King Kenny: Dalglish fancies a return to the top
flight
Should Roy Hodgson become the new manager of Liverpool,
he will do so knowing that Kenny Dalglish wanted his job. And there
we were thinking that Rafael Benitez’s departure was meant to cure
Anfield of its internicine politics.
Instead the in-fighting may grow worse now that Dalglish, the
Club Ambassador, has put his employers in an awkward position by
allowing it to be known that he wants to be considered for the
post.
He must have done so aware that thousands of supporters would
swing behind King Kenny, deluded by romantic notions that he can
click his fingers and bring the good times back to Merseyside.
After all, his only valid claim to the job, more than a decade
after he last worked in management, is his popularity.
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Christian Purslow, the managing director, now finds himself in
an unenviable position, given that scepticism about Hodgson around
Anfield is liable to increase simply on the back of Dalglish’s
expression of interest.
But then doubts about Hodgson are reasonable, too. Is the Fulham
manager, able though he is, truly the best man for the job or is he
someone soothing, someone grateful for the opportunity, who can
muddle through during a turbulent period?
To decide on an easy option without chasing after more ambitious
targets such as Guus Hiddink, or even speaking to Martin O’Neill,
is dangerous short-termism at a time when Steven Gerrard and
Fernando Torres are considering their futures.
It paints a sorry picture of Liverpool, a great club fast in
danger of becoming a Premier League basket case, where the owners
are divided, the club is in vast debt and even loyal players are
disaffected.
On the terraces, Mark Hughes is dismissed not because he has
negligible experience in Europe but because he is associated with
Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United. Dalglish is considered
credible by many simply because he is King Kenny.
At this rate Liverpool will become another Newcastle United — a
club where emotions run high and logic flies out of the window.
