Kenny Dalglish has returned as manager of Liverpool Football Club! This has prompted me to write for the first time in about six busy months. The Koppites demanded and got what they wanted; the departure of Roy Hodgson and the reinstatement of ‘King Kenny’ at the helm of the good ship Anfield.
For the sake of a city I love, I hope things work out, but I suspect that the outcome will not fulfill the expectations of those demonstrating ‘fans’. If I recall correctly, Kenny resigned following an FA Cup tie against Everton, when they lost the lead four times in a game that finished 4:4; at that time Liverpool were actually top of the league! LFC fans and others were bemused by the departure of Dalglish at that time because Liverpool seamed to be flying high!
However, Kenny was aware that he had taken his team as far as he could! This was realised in the following weeks, months and years – they lost the replay against Everton 1:0 and have not won the league since; the only ‘real’ points of achievement have been Gerard Houllier’s cup treble and Rafael Benitez’s Champions League victory.
It is my personal understanding that following Bill Shankley’s premature retirement, subsequent managers have reaped glory from the seeds he had planted within the club. By the time Dalglish took the reins lack of vision and forward planning meant that the elite status which Liverpool had enjoyed had changed into something mediocre. Dalglish recognised this but knew he could do nothing about it and therefore resigned!
Now he has returned. I predict he will rally the team and things will improve but unless he is given £100m minimum for transfers, they will struggle to get into the top five teams in the Premier League! There is a cloud over Anfield and it will take more than the appointment of an old favourite to blow them away! The look on Dalglish’s face during the 1:0 defeat in the FA Cup at Old Trafford said it all – he realised that there had been no progress from the day he resigned and in fact things are much worse! I hope he does well because a strong Liverpool is good for English football, but I suspect he will be remembered as a better player than he was a manager.















