A week into his new job and Roy Hodgson will have a better idea of the challenges he now faces.
With a club record 12 players on World Cup duty this summer – 13 if we include new signing Milan Jovanovic – the Liverpool manager has had a first opportunity to cast his eye over the fringe squad; the stay behinds deemed too young, too old or simply not good enough to play for their countries.
While some of these could be playing for their Anfield careers on the forthcoming training camp in Switzerland, Hodgson will have the final say on whether they are good enough to play for Liverpool Football Club too.
Depending on what you choose to believe, replacements are already being lined up for many of those deemed surplus to requirements.
Meanwhile, Hodgson has set about the task of persuading those with a queue of Europe's top clubs forming at their doors that their futures lie at Liverpool.
Next, he will try to convince the supporters that his does too.
As Hodgson embarks on the first phase of his restructuring programme, the greatest challenge in what is the biggest job of his long and diverse managerial career awaits.
If Hodgson is to succeed at Anfield he has to win over the Kop.
It goes without saying that the best way to do so is by bringing success back to the club.
It’s an obvious claim to make but one that may not be so obvious in his immediate remit.
Chairman Martin Broughton was candid enough to reinforce the notion that Hodgson has been brought to Liverpool ‘to steady the ship’ after turbulent times.
Of course, this will come naturally to a man who has carried an air of calm throughout his 34 years in management.
There is a fear among some, though, that returning Liverpool among Europe's elite is Hodgson's only brief.
With that comes added concern that his appointment is a short term measure with little more than stability in mind.
That would be a disservice to Hodgson, the fans and the club.
At 62, the three-year contract Hodgson has signed will take him neatly up to retirement age.
By agreeing to take on a job of this magnitude, however, you sense that’s the last thing on his mind.
The question is how much fire does he have left in his belly to stoke the burning ambitions of those who desire silverware each year.
“The ambitions of Liverpool Football Club should always be at the very, very highest level and that’s where we’re going to be aspiring to.”
This is what every Reds fan wants to hear but those sentiments didn’t quite resonate from Hodgson’s response to another question at his official unveiling.
When asked what his number one priority at Liverpool is he replied:
“To try and do a little bit better than last year and get back into those Champions League spots where the club has always been.”
Described as the most crucial summer in the club's history since Bill Shankly arrived, Hodgson will be afforded the kind of leeway in his first season at Anfield seldom enjoyed, if ever, by any of Shankly’s successor’s.
Every Liverpool manager from Bob Paisley to Rafa Benitez has been expected to at least challenge for the league title.
It appears Hodgson isn’t. Not yet anyway.
Since its inception, a Champions League place has been the minimum requirement.
Suddenly, and perhaps worringly, it has become the target.
Second to seventh is a long way to fall in just 12 months, and it would be unfair to expect Hodgson to fully reverse the trend straight away.
However, if Liverpool FC is to live up to its heritage of challenging for top honours, coming fourth, third or even second in the league has to be considered a worst case scenario.
In one respect, by setting Hodgson this target, the club could be seen to be protecting its appointment. Aim low and anything else is a bonus as against setting him up for a fall.
But rather than simply aim for Champions League respectability, Hodgson has an opportunity here to restore pride in some of the proudest supporters around.
That’s the real challenge at Anfield and one that Hodgson, with his ability to fly in the face of adversity, should relish.
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