Soccer:Liverpool owner John W Henry declined to give any guarantees about under-fire manager Roy Hodgson's long-term future but said there were no immediate plans for change.
The American, who took over the Premier League club last month, was similarly non-committal about plans for a new ground, saying it could take another two years before the Merseyside club decided whether to build a new stadium or expand Anfield.
Asked if Hodgson, under pressure after a poor start to the season, was the right man for the job, Henry said: "He certainly is at this point. I can't make any promises about the future for anything in the organisation because two months ago I didn't know that much about English football."
Henry, whose New England Sports Ventures (NESV) also owns baseball's Boston Red Sox, added: "We tend to stay with our managers and our general managers. Roy didn't build this team so I think he has been unfairly criticised this year.
"I think it is my role at this point to support him in every way, to make sure he has the resources to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. There is no change that is imminent."
He promised investment in the squad but did not give any clue as to how much money Hodgson, at Anfield since July, might have to spend in the next transfer window. Decisions on buying players would be taken collectively by the manager, new director of football strategy Damien Comolli and the board, Henry said.
"We need to invest in this team," he said, adding that Liverpool were well placed to compete financially with the top clubs but needed "to work on the football side".
"Our long term objectives are to be able to compete with Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. We have to be able to be competitive with them at the top of the league every year," he said.
"In order to do that we have to build a long-term strategy, you can't do things for the short term. Some things were done before we came in that were stop gaps for the short term, we've got to change that."