Football Update: Speculations Regarding Hodgson’s Future at Liverpool
Things are changing dramatically as far as Liverpool is concerned, as the possibility of new ownership is getting closer and closer. At the same time, the speculations are increasing regarding the future of Roy Hodgson, the current manager of Liverpool FC.
Hodgson was signed by Liverpool after their previous manager, Rafael Benitez, failed to deliver the promises. In fact, Rafa was given the sole responsibility of Liverpool’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, which was a big blow to their prestige.
Hodgson came in with a lot of promises to fulfil, but he has failed to deliver up till now.
Currently, Liverpool is sitting in bottom three, after playing seven matches in English Premier League. Rather than retaining their position in top four, Liverpool is facing a dramatic relegation battle under Hodgson. Liverpool has won only one match so
far in this season, which is a terrible start to campaign. Therefore, it is very natural that fans have lost their trust in Hodgson, and with the changing scenes at top level, they would be expecting some changes at bottom level as well.
During the summer, Hodgson was very vocal about the current leadership of Liverpool. At many occasion, he blamed the financial instability at the club for the poor run of results in English Premier League. Apart from that, he hoped for a quick resolution
of the matters, as he wanted some transfer funds to build his squad. According to Hodgson, that was only possible if some billionaire bought the club from the current American owners, who had put a lot of financial strain after borrowing large sums from Royal
Bank of Scotland.
Now, it has been revealed that Hodgson has a clause in his contract, which says that Hodgson could be replaced if there is a change in ownership at the club. This is quite strange because Hodgson knew all along that his job would be jeopardized if the leadership
changed at Liverpool. Still, without fearing for his job, Hodgson made open comments in favour of the club’s sale.
However, the officials at the club say that Hodgson would retain his job for sometime. According to the chairman of Liverpool, Martin Broughton, the future of Hodgson did not come under discussion, while negotiating with the new owners. In addition, Hodgson
would be fully compensated if he is removed from his job, under the special clause. Therefore, it is very much possible that the new owners would stick to Roy Hodgson for some time, putting his abilities to test before making a decision about his future.
Apparently, Hodgson would be given some matches to prove his worth and turn things around for Liverpool. Right now, the team is in disarray and Hodgson seems to be no good for the club. However, the next few matches would be very crucial in deciding about
his career. He would have to win some matches to show his abilities to the new owners. Although, Hodgson attached the club’s success with the change in leadership, however he was hinting at the availability of transfer funds. According to him, Liverpool needed
to strengthen their side before they can actually challenge for the EPL title.
However, there is still some time before the transfer window, and the new owners have made it clear that funds would be available for that. However, Hodgson would not be given those funds if the owners do not believe in his abilities. The manager would have
to do something before the funds are made available to him. Otherwise, there would be a definite change in the managerial role at the club, while Martin O Neill’s is already coming up in the speculations.
It would be a tough job for Hodgson in the coming weeks. He would have to rely on his current players to deliver the results for him. The only thing working in his favour would be that the fans are invigorated, which would take a lot of pressure of him and
his players. There is no doubt that Liverpool still has a great squad and with a better focus during the matches, things can be different for the club.
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