Ask any Liverpool fan for the name of a Liverpool legend. Many names fall into this category, Bill Shankly, Ian Rush, John Barnes and Bob Paisley for example. But the man they all think is the man they call the King. Kenny Dalglish. Not only was he their greatest player of all time, he is one of their greatest managers ever, presiding over the final days of Liverpool’s reign as the best team in England
So after the ill fated tenure Roy Hodgson suffered at Anfield, according to the kop there was only one man to get them out of this situation and back into the good old days. So new owners, New England Sports Ventures listened to the cries of the fans and Dalglish returned to the manager’s dugout at Anfield for the first time in 20 years.
Dalglish was on holiday at the time of his appointment but flew back to take his charge of his first game since his time at Newcastle
For Liverpool fans it couldn’t get any better than a trip to Old Trafford, led by Dalglish and knocking the old enemy out of the cup. This pretence lasted all of 2 minutes after Dimitar Berbatov dived in the box and Ryan Giggs put away the ensuing penalty. But this was a different Liverpool to the rest of the season. They fought tooth and nail to get back into the game, some a little harder than others. Captain and talisman Steven Gerrard received his marching orders for a two footed challenge and put Liverpool under even more pressure.
However they fought on, holding United back and despite going out of the FA Cup, it was a creditable performance and Dalglish could take many positives from this encounter. The kop was full of hope for the match at Blackpool on the Wednesday night. Nothing could stop them now Dalglish was in charge. Unfortunately Ian Holloway and DJ Campbell had other ideas. Despite taking the lead through a rejuvenated Fernando Torres, two goals from Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Campbell earned Blackpool the victory and a historic double over Liverpool , thus ruining Dalglish’s first Premiership game for 12 years.
Still looking for his first victory since returning, Dalglish would surely have been begging for a better game than he had today. But the Premiership doesn’t work like that, and the next opponent for Liverpool was Everton and the Merseyside Derby. They opened the scoring through Hodgson signing Raul Meireles but never looked comfortable. Very soon they found themselves on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline, with Sylvain Distin and Jermaine Beckford putting the toffees ahead. Dirk Kuyt got them back on level terms and the spoils were shared at Anfield, leaving Everton in 12th with Liverpool one place behind in 13th.
So is Dalglish just a stop gap to keep the ailing giant going till the end of the season. Ask the board and the man himself and that is the answer you will get. His job is to keep the seat warm for the next incumbent, and then go back to hanging around in the background. But Dalglish and Liverpool is a romance that never died. He admitted on his return, that he has wanted this job again for a while. He is also the only man for the job for Liverpool fans, he can simply do no wrong.
But what if he turns Liverpool around and guides them into Europe . The Champions League was the aim at the start of the season but right about now Liverpool fans will take the Europa League quite happily. There would be absolutely no way the owners could replace him if this happens, and Dalglish would continue as the manager and Liverpool could possibly go on from strength to strength under his stewardship.
Can Dalglish do this for his club or is he simply there because the kop wanted him and the owners were trying to appease them till the end of the season after the Hodgson debacle. The jury is still out.
No comments:
Post a Comment