IT was a sad day for Liverpool FC on Wednesday when the club announced that they had parted company with manager Kenny Dalglish. Though most Reds fans I’ve spoken to backed Dalglish and believe he deserved more time, the fans that were against him were very vocal in their views that Dalglish was not the right man for the job.
However, given how popular King Kenny is, I think it’s fair to say that everyone associated with Liverpool was desperate to see him succeed as manager.
The fact that he failed in the eyes of Fenway Sports Group is a bitter pill to swallow, regardless of whether or not you wanted Kenny in charge. Dalglish was appointed Liverpool manager 18 months ago with unfinished business and as a result of his dismissal, his work will forever remain incomplete.
The statement released on the Liverpool website confirming Kenny’s departure gave little away; John Henry and Tom Werner talked more about how much respect they had for Dalglish than about their reasons for dismissing him. Henry even called Dalglish “the heart and soul of the club” and so by removing Dalglish from the job, FSG have ensured that Reds fans will be watching them closely, awaiting their next move.
It is not just Dalglish that needs replacing; in addition to finding a new manager, Liverpool need to appoint a new CEO, a Director of Football and a Director of Communications. There is also the “stadium issue” to resolve, whether that means redeveloping Anfield or building a new ground on Stanley Park. Right now Liverpool fans will be most interested in seeing who FSG appoint to build on Kenny’s work at the club, but once a new manager is in place, fans will want to see Liverpool’s other vacant positions being filled and will expect an update on what’s happening with the stadium.
Despite Liverpool reaching two cup finals this season and winning one of them, FSG’s priority is a return to the Champion League. I expect most Reds fans would prefer a return to the top four over winning the FA or Carling Cup, but for that to happen, our squad needs to be improved. Over the last two transfer windows, FSG have approved over £110m in transfer spending. Had they kept Dalglish in charge, it seems unlikely they would have allowed him to spend much on new players, but in appointing a new manager they may feel compelled to give him more money to make the changes he deems necessary.
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Only time will tell, especially if FSG want a new Director of Football to assist the new manager in the transfer market. Either way, Henry and Werner will have to act quickly as the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham have already started planning for next season.
Most Liverpool fans remain grateful to FSG for ousting George Gillett and Tom Hicks, wiping out £200m of debt in the process. That will buy Henry and Werner time, but in dismissing Dalglish so soon after parting company with Damien Comolli and Ian Cotton, FSG have displayed a ruthless streak. If their ruthlessness brings success, they will be praised, but if it does not then things could get ugly.
The appointment of Liverpool’s next manager is crucial moment in FSG’s running of the club and fans who did not want to see Dalglish go will expect to see an instant improvement from his replacement. If Liverpool struggle next season, it won’t be long before the fans chant for Dalglish as they did when Roy Hodgson was in charge. When FSG bought Liverpool, they promised to restore the club to its former glory. If they do not make the appointments and signings to bring that glory, it will only be a matter of time until the fans turn on Henry and Werner.
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AS A LIFELONG LIVERPOOL FAN ITS SAD TO SEE THE DECLINE OF OUR ONCE GREAT AND FEARED CLUB, I THINK FSG HAVE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION 14 DEFEATS IN A SEASON IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A CONTINENTAL MANAGER TAKE THE REIGNS-ANYBODY REMEMBER THE FRANK RIJKARD STYLE OF PLAY AT BARCELONA? OR THE BILBAO TEAM UNDER BIELSA? MORE GOOD YOUNG MANAGERS WE SHOULD PURSUE ARE LAUDRUP,VILAS BOAS,JOCHEM LOWW,DIDIER DESCHAMPS. THE PAST IS OVER LETS LIVE IN THE FUTURE.
Please stop shouting.
Well said Tony!!! I’d go for AVB myself but funnily enough I trust F.S.G. whoever they pick.
The way in which JH snubbed KD at Wembley was unforgivable so i`m sure KD knew then that it was Kenny not Gaffer,how short are business men`s memories,Kenny,the ONLY man who could have pulled everyone together and did,thus starting the ball rolling for the FSG `Franchise`and even though he was sharpening his knife he could have done the decent thing and left it till later,THAT tells me a lot about what we as a club and fans are in for.
IMO Rafa is the man,i dont think letting Martinez cut his teeth with a BIG club plus Europa League will work,Rijkard has been out of big time football and i think Deschamps is staying put,we need a good man with a cool head to restore us in the PL and Europe and Rafa will do for me. YNWA
About time we had owners with the right business know-how to restruct a failing giant … Yes I had hoped KK would have been successful, but to think 8th and 17 points off 4th to be acceptable and worthy of another season, that worries me, we should not be a mid-table team, too many LFC blog sites are lost in emotion and disconnected from reality. As the season progressed we were getting worse, this is not the basis for success and in these situations emotion can only play a small part. We all expected to be around Newcastles finishing position, they were still fighting for 4th with a couple of games to go … we couldn’t get beyond 8th … sorry KK, watched you play, you are a hero to me but it just wasn’t working.
Ruthless maybe but tough love is sometimes required, not lets get behind the new LFC revolution and stop all this media chatter looking to divide the supporters ..
We have a CL place to fight for next season not to mention 2x domestic cups and some european silverware, and yes I want to win all the cups!
Forward is the only motion to success, backwards keeps us wishing and watching others 🙂
Again, well said Paul. Most Pool fans are lost in the past while Chelsea and City leave us for dust.
Chasing success? More like chasing the 40m you get from CL qualification. What if the next manager finishes 5th or 6th and wins an FA cup or even Europa cup, does he get sacked too? FSG have set a dangerous precedent, win a trophy but finish out of the top 4 and you get the sack. Disgraceful, this is not the Liverpool way.
If KK had finished 5th or 6th and only a few points of 4th, we wouldn’t be having dicussions, he’d still be in a job… he didn’t so lets deal with facts. 8th and 17 points off 4th, thats why we are looking for a new manager.
The Liverpool way is why we havent one the league since 1990… the Manu united way is why theyve had so much success along with arsenal. The owners saw this and are changing the model in which our club is being run and they are doing a brilliant job. Kenny had to go if it was anyone els this discussion wouldnt take place it would be a no brainer sacking him. Added to that his tactics have been poor i actually think he bought decent players and they will start showing some of that quality next season but tactics when things were going bad have been awful along with his awful ways of dealing with press confrences
FSG’s ‘policy’ is to experiment until they get it right, they were the ones who appointed Comolli. This may not ever work out at all.
This is the precedent they have set, this will lead to a revolving door at anfield for years to come. Its simple for FSG, they want the CL Money or else youre out. Do you think they will care whether you finish 5th or 8th? Trophies clearly mean nothing to them.
Exactly, if Liverpool had finished 5th or 6th and had missed out by only a handful of points or goal-difference, we’d be able to see definite signs of progress but the excuse ‘well… we played nice football at times’ just isn’t a sign of progress.
I think the American owners are in England just for profit making.Let see how much they will spend to change the Liverpool team.Infact from my view nearly all the players should be changed if they rearly love the club and success.
I’m never going to get them 5 minutes back!!!!
lets live in the future , thank god we have owners like we have now , we will grow from this season thanks to kenny steering us back on course.he has earnt approx £5million quid won a trophy been to an fa cup final and got us back into europe , he can hold his head up high. he is still the king and always will be.since fsg took over our turnover has increased 25% we have two of the biggest shirt sponsorships in world football , these companies dont sponsor mid table teams we finished 14 points from relegation.before the season started 4th was priority for the owners , kenny stated last week that he would rather have a trophy than finish 4th ,what a kisck in the teeth for john henry ,enough said.these owners will bring success. YNWA
I think some of the comments here are very unhelof pful. We love and support LFC but we have not sunk over 300 million of our own money. Therefore, to judge FSG and say they are here for the money is very rude. They could have invested that money in any other project but they chose LFC. We should be grateful and we should not rush to judge them.
Kenny is a legend but he is a legend who didn’t deliver what was agreed when over 100 million was made available to him to build a winning squad. Now, if it was your money and you had an agreement that such an investment will deliver the required return and that turned out to be not true, would you keep quite and give some more money to the same person? Would you overlook the under-achievement and allow the person to be in charge of your investment? (LFC is an investment to FSG).
I think most people are being reckless in
PLEASE NO TO…..
Roberto Martinez
Rafa Benitez
Brendan Rodgers
Fabio Capello
Andre Villas-Boas
Pep Guardiola
Didier Deschamps
Jurgen Klopp
FRANK RIJKAARD as Manager and LUIS VAN GAAL as Director Of Football.
If liverpool appoint middle class manager, only middle class player will join liverpool.
BUT if liverpool appoint SUPERP manager, sure all the SUPERP and fantastic players will join liverpool.
Before this, liverpool already try managers from:
FRANCE (Gerard Houllier).
SPAIN: (Rafa Benitez).
ENGLANG: (Roy Hodgson).
SCOTLAND: Kenny Dalglish.
So now go for Holland Management… because Holland always got talen, that is Frank Rijkaard who bring Barcelona to the Top & also Luis Van Gaal that win 2 La Liga title in 3 season with Barcelona.
Both also like to play Attacking Game. So i hope liverpool will appoint FRANK RIJKAARD as Manager and LUIS VAN GAAL as Director Of Football.
And Give Them Money To SIGN:
Higuain (Striker)
Ibrahim Affaley (Right Winger)
Eden Hazard (Playmaker)
Kagawa (Left Winger)
Lucas Biglia (Defensive Midfielder)
I think most people are being reckless in their comments and giving in to emotions. I love and adore Kenny but if he is unwilling to take a different role and didn’t deliver as a manager, he has to go for the good of the club.
I hope people would not insist Stevie G play every game when he is 40, just because we loveand him?
This dig at FSG should stop and we should focus on the future. If we want to win trophies, we need to compete and attract players, advertisers, stadium deals, TV slots, good managers, etc. Those who say ‘money’ is not important should remember this!
ian ayre is the new rick parry FSG are whoppers they acked kenny rome wasnt built in a day! even man city waited! and i sit here watching chelsea take the field 9 years since roman took over and i hope his wait goes on bring kenny back or get pep
Any manager won’t get far with this team of players. We need a manager who is highly redpected in europe, then maybe we can persuade a couple of top players to join
Traitor Torres and Valiant Meriles just won the Champions’ League because they walked away from the management of Queen Kenny!
Those who stayed like Maxi and Kuyt are currently offended and seeking exit options till he was sacked!!
That should be instructive I guess!
FSG were the ones who appointed Commoli and sacked him unceremoniously after 18 months so he couldnt even attend the FA cup final, how classy. They blamed Comolli for inflated transfer fees. Why should FSG be trusted, they aint got a clue. They are experimenting, playing russian roulette and hoping something works. Not impressed at all!
Another lost in the past!? Football is now business. Just ask Chelsea and City!
1.FSG bought the club at a hugely reduced price so clearing the debt was not a massive financial ‘present’ to LFC.
2.FSG appointed Comolli and look how that worked out! I’d love to know what their next genius plan is.
3.they will make a profit when they eventually sell up.
4.they know nothing about football, sacking a goalkeeping coach before an FA cup final and letting several staff members go was real genius wasnt it.
In my view they are literally playing russian roulette with our club, chopping & changing things until they stumble on a winning formula.(which may never happen). Be careful what you wish for.
Its a little too early to judge the owners. we don’t have the financial muscles to compete with City et al, so they’re trying to find a strategy that will favour us now and in the future. Comolli was brought in to supervise Hodgson after his terrible signings. Turns out Kenny couldn’t spend well also.
The truth is that Kenny’s sacking isn’t just because of the league form (which was terrible as we all know). His bad media relations, lack of tactical acumen to change matches, poor response to bad displays (always blaming everything on ”a wee bit of luck”), and woefulness in the transfer market all lead to his sacking. FSG wouldn’t say that in order to avoid fans reaction and media backlash for both Kenny and the club. So they blamed it on league position which was the best case of a ‘win win’ for all parties.
Kenny reunited the club and fans. He improved the style of play and bred harmony in the dressing room. Despite all this, it is a fact that the cons outnumber (and very much outweigh) the pros.
Its okay to retain our identity but we’ve gotta move forward.
King Kenny had to go. I know it and somewhere deep down …beyond all the sentiments, love and passion, YOU know it too.
Football is a sort of Culture where you must use more your intelligence Less Diplomacy try to understand
They took away Hodgson because he’s really bad. Now they say Kenny is bad too. I bet the next manager who comes in will be bad too. Because of the way FSG handled everything, especially Kenny’s sacking, whoever comes in as a manager will first have to deal with uncertainties: lose the first few matches, then fans will chant Kenny’s name, then FSG will call for a meeting, and then he’ll be shaking in his trackpants. It will get worse when fans start wearing white T-shirts to matches, with Kenny’s face in front and on the back, King Kenny 7. Whoever becomes the new Manager, I wish him good luck. He’ll need a lot of it to handle FSG.
Don’t worry about the fans – they’ll still be singing Kenny’s name all the way. From where I come from, we don’t ditch a hero, even if he’s old and out. That’s why I support Liverpool the club, the legends, and not the owners.