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Posts Tagged ‘gerrard’

• Midfielder looking forward to linking up with Cole
• ‘I’m very impressed with [Hodgson's] plans for the future’

Roy Hodgson appears to be winning some key battles for hearts and minds inside Liverpool’s dressing room after Steven Gerrard effectively tied himself to the club for at least another year.

Fresh from signing Joe Cole yesterday, Hodgson was today thrilled to hear Gerrard, previously rumoured to be on the brink of a move away from Merseyside, possibly to Real Madrid, offer an enthusiastic endorsement of his new regime.

“I wanted the chance to meet Roy Hodgson privately and, having done so, I’m very impressed with his plans for the future,” Gerrard said. The Anfield captain helped “sell” the club to his international team-mate Cole and added: “It will be fantastic to play alongside Joe in a red shirt for Liverpool.”

Hodgson did not disguise his pleasure. “It’s a great piece of news,” said Rafael Benítez’s successor. “I’m really pleased about it because I’ve got great respect for Steven Gerrard. He’s a player who I was really looking forward to working with when I came to Liverpool. It seems now with that commitment that this will happen. It gives everyone a boost, without question.”

Not that the former Fulham manager is getting carried away. “It will be a tough season with a lot of matches,” said the 62-year-old, currently working with his players at a pre-season training camp in Switzerland. “The disappointment of last season is going to take a while to dissipate but it is very good that our best player is still going to be playing at this club.

“Hopefully with the signing of Joe Cole – and, if we are lucky, one or two others to boost the squad – we will be going into this season’s competition maybe stronger on paper than we were last season.”

While much depends on whether Fernando Torres follows Gerrard’s example and buys into the new manager’s blueprint, Cole’s arrival certainly adds weight to Hodgson’s argument and he expressed his gratitude to Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in helping “sell” Merseyside to the former Chelsea midfielder.

“Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard did a good job in selling the club to Joe at the World Cup. He was undecided about what he wanted to do and, to be fair, it takes a bit more selling to persuade a Londoner who has played all his life in London to move up to Liverpool,” Hodgson said.

“I am pleased to get him because it is very important to try to improve our squad as much as we can in order to reach the high goals we have set ourselves. It is also pleasing that the reaction of the fans has been as positive as our reaction, so, at the moment, that is perfect. Now it is up to Joe to show on the field he is the right man.”

While he was marketing Liverpool to Cole there was speculation that Gerrard’s future lay away from Anfield but the midfielder’s doubts about staying on seem to have been erased by that meeting with Hodgson and he certainly appears enthusiastic about linking up with Cole.

“Joe is a great signing for us,” Gerrard said. “I’ve told him what a great club this is and I’m sure Joe’s the sort of exciting talent our fans will love to see.”

Carragher was equally positive about Cole’s recruitment. “It’s great news and a message that Liverpool mean business,” he said. “We have signed a top international who has been really important for Chelsea. A lot of clubs wanted to sign him but it is a real coup that he has chosen to come here and you have got to give the manager and the board a pat on the back for convincing him to come here. It’s the kind of signing we needed to make.”

Hodgson can only hope it will help persuade Torres to stay put but the Spain striker may be reassured to learn that Martin Broughton, Liverpool’s chairman, is continuing his efforts to find new owners to take over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett and is evidently seeking heavyweight ‘blue chip’ investors capable of empathising with the club’s fans and nurturing Anfield’s proud heritage. “We are out to find someone wealthy,” Broughton said. “But it’s important that they can win popular support. Putting Liverpool back in their rightful position is in the interests of British football and the League. Seventh [Liverpool's Premier League placing last May] is not their rightful position and nor is administration.”

Liverpool have announced a £6 rise in ticket prices to £45 per game for category A fixtures, the biggest matches, an increase of 13%.

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• Midfielder excited by prospect of playing next to Joe Cole
• Gerrard expresses admiration for Roy Hodgson

Steven Gerrard has all but confirmed he is to remain at Liverpool by expressing his delight at the prospect of playing alongside Joe Cole at Anfield next season and with the plans of Roy Hodgson, the new manager.

Cole yesterday agreed a four-year deal with Liverpool after being released by Chelsea at the end of last season. It has been suggested that the 28-year-old, who was also wanted by Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, is a replacement for Gerrard, who has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer. However, it would appear the 30-year-old sees his long-term future at Liverpool.

“I know Joe well through the England set-up and have seen first hand just how good a player he is,” Gerrard is quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo. “He has proved his ability over many years in the Premier League – sometimes against us – so it will be fantastic to play alongside him in a red shirt for Liverpool.”

“I’ve told him what a great club this is and I’m sure Joe’s the sort of exciting talent our fans will love to see.”

Gerrard, who returned to pre-season training today, had refused to speak about his future while at the World Cup with England, fuelling the belief that he was about to leave the only club he has played for.

However, the Anfield captain has clearly been impressed by Hodgson having met the 62-year-old shortly after he replaced Rafael Benítez as manager at the start of the month. And, despite Liverpool’s difficult financial position, and the fact they will not be playing in the Champions League next season, believes he can instigate a turnaround.

“I wanted the chance to meet Roy Hodgson privately and having done so, I’m very impressed with his plans for the future,” said Gerrard, who has been credited by his new club manager for “selling” Liverpool to Cole while the pair were in South Africa with the England squad.

Doubts, though, remain over the future of Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano.

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• Club captain gave ‘no indication’ he wants to leave
• First meeting with manager ‘went splendidly’

Steven Gerrard has given “no indication” that he intends to leave Liverpool, his new manager, Roy Hodgson, has confirmed after his first meeting with the club captain.

The former Fulham manager held talks with Gerrard, his deputy Jamie Carragher and the academy ambassador, Kenny Dalglish, at the club’s training ground, Melwood last week.

“I anticipate there might be a situation where other big clubs will try and sign Steven, but he gave no indication that he wanted to leave,” Hodgson told LFC Weekly. “Nobody at the club wants him to go so I will be doing my utmost to make sure he stays. I am confident he will.

“I think they [the talks] went splendidly. I was very happy to meet the players and, of course, Kenny who I already know so well. I was delighted to see how positive they are. Everybody is looking forward to the new season.”

He continued: “Obviously Steven and Jamie are the playing heartbeat of the club and it’s very important we keep people like that with us.” Hodgson also indicated that he will speak to Fernando Torres once his World Cup commitments with Spain are concluded after Sunday’s final.

“Fernando is a wonderful striker,” he said. “And I understand the fans’ concerns about his future.”

“Unfortunately with the World Cup still on, I won’t be able to meet him face to face for another few weeks. That’s just circumstance and you won’t hear me complaining about it. When I do meet him, I will be doing everything I possibly can to convince him that Liverpool is the place to be.

“If he sees progress, I am confident that he won’t want to go anywhere else. I think he understands the club and the city.”

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