Damien Comolli was appointed Director of Football Strategy at Liverpool by new owners, NESV, the morning after a Tottenham side he helped to build defeated the European Champions, Internazionale. Strong performances from Gareth Bale and Luka Modric helped Spurs comfortably beat the Italians, and it was Comolli who enticed Harry Redknapp’s two greatest assets to White Hart Lane.
The perception of the Frenchman’s influence at Spurs has been re-evaluated since he was released at the time of Juande Ramos’s acrimonious departure. It was generally considered that Comolli wasted large sums of money on players who were clearly not of the required standard – Gilberto, Ricardo Rocha, Hossam Ghaly etc. – but many of his signings whose qualities were not initially obvious have flourished since his departure, such as Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Kevin Prince-Boateng, now at AC Milan. What’s more, five of the starting XI who were selected for the Inter tie were signed under Comolli, and a sixth, Heurelho Gomes, would have started but for suspension.
So the original assessment of Comolli may have been inaccurate, but what can the former Saint-Etienne Sporting Director offer Liverpool? Given that the Anfield outfit have recently spent close to £60million on first-team recruits and Academy Director, Frank McParland, has revealed Liverpool’s youth system is currently bristling with promising talent, as many as seven recently called up for England Under-17s duty, what role will Comolli have in Liverpool’s development and is his presence necessary?
Contracts would be a good place to start. Liverpool have an apparent annual wage bill in the region of £120million, and a number of their older players enjoy generously extensive deals, but Comolli’s approach at Spurs dictated a policy of development and value as well as exploring untouched foreign markets. This method saw Tottenham reap a healthy profit from the sale of Dimitar Berbatov and Liverpool’s recent transfer oversight, highlighted by Xabi Alonso’s exit and Alberto Aquilani’s £17million arrival, certainly requires reassessment.
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Liverpool’s Academy is evidently moving in the right direction, and Peter Beardsley, Newcastle’s Reserves head coach, recently lavished praise on his former club’s youth set-up. McParland announced that:
“Beardsley came over to me and said that both our U18s and U16s had some fantastic players. That was really nice to hear, particularly from a man who reached the top of his profession with Liverpool and England.”
Whilst this is assuring news for Reds fans, Comolli will be able to implement a strategic approach focused on elevating Academy players in to the senior side and a long-term vision committed to meticulous scouting across every continent. It should be mentioned that under Comolli’s stewardship, Spurs were able to attract Danny Rose to White Hart Lane, whilst he was being courted by Chelsea, and lured John Bostock from Crystal Palace after Barcelona had declared an interest.
His ability to identify and lure exciting talent is undoubted, and the current Liverpool side is in desperate need of freshening up, but Comolli’s impact at Spurs wasn’t solely limited to the development of the playing staff. The former Arsenal scout actually assisted in the design of Tottenham’s new 67-acre, eleven pitch training ground in Bulls Cross which, when completed next year, will be amongst the greatest training facilities of any club in Europe. Liverpool’s Melwood Centre underwent redevelopment in 2001 under the auspices of Gerard Houllier, but remains behind Manchester United’s, Arsenal’s and Chelsea’s set-ups. The training centre will require updating and this is perhaps already a consideration Comolli is contemplating.
On his appointment, Liverpool’s new owner, John Henry, stated:
“Today’s announcement is just the first step in creating a leadership group and structure designed to develop, enhance and implement our long-term philosophy of scouting, recruitment, player development and all of the other aspects necessary to build and sustain a club able to consistently compete at the highest level in European football.”
Although Comolli’s employment initially appeared questionable, it is clear that Liverpool’s new owners are dedicated to the lasting improvement of the playing staff and academy structure, and have discovered in Comolli a strategist who has proved proficient at advancing all areas of a football club.
The article was written by Josh Sheridan for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.
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Dalglish is on the verge of bottling it again regarding Flanagan and Robinson. He has already given himself an excuse for not putting them in against City. Dalglish does not have the drive to succeed as a manager anymore. Liverpool needs a young coach like Andres Villas Boas at Porto. Liverpool are being linked with Aaron Lennon who has exactly the same physique and game as Raheem Sterling, what is going on?
haha brilliant! any liverpool supporter who think they know more about lfc than kenny isn’t a liverpool supporter.
This is the same guy (Kenny) who thinks Mavinga should be our back up left back. The king isn’t bottling it Wilson is next in line at left back if Fabio isn’t fit and Carra is likely to play right back, Robinson and Flanagan have been called up as they are next in line after Wilson. As for the king not having the drive, believing the Lennon story and then saying Sterling (0 senior appearances) is the same as Lennon (England international) shows he’s lost on these message boards he should be a comedian
The remaining 7 games of this season do not matter result wise as European football is out of reach for next season. Instead the remaining 7 games should be used instead to give serious game time to the likes of Robinson,Flanagan,Coady,Wisdom,Ngoo,Sterling and Morgan to get them blooded in the Premier League in time for next season. Relying on Aurelio at leftback and Carragher at rightback is a waste of time as it leaves Kyzgriakos and Skrtel at centreback which does not work against nippy strikers like Tevez. If Mavinga was not out on loan, I would like to have seen him been giving a start at leftback against Man City. Wayne Rooney played for Everton at 16, Giggs played for United at 17, Jack Wiltshire played Premier League football at 17 so what is the problem with using Sterling instead of wasting money buying Aaron Lennon.
If Dalglish is such a brilliant manager how come the club lost to Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and only drew with Wigan and Everton.
Because we have a very very poor team the man is not a miracle worker , he took a team from the bottom 3 to 6th in the league show some respect
In reply to Ian your argument about respect for Dalglish is weak, the league is so bad that there is only 13 points difference between 3rd last and sixth from top. He got it wrong against Blackpool,West Ham,West Brom,Wigan and Everton.
This is a reply to Kenny about my argument being week , first I agree with u about the league being very poor this year but my point is this we where in the bottom 3 when Kenny took over and we are now 6th big improvement Kenny has been in charge for 11 games and has got 20 points not great but when u put it into perspective in the same amount of games man u have 22 points Chelsea have 24 and arsenal have 23 out of these teams liverpool have by far the worse squad but have very little between them points wise . So Kenny has done a great job since coming in give him a four year contract let him build his own team and give the man the chance he deserves to put us back on top YNWA
You must be seriously kidding about giving Dalglish a 4 year contract, that is the same sort of mistake Hicks and Gillette made with Benitez in 08/09 and it cost the club 6 million to get rid of Benitez. Dalglish has shown no indication in the games so far that he knows how to blend a team. He has lost to poor teams through a total lack of tactical knowhow, he had the same problem in his first spell as manager losing to rubbish like Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup semifinal. He has not shown the winning mentality required to guide this club forward instead he prefers to act like a comedian in his silly press conferences. The club needs to be careful from now on with the money it spends in the transfer market unlike the wastefulness of the Houllier,Benitez and Hodgson eras. This crap squad should still have been good enough to beat Blackpool,West Ham,West Brom,Wigan and Everton but under Dalglish’s reign this has not happened, so your comparison with Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal does not stand up because as I have said this is a poor league from top to bottom so your stance just emphasizes the missed opportunity this season was for Liverpool.
A very astute article on why FSG have hired Damien Comolli as Director of Football. No matter what happens on the manager front, we will always have a committed professional to identify young talent in the youth teams and in the world transfer market.
I believe the manager tells Comolli, what system they prefer, and then Damien follows up with an assessment report of the personnel available and how it needs to be supplemented.
Cheers!
I agree that if Dalglish is such a brilliant manager how come the club lost to Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and only drew with Wigan and Everton.
Dalglish is not the manager for Liverpool in the future. If the Dalglish is the manager for the future, we won’t win anything under him.
As you can see that, he only can motivate the players to play good in big matches only, while not good enough to play for smaller matches, which is no use.
I would prefer younger managers.
bring back rafa he is only who can make us feel strong again
Rafa left the club in 7th place and got rid of Alonso so he is not the answer either.
What suprises me is when some players came out to say kenny is good at motivating the players while steve clarke does the tactics training. Their’s no problem with this as long as we play well and win games but is this the way it should be?
It was evident under Roy that meireless can’t play on the left yet against westbrom he played on the left making way for spearing in CM.
Lets c what happens against man city. Watch this space.
Good article but u make it out as if damien has come in and made wine out of bread. Right now we should be thanking rata for.totally modernizing the youth development he got in the the Spanish guys who made some of the great players this world haS ever seeb.
I am not saying rafa should be manager. He had his stint. But wit fsgs backing and the players we have and will get. We will be top again. give kenny a chance. long live the king. x .
Kenny Dalglish is the caretaker manager for the club until the end of the season and that should be it. Kenny is a motivator who can get his players to give 100% against the likes of Chelsea and Manutd but he has no clue when it comes to smaller teams like Blackpool, West Ham, West Brom, Wigan and Everton. Tactically, he is not much better than Roy. Playing Meireles out on the left to accommodate his pet Spearing? Kenny’s job is near finishing, which is to stabilise the club after the Hodgson mess, FSG need to bring in a younger manager in the summer.
KK is not the man to take LFC back to the top! I said that from the minute he came back! His success with REDS was because he had Paisley in his office advising him for 3years after Fagan had left!The he had Ray Harford at Blackburn doing he same thing! KK failed at Newcastle & Celtic! His best place at Anfield what he was doing before this stint as caretaker!What happened to Alonso(great pro)was a result of previous owners not providing the right funds at the right time for Benitez!come back RAFA!
Some of the BS I am reading about daglish on here makes me sick…..
The fact that we are even talking about qualifying for europe this season shows the turnaround under daglish. We have beaten the mancs and chelsea and the fact we are losing to so called “smaller” teams says more about the players than the manager.
He has done an amazing job considering the absolute crap he has had to work with….. Ngog,The greek,Jovanovic,cole,poulsen,aurelio(like him but whats the point if not fit!!) the list of mediocre players is endless…. Liverpool fans need to get a grip on reality…. Next season is the season we start to climb back up to where we should be and I would rather have King Kenny at the helm than anyone else full stop…. he deserves a season at least…. I would give him a 4 yr contract myself…
The buck stops with the manager, it is he who picks the team and sends it out on the pitch so it is Dalglish who is overall to blame for the 13 points dropped and therefore the failure to make Champions League football for next season. Liverpool need a proper manager for next season who will prioritize the 38 games in the league rather than the mickeymouse cup competitions.
I’d say anyone who thinks kenny won’t get it right is an idiot he has brought in two players and at the moment has to work with players with no creativity.kuyt Lucas as good as they may be on a good day are not consistant enough along with the usual crap rafa left.next year will be different and half the idiots on this message board will be eating humble pie this time next year when we are fighting for the title…you Reading this dave kenny etc YNWA king Kenny all the way!
This lauding of Dalglish is ridiculous, he has lost to Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and drawn with Wigan and Everton. Those 13 points would have put Liverpool into the top 4 but Dalglish screwed up. He brought Carroll in but has made no effort to get any decent crosses into him instead his tactical masterpiece is to have Carragher hoofing it up from the back. He has no made no effort to bring through the likes of Ngoo,Coady,Wisdom,Flanagan,Robinson,Morgan,Sterling etc instead he gives game time to rubbish like Joe Cole and David Ngog. The youth system is vital to the club but Dalglish dismisses it with excuses and contempt because he thinks he is bigger than the club. He was a great player but is an average manager.
You can’t be a pool supporter coming out with a statement the Kenny thinks he is bigger than the club what planet are u on ?????????
His actions about not giving any of the promising youth players a chance even in the mickeymouse Europa League proves my point. It is clear he has been getting his former teammates to try and pressurize NESV to give him the job permanently even though the club is 24 points behing United and once more will not have any Champions League football next season.
Give KENNY & the owners a chance with all this debating. We are in far better nick than when we had the 3 wise plonckers Hicks,Gillet n Hodgson. Im sure we are going in the right direction,patience is whats required now.
bring rafa back so we can be feared again. kenny is making mistakes that shouldnot be made and he said recently that he doesnt know why the players play badly in his mistakes. i would rather a tactician than a motivator as my coach because i can hire a motivator for a tactician who will win me trophies.
rather is the man!
I cannot believe some of the comments on here!! Yes, Kenny’s Liverpool have had a few poor results recently but we have also had some very creditably ones!! Chelsea away after losing Torres and United at home where we smashed the over-rated gang from the other end of the East Lancs. That game alone showed that we have the talent to challenge but unfortunately Liverpool FC are again in transition. Liverpool’s season went wrong as soon as they sacked Rafa and replaced him with Hodgson. Whatever you opinion, mine is that we should have stuck with Rafa or at least brought in Dalglish straight away instead of that clown Hodgson. It is a matter of damage limitation now, the hope we can maybe qualify for Europe and bring through some of our excellent youngsters like Suso, Coady, Morgan and Sterling. At least now that clown Hodgson has gone the threat of relegation has gone – the thought of his tenure in the Anfield hot seat sent shivers down my spine in fear for our great club.
The same Rafa you laud here is the same guy who sold Alonso and replaced him with that bum Aquilani. Benitez did a lot of good things at Liverpool but he played into Ferguson’s hands by fighting with him in the media, all that did was distract Liverpool in January 2009 and motivate United for the rest of that season. Beating United and Chelsea was enjoyable yes but they were only 2 games, the unfashionable games against the likes of Blackpool,West Ham,West Brom,Wigan and Everton were just as important but were screwed up. Their is no manager who should be immune from criticism, only God is perfect.
Sack Comolli and Dalglish for giving 2 crap players Kuyt and Lucas contracts!!!! Accepting mediocity is NOT the Liverpool way
Why do people assume a new contract means a player is staying. All it gaurantees is the maximum player value upon sale. A player with little time on his contract has a significantly smaller value, remember Micheal Owen. As for the rest on about Kenny,s time in charge your argument seems to be that he needed a 100% record to get the job full time. This season has been a strange one to say the least and to come in to a scenario created by other people and even have a comparible record to the top of the table teams is more than good enough to give Kenny the job.
Once again are you satisfied to have lost to Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and having drawn at home to Wigan and Everton? These results were incompetent.
some of these comments are laughable,what kk has done since woy left can only be seen as an improvement with the poor quality squad. in reply to kenny! are you off your rocker go back to playing champ manager ya fool. kk should be given a chance after what was looking like the worst season ive seen as an lfc supporter.
I have been a fan of LFC since the FA Cup Final of 1977 against Man Utd and I have therefore seen some great Liverpool teams and some awful teams. Dalglish has lost to Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and drew with the might of Wigan and Everton and you think he deserves praise for that. He prioritized the mickeymouse Europa League and Kelly and Agger picked up injuries against Sparta because of that. The 18 League games from January to May 22 should have been the only priority for Dalglish. The ridiculous reaction of fans to beating Man Utd and Chelsea shows how much this club has gone backwards as all it was was 3 points both times but yet the fans are happy that the club is 24 points behind United who are about to pick up Number 19 this season and Number 4 European Cup. Their is a total lack of a winning mentality at Anfield instead the club and the fans use excuses about a poor squad but yet this same poor squad earn millions in wages each year and more than the players of Wigan,West Brom,Blackpool,West Ham and Everton.
Of course what Kenny has done since Hodgson left can only be seen as an improvement but you seem to be blinded from the fact that Kenny lost to rubbish teams like Blackpool, West Ham and West Brom and only managed home draws against Everton and Wigan. As much as I enjoyed the wins over Chelsea and Manutd, the 5 games mentioned above were just as important but he obviously screwed up. Also, even in the mickeymouse Europa League, he only managed one goal and one win in 4 games against rubbish Sparta Prague and SC Braga with first team players.
I can’t believe the disrespect and ignorance of Kenny (get yourself another nick or name – Alex, perhaps), SilvaRed, DaveWestAUS and Jason. You turn at the clun and one of legends after a loss. We beet United and Chelsea and are gathering as many points as any o the top teams – and that with a squad that is not really competetive in all areas.. Get behind the team, the manger or go to Goodison to watch games. Idiots.
Listen you are not a fan of the club if you see no problem with losing to rubbish like Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and drawing with Wigan and Everton. Those 13 points dropped cost the club a place in the top four. He has no intention of bringing in the youth players because he does not know how to make it work.
Thats just complete rubbish! Kenny has brought some football back to liverpool I’ve watched this season when we haven’t even passed the ball! now at least we are passing and making triangles. Kenny is one of very few people that have won the premiership and knows whats needed to win! I would give him a 2 year contract and give him the chance to get us moving, failing that we need to move on!
Lets not get it twisted here Rafa is a fantastic manager and only ever asked to be backed! imagine the players we would have had if G+H or parry not been here!!! Alves, simao, maluda, silva, barry. Now please all you alonso fans he played fantastic his last year with us but his previous 2 were very poor I urge you to go and check out the games he played in, his passing has always been good but he lost the ball too much got hassled and lost control of his passing So please dont stand on your high horses and say Rafa got rid of him because when we tried to sell him he was average at best yet we still made 20 millon profit?
As much as it pains me to say it if kenny doesn’t do the trick I can see jose being installed. Who knows if this will happen I’m sure a lot depends if madrid want to keep him or not….
You are not a real fan if you think Kenny has brought some football back to Liverpool. Kenny is a motivator and not a tactician. He bought Carroll for 35million so he can get Carragher to hoof the ball up to him. When have you seen the team ‘passing and making triangles’? In every match Carroll has played, the team has been playing hoof ball from the back. Kenny, like Roy, is an old-fashioned manager and he is not tactically good enough to move the club forward. As much as I enjoyed watching the team beat Chelsea away and humiliating Manutd, they were just 6 points in total. The games against Blackpool, West Ham, West Brom, Everton and Wigan were just as important but Kenny lost to rubbish teams like Blackpool, West Ham and West Brom and only drew at home against Everton and Wigan. If you are happy with that then you are clearly not a real fan of Liverpool.
Do you really think that Dani Alves would have survived as a fullback in the Premiership with his defensive weaknesses. You mention also Simao, Silva and Barry, these 3 are average at best, Man City overpaid for Silva and Barry. Malouda wanted to go to Chelsea to be with his boyfriend Drogba. Alonso was the pivotal reason the club amassed 86 points in 08/09 but yet Benitez decided to screw with him and replace him with a bum like Aquilani who even Benitez grew tired of. Benitez wasted time and money on Robbie Keane also. Benitez was backed more than enough, it suited him to use the lack of money as an excuse because he knew that he was not a good enough manager to win the Premiership. Dalglish is yet another manager to be fooled by Kuyt, his goals return over a whole season is pathetic year after year considering the amount of chances he gets in games, he slows the team down when they are trying to mount attacks and his legs are clearly running out of steam fast and it is a huge mistake not selling him in the summer. NESV monitor all these sites so the fans that support keeping Kuyt will only have themselves to blame when his performances condemn the team to an even worse season in the Premier League next season.
You’ve brought up some valid points. Don’t know why Rafa was ever after Barry. Blatantly average at best. However, I don’t think Keane was a Benitez signing. I think it was Rick Parry who insisted on buying him. Regarding Dalglish, he’s done well enough but I don’t think he’s the one who’ll usher us into a new era of dominance. I want him to get the job but only for a season or two so that he can bring in the right players and rebuild the squad with the right players and then hand over the reins to someone younger and hungrier who makes his teams play the Liverpool way. Also, I have a question for you…If Kuyt is as terrible as you deem him to be, then why does he START and SCORE regularly for one of the best international teams on the planet? I agree with you on the point that he should not be a starter next season but never undermine his contribution to the club.
As a fan you should only be concerned about what he does for Liverpool not for Holland. Kuyt has the same excuses that Heskey used to use ie. he does not score many goals but does create chances for others. This is not good enough anymore. He does not give Liverpool the width they need on the righthand side and this is a situation if not sorted will cost Liverpool again next season. In Kuyt’s time at the club the club has not won anything, it makes no sense while a fee could still be got for Kuyt to keep him at the club beyond this season. His bad games for the club considerably outnumber his good games in the last 2 seasons. Did you see the World Cup Final, he had a shocking game before being substituted. There are better and faster players out there that would bring more to the table than Kuyt has done or ever will do. To say that Dalglish should be given the job for 2 years to rebuild the squad and than hand over to someone younger won’t work as that younger manager would likely get rid of most of Dalglish’s signings in order to stamp his own blueprint on the club so more transfer money would have been wasted. Robbie Keane was Benitez’s signing, the confusion arose because Benitez was annoyed that Parry would not plead his case to H&G to pay the 20 million that at that time Villa were quoting for Barry.
Excuse me. How in Christ’s name can you compare Kuyt to Heskey? Kuyt actually scores. He is more like Klose (though he’s scored tons more but that’s because he’s played at his natural position). Neither are naturally gifted but they have predatorial instincts. Kuyt manages to score in double figures from a wide position despite being a natural centre forward which is very good. He’s scored more than Young, Jarvis, Downing, N’Zogbia and Bale (in the league) this season who are supposed to be true wingers. Fair enough, 3 of them came against Utd. when he played upfront but that just reinforces the fact thay he’s got an eye for goal and we don’t have many players who do. The point is, Kuyt works well in a team where he is not expected to be a creative force. Netherlands have Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Robben, Afellay to do the creative bit. And why can’t Kenny for 2 years to rebuild the squad work? Look at Chelsea, whatever they’ve won (1 League, 2 FA Cups and deep runs into the champions league) over the last 3 seasons has been won by a team largely put together by Mourinho nearly 4 seasons back. Hiddink and Ancelotti have just carried on using Mourinho’s system with maybe a few of their own buys but the core has remained the same. The reason they’re in a rut at the moment is because their squad has overpeaked. If Kenny signs the right players who will give our formation some flexibility then there will be no reason for the new guy to buy anymore players and stamp anything. Rafa tried to stamp his own blueprint at Inter after Mourinho left but he failed miserably. If you are adamant Keane was Rafa’s disaster then ok..whatever. Have never been a Rafa lover myself.
Tell me Pedro of the few goals Kuyt has scored in the Premier League this season how many do you think have come away from home? Look how poor he was against the likes of West Ham and West Brom. Kuyt only tends to perform in the high profile games these days because he does not have the legs to do it every game these days. Your point about Chelsea and Mourinho’s squad overlooks the fact that Mourinho was replaced by continental managers while if Dalglish is replaced it would be most likely by a continental manager who would have a different mindset to Dalglish in the style of play he wants to impose.
Aldo am a young fan so most of KK achievement I read n watch clips.
Without being biased I think kenny is a motivator while steve clerk choses tactics.
We need a tactician as a manager n may b a motivator as part of d team or assistant.
KK has already won 4 titles as a boss, 3 at Liverpool and 1 at Blackburn, fact!. With our fantastic youngsters and quality signings we are going to be a very good side, Rafa left a fantastic academy set-up behind. We need 2 widemen and a left-back now to improve the 1st team, then promote some of the youngsters to the squad. Liverpool have 30 internationals under the age of 21, Rafa started bringing them in 2 years ago. Coady, Wisdom, Morgan, Flanagan….are ready now!!!
I cant belive people are slating kenny Dalglish. Since his arrival we have seen what I would call IMPROVEMENT. This improvement has come with many injuries, no attacking options on the wings and yet we still beat Man Utd and chelsea and have the 4th best form league since his arrival. Since his arrival we have had 3 signings which have helped with this improvement, they are steve clarke, suarez and carroll. Given more time we will see more improvement with more signings and a better shape to the team. If we keep on immproving and getting better then naturally you win more games and over time become more consistent. Instead of looking at certain results, people need to look at the bigger picture and aslk themselves, since kenny has come in , are we improving in all areas and the answer is yes. Until kelly and johnston got injured we where improving faster but since the injuries we have slowed up. this is natural as your only as good as the team you are able to field and if you havent got the players availible then you wont progress faster. In conclusion I think Kenny has done really well since his arrival and we now have renewed hope. We are all talking of next season and with some good signings we can challenge for the title. This would not have been possible without his intervention. Fans need to stop thinking dalglish is some miracle man who should win every game. Instead fans should understand he has liverpool’s best interes at heart and has always succeeded at liverpool as a player and manager. Instead of slating him we should be giving him the benefit of the doubt, as what people fail to understand is the simple reason whay all united fans cant stand liverpool and their claim to being the best team in the land did have a lot to do with dalglish of how he suceeded as a player and manager for this club. Like players should look at themselves if they lose when they know they should have won, fans need to look at themselves especially with regards to the respect they give Kenny Dalglish. This man has earned his respect by his contributions to this club and every fan should aknowledge this fact!!
Well said!!!!!!
Only God is perfect. Noone including Dalglish is immune from criticism. In his first tenure at manager the club’s slide from being No.1 in England took place with a failure to win back to back league titles. Kelly and Agger picked up injuries in the mickeymouse Europa League against Sparta. Dalglish failed to even give some of the promising youth players a try in the mickeymouse Europa League, that was unacceptable. Remember Dalglish’s own words that noone is bigger than the club, do you dixie222 include Dalglish in that statement. The defeats against Blackpool,West Ham and West Brom and the draws against Everton and Wigan were unacceptable, those 13 points would have put Liverpool in serious contention for automatic Champions League qualification for next season.
God is not perfect as he made Manchester United!! So that statement is flawed. As for your comment of not being bigger than the club. Well where did this come from and how did we get to the liverpool way?? well it all started with bill shankly and this ethos was passed down through the managers and players until souness arrived, who failed to live up to this ethos. Kenny Dalglish arrived back and has repeatedly made these comments as it is a signal to players present and may want to come to liverpool that no matter who you are if you do not put in 100% and become part of the team and the unit that is liverpool, then you will be sold or not bought. Torres was not in this mind frame and there are others still at the club who have not got this mentality. it is only when we get this mentality back through out the team that stability and consistency will be instilled. Dalglish knows this and it is how most teams who want to win the league have to operate. unity is strength. In my opinion you lack the ability to belive or you donot understand what kenny has achieved, forget the loses and look how the team is looking, are we improving, is the desire in the team. do they run for 90 mins and never let a team play. last night you must have seen this desire as a billion dollar team where brought to their needs by pure attrition, desire and free flowing passing football. If you do not still belive that this is a good descision then i think you should go and seek another club to support. If you cant have faith in kenny dalglish then you will never be happy supporting liverpool football club. It is quite sad really. Over the passed six months i have re-newed faith, the only time i had this much positivity was after we won the champions league final in istanbul. We need to look to next year, this will be a good year for liverpool if kenny is in charge, we will have some great wins and some puzzling loses, however i am sure it will be a great season, but that is football and we are liverpool!!!
The attributes you mention in last night’s performance were not seen in the games against Blackpool, West Ham, West Brom, Wigan and Everton. The fact of the matter is that when Dalglish took over I said in a comment on one of the Newsnow sites that if he won the last 18 games rather than concentrating on the mickeymouse Europa Cup than even winning the title was still a possibility as it would have put the club on 79 points, admittedly now 79 points would not be good enough to finish first but it would have been good enough to finish second so I think that sounds like belief does it not? Unfortunately Dalglish like the rest of the squad did not see the possibility that lay before them and instead lost 13 points and Champions League qualification. The remaining 6 games of this season should see Flanagan remaining at right back and the likes of Coady,Wisdom,Ngoo,Robinson,Morgan getting serious game time in these remaining games as the results in these games are not now important as the club will not get Champions League football and Europa League football is a waste of time. The likes of Cole,Maxi,Poulsen,Ngog and Kyzgriakos should not be included in any of the remaining 18 man squads for these 6 games. When Liverpool lost 2-0 to Everton in 1986 Dalglish made a statement telling his squad that anyone who did not believe that the club would still win the League should not turn up for training the following Monday morning, needless to say they won the double that season, it would have helped if Dalglish had issued the same sort of rallying call in January.
Tell me when Dalglish took over in January what position did you see the club finishing in and with how many points? This Premier League is a very poor standard this season and therefore your settling stance is not what a Liverpool supporter should represent. Your defence of Dalglish emphasizes that you think he is bigger than the club. Your views about next season make no mention do you believe the club can win the title next season or do you believe that the club under Dalglish can win the title next season? God is perfect, it was not he who gave United the nickname the Red Devils. You forget that Matt Busby began his career at Liverpool so the ultimate irony is that it was Liverpool who created the Man Utd model that we see today. Your settling attitude stating puzzling losses again next season indicates that you just want Dalglish as manager as a reminder of bygone glory days but are not too bothered about the club not winning the league title next season.
when kenny took over our fist challenge was to stave of relegation as we where staring that one in the face, if you cant remember that far back. Once we got a couple of wins we where then looking to qualification to europe and now some fans are saying as soon as he come in he should of won every game this is silly. I belive kenny can win the league next year as he has proved he can win against the top sides. As i said earlier on, as long as we improve our position. No matter who comes into liverpool, under your philosophy he would be out after 6 months if he did not win every game. As for puzzling loses, tell me a season where liverpool has not lost agame where you have not come away from the ground and said to your self how the hell did we lose that. I have said that every season in at least one game. Your comments of if he won the last 18 games!!! Are you mad, wh has ever took over a demoralised side where they where languishing in 16th place and gone on a 18 match unbeaten run?? How i understand it is this; over tha last couple of years we have had a poor display in the board room and a poor display on the pitch. Since the owners have come in and kenny took charge we have started to see improvement. We have to give this new era a chance, if not we will be back to selecting a manager in the summer. What manager will want to take over if we get rid of kenny after what he has achieved. Top managers will look at liverpool and think that if they dont achieve instant success they could end up with the berating that hodgson got. As i have said, look at the bigger picture and dont excpect the unbelievable. If your right and kenny is not the right choice and we have a poor season next year then i will agree with you and a new manager that comes in will not fell the kenny pressure when things go bad. However at the moment, stats suggest he is doing a good job compared with the other top sides in the division and as long as stats say he is doing a good gob and we are challenging then why would i not back him.!!
Do you accept that this league is of an extremely poor standard? You might find it mad to think that winning 18 games in a row is impossible but you forget that there was no FA Cup or League Cup to cause fixture congestion which is the usual excuse for managers when they get some bad results in the league. It was also silly of Dalglish to pay any attention to the Europa League as all that did was to have a detrimental effect on the league games for example the defeat at West Ham. Look at what Arsenal fans have got for the last six seasons with Wenger, they play lovely football but have no killer instinct and have won nothing and Wenger calls finishing second this season a success. Even from such a low base Champions League football could still have been achieved for next season but a settling mentality occurred from the manager down to the players and on to the majority of the fans that that was not possible and instead the club’s attentions should be focussed on the Europa League qualification which is not a competition that Liverpool should have anything to do with.
kenny mate, we can call the league either poor or competative? i would rather choose competative as the extra tv money that has been brought into the premiership has seen a change at the bottom. Normally by christmas you can name the teams that are going down and there is a massive gulf between the bottom half of the table and the top half. the premier league have ensured that the money spread for tv rights have had an effect. This has enabled teams who are normally 3 points in the bag against the top teams become very difficult opposition, this has made this year more competative and i want this for the future. If no english clubs where qualifying from their groups in the CL then i would agree with you that the premiership has took a dive, however in european football we are still competative unless you come up against the super team that is barcelona, who have had great financial dificulties sustaining this team. you talk of winning every game however it is really hard to do this even at liverpools height bob paisley still only managed a 56% win ratio and he was a manager who won more in such a short space of time. Everyone wants overnight success, however having success for a long time is ensuring we have a plan wher we invest in youth, have stability and above all else improve. We have this improvement and we have stability and youth has had a great chance this year. What your forgetting also is the fact kenny worked with these young lads for a long time as the ambassador for the academy, all it takes is a new manager like houllier and benitez to come in and replace this good youth with others from their own country and we start again. In conclusion i belive we have a good management team, good owners and a good support structure. to stop this and change it to get a manager in the hope that he will win every game when we know its impossible is just absolutely stupid. You talk of Arsenal finishing second as a success. Arsen wenger has spent nothing in all his time at arsenal, this has ensured the club continues to operate. I would rather have a football club that is supported by great fans than a football club that is debt ridden and only able to suvive on the hopes that the rich owner does not get bored and fans that expect instant success. Liverpool is a club that has always been loyal to its managers nad supports its players. they have always shown belief in the liverpool way. to suggest that kenny dalglish is wrong totally supports tha fact that some liverpool fans including you have changed their way. I think you need to go and watch some old liverpool videos and get back into the liverpool way. you remind me of a fan who buys a season ticket when it is going good but will sell it to his mate or friends when it is going bad. I have been a season ticket holder for 15 years and in that time i have seen bad and good but i always go. this is the difference between me and you!! It doesnt matter really as you prob dont go to the game and watch highlights on tv!! well done you!
Looks like I struck a chord with you as you had to throw a few insults in to make your answer look long. I have been a Liverpool fan since the FA Cup final of 1977 so I have seen some of the best Liverpool teams and some of the worst. You quoted Bob Paisley as a reference, Paisley always said that the league was the top priority every season and then the European Cup. Look at the groups that Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea and even Spurs came out of in the group stages of the Champions League, apart from Inter Milan managed of course by Benitez they were hardly formidable. You say the league is more competitive rather than a poorer standard however if that was the case the top four would contain teams like Everton,Bolton, etc. You forget about Arsenal that Arsene Wenger has clearly lost his nerve as a manager as he said a few seasons ago that Arsenal winning trophies was not important for him, what message does that send to his players. You still have not stated that when Dalglish took over with your 100% belief in him what final position did you expect the club to finish in on 22nd May and with how many points? Did you believe that Dalglish was right to play important players like Kelly and Agger in the mickeymouse Europa League where they sustained injuries? Do you enjoy seeing Man Utd winning number 19 this season and winning number 4 Champions League this season also or are you just satisfied with beating them in a one off game? If so if you confirm the latter point that is the same sort of looser mentality that Man Utd fans had in the 1980’s when they enjoyed the majority of victories in the Liverpool v. Man Utd games.