation by getting one over the Scot in terms of the result.[LNB]"I certainly regard him as a friend. Whether he regards me as a friend you'd have to ask him," said the 62-year-old, who revealed he telephoned Ferguson when he took over at Liverpool.[LNB]"I spoke to him in a jocular way, I asked him the question 'Does it mean now I've taken the Liverpool job that we don't speak to each other?' - he didn't put the phone down but he made some cutting remark.[LNB]"The friendship hasn't been affected by me becoming Liverpool manager.[LNB]"I'm sure he will offer me a glass of wine when I go to the game on Sunday and I'll offer him one when he comes here.[LNB]"But during the match there is no room for sentiment and I'll be hoping desperately things go our way and he'll be hoping things go his way."[LNB]After the phoney war of words between Benitez and Ferguson in recent years, Hodgson believes attention can now be focused solely on what happens on the pitch.[LNB]"The crowd turn up to watch the 22 actors on the field, not Alex or myself," he added.[LNB]"But I think Sir Alex is the greatest of my generation, certainly within English football.[LNB]"It is always difficult to compare with foreign managers and what they have done in other countries but for me, in my working lifetime as a coach, I regard him as the greatest British manager."[LNB]Hodgson is relishing the prospect of being involved in the clash between the north-west rivals, which ranks among one of biggest fixtures in world football.[LNB]"I've been involved in some big derbies in my career and you know how much they mean to the fans," said the former Inter Milan coach.[LNB]"It compares with Inter v Juventus. The Milan derby was a big occasion but the derby d'Italia was the real killer one, as it were.[LNB]"I didn't like losing in those games, which I did quite often. I did poorly so it would be nice to change that.[LNB]"This game certainly compares with that in terms of the interest it generates not only in the two cities but in the rest of the country.[LNB]"It transcends the north-western rivalry and becomes even global because both clubs are so big outside of England."
