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• Roy Hodgson hopes Tom Hicks and George Gillett can sell up
• New manager admits change of owner could affect his position

Roy Hodgson has said it is imperative that Liverpool’s co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, sell the club this summer even though a takeover could affect his own position at Anfield.

The new Liverpool manager spoke to the Americans in a brief conference call on Wednesday night and, at his official unveiling the following day, promised to avoid the ownership issues that have blighted the club and the reign of his predecessor, Rafael Benítez, in recent years. Nevertheless, at a time when the Liverpool futures of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano are all uncertain, and with only limited funds available for squad rebuilding, Hodgson believes the prospects of recovery are inextricably linked to the timing of Hicks’s and Gillett’s departure.

Asked if he wanted the club to change hands at the earliest opportunity, the 62-year-old said: “Absolutely. That is what all the fans want. They want new ownership, maybe in the way Manchester City found new ownership. I don’t know whether that would be a possibility but I can understand the fans wanting that. The fans want the best for Liverpool Football Club. They want the best players and the best quality football, and they know the only way to get that is to have the quality of players on the pitch and they cost money.”

Hodgson admitted his arrival at Anfield was due, in part, to Liverpool’s £350m debt and the associated problems that have plagued the club since Hicks and Gillett arrived in February 2007. He added: “It’s very unusual to get the job at the club you want to be at if something is not there niggling in the background. Obviously the thing in the background here is the financial situation.

“The financial situation doesn’t bother me. This club will always find a buyer and there’s always going to be people who want to be the owner of Liverpool Football Club. It’s just a question of when it can be sold and whether the new owners, when they come in, are prepared to back the club as we all think it should be backed.”

Liverpool’s chairman, Martin Broughton, has confirmed there have been no offers for the club since Hicks and Gillett announced it was officially for sale in April, although he hopes to receive a first round of bids by mid-July and complete the sale before the end of August. A takeover would raise the prospect of the new owners wanting to appoint their own manager, but Hodgson is confident his work will dissuade such a move.

The Liverpool manager, who confirmed he is contractually protected “to some extent” if new owners decided they wanted a change, said: “You can’t ever get stone guarantees with these things. I believe that I was selected fommm,,,,r the right reasons and that if there are new owners they would go along with that as well. If they didn’t, and the new owners wanted a complete change, then I would have to accept that. It wouldn’t make a major dent in my career but it would be very sad because I want to work here.”

Hicks and Gillett remain the target of derision among Liverpool supporters and an “Independence Day Rally” will be held in the city tomorrow, organised by the Spirit of Shankly supporters group. The rally, at St George’s Hall from noon, features speeches from John Aldridge and the newly elected MP for Walton, Steve Rotheram, the comedian John Bishop plus several musicians, and the SOS will launch its proposal for supporters to buy into the club.

A spokesperson for SOS said: “This is our chance to send out a message that we want true independence, not only from Tom and George, but others who work the same way as they do. We no longer want leveraged buyout merchants with their eyes on the accounts, not the football pitch.”

LiverpoolRoy HodgsonBusinessAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• New chairman Martin Broughton offers support to Benítez
• Liverpool manager says he is wary of owners’ promises

Rafael Benítez gave only a cautious welcome yesterday to Tom Hicks’s and George Gillett’s commitment to sell Liverpool as he admitted experience had taught him to be wary of the co-owners’ promises.

Hicks and Gillett signalled the beginning of the end of their turbulent three-year reign by appointing the British Airways chairman, Martin Broughton, as Liverpool’s new independent chairman with a brief to oversee the sale of their entire stake with immediate effect.

Broughton announced his arrival by pledging money for new players and support for Benítez, who has endured a troubled season at Liverpool but is coveted by other clubs. “Rafa is a good manager, we want him to stay and he’s under contract to stay,” said the Liverpool chairman.

Benítez’s response was guarded, however. The manager declined to commit his long-term future to Anfield and admitted his outlook has not altered since he claimed he had taken the club as far as he can – without new investment – before the Europa League defeat of Benfica.

“You always have to be positive and believe things will improve, so it is good news and hopefully it will be true,” said Benítez. “My experience says it is better to wait and see what happens.” Asked if he felt more optimistic as a result of the co-owners’ intention to sell, he replied: “At this moment it is more or less the same [as before Benfica]. I have to be honest. My concern at the moment is whether Fernando Torres is fit or not and preparing the team for next week’s games against West Ham and Atlético Madrid.”

Broughton’s arrival does at least end the paralysis that has hindered major decision-making inside the Anfield boardroom since the business relationship between Hicks and Gillett fractured in late 2007. A new five-man board has been proposed – comprising Broughton, Hicks, Gillett, the managing director, Christian Purslow, and the commercial director, Ian Ayre – and the Americans have bought time for the sale with a six-month extension to their refinancing deal with RBS and Wachovia.

“The club has the full support of its existing bankers for this process and has financing in place which will fully support the club’s operations,” read a statement.

Barclays Capital has been appointed to conduct the search for new investment. The co-owners had previously employed two banks, Rothschild and Merrill Lynch, to find buyers for a partial share in Liverpool. It is anticipated a 100% sale will be far more attractive to investors and interest has been expressed from groups in India, China and the Middle East. Broughton is said to be confident of a deal in the coming months but there are no guarantees of a sale.

“There should be no popping of champagne corks just yet,” said a source close to the process. “A buyer has to be found for Liverpool first and the owners have to agree a deal.” A £110m offer for a 40% stake, from the Rhône Group, has been the only official offer so far and the deadline on that deal passed last week.

Broughton said: “What is best for the club is somebody or bodies to come in and build the new stadium, make sure that the club is properly financed and that there is enough money available to take the club forward. I have looked at the stadium project and frankly there is an overwhelming financial logic to any buyer to proceed with the stadium. Any buyer would be crazy not to do so and they won’t get to be the winning bid without the commitment to building the stadium. I think everybody concerned – fans, players and the manager – can all look forward to a very bright future.”

Without a swift deal Benítez’s transfer budget will consist of funds from the refinancing deal plus the sale of players such as Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun. Hicks and Gillett value Liverpool at around £500m but whether they will lower their asking price remains a deciding factor. “Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding and exciting experience for us and our families,” claimed the co-owners, whose tenure has resulted in mass protests outside Anfield and prompted security operations on their occasional visits to the stadium.

Rafael BenítezLiverpoolBusinessPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Liverpool’s new stadium prospects are now more remote than when Tom Hicks and George Gillett arrived

There are many bridges to cross before Liverpool’s co-owners must decide whether to accept the Rhône Group’s £110m offer for a 40% stake, but the bid lays bare the icy state the club are in.

The proposal’s key detail is that not a penny of all those millions would go to Tom Hicks or George Gillett but, instead, would reduce Liverpool’s £237m debts to Royal Bank of Scotland and the American bank Wachovia. Liverpool are only carrying that debt burden, or at least £185m of it, because the two Americans, who arrived as purported saviours in February 2007, borrowed the money to take over, then loaded the club with the responsibility to repay it.

Hicks and Gillett had said they would not “do a Glazer” and saddle the club with their own borrowings. But they did and now the new stadium they promised to build “as soon as reasonably practicable” cannot be contemplated until the debts they imposed are dramatically reduced.

Rhône’s bid, the first firm investment offer the chief executive, Christian Purslow, is known to have received, would reduce Hicks and Gillett to a 30% stake each and pay nothing to them for the 20% they have ceded. Intimations from Hicks that the deal is not lucrative enough for him are unlikely to wash if no other firm bids are prompted by Rhône’s offer. Hicks and Gillett are pinned to a deadline because RBS, which is 70% owned by the British public and last month announced a £6.2bn operating loss for the 2008-09 financial year, insists Liverpool must reduce their exposure to it by £100m by