Liverpool

[Barry the bird boggler]

So have Liverpool done the right thing in appointing Roy Hodgson?

Will he turn it around up there, personally I'd love him to succeed as it would be mega to have a top English side winning things while led by an English manager.

Also he's good at finding the unheard of and getting them to perform unlike Rafa who got the unheard of and got them to not perform.

First job will be to get Torres & Gerrard to stay and offload a lot of the crap that Benitez bough like Lucas and Ngog etc. Mascherano could be the big sale to generate immediate increased player funding.

Then he needs to strengthen and the likes of Drenthe, van der Vaart and Reto Ziegler have already been linked.

Finally the youth development at Anfield needs to start progressing big time and Kenny Dalglish looks like adding the Head of Youth Development role to his ambassadorial function at the club.

In the background the club is up for auction to interested parties and there is still strong middle east interest which could yet see Liverpool emerge as the soundest of clubs amongst the so called big 4.

From the This is Anfield site

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton says he hopes the club will be sold by the end of the summer.

Broughton was quizzed by press upon the press conference in which Roy Hodgson was unveiled as the club’s new manager. Broughton was hired by club owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to oversee the sale of the club.

“There have been no offers at this stage,” he admitted. “But we’re hopeful a deal can be done by the end of the transfer window.”

The current transfer window, which opened yesterday, closes on August 31st, with rumours abound of interest from businessmen as far away as Saudi Arabia and China.

Broughton also reassured fans that he will aim not to make mistakes of the past and find a suitable new owner for the club.

He added, “This is a willing buyer, willing seller auction. We will do a deal with what we consider to be the best bidder. The best bidder may not be the highest bidder.

“It’s about more than just money. It’s about stadium development, the team and the whole piece. One we’ve been through the process, the best bidder gets it.

“There haven’t been any offers to turn down and I wouldn’t have expected there to be at this stage. There are a number of interested parties but there’s no specific deadline on it.

“We are looking to the middle of July-ish for the first round of bids…and we are on course, pretty well, with where we would have expected to be.”

[SouthDownsRoyal]

hi Jay

[No Fixed Abode]

another thread on such a mediocre club.

[Ian Royal]

Well Liverpool do at least seem willing to give their manager's time and the chance to build. That can only be good for Hodgson. He's not going to work any immediate miracles, I wouldn't have thought.

[cmonurz]

Well Liverpool do at least seem willing to give their manager's time and the chance to build. That can only be good for Hodgson. He's not going to work any immediate miracles, I wouldn't have thought.

This. And they have no choice.

Not sure about barry's comments re Masherano's sale funding players. It was said that selling Gerrard and Torres would generate 'very little' in transfer funds for a new manager. Key to any success next season is persuading those two to stay, because they won't be able to replace them with the same.