SUNDAY 12
	Roy shows Torres support Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson was quick to defend Fernando Torres following Sunday's goalless draw with Birmingham. Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool player Jamie Redknapp was critical of the striker's performance as the Reds failed to find the back of the net at St Andrew's. But Hodgson insists he was satisfied with the Spanish World Cup winner's display, and has tipped the 26-year-old to improve as the season goes on. (Sky Sports) Ferguson: Pepe was a different class Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson believes Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina was all that stood between Blues and three points on Sunday. Reina made a series of fantastic saves as the Premier League match finished 0-0 at St Andrew's. "The goalkeeper was outstanding," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "He made three or four great saves. I think we deserved to win the game, but the goalkeeper was outstanding." (TEAMtalk)   Inspired Reina denies Blues Pepe Reina was in inspired form as Liverpool held Birmingham to a goalless stalemate at St Andrew's. The Spaniard produced three top-class pieces of goal-keeping in the first period to keep his side in the game, first denying Cameron Jerome's goal-bound header with a great reaction save in the 23rd minute. He then punched away Sebastian Larsson's cross ahead of the advancing Jerome, before making another fine reaction save to deny Craig Gardner's header. Liverpool improved after the break, but Birmingham's unmarked Scott Dann headed the best chance over the bar as the game ended as a stalemate. On this evidence, new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has plenty of work to do to make the Merseysiders a force to be reckoned with. (Sky Sports)  Konchesky starts v Brum Paul Konchesky will make his Liverpool debut in this afternoon's Barclays Premier League clash at Birmingham City - listen live online from 3.55pm. The 29-year-old starts at left-back at St Andrews, while Maxi Rodriguez replaces the injured Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres lead the attack. Raul Meireles has been named as a substitute. Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Konchesky, Maxi, Poulsen, Lucas, Jovanovic, Gerrard, Torres. Subs: Jones, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Pacheco, Meireles, Ngog, Babel. (LFC Official Website) Hodgson issues title warning Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson admits that the club will need new owners before they can challenge for the Premier League title again. Hodgson thinks his squad can compete, but to get to the level of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United he feels changes have to be made. The Anfield club are on the market and American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are anxious to push through a sale. Hodgson is hoping that things in the boardroom will soon be finalised. "I think we will have a decent season, but whether we are really able to get our act together and take the next big step forward? That might depend on the ownership issue," he said. (Sky Sports) Mascherano hooked in Barcelona debut defeat Javier Mascherano suffered defeat and was hooked at halftime on his Barcelona debut. The former Liverpool midfielder was part of a Barca midfield that was over-run by Hercules as they minnows shocked the champs 2-0. Mascherano was replaced at half-time by Xavi as Barca looked to adopt a more attacking approach in the second period, but Guardiola was pleased with his new player. "Mascherano played really well - I just felt we needed to change things," he said. Mascherano, meanwhile, was disappointed to lose his first match as a Barca player. "It was a great surprise to start the match and my team-mates helped me a lot. I felt comfortable, but it's a bitter feeling to lose. There's not much more I can say - Hercules played a virtually perfect game," he said after the match. (tribalfootball.com)
	SATURDAY 11
	Young Reds silence the Rams Rodolfo Borrell's U18s continued their impressive start to the season as they came from behind to beat Derby County 3-2 in a five-goal thriller at the Academy on Saturday. After making an impressive first start for the reserves at Newcastle on Tuesday and scoring on his debut for England U19s last week, Michael Ngoo led the line alongside Hungarian Krisztian Adorjan. Liverpool U18s: Jamie Stephens, Matthew McGiveron, Brad Smith, Stephen Sama, Matthew Regan, Conor Coady, Raheem Sterling, Craig Roddan, Michael Ngoo, Krisztian Adorjan (Josh Sumner 70), Toni Brito E Silva (Tom Walsh 84). Unused subs: Peter Aylmer, Tyrell Belford, Adam Morgan. (LFC Official Website) Defender seals loan deal Liverpool have confirmed Daniel Ayala has joined Hull City on loan. The 19-year-old centre-back has signed a one-month deal with the Championship side. Ayala moved to Anfield from Sevilla in August 2007 and made his first-team debut as a substitute on the opening day of the 2009-10 season at Tottenham Hotspur. The talented Spaniard has notched up a further four appearances for the senior side and featured heavily during Liverpool's pre-season preparations this summer. (LFC Official Website) Hodgson sets Babel ultimatum Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has told Ryan Babel he has until January to resurrect his career at the club. The Reds boss admitted the Holland international came close to leaving the Merseysiders on transfer deadline day but an adequate replacement - rumoured to be West Ham's Carlton Cole - could not be found in time. Babel has since come out and spoken of his desire to kick-start his career after holding talks with the Liverpool manager. And Hodgson has confirmed he will give the 23-year-old forward four months to finally prove his worth at Anfield, or face the prospect of being moved on in next transfer window. (Sky Sports) Roy: Why Babel didn't leave LFC The Dutchman was even allowed to speak to other clubs - but only on the understanding that a deal was dependent on Liverpool signing another striker. Hodgson explained: "When there were offers for him we were prepared for him to go down and speak to those clubs, but we made it perfectly clear that other things would have to slot into place for us to be able to allow him to go. "Those things did not slot into place. "You've got to remember that for two years here he hasn't had much of a look-in. "He was brought into the club with a lot of pomp and ceremony after winning the European U21 Championships and was being chased by clubs all over Europe at the time. "Unfortunately he hasn't fulfilled that potential or had chance to." Hodgson has been delighted with Babel's application in training over the last few weeks - and has challenged the 23-year-old to now make a go of things in L4. He said: "I've got to say that I'm more than happy to work with Ryan Babel and it's up to him to convince me. No doubt if he hasn't done that by January he'll have to accept that maybe we'll be in that transfer market for a centre-forward once again, but at least he's got this period of time. "He's working very hard and is very determined to take this chance he's got." (LFC Official Website) Roy rejects England job talk Roy Hodgson today insisted he has no desire to take over the England job once Fabio Capello steps down in 2012. The Italian's announcement earlier this week that he will leave the FA after the next European Championships has prompted speculation over who will be his successor. Hodgson's name has been mentioned in some sections of the media - but the man himself has no desire to be considered. He told reporters: "My job is at Liverpool Football Club and I'm very happy with my job. "I would like to make it very clear that I intend to make no comments whatsoever on the England national team other than to congratulate them on their last two matches. "I'm really looking forward to my job here, so I don't understand the questions and have no comment to make." (LFC Official Website) Roy ponders £10m Dynamo raid Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is said to be eyeing a bid for Dynamo Kiev forward Artem Milevskiy in the January transfer window. The 25-year-old has only just agreed a three-year contract extension with Dynamo but reports suggest he has a £10million release clause and Hodgson hopes to lure the Ukraine international in the new year. (Clubcall.com)  Redknapp and Hodgson lead chase for "Turkish Delight" Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson are set to battle Atletico Madrid in the race to sign Galatasaray playmaker Arda Turan. Turan has been perennially linked with a move to the North London pair of Arsenal and Spurs, as well as Merseyside club Liverpool. Nevertheless, the player’s agent informed Sport.co.uk during the summer that the Gunners had pulled out of the race to sign the Galatasaray captain leaving Spurs boss Redknapp, reds manager Hodgson and Atletico Madrid as the frontrunners for the Turkish internationals signature. (Sport.co.uk)
	FRIDAY 10
	Hodgson rubbishes Van der Vaart claims Roy Hodgson prepares for BirminghamLiverpool boss Roy Hodgson has rejected claims by Rafael van der Vaart that he tried to sign the Dutch midfielder, insisting such stories are 'very irritating'. Van der Vaart joined the Reds' Champions League-chasing rivals Tottenham on transfer deadline day in a deal worth £8 million. The former Real Madrid man later claimed on Sky Sports News: "Liverpool were interested, Bayern were never interested, but you have to have a good feeling and this manager gave me a good feeling and I am really happy to be going to Spurs." Hodgson told a very different story on Friday though, revealing he was offered Van der Vaart by the player's agent. And, having already captured Joe Cole, the Liverpool boss saw no need to added another 'in the hole' type of attacker. "No, that's not true," Hodgson said of Van der Vaart's claim on the official Liverpool website. "Those stories can get very irritating. "An agent rings you up to ask if you want to sign Van der Vaart, you say 'no' and then the next minute you're one of the clubs that want to sign him. "I apologise to Van der Vaart if his agent gave him another story. I think he's a very good player, but he's not the profile of the player we were looking for. "When it came up I said, 'no, we have players in his position.'" (ESPN Soccernet) Hodgson eyes Kuyt return Roy Hodgson is hopeful striker Dirk Kuyt will be back sooner rather than later after damaging his shoulder on international duty. The Liverpool hit-man sustained the injury while attempting an overhead kick in training for Holland and is expected to miss the next month's action. Hodgson's sides have suffered a spate of shoulder injuries recently and he is surprised to have collected two identical knocks during his short time at Liverpool. Kuyt is now expected to miss the next six weeks of action, although Hodgson is crossing his fingers he is back sooner. "You can never really tell with these ACL injuries, sometimes they can be much quicker," said Hodgson. "It's strange that I've suffered from ACL injuries four times in the past year, two at Fulham with Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, and now Pepe Reina and Dirk Kuyt. "To come across this type of injury four times over the period of a year is unfortunate. "Bobby, Pepe and Andy recovered quickly so I think Dirk will too, but whether it will take four weeks more or less is difficult for the conditioning people to say. They can only give an estimate." (Sky Sports) Roy challenges Reds strikers Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has challenged Ryan Babel and David Ngog to prove they are good enough to provide back-up for Fernando Torres. The 62-year-old had wanted to bring in another forward last month to help ease the burden on Torres over the entire season. However, he admits there were no players which "excited" him enough to spend money late on in the transfer window - when additional cash became available after Javier Mascherano's £20million move to Barcelona three days before the deadline. (TEAMtalk) Reds recruits ready to face Blues Paul Konchesky and Raul Meireles are set to make their first appearances in the Liverpool squad in Sunday's Premier League clash at Birmingham. Left-back Konchesky is likely to start, having had over a week to settle in after completing his transfer deadline day move from Fulham but Meireles may have to settle for a place on the bench having been away with Portugal. Forward Dirk Kuyt is out with a shoulder injury sustained while away with Holland while Joe Cole serves the final game of his three-match suspension. Striker David Ngog has recovered from hamstring injury but defender Fabio Aurelio still has a niggling Achilles tendon problem. Liverpool (from): Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Konchesky, Lucas, Poulsen, Rodriguez, Gerrard, Jovanovic, Torres, Jones, Meireles, Pacheco, Babel, Ngog, Krygiakos. (TEAMtalk) Babel looking to repay Boss's faith Ryan Babel wants to repay Roy Hodgson for the faith shown in him. Hodgson has backed Babel since arriving at Anfield and has told the Dutchman he will get more opportunities in his favoured position as a striker. Babel now wants to show Hodgson he was right to back him by finally realising his potential. "It's clear when a new manager comes in, everyone's chances are equal again with others. It is positive for me and maybe everybody who was in a difficult situation," he said. "I hope this is a chance for me to establish myself, but the first test for me is to work hard in every training session and try to show what I can do. In the end, it is the manager's decision if he uses me or not." (LFC Online) Ngog delight at SC award David Ngog is today celebrating after being named the first ever winner of the Standard Chartered LFC Player of the Month award. The French striker has made a blistering start to 2010-11, scoring crucial goals against Rabotnicki and Arsenal in August to take his tally so far to four. Well over 5,000 took part in the poll, with 35 per cent selecting Ngog as he continues to come of age in a red shirt. "It's extra special that it's voted by the fans," the 22-year-old told Liverpoolfc.tv. "They are always there for us and I want to thank them. "It's a really good thing for me but the most important thing is that the team is in good shape and we're working together. Hopefully we have a good future. "It was a really good goal and it was important because it was our first game against a good team." Every month you'll get the chance to vote for the Standard Chartered Player of the Month - and the winner will be presented with our brand new trophy courtesy of our main club sponsor. (LFC Official Website) Gerrard backs Gerard Steven Gerrard has welcomed Gerard Houllier's return to the Premiership. The former Reds boss made a return to English football when he was appointed Aston Villa boss on Wednesday evening. Steven Gerrard was quick to back the appointment and is sure Houllier will be a success. "I've still got quite a close relationship with Gerard. He gave me my chance at the top level and I certainly learnt an awful lot from him," said the skipper. "Aston Villa have got themselves a very good manager and I am not surprised Gerard has come back into the Premier League. I know how much he loves football. He has been desperate to get back involved in the Premier League so it is no surprise to me. "It has been no surprise to me that Villa have been interested in him because he is a top manager. "We had a magnificent year in 2001. He came in and had to change an awful lot of things at Liverpool and that is what he is good at. "When he comes in, he knows what he wants, and he knows how to get a winning team. That showed by the five trophies we won under him." (LFC Online) Thor Zakariassen ©