Liverpool’s frustrating season goes on with another defeat, this time at home to West Brom, who won at Anfield for the first time in 45 years.
Dalglish’s predecessor Roy Hodgson and his team coming out on top with a gritty, determined, smash and grab win over Liverpool.
Like many matches at Anfield this season , the game was dominated by Liverpool , but once again the failure to take their chances came back to haunt them.
It has been a common theme all season long with only five League wins at home all season in a venue that was once heralded as “Fortress Anfield”.
So many teams have come away from Anfield this season with points and this has resulted in Liverpool being way off the pace in the race for a top four Champions League place.
But Liverpool have enjoyed tremendous success in this seasons’ Cup competitions, already winning the Carling Cup and looking forward to a FA Cup Final.
The contrast in form between the League and Cup competitions is baffling all concerned at Anfield.
But in all reality Liverpool’s League position is of paramount importance for their American owners.
Maybe Kenny Dalglish will need to capture the FA Cup to keep his job as this seasons’ League campaign has been nothing short of disastrous.
Dalglish has brought in a lot of new players and spent a lot of money on them, but the jury is still out on most of his signings.
Many people ask if Liverpool have improved since Kenny took charge.
Of course they have, the squad is far stronger than before with the likes of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy and Jamie Carragher struggling to get into the team.
Dalglish has got the team playing a far more attractive passing style of football.
There is no hiding the fact that results have not been good enough but in many matches Liverpool have been very unlucky and the statistic of hitting the woodwork proves this point.
Another thing to remember is that Liverpool is “work in progress” and this should not be forgotten.
When Dalglish took over the reigns once again, I believed he was taking on a job similar to the task that the great Bill Shankly took on all those years ago, and it took that genius time to turn around this great club, so Dalglish should be given time.
To win silverware in his first full season back in charge, with the chance of more before the end of the season, is a tremendous achievement, considered it has been a while since Liverpool won anything.
Liverpool is not far away from getting it right. They are creating chances and at times they are playing teams off the park, but their only problem is that they are not putting away their chances.
There just needs to be a bit of fine tuning to this team, maybe a goal poacher type striker, which they lack just now.
Liverpool have proved that they can win the “big” matches, but they have struggled to win against “lesser” teams, which has crippled them for success in the League.
But the talk of getting rid of Dalglish and saying that Liverpool were a better team under the management of Roy Hodgson are nonsense.
This Liverpool team will be great again under the leadership of Kenny Dalglish and the American owners should appreciate this and be patient as there is no better man for this job.
Beyond delusional, granted hodgson didnt do well at the mighty liverpool but he was given a fraction of what ‘king’ kenny has spent. I’ve no doubt Hodgson would be higher if he had received the same backing. Look at what we’ve spent and the wages of the two teams, yet obly a points difference? Big club once, not now.
Hahaha still cant believe Dalglish have the nerve to ask the owner 35.000.000 for Andy F’ing Carroll LOL The British Lorenzo Lamas
Charlie Adam = Xabi Alonso
Hahahahahaha
Hmmm! you’re asking people to give Dalglish time to turn things round. That’s something that was never given to Hodgson.
I agree, all you need is Emile Heskey and world domination will surely be yours.
I completely agree with this piece. I would also add that I would love to see some of the younger lads get a decent look in for the last few games. Shelvy has not looked out of his depth, & anyone watching the reserves games will know that we have real good players that should be coming through very soon. I would love to see more of Sterling, Amoo, Coady, McClaughlan etc. as this seasons league run is pretty much over, it is a perfect time to try & blood these youngsters, before they consider moving on to other teams who will play them in their first team.
Disagree: First things first. I have said before that Kenny was a great player and manager in the past. The emphasis is on the past now I do think its time for Dalglish to go but I don’t think this will happen until the end of the season. One thing is clear Dalglish has spent huge amounts of money on average players like Henderson & Carroll who have clearly not improved the side. Just watching the game today and it was very clear again that there is no midfield general and no creativity. Furthermore, we don’t possess a regular goalscorer like a young fowler. If he had been in a few of those positions today goals would have been scored. For people to say that Camolli bought the players and Dalglish didn’t is very strange particularly as Dalglish confirmed that he was responsible for the purchases. One reason why Camolli was sacked was because the owners looked at the players bought and were flabbergasted at the prices paid. Considering Camolli was meant to be a smart negotiator the results of those transactions were evidence that he wasn’t what he was cracked up to be. I do think that the time is ripe to be looking for a smarter manager with some game intelligence. Furthermore, if funds are going to be tight during the summer someone like a Van Gaal or Jesus Nevada are going to have to be a priority.
Ya! We really need a messiah, Jesus…
Hahahahahahahah just like when yall got joe cole and thought you would win the title or when you guys went on that massive spending spree on average players and all kopites said theyd win the title KEEP DREAMInG
ARSENAL FC
Yeah, and what have arsenal won in the past years? Oh yeah..
and the last time arsenal were anything but champions league last 16 cannon fodder? seriously its one thing to take stick from the scum at least their successful. kenny has won more in 6 months than wenger has in the last 6 years. arsenal brag about being in the champs league the last 12 years or sumthing but never really done a tap in it. have you ever heard the saying in it to win it. and i dont just mean the group stages.
Irbin when you win something thats not an award for choking come back to me
I can understand your argument that a manager needs to be given more time, but we all know the reason for our failure in the league is the quality of our squad. Its not right to judge the team based on cup victories as most of the top teams dont field their strongest squads. The league is the real deal and you judge the team based on the performance in the league games. The quality of players has a direct impact on the performance in the league as you need to win games consistently. If we moved up to at least 5th spot this season I would consider that as progress but thats not the case. The signings have been a failure and Comolli was made a scapegoat. Everybody knows Dalglish made the calls. You can blame it on bad luck if it happens once in a while but not when it happens game after game. If you have the skill you can make your own luck. I feel Dalglish is a little old school for the league right now. When you compare the talent and skill levels in the top 4 teams, we dont stand a chance unless we sign some world class talents. We need a manager who has the ability to get the right players based on talent/skill level. I’m afraid Dalglish isnt that person, hes not the one to build a team for the future, a team that would dominate English and European football just like the old days. He will always be our king but unfortunately he is not our savior.
I’m not sure if i agree. Most of kennys signing have been very poor, very very poor for our standards. I can’t see him staying after such disastrous signings.
The editor says that this team is much stronger due to the fact that Kuyt , Bellamy , maxi and carragher are struggling to get into the team. I say that is the exact reason Liverpool are where they are on the ladder. The likes if Henderson , Downing and when fit Adam should never be starting ahead of those mentioned players. These 3 along with Carrol have been total failures but Daglish’s stubbornness to keep playing them ahead of proven performers has been to the detriment of the team. On form these 3 wouldn’t be getting a game for half the teams in the Epl. Enough said YNWA
Stan… On the money – well said!!!!! I have been ranting about the EXACT SAME thing since seeing Henderson, Carrol and Downing ahead of Maxi, Kuyt, ET al…
Simply put – Dalglish thought, “if they play as many games as possible, one if them would defintitely score a goal”… And song sacrificed LFC’s season, to hide his F ups in his poor acquisitions!!!
“Liverpool Are Not Far Away From Greatness”
I wholeheartedly disagree. Theres a fine line between success and failure but we are currently so far off the top teams in the league at the moment it looks like it could take us years to close the gap.
Im not advocating sacking Dalglish but Liverpool are closer to becoming relegation candidates than they are to any sort of greatness. The decision to relieve Kenny of his duties is now looking like it will have to become a realistic option for the owners though. Who is to say this form wont continue into next season. We assume it wont but what happens if the slide doesnt stop. We couldnt say we didnt see it coming. You point to the fact that Dalglishs signings havent worked yet, theres no sign they will ever but theres also no sign he will stop playing them or move them on either.
Kenny seems to be playing players based on their price tags than on them deserving a place in the side. Henderson should be playing with the reserves, Carroll is proving to be nowhere near good enough. Spearing is in the side because hes from Liverpool. He wouldnt make it into any of the top 6 teams lineup. I guarantee Carragher will start the FA cup final out of sentiment instead of being good enough anymore. Its the only reason Enrique didnt play the semi against Everton and we nearly paid the price for it. These are some of the reasons I think we finally have to look at Dalglishs position. As I say Im not advocating sacking him without serious consideration though. Theres no reason to sack him without having a quality replacement lined up but the ramifications of him staying have also to be looked at.
The club has always been bigger than any one person. As good as cup success is the league is where its at and should be the benchmark that our season is judged on. Its here where Kennys grossly underperformed. The guy will always be a legend to me, I wont be disappointed if he does get another season but if the owners decide a change is needed I will go with that too as long as a quality successor is found.
One last point, Kenny needs to lose the defensive attitude during pre / post match press conferences. He may have got away with that over 20 years ago but these days interacting with the media is a hge part of the game, Kenny needs to accept that for the good of the clubs image or move upstairs of his own accord. Its possible to be coy, removed and elusive while doing an interview but he needs to stop the chip on the shoulder blatantly ignorant attitude.
Jesus, if I see this agaun, blood will be spilt! It’s not ‘took over the reigns’, it’s ‘took the reins’ as in the reins of a horse so you can steer it.
Maybe, y’know, it was a clever play on words, since King Kenny is a king and does therefore reign…
So maybe it’s not a mistake, unlike…mmmm??
Death to the first born of anyone who makes a typo, and on your head be it!
This is an international web site, maybe English isn’t his first language, you don’t know. But now blood will be spilt?? How about if I write “took over the rains”? Blood boiling yet?
Anyway, can’t agree fully with this piece, but got to hope. We’ve been shockingly, shockingly poor this season. The Newcastle game a few weeks back was a personal low point. I thought the final game of the season two years ago, against Chelsea, was going to be my most depressing point. But it’s jumped further and further down. The cups have been nice this season, and it’s been a welcome distraction from the direness of the league campaign. But a couple of new (and quality) signings, and a bit of target practice, and we should/got to be better next season.
Nope, nothing clever about it. Or you. To ‘take over the reigns’, implies his predecessor (Roy) was also a king, or that there were two of him, neither of which is correct. To use the phrase, but to misspell the word implies a complete misunderstanding of its origin. Attempting to defend it just shows ignorance.
Obviously, We just need a good finisher. Give more chance player from our academy or bring a proven striker for the next season
Even if Kenny wins the FA Cup he has not earned another season in charge.
We are not going to attract world class players with FA Cup and carling cup wins.We just about won the Carling Cup too.
Kenny’s management has been absolutely terrible.Selling Raul and loaning Aquilani again to make way for Hendo and Adam his treatment of Maxi and his shocking tactics and signings.
I hope he stands down at the end of the season.
Cant help but wonder who Rafa would of signed with that money.
rafa would have signed 40 guys for 2 million a pop hoping 1 turned out to be good. and the rest on maybe aquamans brother. its amazing how people forget how poor we were in rafas last season and only for the mans negative approach we would have won the league in 2009. anyone remember the amount of times torres and keane were on the bench that year. rafa had his time now kenny should be given till the end of his contract. liverpool a work in progress and if all you people got the sack for every little mistake you would be on the dole q. fergie took 7 years to get it right no clubs that sack managers every year will never be successful.
Ah well at least you have your historeeeeeee.
I dont understand why the Reds have been so unlucky in the Premier League this season. As usual, many fans panicked easily and some call for heads to roll. Totally immature.
If Kenny the legend cant pull it off with this team, do you think anyone else can?
Look to the long term. Kenny will do something about it this summer. I agree that the team is playing much more attractive football under Kenny. Once again, look towards the long term.
How can anyone compare Liverpool under Hodgson to Liverpool under Dalglish? Liverpool play some of the best football in the Premiership, under Hodgson the football was dire and hard to watch. The writer is correct when he says we only need a slight adjustment to achieve greater success. Sacking a manager achieves very little, just ask the Wolves fans. Time and patience is required by everyone.
Rome was not built in a day. People forget liverpool effectively put a whole new team out this year with some very young players – adam, enrique, henderson, adam, downing, carroll, suarez. It takes time for team to gel. I think this is what explains inconsistency in league. I like what kenny and clarke have done to style of play in terms of pass and move. Next year is time to really judge kenny and team. Fergie was also on brink of getting sacked before he turned it around. Kenny has won silverware in first full season. Its hard cos of the expectation but kenny must be given time.
Dalglish made a huge mistake this season by not blooding the promising young players in the league because it is clear that he gave up on a top 4 position before the August transfer window closed. FSG should insist that Dalglish play the likes of Sterling,Suso,Morgan,Ngoo,Amoo,Coady,Wisdom,Adorjan and Ecclesston in the remaining 4 league games as the results of these games are irrelevant now.
Reina and Johnson should be sold in the summer and the money received on these sales should be used to resolve the goalscoring problem this team is suffering from.
It would be also be a help if the training sessions between games actually included some shooting practice sessions each day because it is quite clear that all the first team players have a real problem striking the ball properly when they get goal chances.
Who’s that gobshite that’s proud to be an Arsenal fan.. Liverpool won something this year Arsenal are bottlers and never win nothing..
Kenny Dalglish’s buy English turned out to be buy rubbish….hahaha….so he must go……
Liverpool are not far away from greatness, but they are certainly a lot closer to MEDIOCRITY!
Completely agree and hope those muppets who call for KD’s head and are slacking off our players have the decency to stay away from Wembley for the upcoming final in order for true supporters to get a ticket
I’m afraid we are not far away from team like everton,stoke,fulham,west brom…… We missed chance and talent. We are far away from champions league
Similar to when Shanks took over , don’t talk bollocks
TIME IS UP FOR KENNY -his selections – his tactics – its a shame but Anfield might be half empty next season – FANS ARE FED UP – Come on 5 wins in 17. ADDIOS
What a load of nonsense – absolutely NOBODY is saying that Liverpool were better off under Hodgson than under Dalglish. Being a little bit better than Hodgson does not qualify as doing a good job though.
There is no better man for the job? You really think that this is the best that Liverpool could possibly do??
A least one good thing has come out of Liverpool’s increasing ineptitude this season: he’s gone back to being called Kenny.
The kings dead. Long live the king…
never have l seen such crap.which greatness are you talking about?not with a manager who spend an entire season talkin about lack of luck are we going to see greatnes.in as much as l luv kenny,gotta admit the dude’s tactics are poor.even wolves can do a beta job.anyone can tel the best box to box player we have is maxi bt why is he always on the bench?and wat kind of bussines is that,raul and alberto making way for henderson and others.in reality kenny aint making convincing decisions and who would blame any1 for wanting him to go?
I support king kenny. I hope he’ll be here next season. Changing managers is not the easiest way to achieve success. New manager will take time to build a good side. If he cannot do it in a season, the same people who questioned Rafa, now questioning Kenny, will question that new manager.
How long Mancini was at City with all their money? What has he win in that time? FA cup?
How long fergie struggled at Man United before winning the title?
How long Arsene Wenger been at arsenal? When is the last time he won something?
Sometimes patience is needed, but its inpossible with fans who want instant success like now..
Agree with Pal above. Also, people who say we’re no better off than with Hodgson, did you actually watch the games under Hodgson? Did you listen to his ‘i hope we don’t get beat 6-0’ and those type of conferences he was giving out? He played way too defensively, bought complete and utter tosh (konchesky anyone?) and spoke like Liverpool were a team hoping to break into the top 10 but unlikely to happen. Under Hodgson it wasn’t going to happen. That is why no one gave him the chance that Dalglish is getting.
Simply put, the people who actually watch the games, rather than just looking at the score, will realise that we have, on occasion, played many teams off the park, including Arsenal recently. If we hadn’t hit the workwork or we had put away out clear cut chances, we would have won many many more games. But that has nothing to do with Kenny, that is to do with the players. And Suarez has been the most guilty of missing chances, though it’s always carroll who we ‘should get rid of’.
Write off this season in the league, if we get two cups then that’s a bonus. The signings have to right this summer, see where we are at the end of the year, THEN judge.
I agree with D.Vaughan, SV and Juan, Kenny has been out of active football for too long and football is changed in last 15 years especially in England, managers and players from other countries have completely change the Premier League and Kenny seems to be a fish out of water, he made huge mistakes for all season long, buying wrong players for ridiculous money, no gameplan, players in wrong position, not a starting 11 in his mind, wrong substitutions in games…too much errors. That said, the club has always been bigger than any one person so, he should resign at the end of the season if he loves LFC, we have the chance to bring back Rafa, do it, he’s A MODERN TOP MANGER, who says that Rafa Benitez isn’t good for one bad season in 5 years (not bad like this however and without 100millions) simply doesn’t understand a thing about football. He knows spanish, english and italian (not because he coached Inter but because he studied in the past Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan) football and he can always be the right man.
Some of you guys are having a knee jerk reaction….give the team a chance to do their job without any pressure.. I wonder how you guys will react if Kenny stays and wins the EPL next season with this same team but maybe with 1 or 2 additions.
Again Rome wan’t built in a day.
YNWA
No knee jerk reaction. Too many records have been broken and losing at home has become norm. For the sake of our collective sanity. Time to move on from the past. Kenny is guilty of wasting the best chance ever to gate crash the top 4. Spurs collapsed, arse were poor most of the season, Chelsea has their personal agenda against the manager. Our money improvednewcastle .
Knee jerk reaction? Bollox. It’s happened too many times to be a knee jerk reaction. Something needs to happen.
dalglish need to be give chance another year or at least until next january, but if before next january the team play even worser than this season, he should go.
after comolli gone, he’ll be in charge for the player transfer next summer, so if anything goes wrong the FSG had all the reason to tell him go.
for next 4 games i hope he’ll play most of the yooungster.
YNWA
Another knee-jerk reaction from so called Liverpool fans. Don’t get me wrong I’m incredibly frustrated and acknowledge the signings have not produced the results expected and the fees far exceed their ability. However, we could easily have beaten west brom by 5 or 6 and hodgson is lucky not a tactical genius. We dominate many of the games but choose the wrong pass in the final third. I’m sick of seeing Johnson, Enrique, henderson and downing swinging in aimless crosses and wasting the ball. Almost always their is a player running to the edge of the box in a better position to shoot or lay off to another and they fail to see them. We need to adopt a rugby approach to our attack and utilize reverse passes.
For people who says “we need to wait…another season…”…NO. Because, 1. this team, as it’s been built has no potential to develop, maybe a bit yes but surely not enough. 2. time is precious, if we continue to wait we’ll see our best players go one after one, Reina, Suarez, Agger ecc…they’ll go if we don’t make the step to champions league spot or if we don’t give a clear idea of what goals the club have and the time is not unlimited, we’ve already throw away two years with english players and managers. Benitez is internationally considered a top manager, great players will come and will believe in the club project with Rafa in charge, unfortunately with Kenny this isn’t possible, this can be hard for someone to realize and accept but that’s the truth.
decent article, BUT i see these sky-washed fannies, who have the patience and concentration of a GNAT are “commenting” ..
probably none of them stood on the old KOp when WE knew what “the Holy trinity” really meant and its NOTHING to do with “RESULTS” ..dignity and loyalty dont exist in the dictionary of such “fannies”./….
FFS! Dalglish has not even completed a full season, in charge, and JUST what Kenny did previously for Lfc , for LIVERPOOL people, and for the HILLSBOROUGH famies DEMANDS he is given time..
I wont even discuss Hodgson who was a POODLE of the previous FRAUDULENT yankers, & who was the OPPOSITE of what A LFC man should be , in EVERY aspect!
I dont have any “warmth” towards Hodgson (unless “bonfire night came early this year) but if I write my opinion of his appointment then you certainly wont print it,
but as for the Team..
I feel that Stevie’s (apparently valid) exclusion sunday sends a negative message that this game was not vital, possibly to our players and certainly to some “fans” if he was at least on the bench…his presence would be an influence, at least? – I am worried about Stevie playing @ “Euro 12” that we will lose his best..(we havent had it since 09)
some “fans” criticise FAR FAR too easily, and the crowd is TOO quiet at Anfield and too many sit expecting to be “entertained” this is not the way our original Support was “educated” during the days of Shanks etc… many modern fans may as well stay at home and watch on TV for all their (lack of) contribution to being SUPPORTers..
As for refereeing ; some claim that things get “evened out” over the season but increasingly referee are giving 50/50 decisions 70/30 against us…I would be interested to see if anyone from Lfc Tv could devote time to actually go back through games and add them up as well the “woodwork” stats..
I “believed” we would go all the way in both cups, and hoped we would do well in the league, our performances have been arguably better in league games yet “luck” favoured us in the cup games.. someimes that just football..and life, havent you ever experienced situations when no matter WHAT, it just dont go your way???
! and we supporters shouldn’t moan because we are far improved in our expectations with Kenny – albeit compared with the dismal short (but damaging) “involvement” of Hodgson..
A great team scores from all its players, and ALL of our players can claim “bad luck” …I am confident IF we support them and create a POSITIVE atmosphere luck will improve..
and lastly, for those who moan about Luis “hothead” and not being “clinical” …well, so an extent its his “nature” & unique style that gets hin the chances in the first place…and he too may have justified rued his lack of fortune several times.. perhaps Luis, as with Torres, he requires some personal coaching that Rafa did with Fernando which turned that player into a prolific scorer..
Luis certainly has many goals in him, considering he scored 40 or so in his last season for Ajax?
we dont need a new manager, although I would like to see Rafa brought back into the club in some way, its a waste to lose his genius, we dont need new players – we need people who support each other – we DONT need people who moan and groan and boo and whinge, I wish those of u who do that would simply F*** off to Goodison or OT or any where else in the universe! ciao!
and please if u cant SUPPORT through adversity DONT call yourself SUPPORTers!!!
YNWA/J4t96 = JUSTICE for all
ChriS
Montenegro