Nigerian view of Dalglish’s return

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By China Acheru

Not many Nigerians my age watched Kenny Dalglish play at the time he did for Liverpool but I was fortunate as a kid to live in Merseyside at the time and saw a few games (not live at the stadium of course).

The one that completely turned my life around was the 1979 FA Cup semi final between Liverpool and Manchester United.

That Liverpool side had the likes of Ray Clemence, Alan Hansen, Phil Thompson, Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, Steve Heighway etc and it ended 2-2 with goals from Dalglish and Hansen but that was the turning point in my life.

I had become a Liverpool fan. Even though we went on to lose the replay, that goal scored by Jimmy Greenhorf, my sympathy laid with Liverpool.

My family returned to Nigeria but I continued to follow Liverpool through Shoot and Match magazines and scavenging on recordings of “The Big Match” I could get around I managed see through the career of one of the greatest, Kenny Dalglish who went on to win six first division titles, one FA Cup, four League Cups, five Charity Shields , three European Cups and one European Super Cup

As manager he also grabbed three first division titles, two FA Cups, one League Cup and two Charity shields making him the king of the Kop.

With the poor run of Roy Hodgson in his six months in charge, most faithful like me advocated for the return of King Kenny.

A few hours ago, we finally got our wish and the king is back.

But in our excitement have we asked ourselves what the club really wants for itself and what the fans also want?

Do we still see ourselves as the best club in the world or have our recent travails made us begin to look down on ourselves? Is it too late to make a strong showing in the EPL or is Kenny just coming in to pick up the pieces and nothing more?

Can we actually win at United on Sunday?

Is Kenny, as they say, out of touch with the game? Is he the “wrongest” of choices for the position of manager?

I have heard the voices of fans from England and in Nigeria where I live and most are happy with the return of the king; a few are a bit laid back not sure if he can really do the job because they say he has been out of it for at least a decade but one thing is certain- We have a man who knew how to win as a player and still knows how to win as a manager.

We also have a fan favourite, a man that the players will most definitely respect because they probably heard his legend.

A manager that would not be scared of taking on other managers and will not be scared to tell the players to go out and win games rather than mostly playing not to lose and eventually losing.

We have the king back at Anfield, back in the dugout. Does Kenny have the heart to go all out to win at United in less than 24 hours on the job?

Six months ago most fans of the club wanted the owners out of the way; a month ago most wanted the manager out.

Now there really seems to be nobody the fans want out so its down to the team to start the revival.

Truth be told I am not that optimistic we will win at Old Trafford because the manager cannot actually impose anything on the players but I know our revival has begun. Just watch this space.

11 Comments

  1. Surely King Kenny has no time to change things in just overnight! Maybe he has not enough time to bring in quality players to turn it all around. What’s important now is the togetherness among the Club, the fans and the players. I can sense the players in the past 6 months, as some past Reds players have suggested, were lack of unity and confidence. We could spot several players on the pitch in the past 6 months showing their lack of confidence and so not enough desire and determination of winning the game.

    I do hope he can unite our players, staff and fans in one voice to sound out that we can still be able to have a fight!

  2. Quite unlike the writer ,I became a liverpool fc supporter at the 2005 champions league, when no one gave them a chance against juve.
    Well talking about kenny’s chances at success on the job, I think he has it in him but that being said, we need to start now firstly by shining new players, and then the old ones too need to start being more committed to the cause.

  3. Hi,
    China. Good to read from, A liverpool fan in Nigeria a bit of a rarity. I have to say that the last sixx months have been bad as we all know and i just hope and pray that things will turn from now on as there is need to form a united front: fans, manager, owners, players to move the club out of the present rut that we are in now. These are tough times and we all have to be patient with the manager,tone down our expectations, have realistic ones. Some tough decisions have to be taken as far as some players are concerned:players on the decline(though crowd favourites)non-performing ones need to be culled.The club needs to move forward:THE FANS DESERVE IT!!!It was really bad watching our team play this past six months, i could not recognize the team:no heart, no effort, no invention,its been a sad experience. From now i can just say that the only way is up. AMEN.(Hi CHINA.What do you say we have a forum for LIVERPOOL fans in Nigeria,all my brothers are REDS).

  4. Spot on China. Everybody needs to unite to bring us back to the Reds of the old. I feel the next 6 mths is going to be interesting. Hi Ayodeji thats a great point u made (liverpool forum). YNWA

  5. sorry about that ossai,its me thats on the auld drugs,i shuda taken the time to properly read your comment.

  6. Hey everyone,i never knew b4 now that we have highly commited liverpool fans in Nigeria.however,d appointment of king kenny is a good-bad news.bad in d sense dat d club is not used 2 sacking managers & good in d sensd dat we have 2 move on and in d right direction.all am saying is dat king kenny may b blessed by mother-luck 2 succeed.welcome back kenny 2 ur throne.pls i ask u china 2 try & create even facebook Lfc account 4 9ja fans…something like 9jaLFC.its a suggestion & invite me (akwuba williams emeka) as soon as possible.YNWA!!!!

  7. @pbb, I was less than 8 years old then. My father was in school at the University of Liverpool and couldn’t care less then.
    How could I have gone to the stadium on my own?

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