Fans To Protest Against Liverpool FC's Owners At Anfield

Another protest against Liverpool’s American owners takes place at Anfield today. But Roy Hodgson admits the latest problem for those suffering supporters is entirely of his own making.

The reverberations are still being strongly felt from Wednesday’s calamitous Carling Cup humiliation at home to npower League Two minnows Northampton Town.

Although a second-string line-up, there were nevertheless six full internationals in the Liverpool team that slumped to one of the most embarrassing results in the club’s long, trophy-laden history.

After a difficult start to his tenure both on and off the field, it was the last thing Hodgson needed as he strives to put down foundations and revive the feelgood factor of pre-season.

And the 63-year-old shoulders much of the responsibility for a truly dismal evening in midweek.

"I didn’t feel the need to get the players together to lift spirits the day after the game," says Hodgson. "We had a training session with 13 players and they’re the ones who didn’t play because the others came in during the afternoon for a warm down.

"I told them ‘it was a bad moment for the club unfortunately which was of my making because I took a team that underperformed and lost, but it had nothing to do with you. You can’t take responsibility because you weren’t not even on the bench.’"

While exonerating those that were absent in midweek – indeed, Hodgson will change his entire starting line-up for today’s Premier League visit of Sunderland – the defeat only increases the pressure on Liverpool’s senior players to improve on a start to the season that has seen them accrue only five points in as many games and hover just about the relegation zone.

But Hodgson says: "Why should the pressure transfer on to them? The spotlight would have been on us anyway, five points in five games and at home at Sunderland.

"We are living through a moment of my own making you could say which people I think are profiting and enjoying themselves enormously by writing things about the club that they themselves don’t probably believe.

"Wednesday had nothing to do with the players who will play on Saturday and I don’t think their confidence or perception will change one iota.

"They are as disappointed as I was by the performance but its a game of football and it’s not the first time its happened to a football club, it’s not the first time its happened to Liverpool Football Club but when it does happen to you its a major blow and all we can do is take the criticism and the blow and get on with our jobs.

"There is no alternative and what’s more there’s no solution other than to do that."

If Liverpool’s unrecognizable line-up in midweek suggests maybe a "false" result against Northampton, then Hodgson believes his team’s testing fixture list has given their start a somewhat misleading appearance.

In five games, Liverpool have faced three title challengers – Manchester City and Manchester United away, Arsenal at home – and also travelled to a Birmingham City side that haven’t lost at home for almost a year.

And asked if the table gave a false impression of his team, Hodgson says: "Yes I think so, I’ve said that all along. I have to say that after the Man United game I was very, very sad after the game because after getting it back to 2-2 that would have been a really good result and it would have buoyed everybody.

"We didn’t get it because they scored a third goal quite close to the end but the training has been very good this week and I’m impressed with the players here.

"The criticism levelled about the depth of the squad I can understand because people saw the squad playing on Wednesday and we lost the game and people will make conclusions and there is not much I can do about that.

"Maybe it was a good learning process for me as well because seeing them in training and seeing them in matches is two different things and sometimes you have to see them in games.

"I think that we will get better as I’ve said all along. The players are working very hard and responding very well to the work we are trying to do but we need some results to back that up.

"The performances have been better after quite a poor one at Manchester City and nor particularly good against West Brom and Birmingham. United was a step in the right direction and I expect that to carry on."

Hodgson has learned the hard way in recent weeks that the spotlight on Liverpool far outstrips anything in his managerial career – even while at Inter Milan – and will only intensify should they fail against Sunderland today.

And the manager admits to being taken aback by the level of scrutiny his tenure has already been put under.

"Inter had a television channel all those years ago and they were forerunners and they had their own internet but, yes, it has surprised me a little bit I suppose," says Hodgson. "I’m coming to terms with that more and more.

"It’s not so much a surprise but you have to live it to appreciate it. I did expect it to be different to Fulham and much more spotlight and interest but you have to live it to appreciate it.

"If I say I’m surprised it suggest that I didn’t realize how big this club was and how much interest there is but I did realize that I was coming to a much bigger and more pressurized and scrutinized job than the one I was having.

"I realized those things but you have to live it to appreciate it. And all the things going on now are helping me appreciate that even more – if ‘appreciate’ is the right word."

Roy Hodgson Hits Back At Sir Alex Ferguson For Calling Fernando Torres A Cheat

Roy Hodgson has hit back at Sir Alex Ferguson by insisting Fernando Torres is not a cheat – and admits he should have immediately jumped to the defence of the striker.

Manchester United manager Ferguson caused a stir in the wake of Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford last Sunday by accusing Torres of attempting to get John O’Shea sent off after being fouled by the defender for the free-kick from which Steven Gerrard scored Liverpool’s equalizer.

Hodgson neglected the opportunity to rubbish the comments in the immediate aftermath of the match by refusing to become embroiled in a war of words.

But, with Torres set to resume up front against Sunderland at Anfield this afternoon, the Liverpool manager insists it was wrong for Ferguson to question the integrity of the striker.

"Fernando Torres is not a cheat, he has proved that time and time again," said Hodgson, who could welcome Dirk Kuyt back to the fold today. "He is a very respected player, he is strong and takes players on and not easy to stop and he is going to get fouls like he did for their equalizing goals.

"I don’t think anybody thinks that was not a foul on the edge of the box. I can understand the penalty as well because it is a bit unlucky on the player because he slides but unfortunately that is a stonewall pen when you slide and take somebody out of the game.

"Alex is a good friend of mine and knows how to use the mass media and he’s used it very well there and he might have used it to deflect from Nani who, certainly on one or two occasions, was playing for fouls in our opinion.

"There is no danger of us cheating. The players here have had years and years of criticism and crisis management every time they have not won a game or things have not gone their way and I think Torres will shrug those suggestions off just as I shrug them off."

Many Liverpool supporters were perturbed Hodgson missed the opportunity to instantly defend Torres, something the Anfield manager accepts was a mistake.

"Possibly I’m learning as I go along," he said. "I wouldn’t have thought it was necessary but seeing the way people exaggerate almost everything and want to hype everything up, maybe I should have said something there and then.

"I didn’t think it was necessary to say it because it was insulting people’s intelligence. For me, it was one of Alex’s inflammatory little digs to make his victory even sweeter and our defeat even harder and that’s part of the game."

With Liverpool still smarting from their embarrassing Carling Cup exit to npower League Two minnows Northampton Town on Wednesday, Hodgson will revert back to his first-choice team for the visit of Sunderland.

The Anfield manager is expected to change his entire starting XI and is likely to include Kuyt, who returned to training this week after missing three weeks with a shoulder injury.

Tommy Smith: Sweeping Changes Led To Liverpool FC Humiliating Downfall

I wasn’t at the Northampton game on Wednesday night. But I don’t think I could have been any angrier even if I had been.

As soon as the penalty shoot-out ended, I switched the radio off and went to bed.

Like all other listening fans, and of course the thousands of supporters who paid their money, braved the rain and went along to support their side in what should have been a routine cup game, I’d long since heard enough and had enough.

I know there were six international players on duty plus some other apparently up and coming youngsters. And for that reason we should have had enough to see off a lowly League Two side at Anfield.

But a fair share of the blame for this woefully embarrassing defeat simply has to go to the manager for making 11 changes – yes 11 changes – to the line-up.

I’m sorry but this is just utterly ridiculous to me.

I played for eight years in a team that barely changed under Bill Shankly.

The first team line-up and approach was replicated through the ranks. So if one of us did get injured, the left-back or right-half or whoever would be replaced by someone from the reserves who was groomed in the position and what was expected. He would step up and fit in.

How on earth are 11 players who have never played together as a side before be expected to play really well? To me they just can’t.

Had Roy Hodgson instead announced in advance that he would be playing people like Gerrard, Reina, Torres and Carragher in his starting line-up, then many more fans would have turned up I’m sure and we would have had no problems.

Remember, playing at Anfield is a cup final for a side like Northampton and to entirely change our side from the weekend has played right into their hands.

I know it’s early days for Hodgson and he’ll certainly be learning a lot about his squad. But I really hope that after Sunderland today he looks to keep the same side against Utrecht in midweek and again against Blackpool in a week.

If players need resting let them instead ease up on the training, as we used to do.

Because wholesale changes invariably bring wholesale misery in my book.

Labour MPs Raise Liverpool FC Sale Concerns With Christian Purslow

Three Merseyside MPs have met with Liverpool FC to raise concerns over the club's future.

Liverpool supporters Steve Rotheram (Walton), Alison McGovern (Wirral South) and Derek Twigg (Halton) have all raised concerns in the House of Commons over the rammifications of the sale which will seal Tom Hicks and George Gillett's imminent departure from Anfield.

On Thursday, the trio met Christian Purslow, the club's managing director, to discuss issues raised by supporters and constituents in recent weeks as the sale process continues to drag on with only weeks remaining before the Royal Bank of Scotland's loan deadline expires.

Fans continue to remain anxious about the long-term future at Anfield following the Americans' failure to ensure that the club remained debt-free following their takeover in 2007.

However a statement from the group revealed that they were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and felt that Purslow, along with fellow board members, commercial director, Ian Ayre and, chairman, Martin Broughton are doing all they can to find the right buyer for the club.

“We are grateful to Liverpool Football Club and Christian Purslow for agreeing to a meeting so that we could discuss the current situation regarding the potential sale," it read.

"We are conscious that a crucial deadline is looming which has increased the anxiety of supporters, thousand of whom have contacted us, and we are keen to do all we can to see the club in a sustainable financial position.

"We came away with the clear view that everything possible is being done by Chairman, Martin Broughton, Managing Director, Christian Purslow and Commercial Director Ian Ayre to secure a buyer that will be right for Liverpool Football Club and will take the club forward.

"It is important that the Club gets things right this time regarding its future ownership and we believe the independent members of the Board deserve the backing of the club’s supporters.”

All three Labour MPs signed an Early Day Motion in June to highlight Gillett and Hicks' failure to 'exercise responsible stewardship', citing the failure to fulfil their promise to build a new stadium in Stanley Park as one of justification for 'a positive strategy to take the club forward'.

Rotheram, who was Lord Mayor of Liverpool before being elected as Walton MP, added: “The future of Liverpool FC and the building of a new stadium is crucial to the regeneration of the Anfield area and I emphasized this during our meeting with Christian Purslow.

"We need to bring an end to this saga and the uncertainty that has helped create such horrendous conditions for residents living in the area.”

Steven Gerrard Urges Senior Stars To Step Up Following League Cup Exit To Northampton Town

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has called on his senior team-mates to carry the club through a difficult start to the season.

Gerrard, 30, was just an observer as Roy Hodgson's understrength side crashed to defeat to League Two Northampton Town in Wednesday night's League Cup tie. The result followed a poor start to their Premier League campaign which sees them in 16th place in the table.

Speaking to the club's official website, Gerrard issued a rallying cry to get the Anfield outfit back to success starting with the weekend fixture against Sunderland.

He said: "They will learn from this experience. Football isn't just about highs.

"Throughout my career I have experienced both highs and lows and probably learnt more from the lows because you look at yourself first, look at what went wrong and try to learn from your mistakes.

"The players are allowed to be down today but it's up to players like myself to pick them back up because playing for this club there are big games every two or three days and we need to get everyone's head focused on Sunderland now.

"I can understand everyone's frustration but I think the Carling Cup now, when you're part of a big club and a big squad, is all about giving young players the chance and the experience because if you put a strong side out then the kids will never get the chance to experience playing in front of big crowds and in big competitions. There are still some positives underneath the frustration.

"Although we've gone out and everyone is down and disappointed, the experience that would have given the lads in the dressing room might be vital for the future.

"The amount of ability and talent in that squad was good enough to roll Northampton over and I'm sure nine times out of ten it would have, but in cup football sometimes a shock happens and you slip on the banana. Those players are still good players, we're still a fantastic squad and there's still a lot of things to achieve this term and a lot of football to be played.

"The last thing we want now is for people to be sulking with their heads down because there's a massive game in three days.

"No-one is hurting more than the players who played. We've all been there and all experienced it.

"Everyone is disappointed and down but it's not the end of the world. It's gone now, it's important we move on and think about Sunderland and try to get the three points."

Fernando Torres Ready To Quit Kop

Fernando Torres is ready to quit Liverpool in dismay at the club’s progress under new boss Roy Hodgson.

And big-spending Manchester City are already ­pl­otting a £50m January bid to put the Spain superstar out of his Anfield misery.

The World Cup winner feels the club has gone back on promises to invest in top quality players and is now looking for a way out.

Torres was hotly tipped to leave Liverpool in the summer after the Merseysiders failed to secure Champions League football under Rafa Benitez last season.

Barcelona, City and Chelsea all showed a major interest in the striker – but Torres insisted he wouldn’t make a decision on his future until after the World Cup in South Africa.

After Benitez’s departure and a lot of persuasion from Hodgson, the former Atletico Madrid man followed in skipper Steven Gerrard’s footsteps by deciding to stay at Liverpool.

The shock capture of Joe Cole and Hodgson’s promise of more major signings played a big role in persuading Torres to stay.

But the club has failed to follow up their swoop for ex-Chelsea star Cole with any other marquee names – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the Spaniard.

The departure to Barcelona of Javier Mascherano – arguably the best defensive ­midfielder in world football – and their poor start to the season have also deeply concerned Torres.

All that, together with the club’s precarious financial state, has forced him to seriously reconsider his future.

Torres, 26, has come in for some early-season criticism for a string of below-par displays, with many questioning whether he actually wants to be at the club. Starsport understands that Torres’ representatives are already trying to engineer a move away from Anfield in the January window – particularly if the Reds’ quest to regain their Champions League status looks doomed.

And City chiefs have already made it clear that they are ready to smash their transfer record to bring the hitman to Eastlands.

Boss Roberto Mancini made Torres his No.1 summer target, but knew he would be facing an uphill struggle to lure the striker without the carrot of European Cup football.

But the Italian will renew his attempts to pull off the capture of Torres once the transfer window reopens.

Bayern Munich Set For €20 Million Liverpool Raid

Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich are looking at the prospect of buying Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina as their answer to the retired Oliver Kahn. The Spanish keeper has impressed during numerous weeks at Anfield despite Liverpool sitting uncomfortably in 16th place in the Premiership.

The player is highly rated and reports from Germany and Holland suggest the South German team may look to Reina as the ideal summer signing with Munich already leaking goals at the back this season. The news will alarm Liverpool fans as they feel their team becoming somewhat of a footballing supermarket after news that Tom Hicks could not get backing to re-finance any deals.

Reina has been at Liverpool Football for sometime now and he may also feel it is time for a new challenge having missed out on Champions League football this season and possibly the next if he decides to stay at Anfield.

With talk during the summer of a possible move to Arsenal, Liverpool’s owners know they have a good quality asset on their hands and they could possibly encourage a bidding war that would lead to a transfer fee of around €20m.

With Liverpool being knocked out of the Carling Cup this week, it leaves the Merseysider’s only two real chances of silverware both in the FA Cup and Europa League although manager Roy Hodgson may feel that a Champions League spot is more important as he tries to keep his players for next season.

Liverpool Plan Ambitious £18m Raid For Tottenham Pair

Liverpool will attempt to pull of something of a coup this January by trying to nab two out of favour Tottenham players as the Anfield club looks to improve his under-performing squad. Boss Roy Hodgson is rumoured to be looking to reignite his interest in Roman Pavlyuchenko as well as lure Mexican international Giovani with the promise of the first team football neither regular enjoys at White Hart Lane.

The Merseyside club tried in a last ditch move to bring Pavlyuchenko to the club last month and will look to secure the Russian in January when it may well become abundantly clear that the former Spartak Moscow man is little more than a bit part player in the north London club’s plans. The 28 year old forward has managed just one start in the Premier League this season and even then he was hauled off after an hour, so he may well be keen on a move.

Former Barcelona man Giovani is in a similar position having managed just 30 minutes of Premier League action thus far and having failed to persuade Redknapp of his value the 21 year old adaptable attacker may well have had enough of bench warming.

Both players would offer Hodgson a vast improvement on what the club has to offer in their respective positions. Pavlyuchenko may well be an ideal foil for Fernando Torres and Giovani could offer Liverpool a number of attacking options to help provide ammunition for a club that has struggled badly to hit the back of the net, managing just two goals from open play in five matches.

The pair would cost the club around £18m to purchase and clearly such a move would become more realistic in funding terms if co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett had been ousted by the club by new owners. However it is worth noting that the club has netted around £30m through player sales over the summer and reinvested around £20m of that in new additions and Managing Director Christian Purslow has stated that money made from sales would be reinvested in improving the Anfield squad.

Holland Drop Liverpool FC's Ryan Babel Following Anfield Failure

Ryan Babel has admitted that he 'failed personally' during Liverpool's humiliating Carling Cup exit to Northampton Town after being dropped from Holland's Euro 2012 squad.

The trying attacker suffered a double heartache on Wednesday as Liverpool crashed out to the League Two outfit on penalties just hours after he found out that Bert van Marwijk omitted him from the Oranje's upcoming qualifiers against Moldova and Sweden.

Former Ajax prodigy Babel has struggled to justify his £11.5milllon price tag after arriving at Anfield in 2007 from his hometown club and reflected on the defeat on Twitter yesterday amidst fears that his future resurfaced following the muted performance.

"No excuses for Wednesday night," he wrote.

"We weren't good enough. And I failed personally.

"Haven't lost faith, so I keep working."

The 23-year-old was linked with moves to Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, amongst others, before the summer transfer window closed and Liverpool are expected to listen to offers for his services if no significant improvement is not made before the New Year.

Roy Hodgson Seems Powerless To Arrest Liverpool's Decline

Roy Hodgson offered an eloquent expression of his powerlessness by sitting, almost motionless, in the Anfield dugout as Liverpool lurched further into crisis against Northampton on Wednesday.

Even as Liverpool rocked under the League Two side's onslaught in the second half, even as they found themselves outplayed and out-thought by a team some 69 places below them in the league pyramid, Hodgson did not stir from his seat.

He did not rise to exhort his young players as their nerves shredded, or upbraid the five internationals included in his second-string side as their abilities seemingly deserted them. Hodgson, impervious, impassive, has found himself impotent to stop Liverpool's continued fall from grace.

That should not be read as a criticism. Liverpool's defeat on penalties against Ian Sampson's determined side rounded off an annus horribilis which began with their excoriation in Florence on Sept 30 last year, took in an early exit from the Champions League, humiliation against Reading in the FA Cup and a seventh place finish in the Premier League.

Rafael Benítez could not retain his job as manager. His replacement was identified as the man to steady the ship, to steer Liverpool through the choppiest waters in their recent history.

His appeal was understandable. Off the field, he would not indulge in the Machiavellian politics so beloved of the Spaniard, while on it he could be relied upon at least to return a sense of style to a club whose substance was crumbling. He could work on limited resources and unite a fractured dressing room.

It seems now that Liverpool was simply rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Their troubles begin in the boardroom and infect every pore of the club.

The root cause of all of those defeats, from Fiorentina to Northampton, is Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Steven Gerrard might yesterday have insisted that the club's fans could trust the team "to get it right in the end," but while his faith is admirable, such a statement lays bare Liverpool's desperation.

The Americans must depart before any genuine recovery can begin.

When judging Hodgson, the circumstances in which he is working must be taken into consideration, though Benítez was scarcely afforded the same courtesy.

Unlike his predecessor, Hodgson, to his credit, has made it clear he does not wish to use his absentee employers as an excuse. "I will not go down the ownership route," he said in August. "If you do not think the team is doing as well as it should, then as a player you can do something about it." Presumably, the same must go for the manager. Yet by his own criteria, and those used by the club when appointing him, Hodgson's opening months at Anfield have hardly been a success.

Daniel Agger may have distanced himself from comments suggesting the 62 year-old favoured a long-ball style, but even if his original words were lost in translation, few observers disagreed with him. Liverpool are hardly winning points for artistic impression.

They are hardly winning points of any sort, in fact – just five in the Premier League, albeit with a solid start in the Europa League. It is not hard to explain why. Few teams struggle more to create chances. Instinctive striking from David Ngog and Fernando Torres gave them a point against Arsenal and a win against West Brom, two set-pieces from Gerrard averted embarrassment at Old Trafford.

That Hodgson's reserves required two slices of good fortune even to take Northampton to penalties, though, suggests the problem is not only chronic but is one of system, rather than personnel, despite the criticism directed at Torres, in particular.

However, that the Spaniard is not alone in appearing to be "fed up", to borrow a phrase from Jamie Redknapp, is telling. The rationale for Benítez's dismissal was that he had lost the dressing room. For all the public utterances of support from his new players, there is no on-pitch evidence Hodgson has found it.

Perhaps that is not his fault. Perhaps that is the fate of Liverpool's manager in an era when disaffection with the ownership, with the status quo, permeates even the dressing room. Perhaps Hodgson cannot be expected to steer a course to safety. Perhaps all he can do is go down with the ship.

Liverpool FC Fans Take Battle With Hicks And Gillett Across The Atlantic

Liverpool's disenchanted fans took their dissatisfaction with Tom Hicks and George Gillett across the Atlantic on Thursday, sending hundreds of emails to leading US media executives, news outlets and financial institutions pleading for increased coverage of the club's current state.

Appealing to the memory of the Beatles, the special relationship between the UK and the USA and the thought of a British businessman destroying the New York Yankees or Washington Redskins, Liverpool's fans called for the situation to be reported in an effort to persuade Wall Street that allowing Hicks and Gillett to refinance their ownership of the Anfield club would be a mistake.

The campaign came at the end of seven days of confusion at Anfield. Last Friday, widespread reports emerged that Hicks was seeking to refinance and continue his ownership of Liverpool. The reports came less than four months after Hicks told journalists of his desire to quit the sports industry for good. "It's never been my primary business," he told Dallas Morning News reporters Gary Jacobson and Brendan Case on May 26. "And it's a business I no longer want to pay the price to be in." Weeks later, at the start of August, Hicks completed the sale of the Texas Rangers MLB franchise to a group led by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.

Liverpool's owners put the club on the market before the start of the summer but, according to managing director Christian Purslow, no firm bids have been made. Perhaps Hicks' stance this week has been a bargaining tool. He certainly has no intention of selling Liverpool on the cheap, making clear in the same interview with Jacobson and Case that he intended to make back "a couple of hundred" million dollars that he had lost on the Texas Rangers with the Anfield club. Nor will he want the club to be taken out of his hands by RBS, as has been mooted.

From a business perspective, there is little doubt that Hicks and Gillett should be able to command a higher asking price than they paid. Their ownership may have been distressing for fans, but it has seen a rapid turnaround of the club's commercial fortunes. Two examples stand out.

Firstly, Liverpool's previous shirt sponsorship, with Carlsberg, was worth a few million pounds per season - less, for example, than Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa will collect from Autonomy and FxPro this year. The new deal with Standard Chartered, negotiated by a commercial team headed by Liverpool's commercial director, Ian Ayre, matches Manchester United's £20 million per season as a British record.

Secondly, Hicks and Gillett arrived in early 2007. Later that year, the Premier League began a new cycle of broadcast rights for 2007-10, in which Liverpool's income from television money rose by 65 per cent. Another cycle, 2010-13, is now underway, and the club's broadcast income has risen again. The television money may be none of Hicks' or Gillett's doing, but there is no arguing with the fact that, off the pitch, Liverpool are a far more attractive commercial proposition than in the winter of 2006.

Unfortunately, the club's decline on the field has been far more obvious. For many years, Liverpool's success on the pitch masked a poorly run business; now poor first team performances obscure improved commercial fortunes. And even the business side of things is unsatisfactory to many fans, coming as it does with heavy debt loaded onto the club.

Put simply, though, the satisfaction of fans with an owner comes down to success on the pitch - hence the ease with which the Glazers continue to ride out discontent at Old Trafford. You can secure as many sponsorships as you want, but losing to Northampton will test the patience of the fans of any Premier League club. Liverpool fans' patience has long since run out.

Match Report: Liverpool 2 - 2 Northampton (p)

Northampton plunged Merseyside into deeper misery as the League Two club stunned Liverpool with a memorable penalty shoot-out victory in the third round of the Carling Cup.

Ian Sampson's minnows produced a merited and major giant-killing, which equated to Brentford's spot-kick win over Everton on Tuesday night, and they came from behind to do so.

Goals from Billy McKay and Michael Jacobs seemed set to send Northampton through after extra-time at Anfield, having cancelled out Milan Jovanovic's early opener, but David Ngog took the match to penalties.

Ngog and youngster Nathan Eccleston both missed from the spot, allowing Abdul Osman to score the crucial winning penalty and send the noisy travelling supporters into dreamland.

For the first time in five years Liverpool have not got past the third round, denying them a chance in a competition they were thinking about winning.

Those chances were increased by the exits of the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham but an under-strength team failed to deliver.

It would have not been so bad had the Cobblers come to Anfield and given a particularly stirring performance but they were only really energized by McKay's goal, growing in confidence as their opponents' gradually receded.

Worryingly for manager Roy Hodgson, Northampton goalkeeper Chris Dunn was hardly tested.

The Liverpool boss, as he has done in the Europa League, handed the responsibility to a number of fringe players after opting to rest all those who started in the defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

If he was looking for a reward he did not get one as the team laboured in failing to dispatch opponents 69 league places below them.

The signs were there before the start as the Cobblers had already beaten higher-placed opposition in League One Brighton and Championship side Reading.

Their league form, however, was worse than Liverpool's with only one win in their last eight games and that was indicative of the way they started as the home side dominated.

Prior to the match there had been much fuss about nothing when centre-back Daniel Agger had felt the need to publicly clarify comments he made on Sunday, which were misrepresented as him saying he would not play Hodgson's long-ball game.

Not that he needed to prove a point but he did with a perfectly-judged defence-splitting pass through the inside-left channel which Serbia international Jovanovic collected and fired past Chris Dunn and into the far corner of the net.

Despite dominating possession, Liverpool's rearranged defence gave their opponents too much time on the edge of the penalty area.

Twice Jacobs was allowed to turn and shoot but on both occasions he failed to hit the target, although his curling effort from the left angle of the box briefly had debutant Brad Jones worried as it arced towards the far corner.

Ryan Gilligan also blazed wide from 12 yards after Wilson failed to clear a free-kick.

The second half began similarly until McKay struck in the 56th minute. Kevin Thornton out-jumped Sotirios Kyrgiakos to head Liam Davis' hanging cross into the path of the striker and he blasted home from close range.

In an instant the match appeared to turn on its head as Northampton then became the team in the ascendancy as Liverpool toiled.

Only in the last five minutes of normal time did they push for the winner but the visitors' defence held out to force extra-time.

There was a feeling an upset was on the cards and a second Northampton goal duly came in the 98th minute.

Wilson, a central defender playing at left-back, was too easily beaten by substitute Courtney Herbert.

Jones parried the cross, Martin Kelly stopped Thornton's half-hit shot, but Liverpool could do nothing about Jacobs' follow-up.

Kyrgiakos headed wide and Kelly fired into the side-netting before Ngog hauled Liverpool level with a headed goal from substitute Jonjo Shelvey's corner.

Even then both sides could have snatched a win at the death but Kelly cleared off the line from Nathaniel Wedderburn's shot and Davis deflected over a header from Kyrgiakos.

Northampton's Steve Guinan and Liverpool's Ngog missed the first spot-kicks but when 19-year-old substitute Eccleston hit the crossbar with Liverpool's fourth effort Osman stepped up to send the Cobblers into the last 16.

The result will only increase the scrutiny on Hodgson, whose side have had a disappointing start to the Premier League and are currently 16th.

Roy Hodgson Apologizes To Fans For Liverpool FC’s Display In Defeat To Northampton In Carling Cup

Roy Hodgson last night apologized to fans for the club’s Carling Cup exit at the hands of npower League Two Northampton, admitting he and the players had to accept responsibility for the defeat.

Hodgson fielded an under-strength side which still included first-team regulars like Daniel Agger, David Ngog, Ryan Babel and Lucas Leiva and went ahead when Milan Jovanovic scored his first goal for the club in the ninth minute.

However, the Cobblers hit back 10 minutes into the second half through Billy McKay and Michael Jacobs’ goal in extra-time appeared to have done enough until Ngog spared Liverpool’s blushes four minutes from the end.

But it was only a temporary reprieve as Ngog and Nathan Eccleston missed their spot-kicks, allowing Abdul Osman to net the decisive penalty.

“I don’t think we came anywhere near what I hoped to see apart from in the last 15 minutes of extra-time when we made a superb effort after going 2-1 down,” he said.

“When it goes to penalties and you are at home and in front of the Kop your hope is that at least the players will have the composure and confidence to win the penalty shoot-out but we didn’t.

“All I can do is congratulate Northampton and apologize to everyone; the fans came expecting to see us win and I expected us to win but it wasn’t to be.

“These players have to accept responsibility. I accept responsibility for changing a lot of players in the team, I did it because I honestly thought the players I put on the field were good enough to win the game and they weren’t.

“The obvious conclusion to that was I shouldn’t have changed that many players but we should have been strong enough to get a result.

“We must all take our responsibility. I am just bitterly disappointed that the team I had so much faith in did not repay that faith this evening with the exception of one or two performances.”

Hodgson has endured a mixed start to his reign as Liverpool manager after taking over from Rafael Benitez in July.

He became the first Reds boss to win his first five European fixtures – albeit four were Europa League qualifiers – but his side has registered just one victory in five domestic games and are 16th in the Barclays Premier League table.

Hodgson accepted their Carling Cup exit was another setback.

“We wanted to do well in the Carling Cup and we haven’t done,” he added.

“We were given a kind draw against a team three leagues below us, were expected to win and when you don’t you can expect to be criticized from the top downwards.

“It is a major setback for the club.

The Carling Cup is a competition we are capable of doing well in and we were playing lower league opponents.

“Whatever happens, if it doesn’t result in a victory it is a very negative thing and a setback for the club, one of many we are facing at the moment.”

Northampton manager Ian Sampson rated the win as one of his top moments in football.

“It is certainly up there as one of the best nights of my career,” he said.

“I won a play-off final at Wembley as a player for Northampton and it ranks right up there with that occasion.

“To be a manger and win at Anfield after only one year in the job I’m absolutely delighted, it is a particular highlight.

“Full credit to the players, they are a young team, with the attitude and desire they showed I can’t praise them highly enough.”

Purslow - Reds Talks Ongoing

Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow has revealed there are 'a small number' of parties exploring a possible takeover of the club.

Current Reds owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been trying to sell the Premier League club since April, but have yet to receive a suitable offer.

Hicks had reportedly been trying to arrange a deal to buy Gillett's stake in the club only for the Blackstone investment group to rule out financial support.

The owners must pay off £237million owed to the Royal Bank of Scotland in mid-October and Purslow is waiting to see if the current interest will lead to a formal takeover bid.

"The process remains underway and there are a small number of potentially interested parties working seriously and privately - doing what is called due diligence - looking at the business in detail from a financial and legal standpoint," Purslow told the club's official website.

"My hope is that one of those parties steps forward with a proposal to buy the club which is attractive to the board and which would be good for the club.

"I must say that the single most important aspect of the possible sale of the club - and I consider it the most important thing I will ever do in my business career - is to make sure that if we're going to sell the club we get the sale right. The only thing worse than no sale is the wrong sale.

"Do I know whether any of those parties are going to get over the finishing line? No. Can I make someone write a cheque? No.

"My job is to present the club to possible investors in the best possible light because I passionately believe it's a fantastic opportunity for investment and new ownership."

Purslow also played down fears that, if there is no sale in the near future, Liverpool could become the second Premier League club to go into administration.

He added: "Liverpool Football Club is a very healthy business. We have cash, we are solvent, we have banking facilities which last beyond the end of next season and we are heavily scrutinized by the Premier League.

"To achieve our Uefa license we went through that process and they were very happy with what they saw - so I cannot conceive of a situation where Liverpool Football Club could go into administration.

"Liverpool Football Club is not going bust. We have an extremely healthy business with record revenues and we are highly profitable."

Liverpool In €20m Strike For El Matador

Reports in Italy and Germany have suggested that Liverpool Football Club are preparing a transfer bid of around €20m for Uruguayan goal predator Edison Cavani, aptly nicknamed El Matador with a move that could happen as soon as January to add forward support to that of Fernando Torres.

Although Liverpool seem to have financial problems at the moment it seems that the Anfield manager, Roy Hodgson, has been given some cash to invest in more talent he feels would boost the Kop outfit, having already bought players such as Raul Meireles and Milan Jovanovic.

The sale of ex Liverpool player Javier Mascherano to Barcelona will also have provided Hodgson with a lump sum and it looks as though the Kop boss will use it to effect in providing some firepower up front.

Cavani is currently playing his football in Napoli, on loan from Palermo, and his recent performances for Napoli have raised eyebrows on Merseyside. He is a big six footer, strong, powerful and could compliment both Liverpool Skipper Steven Gerrard and Torres up front.

With Liverpool only having picked up five points from a possible fifteen, Roy Hodgson sees the need for more goals in the Premiership and El Matador, it seems, could be the answer.

Liverpool Have Not Reached Deal To Sign Napoli Striker Edinson Cavani

The agent of Napoli striker Edinson Cavani insists his client has not agreed a deal to join Liverpool in January.

Cavani, 23, only joined the Serie A side from Palermo this summer for a fee believed to be in the region of €17 million (£14.3m) but has already been linked with a move away from Italy.

Reports suggested that Liverpool were set to were set to offer €24m (£20.3m) to secure the striker’s services, but his agent, Claudio Anelucci, has dismissed the speculation.

“It’s just fantasies because Liverpool have not reached any deal,” he told tuttomercatoweb. “Edinson is fine in Naples, he is doing well at the club and is getting on very well with everyone.

“We are only in the third round of Serie A games, there are no problems and this is not the time for the transfer market."

“Is Napoli seen as a springboard for another move? No, Naples is a destination,” insisted Anellucci.

However, Cavani’s agent refused to rule out a future move for the Uruguay international.

“If Napoli get any bids then we will decide what to do. But I do not think the club should sell Edinson,” he said.

Christian Purslow Admits Liverpool Can Barely Service Loans

Liverpool’s managing director, Christian Purslow, admitted today that the club can barely service the debts and interest which were loaded on to the club by Tom Hicks and George Gillett when they took over Liverpool in February 2007.

"Can we afford to meet [our loans, interest costs and bank charges]?" Purslow said. "Just about. Do I wish that every penny spent on interest was available to spend on players? Passionately."

In a series of strikingly frank answers to emailed questions from anxious supporters published on Liverpool’s official website, Purslow acknowledged that the "leveraged buyout" employed by Hicks and Gillett, loading their own £185m loans onto the club to repay, is a severe financial problem.

That principle has been consistently denied at Manchester United, where the chief executive, David Gill, has argued the £716m debts and £400m interest, costs and bank charges imposed by the Glazer family’s takeover are not a burden on the club. "We are highly profitable," Purslow said. "The issue is that too much of that profit is being used to service loans put into place when the club was bought."

In the first public acknowledgement of the boardroom divide at Liverpool between Hicks and Gillett and the three directors who can outvote them, Purslow said he, the chairman, Martin Broughton, and commercial director, Ian Ayre, would reject any proposal from the owners to replace the club’s £237m bank debts with further borrowings from elsewhere.

"Can you, Ian Ayre or Martin Broughton oppose the refinancing of the debt by the current owners?" one supporter asked. Purslow replied: "Any incurrence of indebtedness by Liverpool Football Club needs full board approval. The non-owner directors have made it clear that’s not what we want to see happen."

Asked whether the owners could refinance the debts and secure new borrowings against the club’s assets – the players, stadium or training ground – Purslow stated: "That would require board approval and the other members of the Board have made it clear that’s not what we want to see happen."

Throughout, however, Purslow stressed Liverpool is not close to being insolvent, saying it made record income in the year to July 2010, and will not sell players, including Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, to pay off debt.

Purslow said all the directors, including Hicks and Gillett, are committed to selling Liverpool, and a "small number of potentially interested parties," whom he declined to name, are carrying out due diligence. Deutsche Bank, rumoured to be in refinancing talks after Hicks was apparently spotted outside their New York offices, are understood not to be involved.

Purslow hinted at the power wielded by Royal Bank of Scotland, to which Liverpool owes the bulk of the £237m, when he confirmed that the board’s reorganization into its current structure, in which Hicks and Gillett can be outvoted, followed the owners’ rejection of a proposal by Rhône Group at Easter to pay £100m for 40% of the club. RBS is said to have pushed after that for the club to be sold.

Danny Wilson Delighted To Have Jamie Carragher As His Liverpool Mentor

Liverpool defender Danny Wilson is relishing the opportunity to learn from veteran defender Jamie Carragher.

Wilson was named in Roy Hodgson's side for the League Cup tie with Northampton Town on Wednesday, a game which marked his competitive debut for the Reds.

The 19-year-old has already begun to pick up crucial tips from Carragher at the training ground.

"Jamie is great and you don't always need to speak to him about things because you can just look at him during training and in matches and learn," Wilson told the club's official website.

"I have been trying to do that and watching him closely.

"You can see the experience he has got and during the games he knows exactly where he should be and he tells the other players that as well.

"He is great in training. Every session he gives it 100 per cent and that's something as a young player you need to learn because he has been doing that at the top level all of his career.

"That is something I want to try and emulate and get to the level Carra has myself one day."

The former Rangers centre-back is also enjoying working with manager Roy Hodgson, himself a summer arrival at the club, and is settling well on Merseyside, a place he sees as similar to Glasgow.

"I've been here almost two months now and it has been great. I have settled in well, I'm enjoying the training and things are going really well," Wilson added.

"Liverpool is very similar to Glasgow because the people are very friendly and make you feel welcome.

"I was out shopping the other day on a street that looked very similar to Glasgow, so I felt at home. But I wasn't too bothered when I signed for Liverpool that it was similar because I'm just happy to be here at this great club.

"The manager has been great with me. He will talk to you and tell you what he thinks you are doing well and what you are doing wrong.

"It's good for a player because you need to be told when you are doing things right and wrong.

"All of the boys here really like him and we like the ideas he is trying to implement here."

Wilson has also enjoyed a touch of banter with Liverpool and Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish, still at the club in an off-field role.

"I've seen him a couple of times at the game in the main stand and he has been great with me," he revealed.

"Kenny gives me stick because he comes from Glasgow and I'm an Edinburgh boy. He has cracked some jokes with me about how Glasgow is so much better.

"I always point out to Kenny that even though I was raised in Edinburgh, I have lived in Livingston all of my life.

"He is a Scotland legend and it is great to be able to speak to him when I get a chance.

"He has always said to me if I need anything he is always there for a chat but I have settled in well so I haven't needed that, but I'm sure if I had any problems I could go to him. That is good for me."