Allardyce urges Reds owners to give Hodgson time

23 October 2010 14:30
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce believes his Liverpool counterpart Roy Hodgson deserves time to address the Reds' on-field ills but is hoping to add to them when the sides meet at Anfield on Sunday. The Merseysiders are in turmoil on the pitch, claiming just six points from their first eight games to lie second-bottom of the Barclays Premier League at the start of the weekend's fixtures. They have also finally completed a protracted change of ownership and Allardyce insists Hodgson cannot be blamed for all Liverpool's failings so far this season. "I always thought this would be a year of transition for a club that has sold off a lot of its players and Roy has a huge task, but I didn't think they would have as few points as they have at the moment," said the Blackburn manager. "All the pressure of the takeover and the money situation has obviously affected the team. There's a healthy atmosphere in a football club that you can feel that there's something great and it's building, and there's the opposite which has created a knock to that normal Liverpool feeling. "It's one of the institutions of football made great by the late, great Bill Shankly and that has declined now, the feeling has been lost and it's a great shame, and that's what they must grasp back. "It's not just down to Roy Hodgson, it's the structure of the club as a whole, building the atmosphere back. I feel for Roy, he seems to be bearing the brunt of the blame. If he gets enough time he will get it right."

Source: PA