Joe Cole made an immediate impact as the emphasis switched from
possible takeovers to the most emphatic of walkovers at Anfield on
Thursday night.
Uncertainty over the identity of Liverpool’s next owners may
continue, but there could be no mistaking their right to inclusion
in today’s play-off draw to win a place in the Europa League group
stage.
On target: David Ngog and Steven Gerrard got the
goals on a comfortable night for Liverpool
Leading 2-0 from last week’s first leg, the return was turned
into an exhibition, particularly from recent signing Cole.
The England and former Chelsea star was in his element on his
home debut, as he strode his new stage with an assurance that had
the Kop roaring their approval long before the end. Little wonder
he stayed behind to milk the applause from a healthy 30,000-plus
turnout.
Though delighted with every aspect of his first appearance as
Liverpool boss, Roy Hodgson admitted he would not be dipping into
any windfall from new owners this month, even if a takeover was
completed before the transfer window shut.
Following: A very, very small contingent of
Macedonians made the long journey to support their team
‘The danger in a late takeover would be that we wouldn’t really
have had a chance to research players,’ he said.
‘We are targeting players in this window that the club are
capable of buying, and if, one day, an enormous amount of money was
made available, as it was for Manchester City once upon a time and
Chelsea, that would be nice.'
‘But you still have to do a lot of background work before you
can start splashing that money around. It is not a question of how
much a player costs, it is how good he is.
Impressive: Joe Cole turned in a fine first
competitive appearance for Liverpool
‘Milan Jovanovic was signed before I came but we have brought in
Danny Wilson and Joe Cole. We still hope there will be a couple
more.’
There was enough to hearten Hodgson in the form of Cole’s
ingenuity, Daniel Pacheco’s clever prompting and Jovanovic’s
industry.
Cole featured in a succession of attacks that would have led to
a landslide win but for erratic finishing and agile keeping from
Martin Bogatinov.
Heads we win: Ngog scored for the second successive
game for the first time in his career
David Ngog had wasted a one-on-one chance when he claimed the
22nd-minute breakthrough with a header from a Cole chip.
Ngog spurned another chance laid on by Cole but made amends in
the 40th minute with a turn that bamboozled Fernando Lopes and led
to a penalty Steven Gerrard dispatched.
In the second half, overworked Bogatinov denied Cole three times
and the bar also thwarted him. Cole said: ‘The main difference (as
a Liverpool player) is that I wasn’t getting too much stick! I
really enjoyed it.’
