Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has sounded a note of caution to supporters following the arrival of Joe Cole.
Reds chief keen to win fans backing
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has sounded a note of caution to the club's supporters following the arrival of Joe Cole.
Cole formally agreed a four-year deal with the Reds on Wednesday with the transfer - after the player's release from Chelsea - heralded as a coup on Merseyside.
Milan Jovanovic has also arrived at Anfield in the summer and a further addition to Hodgson's squad should come in the form of Rangers defender Danny Wilson.
Levels of optimism around a side affected by a disappointing Premier League finish last season and off-the-field wrangles have since been raised, but Hodgson urged supporters to be realistic ahead of the new campaign.
"It's not going to be an overnight thing," said the former Fulham boss of the prospect of turning the club's fortunes around. "Last season was a very disappointing season for the club in every respect, culminating in a popular manager (Rafa Benitez) leaving.
Disenchantment
"You don't change doom and gloom or disenchantment with a signing or two. I would never want to dupe the Liverpool public by telling them all is rosy now because Joe Cole has signed.
"There's a lot more work to do, a lot more players are needed and we as a football team have got to make certain that when we take to the field the supporters will see there is something different and that we are making the biggest effort we can make.
"Then we can only hope they back us like they have always backed the club in the past."
Hodgson recognises he is working against a difficult backdrop in the hot-seat but he was eager to unite the club's followers behind him.
He went on: "We have to get a good atmosphere back into the club, the Liverpool atmosphere that I've known and seen and experienced - often to my cost - over the years.
"We have to get away from the feeling that everything's not right and the club is going downhill because that isn't the case at all."
Trying desperately
Controversial co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett remain in charge at Liverpool despite the club being up for sale and Hodgson is hopeful new investment will be forthcoming soon.
But in the preceding period, the 62-year-old wants to focus on football matters with Europa League qualifying and the start of the Premier League looming large.
Hodgson added: "We know the situation with the owners; the club is for sale and we are trying desperately for the right people to come in and buy the club.
"In the meantime we are trying our level best to do what we can out here on the training field and on the field of play to get results.
"I can only hope that the people who watch us are aware of the situation, that they have their feet on the ground like we've got our feet on the ground and they give us credit if we deserve any for the efforts we make on the field."
