Roy Hodgson praises Liverpool owners
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson said that he spoke to the new owners of the club, who said they realized that getting back to Champions League football would be a hard task. Liverpool have downgraded to the Europa League, having failed to finish in the top four
last season, and the owners are determined to bring the club back to Champions League status.
The 63-year-old Englishman believes that improvement can be achieved by investing in new players, who will boost the squad. Hodgson has already made his plans of buying five to six new players in the upcoming January transfer window, but that will only be
possible if the owners provide the funds for Hodgson to use.
John W Henry, the principal owner, spoke to Hodgson and labelled the form of the season as “unacceptable.” His frustration came after the 3-1 loss to Newcastle United at St James’ Park, and Hodgson said he agreed with him. Liverpool have only one match out
of their last eight away fixtures and are currently ninth place in the English Premier League table.
Hodgson has been agreeing with the owners on everything, one may think it’s because his own job is on the line. There have been rumours that the Englishman maybe on his way out if he fails to deliver results over this crucial period. The title race is intensifying
and if Liverpool plan to finish in the top four at least, they have to start winning matches, regardless of the fact that they are at home or away.
Hodgson spoke to reporters and praised the new owners, he said, “The owners are very intelligent people and have a very clear vision. What they want is for the club to be in the top four. But what they also realize that coming in when they have come
in (buying the club in October), and me coming in when I did (July), it might not be quite as easy as all that.”
However, Hodgson wanted it to be known that the Liverpool revival would not be easy. He said,
“It is not a question of waving a magic wand and we are going to get there. There is a lot of work to be done and I need to know at some stage that I am having a bit more input into who is coming into the club so I can take even more responsibility for
it.”
He revealed the joint effort everyone was putting in, “At the moment I am working largely with the team who have been here for a large period of time but I am happy with that and the work those players are doing, I am not complaining in any way. But
the owners know there is work to do in every area of the club, not least in terms of recruitment and it will be interesting to see how quickly we push that on.”
Hodgson maintained that improving the Red’s form would take a season or two and warned the owners not to get their hopes up too high. He added,
“The quick fix may not be the right thing, it may be a more patient approach and they mentioned that. It may take some time - hopefully sooner than later, hopefully this year rather than next or next year rather than the year after.”
He was hopeful the owners would cooperate with him in his work towards rebuilding the team. He said his aim was to improve the current squad as well as to bring in reinforcements and for that he needed the owners’ help. He said,
“With the owners' help we will get it 100% right because we will improve the team as well. Everything for me with the owners has been 100% positive, they have been absolutely excellent.”
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