Hodgson Out, Dalglish In
So, Liverpool’s NESV owners have moved swiftly and discreetly and without any media furore and have replaced Roy Hodgson with Kenny Dalglish as Manager. The appointment of Kenny Dalglish is an interesting one.
We’d nearly all been calling for better results/decisions from the previous manager Hodgson but it just wasn’t going to happen, was it! Of course, in the Liverpool way, we shouldn’t wish for knee-jerk change, for change sake, and any Manager should be given the time and the funds/backing to do his job. So, having Hodgson leave after only half a season is not pretty for the club. However, we all knew as well that when Hodgson was appointed, that he was a ‘stop-gap’ solution, a post-Benitez manager to ‘steady’ the sinking ship. As it transpired, he added to the speed of that sinking ship and failed to ignite the players and inspire confidence. Even what he said didn’t help, never mind the decisions he made and he certainly lost the fans even if he didn’t lose the dressing room per se.
So now, Kenny Dalglish is back at the helm at Liverpool, who we know well, or at least reasonably well. He was brought back into the club after a near-10 year hiatus out of football by Benitez with the aim of revamping the youth set-up. I’m not sure how that is going exactly. But perhaps more importantly, after Benitez left a year later, wasn’t Kenny involved in selecting Hodgson? He was one of the main decision makers, well, advisers anyway, from what I heard at the time, and Broughton et al took his advice on board, trusted his judgement, and hired Hodgson for better or for worse. Now we know it was closer to the ‘for worse’ end. Maybe there wasn’t much else to choose from but Kenny did ‘select’ Hodgson so in a small way is linked to our current drastic situation.
So I hope Kenny’s appointment can ignite the players. I am sure just the mention of his legendary name will help the likes of Gerrard and perhaps Torres and a few others. But it wont magically turn all this team into ‘world beaters’ by any shape of the imagination. Although a re-ignited Gerrard and Torres will carry us a long way. I just hope Dalglish selects Gerrard in the advanced midfield role and doesn’t do any fanny-ing around. His selections will be scrutinised closely.
Kenny’s track record is not that great post-Blackburn. He did very well with us in the late 80′s, albeit inheriting a good club and system but Hillsborough took a personal toll on him perhaps. And Blackburn had the money clout to buy him success there, not guaranteed of course. The stint at Newcastle was less successful and his ‘selection’ of Barnes at Celtic and how that panned out meant that he bowed out in 2000 in somewhat ignominy.
I for one don’t think Dalglish will be a long-term appointment. I could be wrong, but for me he seems to have been out of football at the top management level for just too long – 10 years. Of course he may be brilliant in the background for all I know, I havent heard enough of him to judge and all we can do is judge him over his first 10 matches and beyond. Plus, if he is given some funds in this transfer window, which players he gets in, which players he leaves out, and what system he plays and how the players are put together in the ‘jigsaw’.
Time will tell as they say, all will be revealed in the forthcoming weeks. The match v Man Utd may be in fact an easy start for Kenny as the players will be up for that match anyway and doubly so now, and
we are not expected to win. Being the underdog in football is always much easier.
Welcome ‘back’ Kenny ….. lets see what you can do. 6th place would be nice and 4th even nicer! The Europa League is there for the taking as well …. I just hope for him this doesnt all go horribly wrong.
My fingers are crossed ….
Redspider
