Hodgson in dark over transfer budget

[SimonNo7]

Hodgson issues title warning

Reds manager admits club need change

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson admits that the club will need new owners before they can challenge for the Premier League title again.

Hodgson thinks his squad can compete, but to get to the level of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United he feels changes have to be made.

The Anfield club are on the market and American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are anxious to push through a sale.

Hodgson is hoping that things in the boardroom will soon be finalised.

"I think we will have a decent season, but whether we are really able to get our act together and take the next big step forward? That might depend on the ownership issue," he said.

Solution

"The problems with the ownership are well documented and I can't wave a magic wand and make them go away. I certainly can't fool the public who live their lives through the club.

"What I would like to see is what everyone at Liverpool would like to see - a solution to the ownership problem; that Martin Broughton finds an owner acceptable to the rest of the board, with the right intentions and who will, first and foremost, build a new stadium that increases the capacity.

"That's for people who understand finance and I congratulate them for shielding us from those problems.

"One hopes, as everyone at Liverpool hopes, this matter will be resolved sooner rather than later. It puzzles me no-one has bought the club yet, but there are obviously complications.

"Of course, the club needs new ownership. We're not alone in that, but we're probably the most high-profile club in the world in that situation.

"We want to make this club have a better season. That has to be the first objective, to do a bit better and then build a platform for future greatness."

Transfer delight

Hodgson admits that he was pleased to come through the transfer window unscathed after seeing the likes of Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres stay with the club.

"On the back of last season here being not as good as everyone wanted and the problems with ownership, clubs saw some rich pickings at Liverpool Football Club," he said.

"That is why it was so important that we brought in four good players in Joe Cole, Raul Meireles, Christian Poulson and Paul Konchesky
"But we also saved three very good players in Reina, Torres and Gerrard - all of whom were quite heavily courted by big clubs.

"So I would like to say that saving those three players was as good as delivering the new players we were able to bring in."

Story from Sky: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...372415,00.html

[ronanm]

I call him Hodgo

[Baracus]

Roy you might be honest. But your talking too much. 1st put a team on the pitch that makes sense and uses the players to the best of their abilities.

[Gibbo]

Roy you might be honest. But your talking too much. 1st put a team on the pitch that makes sense and uses the players to the best of their abilities.

spot on, I like a certain amount of honesty in a manager, but Roy needs to know there's a limit

[tommyg]

We're 13th in the league.

[James P]

There seems to be a desire amongst the media to write as many stories as possible about Liverpool's situation, regardless of whether they actually have anything at all informative, interesting, or new to say.

This article is right up there on that criteria - Roy says that he's not sure what he'll have to spend, which is hardly surprising, and that innocuous comment gets turned into 'Hodgson in dark over transfer budget', like it's some sort of conspiracy to keep him out of the loop. Given that no-one knows who will own us in January, what their intentions will be, and what finances they will have in place, why is Roy simply stating a fact the basis for yet another ****-stirring headline?

[DannyMan2006]

We're 13th in the league.

Also level on points with City and Spurs who are our biggest rivals for 4th, despite us having a much tougher start than Spurs, and a slightly more difficult start than City.

[kris90210]

There seems to be a desire amongst the media to write as many stories as possible about Liverpool's situation, regardless of whether they actually have anything at all informative, interesting, or new to say.

This article is right up there on that criteria - Roy says that he's not sure what he'll have to spend, which is hardly surprising, and that innucuous comment gets turned into 'Hodgson in dark over transfer budget', like it's some sort of conspiracy to keep him out of the loop. Given that non-one knows who will own us in January, what their intentions will be, and what finances they will have in place, why is Roy simply stating a fact the basis for yet another ****-stirring headline?

Well said Jimbo

[RichC]

There seems to be a desire amongst the media to write as many stories as possible about Liverpool's situation, regardless of whether they actually have anything at all informative, interesting, or new to say.

This article is right up there on that criteria - Roy says that he's not sure what he'll have to spend, which is hardly surprising, and that innucuous comment gets turned into 'Hodgson in dark over transfer budget', like it's some sort of conspiracy to keep him out of the loop. Given that non-one knows who will own us in January, what their intentions will be, and what finances they will have in place, why is Roy simply stating a fact the basis for yet another ****-stirring headline?

Yup couldn't agree more - it's open season still on us as a easy article to write for the journo's to get their quota out for the week.

[Exiled_red]

I think at the moment the safest thing to assume is that we'll have little or nothing to spend in the window, that way we won't be disappointed