The New Manager Thread

[cream]

Liverpool refuse to discuss Torres and Benayouan departures until Hodgson confirmed as boss
Published 22:45 15/06/10 By David Maddock

Liverpool will resist all attempts to snatch any of their players until they have a new manager in place.
And that seems certain to happen within the next week, with sources at Fulham confirming last night they have lost all hope of holding on to Roy Hodgson.

Liverpool dismissed claims of offers for Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun last night, by insisting they have not had an approach for any player, and made clear departures would have to be agreed by the incoming boss.

Spokesmen at Anfield have maintained their official position that they will not be rushed into appointing a successor to Rafa Benitez, and will consider every possible detail of every viable candidate before making an announcement.

But yesterday, a senior figure at Craven Cottage acknowledged that the London club now has no chance of persuading Hodgson to stay, with a formal approach imminent.The Mirror revealed last week that a Liverpool board meeting on Friday has rubber-stamped a move for the experienced manager, and formal contact is expected to follow.Fulham are aware of that interest, and after talks with their manager before he prepared to fly out to the World Cup, they are now resigned to losing him.

Talks over a contract, security of tenure should there be an Anfield takeover, and size of budget will proceed over the next week, and an official announcement could be made by next Wednesday or Thursday if agreement is reached.Hodgson has spoken to his Fulham board, and conceded that he would find the offer to manage at Liverpool too hard to turn down, despite his affection for the Craven Cottage outfit.Liverpool are ready to double his contract and also provide massive bonuses for a top four finish - which is the minimum requirement this coming season, after Benitez finished in a disastrous seventh place during the previous campaign.They will also offer a minimum of £12million in cash to spend on new players, plus all money raised from sale of players the new boss deems surplus to requirements.
Liverpool are determined though, not to let any players leave until the new manager is in place, to allow him the chance to decide if he wants to keep them.

Fernando Torres is reported to be the subject of intense interest from Chelsea, with sources from the London club suggesting a £50million bid could follow.Yossi Benayoun has also been linked with a £5.5million move to Stamford Bridge, amid suggestions that the player has already agreed a £75,000 a week contract.But a spokesman for the Anfield club said last night that no offer had been received from any club for any of its players.

And officials were adamant that even if Chelsea do bid for Torres it will be turned down flat, with Liverpool determined to keep hold of their prized assets.Hodgson has indicated to close friends that the first thing he will do if agrees to take the job on Merseyside will be to persuade Torres and skipper Steven Gerrard to stay.He may be more accessible though, to allowing Javier Mascherano to leave, particularly if he can get the £40million Inter Milan are rumoured to be ready to offer for the defensive midfielder.
Hodgson would be confident of finding a replacement for an essentially negative role at that price, with money to spare to make much-needed attacking signings.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-refuse-to-discuss-Chelsea-bids-for-Fernando-Torres-and-Yossi-Benayouan-until-Fulham-boss-Roy-Hodgson-agrees-to-take-over-as-new-manager-article469403.html

Really disappointing if true.

[Red_hot]

Maradona.

You heard it here.

[Vermilion]

Liverpool refuse to discuss Torres and Benayouan departures until Hodgson confirmed as boss
Published 22:45 15/06/10 By David Maddock

Liverpool will resist all attempts to snatch any of their players until they have a new manager in place.
And that seems certain to happen within the next week, with sources at Fulham confirming last night they have lost all hope of holding on to Roy Hodgson.

Liverpool dismissed claims of offers for Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun last night, by insisting they have not had an approach for any player, and made clear departures would have to be agreed by the incoming boss.

Spokesmen at Anfield have maintained their official position that they will not be rushed into appointing a successor to Rafa Benitez, and will consider every possible detail of every viable candidate before making an announcement.

But yesterday, a senior figure at Craven Cottage acknowledged that the London club now has no chance of persuading Hodgson to stay, with a formal approach imminent.The Mirror revealed last week that a Liverpool board meeting on Friday has rubber-stamped a move for the experienced manager, and formal contact is expected to follow.Fulham are aware of that interest, and after talks with their manager before he prepared to fly out to the World Cup, they are now resigned to losing him.

Talks over a contract, security of tenure should there be an Anfield takeover, and size of budget will proceed over the next week, and an official announcement could be made by next Wednesday or Thursday if agreement is reached.Hodgson has spoken to his Fulham board, and conceded that he would find the offer to manage at Liverpool too hard to turn down, despite his affection for the Craven Cottage outfit.Liverpool are ready to double his contract and also provide massive bonuses for a top four finish - which is the minimum requirement this coming season, after Benitez finished in a disastrous seventh place during the previous campaign.They will also offer a minimum of £12million in cash to spend on new players, plus all money raised from sale of players the new boss deems surplus to requirements.
Liverpool are determined though, not to let any players leave until the new manager is in place, to allow him the chance to decide if he wants to keep them.

Fernando Torres is reported to be the subject of intense interest from Chelsea, with sources from the London club suggesting a £50million bid could follow.Yossi Benayoun has also been linked with a £5.5million move to Stamford Bridge, amid suggestions that the player has already agreed a £75,000 a week contract.But a spokesman for the Anfield club said last night that no offer had been received from any club for any of its players.

And officials were adamant that even if Chelsea do bid for Torres it will be turned down flat, with Liverpool determined to keep hold of their prized assets.Hodgson has indicated to close friends that the first thing he will do if agrees to take the job on Merseyside will be to persuade Torres and skipper Steven Gerrard to stay.He may be more accessible though, to allowing Javier Mascherano to leave, particularly if he can get the £40million Inter Milan are rumoured to be ready to offer for the defensive midfielder.
Hodgson would be confident of finding a replacement for an essentially negative role at that price, with money to spare to make much-needed attacking signings.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-refuse-to-discuss-Chelsea-bids-for-Fernando-Torres-and-Yossi-Benayouan-until-Fulham-boss-Roy-Hodgson-agrees-to-take-over-as-new-manager-article469403.html

Really disappointing if true.

Totally.

[dww]

It is really disappointing but I've had long enough to get used to the idea now and there are some upsides. He clearly has a decent eye for a player and developed and got the best out of a lot of players at Fulham. Given our financial situation I've more or less given up hope of winning anything short term so I'd like to see him bring through some of the young reserves and refresh the squad.

If his team plays like his Fulham and Blackburn teams then I expect people to criticise our style still. If that does happen I'll be interested to see how the media and fans react.

[spanky]

I'd prefer dalglish for a short term boss but at least their will be an experianced manager in place, IF he is allowed to spend whatever he gets from player sales and brings in suitable replacements then i'll be more open to Hodgson as boss.

But i still think if he brings in 40 million through selling, he'll only see 10-15 of it.

[dww]

I'd prefer dalglish for a short term boss but at least their will be an experianced manager in place, IF he is allowed to spend whatever he gets from player sales and brings in suitable replacements then i'll be more open to Hodgson as boss.

But i still think if he brings in 40 million through selling, he'll only see 10-15 of it.

I'd prefer him too but it is an obvious gamble. Hodgson is a safe pair of hands and if he can stabalise the club then that's about all that we can realistically expect from anyone in the circumstances.

I think/hope he will see a fair chunk of the money from sales but have to reduce the wage budget.

[Neil Young]

They'll give him some money. Even if they give him all the proceeds of players sales (which I very much doubt), it will be a sop to the fans before they recommence filleting the club.

[barnes10]

why's that disappointing cream?

hodgson is one of the better candidates I think and if it says we won't consider offers for top players until he's in place then it rules out the asset stripping theories on here. that's a major relief.

i dont believe we'll get a better manager than rafa but i think a change could be a good thing for us for several reasons but basically there's been too much grief the last few years and everyone should get a lift from a fresh start. hodgson has proved he's a consistent overachiever with tactically astute but also fairly attacking football. he will let his team go for it after 75-80 mins if we're chasing a result for a start. i think his mindset is a bit more in tune with ours as fans and he'll get less flack from the media. sad to say that but we'd all welcome that too wouldnt we. the press giving us more support because we've got 'lovely roy' in charge rather than stubborn and hard-faced rafa. roy has also had v little real glory in his career. this is his final chance to really go for something and retire at the top. he could theoretically be with us for 7-8 years if all goes reasonably smoothly. thats a lot of time to build something.

all in all, if hodgson comes in, we get a new start with decent premiership and british manager who could well push us to top 4 and CL again, sell some players that we don't particularly rate, keep those that we do and then sign a couple of gems then all of a sudden things seem pretty rosy again.

I'd prefer roy to kenny right now btw. he's manager of the year, at the peak of his career and remember that roy would be working with kenny if he joined. Then, should roy not work out, then kenny is a very realistic next option isnt he.

compared all the negativity i've been reading during the last week, this article is very positive.

oh and i'd sell nando to chelsea for the right price too (£70 mill +)... controversial i know but my rationale is this: Injuries in the prem. I think he's turning into an owen meaning we'll get at most 25 league games out of him each season. secondly, if torres is at chelsea then man u have much less chance of taking their 19th title for a few years. that gives us time to sort ourselves out and get new owners etc etc.

clearly i've lowered my expectaions for the short term (next 4-5 years). were we sold to the right buyers to give us a massive capital injection ion a few weeks then my views would change. but I've given up on that.

[dww]

I don't think it is very likely Hodgson will bring us 4th. The only hope would be if we keep Gerrard and Torres and by some miracle they both play a significantly higher proportion of the season.

Don't see why a manager being British is, of itself, a good thing.

Don't really see how Hodgson's "mindset is a bit more in tune with ours as fans". I think his Fulham teams tactics have been pretty limited and his inability to make them play away from the cottage is not promising.

[cream]

I don't think Hodgeson will be able to keep Gerrard and definitely not Torres and no matter how much money we have to spend in the transfer market, attracting the top players will be a real problem for us. I don't buy the asset stripping theories, but what I do believe is none of our best players will want to be part of a mediocre team, especially the world class ones.

[elrichio86]

On a brighter note we'll be giving our youth team players plenty of experience next season

[Neil Young]

I don't think Hodgeson will be able to keep Gerrard and definitely not Torres and no matter how much money we have to spend in the transfer market, attracting the top players will be a real problem for us. I don't buy the asset stripping theories, but what I do believe is none of our best players will want to be part of a mediocre team, especially the world class ones.

I take your point but it's not really about intentions and motivations. It doesn't matter why a player is sold - what matters is who is sold and who replaces them. Whether Torres or whoever else leaves because the owners want the money or because the player wants to go amounts to the same thing unless all the money raised (and more) goes on replacements.

[Kenneth]

I don't think Hodgeson will be able to keep Gerrard and definitely not Torres and no matter how much money we have to spend in the transfer market, attracting the top players will be a real problem for us. I don't buy the asset stripping theories, but what I do believe is none of our best players will want to be part of a mediocre team, especially the world class ones.

It could end up like rats leaving Riera's 'sinking ship'. People will blame the sacking of Rafa, but it's mainly that we came 7th (and the many reasons for that). World class players do not want to scrape into the UEFA league and not be challenging. Having come 7th, the only way to keep the top players happy is to show huge investment in the team, but we can't do that with our debt position and lower revenues.

[cream]

I take your point but it's not really about intentions and motivations. It doesn't matter why a player is sold - what matters is who is sold and who replaces them. Whether Torres or whoever else leaves because the owners want the money or because the player wants to go amounts to the same thing unless all the money raised (and more) goes on replacements.

If we a big warchest, Hodgeson would not be the right man to take us forward.

[Pablo]

Very mixed feeling on appointing Hodgeson, I change my mind on an almost daily basis.