Carra encouraged by Hodgson dealings

06/09/2010 15:21 +0100

The Reds boss, who took over from Rafael Benitez at the start of July, has been hamstrung by the ongoing sale of the club which has so far failed to provide new owners and investment. Hodgson admits his priority when he came in was to ensure he did not lose his key players and despite the sale of Javier Mascherano to Barcelona he did a good job of persuading Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to remain at the club. Of the rest of his first-team squad he also sold Albert Riera to Panathinaikos, goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri to Cesena and sent left-back Emiliano Insua and Alberto Aquilani out on loan. Last week Hodgson brought in Fulham defender Paul Konchesky and Porto's Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles to supplement the arrivals of ex-Chelsea star Joe Cole, goalkeeper Brad Jones, Serbia's Milan Jovanovic, Denmark's Christian Poulsen and young Rangers centre-back Danny Wilson and the re-signing of Fabio Aurelio. Carragher believes that represents a decent result considering there was not a lot of money available. "I think he has done very well but time will tell. You have to judge signings after Christmas - good or bad," the 32-year-old defender said. "We've started quite nicely and hopefully the couple of players we have brought in (late on) will help. "Everyone realised we needed a left-back so Konchesky came in and Raul Meireles coming in is something we can all look forward to. "Maybe he can replace the Xabi Alonso/Aquilani-type of player so I think it is looking okay." Hodgson has managed to change things around in the squad, increasing the quota of homegrown and British players for one, while still maintaining an air of stability. That has not been easy with the future ownership still undecided and the clock ticking towards a deadline of early October when the Royal Bank of Scotland's £237million loan is due to be repaid by Tom Hicks and George Gillett. But despite all the off-field speculation the manager insists he has remained focused on the squad. "The club is up for sale and nobody knows what direction it will take if and when new owners are found," he said. "A few years ago when the situation was far more stable, the money to buy new players was available. "I hope the situation will change when the club is eventually sold and owners who are prepared to invest in the club come in. "When that situation arises I'm pretty sure that it won't be difficult for us to start achieving things again but at the moment the task is really to hang on to the players we've got and make certain we don't have a situation where we have got a total rebuilding process." Hodgson believes, however, that in spite of hard financial times at Anfield the club, staff and players will not be lowering their expectations as they seek to win a first trophy for four years. "The stature, traditions and ability of Liverpool to attract players certainly makes it an achievable task even though we are in strange times," he told the League Managers' Association's magazine The Manager. "You should never try to dampen people's enthusiasm and optimism. "Furthermore every season we see teams not expected to win titles winning them. "It doesn't always go to the favourite in any country so we should never play down the Liverpool fans' incredible desire and passion to keep winning trophies - and the Barclays Premier League in particular - and keep their noses in front of Manchester United."