Big day: Kenny
Dalglish (centre) with director of football Damien Comolli (left)
and director of football Ian Ayre speak after the
announcement
Kenny Dalglish has
placed Liverpool's
rivals on red alert after he revealed his burning ambition is
'build something special' at Anfield once
again.
After enjoying remarkable
success since returning to Liverpool as caretaker manager in
January, Dalglish and his assistant Steve Clarke signed the
three-year contracts they had, in truth, earned many months
ago.
According to Damien Comolli,
Liverpool's director of football, the decision to make Dalglish's
position permanent was a 'no-brainer' following a sequence of
results that have propelled the club to the brink of Europa League
qualification. Beating Tottenham at home on Sunday would secure
fifth place.
Fenway Sports Group,
Liverpool's American owners, will throw their weight behind an
ambitious summer recruitment policy and Dalglish believes the
foundations are in place to plot an assault on the clubs that have
outstripped them since the league title last resided at Anfield in
1990.
'John (W Henry) and Tom
(Werner) have taken their time to assess what was best for the
football club and bring in the people they wanted to take the club
forward,' said Dalglish, who told Liverpool's players of his news
immediately after training on Thursday morning.
'They are both winners, but
understand what the supporters want from a Liverpool side and the
way we should go about things. This is a unique football club and
I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help build something
special here again.
'We're not going to shout our
mouths off and say, ''We're going to win this'' and ''We're going
to finish here''. We are just going to work and do the best we
possibly can, because a lot of people care an awful lot about this
club. We've got to prove we feel the same way.'
One of the main things
Dalglish has done since returning is lift the murk that hung over
Anfield following the disintegration of Rafa Benitez's reign, the
threat of financial armageddon brought on by the failings of
previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and the calamities of
Roy Hodgson.
Most significantly, however,
he has got this squad playing 'The Liverpool Way' - passing, moving
and pressing the opposition into submission, as was the case at
Fulham on Monday.
'Very early on we knew Kenny
was the right person,' said Comolli. 'Along with Steve, we knew we
had the right coaching staff behind Kenny and we wanted to make
sure that he had the right support, the players and the right
basis. I talked in January about playing with style and attacking
football. That is exactly what we have seen. I don't think there is
anyone better than Kenny to say what the identity of the club is
about. We've seen exactly what we thought we would see.
'That's why we looked nowhere
else and spoke to nobody. I was quite surprised there was so little
speculation and nobody linked with the job. The reason was that it
was a no-brainer.'
If Dalglish looked a haunted
soul when he resigned in February 1991, the man in the smart shirt
and trousers who jokingly complained that he will now have to give
away his golf clubs clearly has a renewed zest for life.
Some questioned in January why
Dalglish wanted to put his reputation on the line again more than a
decade after his last job, but the first day he stood on the
pitches at Melwood with Clarke, Sammy Lee and the players answered
that.
'I never had any doubt in my
mind that once I got in, it would be something that I'd enjoy
again,' he explained. 'So I don't think it ever crossed my mind
that the decisive factor ( in getting the job permanently) was
going to be anything other than results.
'The best way to get results
is to get great people working with you and that's what we did. You
identify your faults and bring in someone that's better than you at
what you can't do. Stevie and Sammy are much better at what they do
than what I could do for them. I'm absolutely delighted to be given
the opportunity to help the club and push it forwards.'
When he was first appointed in
June 1985, Dalglish went on to win three league titles and two FA
Cups but the task now is considerably different, given the change
in football's landscape. There is, however, one thing still the
same as it was 26 years ago - the will to win.
'You feel very humbled and
proud to be asked back,' added Dalglish. 'The place is much more
stable than it was before, the supporters have got a smile on their
faces and we want to keep the smile there for as long as we can.
Everyone is pointing in the same direction.'