Monday, January 17, 2011

Roy Hodgson: Agger is not leaving

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has played down reports linking Daniel Agger with a January move away from Anfield. The 26-year-old Denmark defender's future has been the subject of speculation lately, with Wolfsburg sporting director Dieter Hoeness claiming the centre-back had been "offered to clubs around Europe", but Hodgson has dismissed such talk.

He told club website liverpoolfc.tv: "Daniel Agger has not been 'offered' to anybody. Daniel Agger is a Liverpool player and there's a good chance he'll be in the Liverpool team on Saturday (against Bolton). "So if ever you hear Daniel Agger is being 'offered', it's not by Liverpool Football Club - it's by unscrupulous people who are second guessing and looking at players who have not been in the team in the last couple of weeks and suggesting they might be available.

"But anytime you read that, it is untrue." The mid-table Reds host sixth-placed Bolton with Hodgson insisting the backing he has had from the players and within the club itself makes up for his lack of support outside it. The 63-year-old was the subject of fans' anger again in Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat at home to Wolves.

He had to endure the Kop singing the name of former player and manager Kenny Dalglish, a living legend at Anfield, and also ironic chants of 'Hodgson for England'. Liverpool are now only three points above the relegation zone, where they spent a short spell earlier this season, and Hodgson knows it is likely to get worse before it gets better for him in terms of the situation with the fans.

Until it does, he accepts the criticism will continue to come his way. "I have been lucky the support I have had has been from the players and within the club," he said. "I haven't had a lot of support from the fans ever since I came here. "The fans have not been happy with what they have seen in the whole of 2010 and since I came here we have not won enough games to keep them happy.

"That is understandable in the sense that they were hoping when I came here the latter part of last season would be forgotten and we would start flying again. "That hasn't happened and as a result, as manager, you are the one in the firing line, but of course it doesn't make the job easier because it makes the players more nervous. "I can only say as a manager you have to understand that fans care for their club and want it to do well and when it is not doing well they voice their disapproval.

"That is the way of football today. When you take on any job, especially a big job like this one, and results don't go the way people want - especially when you lose games at home - you are going to be a target for disapproval."

Source: ESPN















Roy Hodgson