Benitez takes a swipe at Hogdson

Rafael Benítez has launched a withering attack on Roy Hodgson, telling him to stop complaining about what he inherited from him at Liverpool and suggesting Hodgson does not fully understand the intricacies of life at Anfield.

Hodgson, who has suffered a difficult start to his tenure and the job of succeeding the popular Benítez, has aimed a series of recent barbs in the Spaniard's direction bemoaning the size of the rebuilding job that faced him, claiming the squad lacks quality in depth and features other "people's left-over's". He also tried to claim that he has got Kenny Dalglish truly back on board at the club, whereas the legendary former player and manager was marginalised under Benítez. This last claim has particularly irked his predecessor.

Inter play Spurs at White Hart Lane on Tuesday in a Champions League Group A match, having beaten Harry Redknapp's side 4-3 in the San Siro a fortnight ago.

Prior to that match, Benitez criticised Liverpool's former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett as well as former managing director Christian Purslow.

And describing his departure from Anfield last summer, he said: "We have a saying in Spanish: 'White liquid in a bottle has to be milk.'

   "I think that Mr Hodgson, he doesn't understand," said Benitez. "Every single press conference is even worse than the last one. He's talking about things that he doesn't know. And some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar.

"Maybe he hasn't been in Liverpool too long. We gave the fans their pride - again. We fought for the fans, we fought for the club and we fought for our players. So maybe he cannot understand this.

"With £10m net spending, I left that squad with £300m value, 13 internationals.

"So, instead of talking about flips and flops, he has to concentrate on his job, try to do his best and not talk about the level of his players or the new players.

"Concentrate, try to do your best because it will be the best for the club and it will be the best for the fans." – Rafa Benitez

Responding to Hodgson's accusations that Benitez had banned Kenny Dalglish from Liverpool's Melwood training ground during his time in charge, the Spaniard said: "I brought back Kenny Dalglish to do a role in the club and Christian Purslow gave him another role."

Video source: Sky Sports

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Goal highlights: Bolton 0-1 Liverpool

Maxi Rodriguez's dramatic late winner secured Liverpool's first away victory of the Barclays Premier League season with a 1-0 triumph over Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

In a hard-fought encounter, Fernando Torres spurned the Reds' best opportunity of the first-half when he was thwarted by Jussi Jaaskelainen after going one-on-one with the Trotters' goalkeeper.

However, with the game seemingly heading for a draw, the Spaniard made amends by creating an opening for Maxi, who displayed great composure to fire home with four minutes left and seal a victory that moves Liverpool up to 12^th in the table, just three points behind fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

Roy Hodgson kept faith with the same starting XI that defeated Blackburn Rovers last weekend as Liverpool went in search of their first back-to-back league wins since April.

It meant Torres, who ended his goal drought with the winner against Rovers, was once again supported in attack by Steven Gerrard, while Jamie Carragher continued to deputise at right-back.

But Bolton have enjoyed an impressive start to the 2010-11 campaign and heading into today's clash, had lost just once in the league so far - that defeat coming at Arsenal in September. [Read more…]

 

Liverpool were lucky to get away with all the three points at Reebok Stadium yesterday evening. Definitely, Hodgson has a good talking points to proved to the new owner when he meet John Henry and board this week.

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Pepe for Manchester United? Not in a gazillion chances

In a recent report by the Guardian UK, the rumour mills are spinning off its wheel. Reds boss, Roy Hodgson quickly squashed the rumour by releasing this at Liverpool FC website.

   "It (Reina to United) was just one of those stories that seems to occur - it's just disappointing and annoying,"

"Pepe is fantastic here, he is a lifeblood of this team.

"Everything he does around the club is excellent - he is always lively in the dressing room, he is always first class in training and he always wants to do more to improve.

"He demands better from those around him, he is always pushing people on. He is a player who we hold in the highest esteem.

"We have heard nothing from Manchester United and, more to the point, we don't want to hear anything from Manchester United.

"If (Alex) Ferguson is looking around at the end of the season and he has got lots of money to replace van der Sar, he might very well want Pepe Reina because he is the best around.

"But we do not want to sell him. I would like to think that we are going to become a successful club once again and Pepe is crucial to that."

Hodgson admits players like Reina, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are imperative to his rebuilding job in making Liverpool a real force to be reckoned with once again.

"We want to promise the players we have got here that we are going to be up there fighting once again and we are absolutely not looking to sell any of our better players," he added.

"But, equally, I would also be disappointed if teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Barcelona and all the teams with money were not looking at our players.

"If I was Fernando Torres, I would expect every top club in Europe to be chasing me. That's good as it means he's doing his job. But we don't need the money and we don't want to sell." – Roy Hodgson on speculation of Reina to Manchester United

Even though, Hodgson trying his best to keep all the best players in the team but I still have my doubts on how far will he lead Liverpool Football Club into?

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Video Highlights: Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

Fernando Torres rediscovered his scoring touch to earn Liverpool a thoroughly deserved 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday afternoon.

The 26-year-old's winner was his first goal since the win over West Brom on August 29.

It came at the end of a crazy five minutes in which Sotirios Kyrgiakos had given the Reds a lead only to see it cancelled out by a Jamie Carragher own goal.

 

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Rafa Benitez hits back at Liverpool’s former owners

Last Friday, Tom Hicks blames former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez for the declining results and which leads to the club’s financial turmoil during the Spaniard tenure.

But Rafa Benitez won’t be staying quiet about the critics thrown at him by the former Liverpool owner. Benitez has launched a cryptic attack on the club's ousted owners and current managing director Christian Purslow in an interview.

Hicks criticised Benitez for wasting much of the money he was given to spend during the latter half of his tenure.

But Benitez has insisted the Americans were to blame, citing their appointment of Purslow in the summer of last year as the beginning of a downward spiral that ended in the Spaniard's exit.

But in a bizarre outburst, Benitez compared events leading up to his departure to a bottle of milk.

   "We have a saying in Spanish: 'White liquid in a bottle has to be milk'."

"What does this mean? It means that after 86 points and finishing second in the league, what changed?"

"The Americans, they chose a new managing director and everything changed.”

"So, what changed?”

"The managing director is involved in all the decisions: new lawyer, new chief of press, new manager, nine new players, new medical staff, new fitness coaches - they changed everything.”

"At the beginning, they changed the managing director who was talking with some players, and they changed everything that we were doing in the past.”

"So, if you want to ask again what was going on, it's simple: they changed something and, at the end, they changed everything.”

"So, white liquid in a bottle: milk. You will know who is to blame." – Rafael Benitez

It’s not the right time to play the “blame” games. It’s time for the new owner to straighten things up at Liverpool Football Club. Is Roy Hodgson’s time as a Liverpool manager been numbered?

Source: Telegraph UK

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POLL: Time to sack the manager?

After the performances at Goodison Park yesterday afternoon, many Reds supporters and fans left bedazzled at the team selection and tactics employed by Roy Hodgson.

In the poll below, please give your anonymous vote.

Time to sack the manager?

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Everton 2-0 Liverpool: No fight, no class, no ideas

Liverpool were unable to secure city bragging rights as the Reds went down to a 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby with Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

Tim Cahill put the Blues into a first-half lead with a powerful close-range strike after Seamus Coleman's cross had broken fortunately for him.

Mikel Arteta doubled the Blues' advantage moments into the second period when the Spaniard struck a thunderous drive beyond Pepe Reina from a half-cleared corner, and despite a late spell of pressure, Liverpool were unable to find a response.

After a hectic few days at Anfield, the game represented the final act in what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic weeks in the long and illustrious 118-year history of Liverpool Football Club.

New England Sports Ventures' acquisition of the club on Friday afternoon had provided everyone connected to the Red half of Merseyside with a surge in optimism as they geared up to make the short trek across Stanley Park.

There are few fixtures that can conjure up such raw emotion and passion as a Merseyside derby - and a little over 24 hours after meeting with the players and staff at Melwood, NESV Principal Owner John W Henry and Chairman Thomas Werner took their seats in the Goodison Park directors' box to sample that famed atmosphere first hand.

While much of the pre-match headlines had understandably centred on events off the field, the football talk had emphasised Liverpool's desire to return to winning ways following a disappointing run of league results. [Read more…]

 

 

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Done deal

New England Sports Ventures (NESV) today announces that it has completed the purchase of Liverpool Football Club.

NESV wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to the Board of Liverpool FC for their diligence and their efforts on behalf of the Club and its supporters.

The transaction values the Club at £300m and eliminates all of the acquisition debt placed on LFC by its previous owners, reducing the Club's debt servicing obligations from £25m-£30m a year to £2m-£3m.

New England Sports Ventures is committed to winning and currently owns a portfolio of companies, including the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Roush Fenway Racing.

Liverpool’s drawn-out sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox was completed Friday after a bitter trans-Atlantic court fight over English football’s most successful club with the previous American owners.

The $485 million deal (all dollar figures Canadian) with New England Sports Ventures ends the turbulent three-year ownership by Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., which saw the Premier League giants saddled with crippling debts and falling into relegation danger this season.

   “We are committed first and foremost to winning,” said John Henry, the financier who heads NESV. “We have a history of winning, and today we want LFC supporters to know that this approach is what we intend to bring to this great club.”

“As every Liverpool fan knows, the most nerve-racking way to win a match is by a penalty shootout,” - said club chairman Martin Broughton, referring to Liverpool’s fifth European Cup triumph against AC Milan in 2005.

The sale finally went through after Hicks and Gillett withdrew the temporary restraining order blocking the sale they had obtained in a Texas court. Later, they also dropped their claim for $1.6 billion in damages.

   “The most important thing is that NESV have cleared us of all the debts which, frankly, shouldn’t have been on the club in the first place.”

“All that huge amount of money that our fans spend supporting our team, coming to games and all the other activities is now available for what it should be available for, to invest.” - managing director Christian Purslow.

The deal came on the day set as the deadline for repayment of the club’s debts to the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wells Fargo, which had risen to around $461 million including penalty fees.

Henry insisted that NESV’s deal wasn’t a leveraged buyout. The acquisition debt has been eliminated and the cost of servicing the club’s debt has slumped from $40 million to $48 million a year to $3.2 million to $4.8 million.

Amid the takeover turmoil, Liverpool is mired in the relegation zone after its worst start to a league season since 1953. Henry said it was too early to decide on specific plans, but noted the Red Sox are the second-highest spending club in baseball. Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson expects to have cash to spend in the January transfer window to strengthen the struggling team.

   “In future we can invest in players in a different way,” – Roy Hodgson.

 

Source: LiverpoolFC.tv

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