Hodgson shrugs off Liverpool takeover talk

10 September 2010 16:00

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson insists continual speculation about the future ownership of the club is having no effect on him or his players.

An October 6 deadline is looming when owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett's £237million-plus loan with the Royal Bank of Scotland is due for refinancing or repayment. It emerged on Thursday night RBS have placed the debt with its restructuring team - where all their "toxic" assets are handled - and with the club no nearer being taken over the chances of the Americans finding a solution which avoids a messy and potentially-complicated forced sale is unlikely.

"I am kept abreast but I don't keep abreast [of the current situation]," he said. "The people dealing with it, who have a tough job on their hands, are kind enough to keep me informed if anything is happening."

He added: "But I have a job to do here and frankly it doesn't affect us that deeply in our day-to-day work; the players come and train, we work hard, we get paid.

"It is a major issue for the club I know but it is something we at Melwood can't actually do anything about and I can only, like the rest of the club, wait and hope a solution is found which everyone finds satisfactory.

"I can't say it is a distraction and I don't think I've seen any distraction with any of the work on the field or the games we have played.

"It is an area where we at ground level can do nothing other than keep playing, keep doing our best and hoping the solution is found which everyone at the club finds acceptable."

Source: PA