Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson maintains that he does not have any worries over his future at the club and will carry on striving to turn things around.
The 63-year-old is under increasing pressure to deliver better results as his side languish in mid-table and are suffering from a woeful away record.
The Reds, who were in the relegation zone earlier this season, have won just one and have lost six away from Anfield despite their home form picking up.
New owner John Henry described the results as "unacceptable" in a fan phone-in on LFCTV, which has been seen as a thinly-veiled threat to Hodgson.
The former Fulham boss has bemoaned his team's lack of consistency and poor performances, and was in agreement that things needed to improve following their 3-1 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday.
However, he took a hard stance over questions about his job security, stating that he had no worries that New England Sports Ventures would keep faith in him.
"I don't have any fears, worries or concerns," he said.
"But if you put it to me 'You feel there is no chance whatsoever of you getting sacked' then I would be in a minority of one in that respect.
"It happened to Chris Hughton, it happened to Sam Allardyce, Martin O'Neill resigned - we are all in that situation.
"But as someone who prides himself as a professional, who knows his job and is comfortable with doing his job, then you would excuse me for not going down the route you want me to go down in terms of 'Who can we get rid of next?'.
"Because, basically speaking, unless there is a major inflow of cash into the club and the team is going to be changed from one moment to the next then whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.
"The owners have made it perfectly clear they are in it for the long term and they are going to be patient; they realise it is going to take time.
"They realise we can't turn things around overnight and they also realize that the team I am working with is not the team I put together.
Magnitude
"You don't turn things around overnight and they are aware of the magnitude of the task but they are very focused on what needs to be done and I am convinced they will help me get it done."
Hodgson was speaking at a press conference ahead of what will be an ultimately meaningless visit of Utrecht in the Europa League due to his team having already qualifying for the next stage.
However, he became increasingly frustrated with the line of questioning about his job, and whilst accepting it was a part of the game, conceded that there was not much else he could say about the matter.
"Once again I come here to do a European press conference, playing Utrecht when we are top of the table, and I find myself answering questions about owners and whether I am safe - it is a sad situation," he added.
"I came here to do a European press conference, which I am forced to do for UEFA, when really and truly I am doing a phone-in with you
"That is the nature of the game, it seems to be the major preoccupation of the mass media because they want to see change.
"It doesn't bother me because I can't do more than I am doing, I can't work harder, I can't work better.
"I have great confidence in my ability, I don't think there is any reason not to have.
"I know the players are working as hard as they can to win matches for Liverpool and therefore me as manager.
"But if you have situations like last night when you have phone-ins to the owners you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know how that is going to go because we are not top of the league.
"Had we been top of the league it might have been different but we are not, we are ninth and we are Liverpool Football Club.
"You don't have to be Albert Einstein to work out more people will be unhappy with that than are happy with it."
No comments:
Post a Comment