Roy Hodgson happy with the signings and reveals more signings are in process
Liverpool’s 62 year old manager Roy Hodgson has stated that he is certain that he will have a couple more players to add to his team before the season ends. He had earlier stated that he had some surprise signings ready to present, so far already having surprised with what he has already done.
After Rafael Benitez was given just 5 million pounds to sign in new players, he left the club. Earlier he stayed because of the promise made by the owner Tom Hicks and George Gillett that he would be provided with enough funds to rebuild his squad. However after Liverpool sacked him he went on to join the Champions League winning Inter Milan.
The former Fulham manager has seen similar times just a year back. He was with Fulham team back then and with an under financed squad he lead them to historic campaign in which they went to the Europa Cup finals and only in the last moments of it they lost it to Atletico Madrid. Now with Liverpool he has managed to trickle in funds and has accomplished some amazing signings.
He has so far acquired Joe Cole of Chelsea, Milan Jovanovic the Serbian striker and the youngsters Jonjo Shelvey and Danny Wilson. Even after these players have been signed in there are a couple of more top notch players lined up for signing. They include the French AC Milan striker Loic Remy, the Dutch player AC Milan midfielder Klaas Jan Huntelaar and the Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge.
The new manger Hodgson will be bossing around in his first game on this Thursday at the Europa Cup against a team from Macedonia named Rabotnicki. This happens to be the third qualifying stage for the tournament and it will be extremely important for Hodgson to make an impression to make in this game. Especially one that he wants to carry out in the Premier League where their first match is against Arsenal which who beat Liverpool by coming 3rd, the Reds on the other hand finished 7th.
Hodgson who has cleverly used the 3 million pounds he had set out aside for his present usage is certain that the talent he has bought will be worth much more. He also stated that he is very optimistic about the season.
Earlier he had commented that Liverpool team will have to make a decision if the team wants to concentrate more on the Premier League and try to obtain back a position in the top 4 so they can compete for Champions League or if they want to go ahead with the Europa Cup and try to win it. He explained that if they go for the Europa Cup they will be risking their players for the end of the season at EPL as the players that have just returned from the World Cup will be exhausted and more injury prone.
On the unveiling ceremony of Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic, and Danny Wilson Hodgson stated, “I am very excited and happy for the club that we have been able to sign three players of this quality. It was important we made some signings early on and made clear to everyone that our intentions are very serious”.
He added, “I think it is clear from the players alongside me we are serious and we have been fortunate enough to acquire their services. We're still interested in some other players. I hope this won't be the last of our signings”.
The manager will be helped this season by the stay of their captain Steven Gerrard at the club who was rumoured to be heading for Bernabeu for Real Madrid and Fernando Torres who had offers coming in from all around the place.
Hodgson also mentioned at the ceremony, “The aim of the club, the aim of the board, Christian Purslow and everyone at the club, is to try and make this squad as competitive as possible”.