ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ROY HODGSON has appealed to Liverpool's new owners for time to complete "the major job" of restoring the club's fortunes. The manager approaches his first Merseyside derby, at Goodison Park tomorrow, under pressure to arrest the club's worst start to a season for 57 years.
The Liverpool manager spoke briefly to John W Henry, the principal investor in New England Sports Ventures, prior to its €342 million takeover of the club. “I don’t think there’s any need to talk about my position at the club, but he did back me,” said Hodgson. “He said he was looking forward to working with me but we didn’t talk about investment (in the team).”
Hodgson said the change of ownership had lifted a cloud from above the club. However, his position would be further strained by a defeat at Everton. Liverpool were booed off the field after their last league game, a home defeat by Blackpool that left them in the relegation zone and chants from the Kop for Kenny Dalglish, a rival candidate to succeed Rafael Benitez.
Hodgson said: “My appointment was not taken lightly. I knew this was going to be a difficult job but I think it’s a very sad day for everyone if, after a bad spell of six or seven games, people think the solution is to find someone else. The magic wand doesn’t exist. I would be disappointed if after such a short space of time they decided to get someone else in. The situation has been complicated, but I know I can turn it around. But I will need to be given time and patience to do it.”
Hodgson signed a three-year contract when he joined Liverpool from Fulham in July and it is understood to contain a compensation clause in the event of a new owner wanting to install its own manager. He said yesterday: “I have a three-year contract so if someone wants to get rid of me they presumably will have to pay out my three years contract.”
The Liverpool manager has refused to use the effects of Tom Hicks’ and George Gillett’s time as owners of the club as an excuse for the team’s poor form. However, yesterday he admitted the threat of a nine-point deduction for entering administration had affected his players. He also, for the first time, said that the “rebuilding phase” at Liverpool represented a “major job”.
Asked if the job was bigger than he had thought, Hodgson said: “I’m frightened to answer that because if I say yes it would give the impression I didn’t realise what the job entailed. If I said no I would be denying the enormous size of this great club. It’s a very difficult one for me. At my age (63) and with all the years I’ve spent in football, a quiet, more tranquil start to the beginning of my work at this great club would have been very desirable. I’ve not had this, partly because of the ownership issues but partly because we’ve got six points from seven games and we lost at home to Blackpool.
“Nothing I can say can put a positive complexion on that. What I can put a positive spin on is how the great interest in Liverpool over the last two weeks shows how important the club is to so many people. If anything, I am even prouder to be Liverpool manager now because I know the importance of the job I’ve taken on. I won’t do it overnight but if with new owners we can turn this around, it will be a wonderful feeling.”
Hodgson said despite the change of ownership of the club, recent results would make his players “nervous” at Goodison Park and “worried that if the game doesn’t go their way they will be criticised from all corners again”.
Guardian Service
