Roy Hodgson Targets British Players

Roy Hodgson has revealed British players will be a top priority when it comes to bolstering Liverpool's squad this summer.

 From this season, new Barclays Premier League rules mean clubs must name a 25-man squad at the end of each transfer window, which includes at least eight 'home-grown' players.

Home-grown players are defined as having been registered for at least three seasons at an England or Welsh club between the ages of 16 and 21.

"We would be foolish not to be aware of the importance of home-grown players with the way UEFA and Premier League rules are going," said the Reds new boss. "Otherwise we're going to struggle to get our squad numbers together.

"I think the club have been trying to do that already with younger players like Jonjo Shelvey and Raheem Sterling but it takes time for them to come through so we might have to go into the transfer market."

He added: "We have furnished the World Cup with more players than any other team but looking at the squad at Melwood, it did seem very small in terms of seniors."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/hodgson-targets-british-talent

So this either means he's going to inherit some of the Fulham players he had from last year, or H&G have "promised" him some money, but we all know how that ends up. Either way, I expect changes to the team under Roy's management.

Joe Cole please?

Joe Cole please?

I think that Roy will try for Cole. But it will be difficult to persuade him to leave London. On the other hand, if he fancies a change and Roy can make him feel wanted maybe the chance to play alongside Torres and Gerrard etc would appeal to Cole. There are 7/8 dead wood players we could offload the wage bill. Numbers wise we would be worse off but quality wise we would be no worse off if these players were sold. Maybe try for Stephen Warnock and Ashley Young as we need a LB and LW. Insua struggled last season and Jack Robinson is still developing. I could see cole playing off Torres. But first and foremost Hodgson has to offload the deadwood to raise some money to spend and then he can look at what will be realistic. Whoever he signs though, they have to be better than what we have and not just for cover. This may mean the building is slower, but I would rather have that than buy 3/4 average players who do not improve us.

Buying British is extremely expensive and many of the better British players are out of our price range.

Buying British is extremely expensive and many of the better British players are out of our price range.

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I agree mate, as I said, Hodgson has to offload the dead wood first and put that together with whatever else he has in the kitty ( if anything ) and go from there. I think the priority is a left back and a striker. Cole on a free, if we could get him would be ideal, but competition will be strong. I think Roy has to try and get him none the less.

I think roy should be looking at our reserves and youth and give them a shout.

Not that much dead wood IMO.

But we do need some better players into the squad.

And that probably means British players.

Ashely young & Joe Cole would be very good for our squad.

Bar Joe Cole we can't afford any good English players.

Personally I'd use the money from the sale of Benoyoun to fund his wage bill for the time being, but I agree Roys only other issue would be whether or not he wants to move from the area his family are in. If hes willing to sacrifice that Roy is more than able to show him some 'Love' and guidance.

Other than that I don't really see many English players available to us, they're price tags being one main negative.

Not that much dead wood IMO.

But we do need some better players into the squad.

And that probably means British player

Ashely young & Joe Cole would be very good for our squad.

Not that much dead wood IMO.

But we do need some better players into the squad.

And that probably means British players.

Ashely young & Joe Cole would be very good for our squad.

Well I would consider Degen, Plessis, El Zhar, Lucas, Riera, Kyrgiakos and Kuyt as dead weight if I were the manager. Not all will agree but thats what its about. But we have the 3rd highest wage bill and a massive squad which clearly is not good enough. So I think quality and not quantity is what we need. So I expect to see the exit door pretty much open all summer to be honest. We do have some good lads in the reserves, but these have to be identified by the managment and then have confidence installed in them. As I have previously stated I would like to see these younger players ( Shelvey, Kelly, Pacheco etc ) blending with the more experienced players we have and a young vibrant team playing good football can evolve with the added experience along with them.

Personally I don't think we'll get Cole. As said earlier I think he would prefer to stay in London where he's always been, and Spurs would be the perfect option for him. British players are expensive to buy, but we desperately need a left mid and a left back.

Personally I don't think we'll get Cole. As said earlier I think he would prefer to stay in London where he's always been, and Spurs would be the perfect option for him. British players are expensive to buy, but we desperately need a left mid and a left back.

I agree in that I do not think we will get cole but who knows. But what we cannot do is buy average players just to give us cover. We have to buy players who are better than what we have and if that means we only buy 2 players and the budget is gone then so be it. For too long we have shipped one lot of rubbish out and replaced them with a similar number of rubbish. We have to build slowly and patience will be needed.

This is all well and good, but there really isn't that many options that are good enough for us.

This is all well and good, but there really isn't that many options that are good enough for us.

I agree so we have to go after the few that are and if we cannot get them, we do not buy. We use our academy and when someone pops up who is better and availible then we go into the market. There is no point in buying for buyings sake because you go nowhere.

Well I've heard on sky sports that Hodgson is thinking about moves for Stephen Taylor from Newcastle and Ashley Young from Villa. Only speculation of course, but it goes with the topic of homegrown players.

Thanks for the neg whoever gave it me. You must lead interesting and happy lives!! Yeah home grown is more important now than ever. We do not have the financial muscle but we do have a 10m academy that has not produced many 1st team players despite good performances in the youth cup etc. We need to work much harder in this aspect and get more players through. It will increase the competition at Kirkby once they see lads going to melwood and getting in the squad. I feel Kenny and Roy have to work together on this and I believe they will. I would like Ashley Young, but I think if we go in for him it will mean that we have sold a big player as he will cost 20m+ imo. But I do think that Roy will go down the british route.

Well I would consider Degen, Plessis, El Zhar, Lucas, Riera, Kyrgiakos and Kuyt as dead weight if I were the manager. Not all will agree but thats what its about. But we have the 3rd highest wage bill and a massive squad which clearly is not good enough. So I think quality and not quantity is what we need. So I expect to see the exit door pretty much open all summer to be honest. We do have some good lads in the reserves, but these have to be identified by the managment and then have confidence installed in them. As I have previously stated I would like to see these younger players ( Shelvey, Kelly, Pacheco etc ) blending with the more experienced players we have and a young vibrant team playing good football can evolve with the added experience along with them.

Considering that Man City, Man United & Chelsea are all known to have a higher waged bill than us and, depending on your source , so do Arsenal.  Tottenham & Aston Villa have also closed the gap in wages as well.  That leaves us 5th for starters.  As for 'deadwood' - as you put it, though I disagree with some pf your choices -getting rid of it's fine as  long as you have adequate cover/replacements coming through.  Getting rid of them without adequate cover is foolhardy at best.

I'm only a fan of buying British if they are good enough, at the moment I think there is a shortage of talent in England. I think the World Cup showed this.

I hope Roy buys the best players for Liverpool whether they are British or where ever they are from.

There are a few good young british players out there like Bale, Agbonlahor and Young

There are a few good young british players out there like Bale, Agbonlahor and Young

There are good british players but you certainly pay through the nose for them

But the thing is, apparently "British" players only count as English and Welsh players. What if Northern Ireland or Scotland produced a great player but under the new rules, we couldn't sign him because he would bring our number of foreign players over the mark?

Considering that Man City, Man United & Chelsea are all known to have a higher waged bill than us and, depending on your source , so do Arsenal.  Tottenham & Aston Villa have also closed the gap in wages as well.  That leaves us 5th for starters.  As for 'deadwood' - as you put it, though I disagree with some pf your choices -getting rid of it's fine as  long as you have adequate cover/replacements coming through.  Getting rid of them without adequate cover is foolhardy at best.

My source. Click on the red writing under the video as the video tells you nothing!! BBC News - Warning over Premier League wages  its a bbc wages list for the season we came 2nd. This puts us 3rd in the wages league although I am sure citeh will be catching us now. We have a massive squad that needs trimming. As for the players I named it is down to opinion isnt it and I respect your opinion. Which of those I named would you keep. Degan Plessis and El Zhar offer nothing, Lucas is nowhere near Liverpool standard, Riera just moans in the press and offers nothing on the pitch and Kuyt' 2nd touch is always a tackle. I like Dirk, but he is a striker. If Hodgson does not want to play him as a striker we may as well cash in as Maxi or babel can play on the right or even johnson. If Hodgson wants to play him upfront and work on his game, his first touch for example then keep him and strenghen somewhere else.

Im fairly ignorant to the rule to be honest what does it say, heard a journalist saying there would be big problems enforcing any quota of players in the Italian league due to EU rules.

Going to very interesting to see how it is enforced because I think there maybe a problem if it goes through the European Courts.