Liverpool And Kenny Dalglish Must Part Ways – THT Debates

By TheHardTackle
13 years Ago

The Moderatorai??i??s Opening Remarks

It was supposed to be the stuff of legends – a fairytale, if there ever was one. As Liverpool struggled to succeed in the present era, it chose to make a bold embrace of the future by drawing upon its illustriousAi??past.Ai??Once Gillet and Hicks were out of the frame, things looked up for a while. But as Roy Hodgson failed to deliver what Liverpool sorely needed, the new owners turned back the pages. They tapped a hero at Anfield to lead the renaissance of the Reds.

If Kenny was supposed to inspire Liverpool to the heady days of the 80s, it ended up achieving the opposite. For a club that rang in the managerial changes after they ended up narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification, Liverpool are now firmly embedded in the second quarter of the Premier League standings. And even the most ardent Kopite will be hard-pressed to deny Kenny Dalglish’s contributions to the club during his current reign deserve to come under the scanner.

In my capacity as moderator, I present the topic to be debated:

“Liverpool And Kenny Dalglish Must Part Ways.”

Ai??.

Uday Telkar (Writer – THT) is against the motion. He believes that the bigger problem at Liverpool is not the manager and that one needs to look at the bigger picture before drawing conclusions about Kenny Dalglish

The end of the 2011/12 season will give everybody a clear picture of how the club has fared through new management (FSG & John Henry), Kenny Dalglish, his coaching staff and the players. These three aspects of a club are absolutely vital for building a strong base upon which laurels can be challenged for and achieved.

Now, Dalglish returned to the club during a period of low. The previous owners coupled with Roy Hodgson left the club in the dumps – 12th place in the 2010/11 season when Dalglish walked through Anfield once again. The club legend still managed to elevate the team to the sixth spot at the end of the season, which, in no way was a small task back then.

If youai??i??ve watched carefully, this season hasnai??i??t been much different in terms of how Dalglish works. His tactics, team selection and general reading of the game has not changed by miles from Liverpoolai??i??s last campaign. This only means one thing ai??i?? the bigger problem at Liverpool is not the manager.

The inability of offering Champions League football led Liverpool to making the purchases they made at the start of this season. The rewards are less but there is little one can do about that now. If the club improves domestically, it gives them the leverage to improve outside England. But to rise to this level, one needs to be patient.

Being patient involves judiciously keeping hold of those who the club needs and letting go of those who wonai??i??t contribute in the long run. Obviously, there are players which the club needs to let go of. They will have to bear the losses but essentially, sacking Kenny is a bigger loss at the end of the day.

Kenny is more than capable of doing a better job at Liverpool in this era. At the start of the season, the owners and players had laid out a goal for themselves ai??i?? that was to finish in the top four. But the bigger picture requires Liverpool to compete for the Premier League title. That will take some time. Sacking Kenny Dalglish to bring in someone else is as good as aiming for success in bouts and not in consistency.

Jishu Viswanath (Guest Liverpool expert) is against the motion. He is of the opinion that Dalglish’s signings haven’t delivered, but the current situation calls for patience.

When he took over the club, we were in absolute dismal situation. We were buying the likes of Poulsen and Konchesky, our wage bill was off the charts and we were playing absolutely disgraceful football. He took charge, induced confidence and put the players back on track.

We may have been on the worst run in just less than six decades, but the club is sticking to the principles of Shankly and Paisley; ones that made us the greatest. I believe luck has played its part. Lucas was the club’s best player but was forced out. Agger and Skrtel were the first choice defenders, but unfortunately Agger’sAi??ribs broke down. I’m happy to see an attempt at developing a brand of football.

As for his signings, we aren’t Barcelona or Madrid and we don’t offer Champions League to our players so we needed to hunt lower down. Suarez has been a revelation, but Andy Carroll was signed in the form of his life. The player wasn’t bad, the figure on the cheque book was. CharlieAi??Adam was arguably Blackpool’s best player and so was Stewart Downing at Villa last season. Jordan Henderson, Craig Bellamy, Luis Enrique and Sebastian Coates are signings waiting to shine to their potential.

From the way I see it, Dalglish spent only around 35 million GBP ‘net’, but people forget that. Perhaps, tactically Rafa was more astute but as a manager to lead the club, I believe Dalglish is still the right choice.

Akarsh Sharma (Editor – THT) is for the motion. He believes that Liverpool FC needs a more gifted Manager!

When Dalglish was appointed as manager of Liverpool football club, he was expected to bring in the ‘pass-and-move’ style of football. There were glimpses of the same in the early part of his reign, but it has certainly vanished. Over a season since his appointment now, Kenny Dalglish has failed to inculcate any definite style in Liverpool’s performance, relying on sheer desperation to retrieve games.Ai??He doesn’t know his first team either, with an incredible amount of unnecessary chopping and changing from game to game.

He doesn’t know which combinations of players are likely to yield results, which he should’ve known by now. Dalglish has made a number of baffling tactical decisions that have defined the outcome of games even before a ball has been kicked. Not only has his team formations been bizarre, his substitutions have hardly made any impact all season long and his press conferences haven’t befitted his status as the club’s ambassador.

Liverpool’s latest renaissance project says “building for the future”, but the academy players haven’t been given a go in the first team this season and the players signed for such heavy fees have shown little potential. A future may develop with these players in the long term, but even if that has to happen, they certainly need a more gifted manager.

Sreyon Chatterjee (Guest Liverpool expert) is for the motion.Ai??He is of the opinion that success breeds from ruthlessness and Liverpool need to be ruthless at this point.

Itai??i??s not going to be an easy decision for the top management after Dalglish’s status and contributions to the club. However, Dalglish must go.Ai??After working for over 8 months with the current crop of players, the team still does not have a set formation or style of play. The players seem utterly confused about their roles on the pitch and the whole team looks like it is having an identity crisis.

There is also a serious lack of fighting spirit and the playersai??i?? heads drop at the slightest hint of adversity. Senior pros like Gerrard are seen walking around in the middle of the park demoralised, while the likes of Wigan run rings around the midfield at Anfield. The effort and motivation levels are shockingly low.

Kenny Dalglish has been found guilty of failing to be proactive in countering the opposition through tactical tweaks and substitutions. Often waiting till the 75th minute to make changes that result in little time for substitutions to make an impact.

Along with Damien Comolli, King Kennyai??i??s ai???Buy-Britishai??? policy has backfired badly and players that have been bought are high on price but low on technical ability and general intelligence on the field. Barring Suarez, Bellamy and Enrique, all the signings have been mediocre to say the least.

The modern game has witnessed many a managerial merry-go-round and sacking Dalglish would perhaps bring accusations of the club being no different than the likes of Chelsea but success breeds from ruthlessness and Liverpool must be ruthless in this case. Ironically, no other man would understand this better than King Kenny.

Robert NevittAi??(Editor – THT) is against the motion.Ai??He believes that sacking Dalglish would be a mistake and his past achievements merit a prolonged chance at the club.

Do I think Kenny Dalglish should be sacked as Liverpool boss? No way.Ai??Dalglish is a living legend at Liverpool Football Club. The clubai??i??s greatest ever player, he won the double in his first spell as boss and also assembled arguably our best ever attacking side in 1988.

He held the club together after Heysel, then did the same four years later when 96 fans lost their lives at Hillsborough. When he quit the Reds two years later, no-one could blame him after the pressures he had faced. If only we had waited for him for a few months.

After the Roy Hodgson debacle, Kenny answered our desperation calls and returned. Immediately, the feel-good factor returned and we played some high quality football. This season, Carling Cup success and a possible place in the FA Cup final means he could end the campaign with more trophies than any other manager in England.

Yes, our league form has been poor, but weai??i??re a work in progress, so must take the rough with the smooth. An improvement next season is imperative.Ai??But sacking Dalglish would be a backward step. Instead, we should put our trust in the King, after all, his career at Anfield deserves it.

Moderatorai??i??s Note

All comments are moderated and offensive content will be deleted by the moderator without prior warning. We encourage critical thinking and questioning, but please donai??i??t let your anonymity on the Internet get the better of you.

Have your say in the comments section below and we’ll collate your ideas (even give you a mention) in the closing remarks. The final verdict is in your – our reader’s – hands!

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Categories: COVER STORY, English Premier League, Liverpool FC
Tags: Kenny Dalglish Liverpool FC

The Moderatorai??i??s Opening Remarks

“Liverpool And Kenny Dalglish Must Part Ways.”

Have your say in the comments section below and we’ll collate your ideas (even give you a mention) in the closing remarks. The final verdict is in your – our reader’s – hands!

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