Source: Team_Talk
Sam urges Reds owners to back Hodgson
lackburn manager Sam Allardyce believes his Liverpool counterpart Roy Hodgson deserves time to address the Reds' on-field ills.[LNB] The Merseysiders are in turmoil on the pitch, claiming just six points from their first eight games to lie second-bottom of the Premier League at the start of the weekend's fixtures, with Rovers next up at Anfield on Sunday.[LNB]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.[LNB]"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.[LNB]"All the pressure of the takeover and the money situation has obviously affected the team.[LNB]"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.[LNB]"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.[LNB]"It's not just down to Roy Hodgson, it's the structure of the club as a whole, building the atmosphere back.[LNB]"I feel for Roy, he seems to be bearing the brunt of the blame. If he gets enough time he will get it right."[LNB]Blackburn have takeover uncertainties themselves but Allardyce hopes these will soon be resolved and will tell his players not miss their chance to get a result at Liverpool.[LNB]Allardyce said: "It's a good time to be playing them even though they have got new owners which will dampen down all the off-the-field distractions the players have had.[LNB]"But at the moment Liverpool are below us and it's the first time in many, many years of managing in the Barclays Premier League where I have gone there when they have been below my team.[LNB]"We have to take advantage of any lack of confidence that the Liverpool players may have."[LNB]A number of parties have expressed interest in a takeover of Blackburn but it appears an Indian conglomerate, the VH Group, have pushed ahead and could finalise a deal within weeks.
