Soccer:Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is keen to embrace the arrival of new director of football strategy Damien Comolli as the club's new owners make plans for a revamped "leadership group". The former Tottenham sporting director has been recruited from St Etienne to overhaul the Reds' transfer policy and scouting activities.
Hodgson insists the impact of the Frenchman’s arrival will be positive as it will allow him to concentrate on coaching the first team and claims it creates a working environment he is more than comfortable with.
“I feel very good about it. It is something the owners were very keen to put in place,” he said. “It is a strategy which I think makes sense, especially for our club at this moment in time because we are in a period of transition with new owners.
“They want a management structure in place which they can identify with, from American or European models and not necessarily an archetypal, if somewhat outdated, English model. The days of the dictator-type English manager have long since passed when everything went through one man and no one dared even buy a paper clip without that person’s approval.
“There are people who dip into the roles which Damien will take over but I think it is important we have someone who will co-ordinate things in that area. He will certainly take a lot of the minor things that you have to deal with, allowing me to concentrate on the team management and he will help us bring the team forward.
“As far as I am concerned it does not have any effect on my role as manager; I shall be selecting the team and working with the team and making all the decisions which revolve around the team and the matches we play.
“There is no impact for me as such on my daily work, where he will help the club and help me is in the matter of player recruitment.”
Further appointments at the top end of the club are expected but as a former Inter Milan manager, Hodgson is not worried by that at all.
“In Europe I am very used to having a situation where you work alongside people like that,” he added. “I think we can only profit from it as a club. In most clubs it is a question of titles but when I worked at Fulham I worked very closely with (chief executive) Alistair Mackintosh.
“He didn’t have the title of sporting director but the way we worked together I would have called him that.”
Hodgson has this week held more meetings with Henry, who will be at tomorrow’s Europa League Group K tie against Napoli. Defender Glen Johnson is set to make his return after missing the last four matches with a thigh problem.
Hodgson has promised to field a strong side — although he refused to say whether Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would play — having earned a creditable goalless draw in Italy a fortnight ago.
However, he is definitely missing Dirk Kuyt (ankle), Fabio Aurelio (groin) and Joe Cole (hamstring), while Daniel Agger has travelled to London to see a specialist about his calf injury. Ryan Babel (rib) has trained but second-choice goalkeeper Brad Jones is absent tomorrow.