Whatever Happens, He Deserves One More Season At Liverpool
WE all hoped the Carling Cup win at the end of February would be a catalyst for Liverpool’s season; unfortunately, results since then have suggested it will stand out as a high point instead.
There’s still a chance we can add the FA Cup to our trophy room and make it a cup double, but Liverpool’s chances of a return to the Champions League appear slim to none.
It was said at the start of the season that returning to the top four was Liverpool’s minimum requirement this year, and as that looks increasingly unlikely to happen, questions are being asked of Kenny Dalglish from both the fans and the media. The fans in particular seem polarised in opinion; I’ve seen some fans suggest that Dalglish has performed as poorly as Roy Hodgson and should be dismissed, while other fans seem to believe that Dalglish can do no wrong and that no one should dare to question “The King”.
Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle. I accept that results this season have not been good enough, especially given the money that was spent during the summer. However at the same time, I appreciate Dalglish’s efforts, in particular the way he has unified the club, encouraged positive football and brought Liverpool our first trophy for six years. I don’t think he is untouchable but I do think he’s the right man for the job and that at the very least, he deserves the chance to manage the club for at least one more season. If there has been no improvement in Liverpool’s form and league position by the end of next season, it may be time for Kenny to move on… but to dismiss him before then would be unfair and unjust.
The four defeats in Liverpool’s last six games have been very frustrating, in particular the losses to QPR and Wigan. And given the sums paid out for Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, I can understand why they are under the spotlight. However after their early struggles, Downing and Carroll have improved – if they continue to improve they could be important players for Liverpool. Henderson is still young and at 26, Adam isn’t exactly old – so I hope they can both cut the mistakes out of their game. Questions will always be asked of the manager if expensive signings falter but most managers make expensive mistakes at some point in their career. Like Dalglish, his signings deserve more time to settle into the club.
It should not be forgotten that when Dalglish took over from Hodgson, the Liverpool squad was arguably the weakest it had been for quite some time. Dalglish had to show the likes of Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen and Alberto Aquilani the door; despite his recent dip in form, José Enrique is still an infinitely better option than Konchesky at left back and I’d rather see Adam and Henderson in central midfield for Liverpool than Poulsen and Aquilani.
Liverpool cut their wage bill significantly last summer and in some ways, that will make up for the financial hit we’ll take by missing out on the Champions League. Kenny won’t have as much money to spend this summer but if he and Damien Comolli can find a few bargains and keep our most important players, Liverpool can still go into next season with a strong squad. Our best signing this season was Craig Bellamy, so finding the right player is more important than the sum paid. Even if Henderson, Carroll and Downing had performed better this season I’d still say we paid more than they were worth, so hopefully with less money to spend, Dalglish and Comolli will be more careful.
The current Liverpool squad is far from perfect but our main problem this season has been a failure to convert chances. Some of that has been down to wasteful shooting but there’s no denying that bad luck has played its part too. Robin Van Persie admitted that Arsenal were lucky to win at Anfield at the start of this month and The Gunners are one of a number of teams that have been fortunate to take points away from Anfield. There isn’t much Dalglish can do about bad luck, but as one of Liverpool’s most prolific ever strikers, I daresay he knows a thing or two about chance conversion. Dalglish and Clarke have been praised both inside and out of the club for their work on the training ground and I’m sure target practice will be a high priority during pre-season training in July and August. If you look at the number of points Liverpool have dropped this season when they’ve dominated matches but failed to hit the target, it’s not inconceivable to think that a better performance in front of goal could be the difference between qualifying for the Europa League and earning a place Champions League.
I don’t think winning the FA Cup would make up for missing out on the Champions League, but nor do I think our season will have been a total disaster if we don’t win the FA Cup. When Hodgson left Liverpool, more among the fans and players was at an all time low. Dalglish still has most of the fans on his side and if there are players who have a problem with him, they’re keeping quiet about it. The respect of the dressing room is important, which goes some way to explaining why Roberto Di Matteo has improves Chelsea’s fortunes since Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed. We have improved under Dalglish and I honestly believe that the club is heading in the right direction. We’re a long way off where we want to be – a top four team challenging for the title – but Dalglish deserves more time to try and get us there. Too many managers have been dismissed too quickly and I hope King Kenny doesn’t become one of them.
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April 1st, 2012
We r 11points behind a team that two years ago were in championship and u say whatever happens he deserves another season. Who is more important here KD or LFC. things which KD did for the club and the city will never b forgotten. He was and will always b a LEGEND. So why give him another season to take the club even further down. He gave it a go, it’s not working. We have to move on. At the end of the season will ad the points and we’llc where we r he said. Well at the end of the season we will b nowhere near the teams at the top of the league but closer to the ones at the bottom. So why can’t he just do the decent thing and make way for Rafa Benitez. Is him who brought KD to the club in first place.
April 2nd, 2012
The KD fans like to say giv e him time, he deserves it, Rome was not built in a day.
Well, anyone remember Roy Hodgson? He have half a season. I am not saying he is great but is KD doing any better after spending 113 mill, which 35 mill had been given to Newcastle for Carroll which they use to built half the squad that beat us today? Takling about Newcastle, did AP have much more time than KD did at NUFC? And this is KD’s second coming so where is the learning curve? Demba Ba, Papa Cisse, Ben Arfa are did any of them spent years in the prem and the club? Did they needed to “bed” in like Carroll, Henderson, Downing, Adam the most common excuse use to explain their failures by KD and his followers?
What was the total transfer budget of NUFC for the past 1.5 season, anywhere near 113 mill?
These KD fans (do not call yourself a LFC fan if you have the interest of only 1 individual in mind) often talk about his “succes” in isolation ( i used singular because to date we have only won ONE cup, the least important by barely beating a 2nd Div team on penalties. The winner last year got relegated and now plying their trade in the 2nd tier) but often, just like their twisted hero failed to compare it with the bigger picture.
We need to be in the CL. We all knew that. The fans did, FSG did (Our Chairman did say that was the MINIMUM requirement), DC did and KD certainly did. Winning a cup or two was a bonus. 4th is a must. Why did you think FSG agreed to give KD and DC 113 mill despite them being no Sheikh or Roman and with UEFA Financial Fair play looming? Having spent most of it on a bunch of D****, the only thing the have in common is their passports, KD is compelled to play them week in week out, just to assure his ego at the expense of our club. That explains the sight of clowns like Henderson, Downing, Adams and Carroll wasting precious space week in week out. A big sin, putting your own interest ahead that of the club. Years ago Jean Tigana ex-manager of Fulham was investigated and sued by the ownwer for spending less than 20 mill on one player. JH should do the same, as KC AND DC spent 85 mill on 4 players. Yes they are that bad. Talking about Adams, if his corners alone are worth 10 mill as said by AF why did he not buy him? Only S****** like KD would fall for this.
Shelvey, Sterling, Wilson, are these youngsters not better than this Dalglish flops? Why not use them? Why drop Coates after he played well? Because of 1 mistake? How many did Henderson made in one game alone? Aqualani, he did not even get one game under KD. Are any of his replacement fit to even clean his boots? Why discriminate him? Meireless played like a man posesses last season only to be sold to our main rivals for 500k profit. Why? Because they did not have a British passport? Nothing against British but if they are not Wilshere, please keep the CLUB’S money KD. Yes LFC’s money, not KD.
As KD’s fans (again KD and not LFC fans) like to plead for patience, why did we let go of Rafa after only ONE, yes i repeat ONE bad season. This is a man who won us a European Cup (in his 1st season), an FA Cup, got us 2nd in the league, got us in the CL every season except his final one. And he did all this with NO 113 mill in 1.5 season with his MOST expensive player costing only 26 mill and with a pair of meddling cowboys. I am not saying we must get him back but talking about double standards.
KD fans, ask yourself, if KD got sacked in the morning, anyone lining up for his services even in the lower leagues or some faraway desert country? Rafa on the other hand had offers even untill today but choose to wait. Everyone else knew what we knew all along, KD is a has been and DC is at best a con man. Only KD fans choose to ignore the obvious.
FSG and JH must realize and be bold to take a real hard look at reality, stick with KD and DC and the only way to go is down. Next season if these British and French version of the cowboys pair is still around, we would truly cement our new found place, AS A MID TABLE AND A CUP TEAM.
Sack this pair now and let the new man have a early head start to the new season
April 2nd, 2012
to the writer i stopped readind your article when you said you would rather have a midfield of adam and hendo than aqua man and poulsen i can see you running out of excuses to support kD. Have you noticed people have stopped callong him kk. He is losing his honour. Poor man his ego and tactics let him down
April 3rd, 2012
So very true bro! Never called him King to begin with! I supported Rush, Barnes, Fowler and most notibly the King himself StevieG! YES, he was a great player for LFC, but re-hiring him makes him “untouchable” because of his huge fan base in LFC! No FIGURE is bigger than the club, so I support LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB, not KD’s tactics and his absolute ignorance as a football manager! This time last year, Maxi was his saving grace, but hold on…did Maxi lose those skills! NOPE! Yet he plays our current Sean Dundee, the ever worthless Jordan Henderson! I cringed at this signing the same way I thought we were brining in a much more direct LW instead of Down..Down…”cough” Downing!
Kenny, as Sir Alex (yes I said Sir, as he’s proven that), Arsene, Pep and other SMART managers, would play the BEST players available to them! Don’t get me wrong, but Carra doesn’t command the pitch anymore and he should be playing Coates a bit more, not just a one off here or there! A lot of failure has come with the injury to the ever emerging Lucas getting injured, but you’re telling me that that void couldn’t be replaced by Stevie coming back from injury??? Daglish plays Raheem for a cameo because he’s affraid that he’ll lose him in the off season, however Sterling’s cameo for 10 mins was better than Henderson’s entire season! Do you know why Oxalde-Chamberlain went to Arsenal and many young players want to go there??? Well its obvious! We don’t even have a decent youth player in our lineup because they’re not given enough chances! ie:Sterling, Wisdom, Coady and in the past Nemeth, Pacheco, Warnock etc! I’m not ranting, but as Aldo said today, “We’re a laughing stock….LFC fans are being embarrassed to discuss their own clubs because there’s no positivity…the players must look in the mirror and also look at the crest on their chest..etc…So true Aldo!. Plus we look like a “sissy” club with our coaches! NO HARDCORE DEMEANOR!! KD said Bootroom!! My arse! Should’ve brought in Phil Thompson, Alan Hansen as his assistance including Barnes and Rush to train these so called forward players! LET’S PRAY AND HOPE next season is better, or else, the embarrassment seeps within our hearts so much more! Thank goodness I live in Liverpool, because I’m sure fans outside get stick from their friends as I receive insults all the time from friends that support other clubs! Bring back the RAFAlution! and give him the money!