Roy Hodgson may still have mountains to climb in his first summer and first season at Liverpool, but rarely will clearing a molehill have meant so much - Rory Smith

Comment & analysis round-up

Quote of the day: Im a Barca fan, Im a socio, as is my grandfather, my uncle, my cousin. I have felt the colours from a young age, Im Catalan. However, Im the captain of Arsenal, Im a Gunner, and I have become a player there and matured as a person. He [Wenger] is a second father for me, the most important person in my life after my father. He has behaved really well with me and taken me in like a son. I am part of his family. He doesnt want me to leave. And in my last conversation with him in London, it was one of the most difficult moments I have experienced. I ended up very upset. - Cesc Fabregas.

Runner-up: He is having to stay at a club where he no longer wants to be for another year. I wonder how intelligent it is keeping a player who doesnt want to be there. After seven years of great service, I thought Arsenal could have granted him his dream move. Cesc has given everything to Arsenal to try to win a trophy but they havent matched his expectations. I wont say he is in a prison, as we know how privileged we are as football players. But after how clear Cesc made it that he wanted to be in Barcelona, I thought they would have granted him that. - Carles Puyol.

Spurs Shopping Quote of the Day: Who made it public that we made an offer [for Scott Parker]? You can make an offer for a player if you want to. You can make an offer for anybody. Im sure the chairman must have got some encouragement or he wouldnt have made an offer. So Im not sure the full story has been told about that one. The chairman [Daniel Levy] wouldnt have made an offer unless he thought there was a chance that they [West Ham] wanted to do something I like Craig Bellamy but I dont know if they would sell him. The chairman deals with all the transfers. He asks me what I want and I tell him. I dont kn! ow where hes at with Bellamy, if anywhere. - Harry Redknapp.

The Big Quote of the Day: Celtic is a big name, its a big community. Im happy to play for one of the best clubs in the world and Im not thinking about other things. Its a big thing for me a dream come true. All last week during the discussions I couldnt sleep. I just wanted to be where I am now. Now I just want one more thing to see the fans happy. - Beram Kayal.

Todays overview: While transfer dominate the backpages as the summer rumbles on, meatier issues include assessments of Liverpools win in the Europa League, discussion over Mark Hughes becoming Fulhams new boss, and Robinhos unhappy return to Eastlands.

Loving Liverpool: Its all smiles on Merseyside after Liverpool got their new season off to a winning start in the Europa League.

Louise Taylor reported, granted Rabotnicki were unexpectedly obliging hosts but with his, ableit at times understandably ring rusty, visitors playing with real width and disciplined intelligence tellingly, no one was booked the early signs are Hodgsons unfolding Anfield story could be well worth sticking with.

Looking to temper any over-the-top Scouse reactions was Rory Smith. Roy Hodgson may still have mountains to climb in his first summer and first season at Liverpool, but rarely will clearing a molehill have meant so much. Victory against the unheralded FK Rabotnicki may not enter Anfields rich folklore. All that matters, though, is that the 62-year-olds reign did not begin with an entry in its annals of shame.

Ian Herbert picked out certain Liverpool performances for praise. New signing Milan Jovanavic showed promise, 21-year-old Jay Spearing was commanding in the first game of what will be a critical season for him and 19-year-old David Amoo on t! he right showed he will be some player if he develops a delivery to match his pace. The match-winner, though, was David Ngog, one of the young players developed under Benitez whom the club should have less haste to be rid of than they are showing with others who remind them of the previous era.

Instead of talking about the football directly, tight-fisted Colin Young opted to make a sarcastic comment on Liverpools decision to broadcast the game on pay-per-view. David Ngog was the unlikely hero last night, scoring the first two goals of Roy Hodgsons reign to silence the hostile fanatics in Macedonia. And assuming they paid their 4.99 for the privilege to watch the game on Primetime, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Joe Cole will have watched a very satisfactory performance from Liverpools young second string, which means they could even afford to sit out this weeks second leg.

Sparkys Cottage: The final vacancy in the Premier League was filled on Thursday as Mark Hughes took over at Fulham and already the new boss was said to be plotted his revamp of the Londoners.

David Hytner penned Mark Hughes will attempt to scupper Tottenham Hotspurs move for Craig Bellamy after he was confirmed as Fulhams new manger. Hughes has signed a two-year deal as Roy Hodgsons successor at Craven Cottage and he will make Bellamy, the Manchester City striker, one of his top transfer targets [Harry] Redknapp also wants the City defender Micah Richards.

Jonathan Liew spreads Sparkys transfer-target net much wider. A number of transfers had been put on hold by the limbo at Fulham. They have reached an agreement with Aston Villa over a 2million move for midfielder Steve Sidwell, while Arsenal want to sign goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Paul Konchesky may well follow Hodgson to Liverpool, providing Hughes can secure a replacement before the start of the season likely to be Aston Villas Nicky Shorey. A phone call to his old employers at Eastlands may be Hughess first move. There are deals t! o be had among Citys disaffected, and Hughes is expected to be handed a transfer budget of around 15million. Roque Santa Cruz could make Fulham the third club at which he has worked under Hughes, along with Stephen Ireland, neglected by the current regime. Craig Bellamy would be the most ambitious move of all, as Fulham would have to stave off interest from Tottenham.

Away from the thought of splashing the cash, Ian Herbert believes Hughes has had to take a step down moving to the Cottage. His new salary will be worth just over 2m a year but Mark Hughes knows full well that he will immediately have to swallow his pride as he sets about rebuilding his managerial reputation on the banks of the Thames Fulham takes him back to the more predictable managers life.

Fulham go to court: The Suns Mark Irwine splashes with news of legal proceedings. Fulham are sensationally taking legal action against Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards. They are accusing him of being involved in Peter Crouchs 9million move from Portsmouth to Spurs. SunSport understands the Premier League have carried out their own internal investigation into Fulhams amazing allegations and are satisfied Richards has done nothing wrong.

Robinho Returns: The headline news surrounding loads-a-money Manchester City is that Robinho is on his way back from Brazil.

Daniel Taylor: Manchester Citys talks with Santos about the future of Robinho have broken down and the player is preparing to return to England and the deeply unsatisfactory prospect of beginning the season at a club where he knows he is not wanted and is profoundly unhappy Robinho may now have little option but to return to Manchester, a city he never embraced, and set about trying to rebuild his relationship with Roberto Mancini, someone he has accused of managing with a lack of ability.

Predicting the worst! was Ian Herbert. Manchester City may be facing the prospect of paying Robinho, the most expensive footballer in the history of the English game, to sit in the stands as the player prepares to head back to pre-season training against his wishes.

Transfer Round-Up: In the no-sh*t story-of-the-day its widely reported that David Beckham has no interest in leaving LA Galaxy and has had no contact with West Ham United.

Elsewhere, Celtics Aiden McGeady is still a target for Spartak Moscow, Arsenal are again linked with Mark Schwarzer, Per Mertesacker and Phil Jagielka, while Everton have received encouragement that Landon Donovan could return to Goodison Park soon.

The Daily Mail spread a shedload of gossip this Friday.

Benfica are reportedly playing hardball over Chelseas 20m deal for Ramires, Mario Balotelli is said to complete his 30m move to Eastlands today, Blackburns Zurab Khizanishvili is heading to Russian outfit Anzhi, Real Madrid had dropped their interest in Chelsea target David Luiz, Citys Javier Garrido is on the verge of moving to Lazio for 2.5m, and Utrecht right back Ronnie Stam is close to agreeing terms with Wigan.

The Sun link Arsenal with PSVs Ibrahim Afellay, Phil Jagielka is rumored to be a Spurs target, and Portsmouth want Matt Derbyshire from Olympiakos in a swap deal with Kevin Prince Boateng.

Over in The Mirror its reported that Tottenham would swap Jermaine Jenas, Robbie Keane and David Bentley for Aston Villas Ashley Young, Aston Villa and Manchester City are set to agree on 28m in the James Milner deal, and Luke Young is holding out for a move to Fulham after surprisingly rejecting Liverpool.

Lastly, The Star claim Arsenal face being priced out of a move for Italy keeper Federico Marchetti unless Cagliari drop their 12.5m asking price.

The Smut: The Daily Mail lead t! he way w ith pictures of David and Victoria Beckham in London, while also printing pictures of Cristiano Ronaldos latest love-interest Irina Shayk.

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