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Mersey Beat: Goodison Park curse

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The Merseyside derby. A game to stir the emotions, a collision that generates national fascination but a fixture that, for new Liverpool managers heading to Goodison Park, have proven to be nothing short of a nightmare.

As the man who takes Liverpool across Stanley Park on Sunday, Brendan Rodgers – who has been saying all week how he is looking forward to his first experience – can be assured of a hot reception when he steps out at Goodison but what can he expect at full time?

If history is a pointer, then he will have to endure the sound of Evertonians celebrating. Of the 18 previous managers in Liverpool’s 120-year history, only one – Kenny Dalglish – has managed to make his first trip to Goodison a winning one.

Curse: Mikel Arteta strikes to help beat Roy Hodgson's Liverpool in October 2010

At first glance, that statistic seems wholly improbable. But flick through the record books and you will see that some of Liverpool’s most famous names, with the notable exception of Dalglish, have all suffered some kind of frustration at the hands of the Blues.

Take Roy Hodgson and Rafa Benitez. Both men underestimated the power and significance of the fixture, losing 2-0 (October 2010) and 1-0 (December 2004) respectively after overseeing displays that were way below what was expected.

Those men, of course, followed Gerard Houllier. The Frenchman had a fine record against Everton but his first trip to Everton’s home in sole charge of Liverpool (April 2000) ended with them benefiting from extreme fortune and a 0-0 draw should have been a 1-0 defeat.

That game was memorable for little other than Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld smashing a free-kick into Everton’s forward Don Hutchison in the final minute then watching in horror as the ball trickled goal-wards. Referee Graham Poll spared his blushes by controversially blowing for time before the ball had finished rolling.

Nothing so dramatic could save Roy Evans in November 1994 when Joe Royle unleashed Everton’s ‘Dogs of War’ and Duncan Ferguson’s efforts ensured that Royle’s first game in charge of Everton ended in a 2-0 win.

Clash: Sander Westerveld (left) and Francis Jeffers come to blows in 1999

Removing Dalglish – more on him later – from the equation, the next four Liverpool mangers escaped with draws. Graeme Souness (1-1 December 1991), Joe Fagan (1-1 March 1984), Bob Paisley (0-0 November 1974) and Bill Shankly (2-2 September 1962) all took something from behind the old enemy’s lines.

Going back into the 1950s, neither Phil Taylor nor Don Welch had the opportunity to manage a Liverpool side at Goodison as both clubs spent that decade in different divisions but the men who preceded them in the main suffered misery.

George Kay, manager of Liverpool’s title winning side of 1946-47? He lost 2-0 in September 1936. What about his predecessor George Patterson? Lost 1-0 in September 1928. And it goes on and on.

Matt McQueen saw his team beaten 1-0 in October 1923, Dave Ashworth secured a 0-0 draw in December 1919, while Tom Watson (1-2 October 1896) and John McKenna, the first man to cross Stanley Park with Liverpool, (0-3 October 1894) also suffered defeat.

It is remarkable, then, that the first time Dalglish set foot on Goodison in both his spells in charge of Liverpool, he ended up victorious. If the 3-2 win in September 1985 was dramatic – a game that is still spoken about on Merseyside – last October’s 2-0 success was more comfortable.

Old foe: Dalglish (right) has enjoyed success against Everton

So what must Rodgers do on Sunday if he is to stand alongside Dalglish and not suffer the fate of so many other Liverpool managers? It sounds simple but he cannot afford to underestimate how significant this meeting is.

He will be coming up against the best Everton team of David Moyes’ era, one that can play elegant football but one that also has the ability to fight, battle and dominate opponents. If Liverpool don’t want to do the dirty work early on, it is quite possible the events of October 2010 will be repeated.

After Everton demolished Liverpool that day, Hodgson infamously suggested it had been his side’s best performance of the season and they were unlucky to lose. Not a bit of it. Everton dominated from start to finish and 2-0 did not reflect their superiority.

There has been a sense on Merseyside that the balance of power has started to shift ever so slightly and it is Everton who will be the most realistic contenders for a European place via a place in the Barclays Premier League next spring.

For the moment that is all conjecture. Only at 3.30pm on Sunday afternoon will see whether that is true – or if Rodgers has managed to lift the Goodison curse of the new Liverpool manager.

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