Perform Or Leave, Hodgson Warns Babel

Ryan Babel, the Liverpool player
who can most generously be
described as "mercurial", has
until January to cement his future
at the club, according to
manager Roy Hodgson.
Although Hodgson stopped short
of delivering a full-blown
ultimatum to the Dutchman, who
has consistently failed to flatter
during his three years at Anfield,
he did outline that he will look to
replace the 23-year-old in the
January transfer window if the
player does not impress in the
meantime.

The Liverpool manager also
revealed yesterday that he would
have been willing to let Babel
leave during the recent transfer
window if Liverpool had been
able to sign another forward,
believed to be Carlton Cole, from
West Ham.
"The thing about Ryan is that for
two years he didn't have much of
a look in," Hodgson said. "Since
coming here he has not fulfilled
his potential or had the chance
to, so when there were offers for
him we were prepared to allow
him to speak to those clubs.
"But we made it perfectly clear
that other things had to slot into
place if we were to be able to
allow him to go. The other things
we had in mind did not slot into
place, and secondly I must say
I'm more than happy to work
with Ryan. It is up to him to
convince me, and no doubt if he
has not convinced me by January
that he is the player we need
then he will have to accept we
are in that transfer market for a
centre-forward once again. But
at least he has this period of
time."
Hodgson also insisted that
neither he nor his players were
paying too much attention to the
ongoing tensions within the
Liverpool boardroom after the
Royal Bank of Scotland placed co-
owners George Gillett and Tom
Hicks' loans in their toxic-asset
department. "It doesn't affect us
that deeply in our day to day
work," Hodgson said. "The
players come in, work hard and
we get paid and it isn't a major
issue for the club. It is something
that us at Melwood can't do
anything about and I can only,
like the rest of the club, wait and
hope that a conclusion is found
that is satisfactory."