Damien Comolli's alliance with Roy Hodgson at Liverpool could be entente cordiale

After all, Comolli’s downfall at Tottenham Hotspur can be directly linked to his championing of Juande Ramos to replace Martin Jol. When he strayed from player recruitment, Comolli found himself in trouble and so when Ramos was fired, he too was ushered out. So, will Comolli now eventually cut across Hodgson?

But there is one rather pertinent fact that has not yet been revealed – Hodgson and Comolli have an association with the same agent, Leon Angel, the chairman of the respected and successful Base Soccer Agency. It was Angel’s company who negotiated Hodgson’s move to Liverpool in the summer and it would appear likely that there was consultation over Comolli’s switch from St Etienne this week. It is understood that the latter’s appointment had been under discussion from the moment John W Henry took control of Liverpool.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this link and, certainly, no suggestion of either impropriety or bias. But what is indisputable is that Hodgson and Comolli have, indeed, known each other for some time and are on good terms. It does not appear that the Frenchman has been installed to interfere or undermine the manager, or that it is a sign that Hodgson is not trusted.

It is also a natural appointment, in a sense, given Henry’s philosophy — he criticised Liverpool’s player recruitment and youth development earlier this week — while Comolli’s record as a talent-spotter stands up to scrutiny.

Hopefully the pair will have the right chemistry to make the partnership succeed. But Hodgson is still under pressure. Rumours of concerns over the manager are still filtering out from the dressing room although two of the club’s most powerful voices – captain Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher – remain fully behind him. Whether they, or the likes of Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina, are now regarded as Liverpool’s most important assets remains to be seen.

Incidentally, Henry recently described stories that the Spaniards had buy-out clauses in their contracts — the claim is Torres had one inserted this summer — as “destructive and unwarranted”. But he didn’t say they did not exist.

ENGLAND 2018 BID BLOW

There was no denying yesterday of the claims that England’s chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup have been “significantly harmed” by the Sunday Times probe into the bidding process. In a sense it was a statement of the obvious as clearly Fifa has taken a dim view of what the newspaper did, but with four weeks to go England are in danger of finishing third behind Russia and Spain/Portugal.

Sources yesterday conceded the bid had been damaged by recent events. The forthcoming Panorama programme on the BBC may prove to be a fatal blow. It is also understood bid chief executive Andy Anson saw the BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, this week to detail the likely implications of the documentary.

Despite this gloom, the bid team remain bullish. They hope that the forthcoming technical report into the bids will be a staging post for a late rally and that while recent events have, as one source put it, “not been helpful”, there is time to turn things around. It is hard to back such optimism.

TERRY’S WELL-BOOTED

Rio Ferdinand has launched a new line of shoes at London store Selfridges – ‘Five by Rio Ferdinand’ (didn’t he used to be a footballer?) – but there was also an interesting insight into the behaviour of one of his England team-mates.

According to Ferdinand, John Terry has a football boot fetish and while it was once claimed that David Beckham never wore the same pair of socks twice, it now appears the Chelsea captain has the same attitude to his boots.

Ferdinand said: “I probably go through three pairs a year. Some people go through boots like hot dinners. John Terry, with England, had about 30-odd pairs and he was wearing a new pair every day.” It does beg the question, however: what does Terry do with his ‘old’ boots?

CHELSEA KAKA CONNECTION

The maxim that no big transfer deals are conducted in the January window may be about to be tested by Real Madrid’s apparent resolve to move Kaka on at the next available opportunity. While both Milan clubs have been linked with a bid for the Brazilian, do not rule out Premier League interest. In that regard Chelsea, with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, would appear to hold the whip hand should they decide to meet the financial demands.