Reds play down their European dreams

LIVERPOOL’S managing director insists the club does not need European football to break even financially — while their shirt sponsors say the Champions League is not important because most of their target audience in Asia is asleep when the matches are played.

Ian Ayre, promoted to be Liverpool’s managing director last month, admitted that failure to reach the Champions League or Europa League will hit the club in the pocket but that their commercial success meant they could cope with missing out.

Liverpool would have to finish fifth in the Premier League to guarantee European football and Ayre admitted: “There’s no hiding from the fact that if you don’t participate in European football it is a big hit to your revenues.

“At the same time a football club like Liverpool is an institution that has been around for many, many years and commercially is significantly ahead of most of its competitors, other than one [Manchester United].

“Our revenues and the way we govern our business is absolutely geared to be able to survive and prosper without European football but that’s not to say we don’t want it.”

Gavin Laws, head of corporate affairs at the club’s shirt sponsors Standard Charter, insisted they were comfortable with Liverpool’s absence from the Champions League.

He said: “The on-field performance is nice to have, but for us as a sponsor the Champions League is not that important to us because it happens at a time most of Asia is fast asleep.”

Ayre added that the US owners were not demanding instant success.

He added: “We are a football team and we want to win and John Henry said that on the first day, but he’s also been on the record as saying it’s not about winning once, it’s about getting back to winning on a consistent basis.

“It’s what the foundations of Liverpool were built on, in the 60s, 70s and 1980s.

“Will that happen again overnight? Probably not, but will we create something that has a strong foundation and the ability to continue to prosper? Absolutely.

“They are very supportive, they have done it before in baseball, and will do it again, I’m absolutely certain of that.”

Ayre refused to be drawn on caretaker manager Kenny Dalglish’s long-term future in charge but said he’d always be part of the “fabric” of Liverpool.

He added: “There’s been a lot of questions around that but there is no person at Liverpool football club that doesn’t think Kenny Dalglish is part of the fabric of the club. But as to Kenny’s long-term position, that’s between Kenny and the club.”

Dalglish, meanwhile, is prepared to be patient with record signing Andy Carroll as the striker continues to search for his first goal.

Having scored for England in Tuesday’s friendly against Ghana, in only his second appearance, the next landmark for the 22-year-old is to open his account for the team he joined from Newcastle in January.

And Dalglish admits it may take a while before Carroll and fellow transfer window arrival Luis Suarez can live up to the boast of captain Steven Gerrard that Liverpool now possess “the most feared strike-force in the league”.

The pair have played just 87 minutes together over two matches because of Carroll’s injury-delayed debut and Suarez’s ineligibility in Europe.

But even during that brief period, there have been glimpses of a potentially exciting attacking partnership.

Gerrard certainly sees the potential but his manager was less inclined to go overboard just yet.

“I don’t think he is a bad judge if he thinks Andy and Luis are a very strong strike-force,” said the Scot.

“Andy has a bit to go to get himself up to match fitness but he came in here for five and a half years, not a few months.

“As Fabio Capello said, he’s not going to get fit as quickly as an Aaron Lennon, but we’ll be patient and when he’s ready, he’s ready.

“We won’t put any timescale on it and we’ll take it as it comes.

“The 60 minutes he got for England was very helpful in his recuperation and his fight to try to get back to fitness.

“We are delighted with the two players we have. Whether they are the best or not is subjective — everyone is entitled to their opinion.”