Liverpool's spring in the step ahead of friendly

AMAZING the difference 48 frantic hours can make; a deal here, a statement of intent there, all of a sudden Liverpool's world seems a happier place.

If the sight of Joe Cole breezing into Liverpool's team hotel here on Monday evening was good enough for some, things got better again yesterday morning when, several hundred miles away at Melwood, Steven Gerrard reaffirmed his commitment to the club.

When you throw in that a deal with Rangers for Danny Wilson, Scotland's Young Player of the Year, has almost been completed, it was easy to see why Roy Hodgson was in high spirits, as he oversaw another intensive training session in Bad Ragaz.

Hodgson, however, is not the type of character who will become giddy or find himself making outlandish statements on the back of such events. Far from it. You don't spend 34 years as a football manager, after all, without developing a sense of perspective.

With that in mind, then, the comments Hodgson made when asked about Cole being a signing to lift the disenchantment - his word - that had been hanging over the club were of great significance and, most importantly, they will strike a chord with all Reds.

While there is a certain momentum building in the early days of his reign, that Tom Hicks and George Gillett - who has been a spectator at every training session - still hold the keys to the club means optimism must be kept in check.

Nobody is aware of this more than Hodgson; he, of course, knows better than most the financial constraints that are in place at Anfield but, equally, is refusing to grumble and is simply concentrating on the task of keeping smiles on faces permanently.

"What will lift the supporters is if we get new investment," said Hodgson. "I know supporters are very anxious for that. We can't ever deny it. All the time we are in our current situation in terms of investment, the supporters are going to be sceptical.

"You can talk until you are blue in the face but it won't make any difference. The owners are not popular with the fans; the fans want new owners, they want new investment. The gloom, if there is any, is never really going to lift until that day comes.

"We may have to work for a little bit longer in this situation but I am hoping that the quality of the performances we are going to give with the team we put out will cheer our supporters. We want to show them our club is very much alive and kicking and who knows?

"In the future with new investment and a chance to really compete on that front, we'll be back in our traditional place. In the meantime, I can only hope that our supporters have got their feet on the ground and the heads around the situation, as I and the players have.

"We can't turn back the clock and we can't magic up a different situation. We work and live in the situation we are in. We will work very hard in that situation. Now let's hope things will change even more for the better in the future.

"In the meantime, we will use what resources we have got and do the best job we can. Knowing Liverpool supporters through the years, the large percentage of them will appreciate that and give us credit."

Impressive words. But, then again, everything Hodgson has done in the few weeks he has been at the club has encouraged; authoritative and enthusiastic on the training pitch, confident and assured when facing the media, realistic in his aims.

Following the abandonment of Saturday's scheduled friendly with Al Hilal, Hodgson will finally take charge of his first game as manager this evening in the lakeside town of Zug against FC Grasshopper, whom he numbers among his former employers.

Yet this will not be an emotional reunion; Hodgson is blunt when he talks about his time at that club; if he enjoyed great success with Neuchatel Xamax and the Swiss national team, the opposite was true in Zurich between 1999 and 2000 following a brief stint with Inter Milan.

"It was a mistake to go to Grasshoppers," Hodgson reflected. "I don't have good memories of it at all. It was one of the (few) mistakes I made in my career. It was always a mistake to go back to somewhere where I had good success with Xamax and the national team.

"I don't have any particularly good feeling for the club but I'm not blaming them totally for that. It was the wrong time for me to be there as well. Luckily it didn't cost me too many months as I was able to abort it and move on.

"I'm looking forward to it as a game and a chance to see these people play. But I can't for the life of me see it as an important game or my first official game. With respect, the players we are working with here is going to be very different to the one that play against Arsenal.

"Very few if any of the players here will play in that game. I can't really get that excited, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the boys do. But I'm not building it up as something special."

That will mean chances for players such as Martin Kelly, Stephen Darby, David Amoo and Laurie Dalla Valle but missing from the line-up will be World Cup players Sotirios Kyrgiakos and new boy Milan Jovanovic, who do not yet have the sufficient fitness for 90 minutes.

"The sports science people don't want us to use them," said Hodgson. "They are slightly ahead of Jamie, Stevie, Glen (Johnson) and (Daniel) Agger who are back at Melwood, but they are nowhere near the others. I'm advised to be very cautious with them."

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.