Is it good news that Roy might not be spending in January?

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has had a lot to say in the build up to the vital Premier League encounter against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon. Yesterday he stated that the Reds would “spring a surprise” if they beat Spurs at White Hart Lane while he also admitted that although Liverpool’s away form was bad, he was confident of winning “one or two” as the season progressed. Such quotes have infuriated Reds fans no end, as they seem to suggest that Roy has a small club mentality and that his approach to football is very negative. Sometimes these quotes can be taken out of context in regards to the question asked and maybe sometimes Roy is not the best at saying what he exactly means, but the amount of them, which don’t tally with the club the stature of Liverpool, has led to mounting concerns among Liverpool supporters. Downplaying the team’s chances like he does with the “surprise” quote about the Spurs game just sends out the wrong message. We should be going to places like White Hart Lane expecting some sort of result if we have pretensions of finishing fourth.

It is just one of a whole host of quotes whether he has either downplayed his team’s chances or championed performances that were nothing short of abject. Reds fans want to see him talking up the team and not settling for mediocrity which he seemingly continues to pedal in his statements to the media. In contrast to this, he talked up the squad’s abilities yesterday when asked whether changes needed to be made in the January transfer window:

“I have a very clear picture now of what we should and need to be doing and the squad is stronger and getting stronger. It was probably stronger than I realised at certain stages in the early part of the season when we were losing games. Hopefully that will mean we won’t need to do too much in the January transfer window because it might be nice if we can keep all of these players fit and well and add the odd player or two who can help us. I have a lot of faith in the players who are playing at the moment because in the last two or three weeks we have put in some good performances.”

Of course, some of what he says makes total sense. The squad at the start of the season was not as weak as it was purported to be in the media, and Roy has slowly learnt that the team has some good strengths. After all, it is not a totally dissimilar squad to the one that finished second only two seasons ago. However, he believes the standard of the last two or three weeks performances are good enough, a 3-0 win against a poor West Ham side at Anfield, a 2-0 away defeat to Stoke, a 1-1 draw away at Wigan who currently lie 18th, and a battling win over Chelsea. If he had just mentioned the Chelsea match as the standard of performance needed rather than the last “two or three weeks,” I would have been fine with his statement but it seems that Stoke and Wigan performances are OK too.

In this logic then, the good run of results mean he is less likely to spend in January despite there being a desperate need for as striker, a couple of wingers, a left back and a holding midfield player, in my view. Roy goes on to make some sensible comments that it all depends on the market in January. There may only be movement if replacements are needed if some fringe players leave or if there is enough money available for targets they are monitoring. However it seems that either he feels no inclination to make deals in January or NESV are not going to make much money available:

“I don’t know what is going to happen in the transfer window. We are doing a lot of work, covering a lot of matches and looking at a lot of players. We are trying to arm ourselves as much as possible with information. When push comes to shove in January none of us know as yet what transfer funds can be made available and we have no idea if there will be any guarantee the people we are watching will be available.”

Some will see it as good news that Roy will not be spending in January but I feel, no matter who is manager, at least three players are needed to make any sort of challenge for the much needed Champions League place at the end of the season.

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