Hodgson Wants New Owners And New Stadium To Challenge For Title

Roy Hodgson says he is satisfied
with his first two months ’ work
at Liverpool but insists that the
club will not be able to
challenge for the title until it
has new owners and a new
stadium.
As Hodgson was unveiled at the
start of July, chairman Martin
Broughton revealed his hope
that the club, which was put up
for sale by Tom Hicks and George
Gillett in April, would be taken
over by the end of August.
Rumours of potential investors
sweep Merseyside on a regular
basis but a sale is no closer and
the club remains in limbo with
the Oct 6 deadline for further
refinancing on the club ’s loans
looming.
Hodgson says that what he
knows about high finance “could
be written on the back of a
postage stamp ” and maintains
that he is not preoccupied by the
ownership issue.
But despite the financial climate,
he says he is still sure that
Liverpool need a new ground,
with the club earning less than
40% of the £108.8 million match-
day income of Manchester
United, whose commercial
revenue they almost matched, in
2008/09.
Asked whether it was pessimistic
to dismiss Liverpool ’s title
ambitions under the current
regime, Hodgson replied: “I don’t
think that’s pessimistic. I think
people are realistic. The problems
with the ownership are well-
documented and I can ’t wave a
magic wand and make them go
away.
“Everyone at Liverpool would like
to see a solution to the
ownership problem. That Martin
Broughton finds an owner
acceptable to the rest of the
board, with the right intentions
and who will first and foremost
build a new stadium that
increases the capacity.
“I am very confident the boys
here won’t let the fans and club
down. Whether or not we will
really get our act together as
we ’d like to take the next big
step, that might depend on the
ownership issue being settled
and it will also depend on time.”