Liverpool - not 2009/10 but the next season after that

Sport
41

Looks like it’s Woy

Roy Hodgson is set to be appointed Liverpool’s new manager by Thursday, BBC Sport understands.

The Reds were granted permission to speak to the 62-year-old two weeks ago by his current club Fulham.

Hodgson has also been linked with the England manager’s job following the team’s humiliating exit from the World Cup but Liverpool have acted quickly.

The Englishman will replace Rafael Benitez in the Anfield hot seat after the Spaniard left at the start of June.

“Hodgson has always been the number one target of the board at Anfield to replace Benitez,” said Ian Dennis, BBC Radio 5 live’s senior football reporter.

“After Fulham granted Liverpool permission to speak to Hodgson, it was just a matter of the clubs agreeing a compensation deal for him.”

Hodgson has been in charge of Fulham since December 2007 and signed a new 12-month rolling contract in December 2009.

Although he suffered a difficult start to his tenure, winning only nine points from his first 13 league matches, he saved the club from relegation in 2007-2008, securing survival on the final day of the campaign.

The following season he steered the club to seventh place in the Premier League - their highest finish - and a place in the Europa League.

His achievement in guiding Fulham to the final of that competition, with wins over Juventus and Wolfsburg en route, resulted in him being named manager of the year by the League Managers Association in May.

Hodgson has also managed Italian giants Inter Milan, Blackburn and Switzerland, who he guided to the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup.

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill, former Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini, ex-Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink, Croatia coach Slaven Bilic and former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes have all been linked with the Liverpool post.

Meanwhile, Marseille coach Didier Deschamps, who had also been linked with the Liverpool job, has extended his contract at Marseille by a year until June 2012.

42

Roy Hodgson has revealed British players will be a top priority when it comes to bolstering Liverpool’s squad this summer.

From this season, new Barclays Premier League rules mean clubs must name a 25-man squad at the end of each transfer window, which includes at least eight ‘home-grown’ players.

Home-grown players are defined as having been registered for at least three seasons at an England or Welsh club between the ages of 16 and 21.

“We would be foolish not to be aware of the importance of home-grown players with the way UEFA and Premier League rules are going,” said the Reds new boss. "Otherwise we’re going to struggle to get our squad numbers together.

“I think the club have been trying to do that already with younger players like Jonjo Shelvey and Raheem Sterling but it takes time for them to come through so we might have to go into the transfer market.”

He added: “We have furnished the World Cup with more players than any other team but looking at the squad at Melwood, it did seem very small in terms of seniors.”

With money short here & British players generally being overpriced I’d expect any homegrown ‘talent’ we do buy to be backup. To get an English player that would improve our first team would probably use up our whole transfer budget.

43

Abramovich bids ÂŁ50m for Torres

By Jason Burt in DURBAN

Tuesday July 06 2010

CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich has flown to South Africa to try to secure the signing of Fernando Torres for a British-record of ÂŁ50m.

The extraordinary fee still falls short of Liverpool’s £70m valuation of their prize asset in what is set to be a summer of turmoil at Anfield. Javier Mascherano is also understood to be adamant that he wants to leave and Steven Gerrard is still attracting very strong interest from Real Madrid.

Abramovich’s presence here shows how seriously Chelsea are taking their pursuit of Torres. Chelsea have long coveted the striker and have spent months discussing the best strategy to sign him.

Their interest will, probably, be rivalled by Manchester City but the allure of playing Champions League football makes Chelsea the favourites to secure Torres, who wants to remain in England should he leave Liverpool.

Barcelona are also interested but they are struggling to raise the funds while the 27-year-old is unsure he wants to return to Spain yet.

Despite a stream of denials by Torres’ agents Bahia Internacional – including a statement yesterday by his agent Juan Antonio Martin – both Chelsea and City have been led to believe that he wants to leave this summer.

However, because Chelsea are set to bid below the valuation anticipated by Liverpool, it may mean Torres will have to push for a move, which could make things messy.

Earlier this year, City’s football administrator, Brian Marwood, is understood to have reached an informal agreement by which a bid would be mounted if the club finished in the top four, and qualified for the Champions League, although their hopes have receded.

However, they will attempt to rival Chelsea for Torres’ signature, especially having already acquired David Silva from Valencia as part of a huge spending spree this summer, which has also led to the arrival of Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng.

City are expected to ignore Santos’ request to extend Robinho’s six-month loan, which ends in August, and sell the Brazil forward. Santos claim that they have the money to fund the player’s £160,000-a-week wages until the end of the year, but City accept that they are unlikely to recoup the £34.2m they paid Real Madrid for him two years ago and Besiktas have expressed an interest.

Torres laid down a marker in what is turning into a protracted exit strategy when he said he wanted Liverpool to recruit half a dozen high-calibre players this summer to avoid last season’s disappointment. But he has said he will speak to new manager Roy Hodgson before resolving his future.

44

All this after the Spanish manager banning talks about contracts until after the WC.

He’s dead right, this is no time to be worrying over that shite. Chelsea are some fucking morons.

45

If he went for anything less than 70 I would be livid! Not that I value him at that but to leave for chelsea or city would be sickening… especially after he was missing for most of last season. Ideally If 60m could be got for Gerrard and Masch I would take it and build the team around Torres instead.

That cunt Broughton is apparently a season ticket holder at Chelsea, first the jew, now Torres… conspiracy theory??

46

Torres is a crock. Would be a good time to sell.

47

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU5Ku5xAU9w

48

What would Liverpool fans make of the signing of Glenn Whelan to replace Mascherano…

49

That was in The Star yesterday wasn’t it?

Holy fuck is all I can say.

50

I for one would like to welcome our new midfield dynamo

May death come swiftly to his enemies

51

Jovanovic (spelling?) has signed on a Bosman free from Anderlecht as has been mooted for a number of months.

52

Standard Liege Bandage. Standard Liege.

53

:rolleyes:

Standard Liege

54

My mistake, lads. My mistake.

55

Can’t see you coming back from this one.

56

I could have kept it going and going and going and going and insisted that I was right, even though I was wrong.

57

Good thing you didn’t, honey…

58

:smiley:

59

Sure you could honey

60

Ah fuck ya Puke!!!