IT’S time for the big stick to come out at Anfield.

Because it’s clear to me that Roy Hodgson needs to start screaming and shouting and pointing the finger following Liverpool’s dismal derby.

That display simply wasn’t good enough. And it didn’t come as a surprise because Liverpool haven’t been good enough at all this season.

If I was Hodgson, I would be telling quite a few of the players ‘you have six games to sort your career out’. That seems now the only way they can respond. It’s a worry it has come to that.

I think the players are playing for the manager but there’s a lot of mediocrity in the Liverpool team right now.

When he was at Fulham, Hodgson improved nearly every single player there. But at the moment, almost the reverse is happening at Liverpool.

I think Hodgson is a good manager and good guy, but he needs to maybe get nasty. He should ask every individual what their role is, and then ask them if they are doing it.

It’s as though the players need reminding what they are doing, because most clearly aren’t at the moment.

How much of it is down to the manager? I’d say a bit of it is. And if he sits down and watches the derby again, hopefully he will admit that his team were clearly second best in the game.

Without doubt, Fernando Torres is having a bad time. His confidence will come back when he gets a goal, and he has to play through this bad spell, but he does look as though he is struggling.