Martin Broughton and Christian Purslow you have a lot to answer for!

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By Mark Sproule

Just six points off Spurs and nine behind Chelsea in a quest for a Champions League spot you have toask the question of our former Chairman (a self confessed Chelsea fanatic) and Chief Executive Christian Purslow, what were the pair thinking when they choose to overlook Kenny Dalglish for themanagerial post when it became vacant last Summer?

When the pair of execs made it known publicly that Kenny was joining them in their sifting through a list of appropriate candidates asopposed to being one of them, Dalglish didn’t have to look at the list too long and hard to realise he himself was better qualified than anyone on the Liverpool board’s radar at that time.

Kenny quickly put his own name into the hat which was promptly removed by the duo, citing his more important ambassadorial role as the only job for him. On the appointment of Hodgson, Broughton was quotedas saying “Kenny put his name in for the job and we appreciated the fact he wanted to do it but hewas never a candidate. He is happy in his current ambassadorial role” Never a candidate? Why was that Mr Broughton, because he hadn’t managed in ten years, because the game had changed so much or because he was out of touch with the modern “beautiful game” and didn’t know how to handle the modern footballer. Tell that to the millions of Liverpool fans around the globe who jumped in delight at the destruction of Manchester United a fortnight ago, or who watched a month earlier when KD engaged great tactical foresight to hoodwink Carlos Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge,beating Broughton’s beloved Chelsea.

The appointment of Roy Hodgson and his subsequent reign asmanager proved to be what most Liverpool fans had feared. The wrong job at the wrong time at aclub too big for a man who made his name making average players play well in effective tactical systems, stopping the other team from playing, a system which failed to produce many victories particularly away from home in his short Premier League career as Blackburn, Fulham and now Liverpool’s gaffer. Broughton and Purslow knew best and chose to ignore the “sentiment” of millions of reds around the globe last summer who hoped and prayed that this was the moment their messiah would return.

The fact that LFC at that time needed to bring in an ardent Chelsea fan as their chairman, to oversee the sale of club and in turn make one of the worst managerial appointments in recent Liverpool history was a testament to cowboys Gillett and Hicks underpinning their charade as owners which had at that stage thrown LFC onto the front pages of every national newspaper. It is clear for me that Martin Broughton had an inability to fully comprehend the historyand tradition of Liverpool Football Club and the part which Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish played and could yet play, simply because he was not a Liverpool fan.

Christian Purslow apparently a life-long Liverpool fan either didn’t believe Kenny was the man for job either or didn’t have enough clout to persuade Broughton otherwise. Perhaps we will never know. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the turnaround both on and off the field since Kenny took the reigns points to a massive error of judgement on the pairs behalf. Errors of judgement which most likely will have caused us another season of Europa League football when it could have been oh so different if King Kenny had havebeen taking the team-talks since August.

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37 Comments

  1. Martin Broughton was in charge of finding a new owner…which he did. And they are exceptional. Get it right, kid.

  2. Yes Chris and credit to him for that and the boardroom tussle. My point here is that KD should have been appointed in the summer over Hodgson and it was both Broughton and Purslow who made the call and overlooked him as “never a candidate”.

  3. Spot on Chris totally agree with you. Maybe they did over look kenny but I thank them from my heart for getting our club sold !

  4. Mark, I recently wrote on EOTK that the ONLY fault I can find with Purslow is having not trusted his heart in taking Dalglish on as manager from day 1. Otherwise, his commercial deals when the Club has lost credability and his ‘epic swindle’ of the H&G Clowns Inc. makes up for this mistake a million fold. He was instrumental in getting us back on track, as a Club. The one to put in the firing line here is Parry!

  5. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, i was never happy with Hodgson getting the job, but most Reds i knew were more than happy with him after getting Fulham to the UEFA cup final. Most were happy to see the back of a genuine world class manager in Rafa, then when Woy messed us up sat back all smug like you are now, acting like they told us all so all along. Sorry, but this is utter crap, unless you wrote an article at the time of Woy’s appointment stating that he wasn’t good enough and they should have considered Kenny, then you just sound like a smug know it all.

  6. To be fair, I wouldn’t change the way things happened. We’re in a good position now. Look at it this way, with Hicks&Gillete and administration a very real possibility, how good would Kenny have been? Would we have gotten Raul? Who knows what H&G would have done. Besides, his appointment was at a perfect time. Gave us a very smart manager to spend the FSG money. Don’t think Mark Broughton made a mistake. Fair play to him for getting those tossers out and getting a stable enviornment. Onwards and Upwards. YNWA

  7. Mark, at that time Purslow and Broughton were the messiah. These guys got rid of the nucleus of all our problems, so I have nothing but praise and admiration for them and we will forever be in debt to these guys. Yes they appointed the wrong man, but I can forgive them one mistake which has been rectified rightly. Arise Sir Christian and Sir Martin I say.

  8. Fair point Tonio I was going to further my article by given the pair great credit for subsequent events but like I say I refer only in anger to Broughton & Purslow over the fact the Kenny wasn’t appointed first day and like I did say hindsight is a wonderful thing..hats off to them for all they did on the ownership battle

  9. If you were to take an ‘informed’ decision at the time Hodgson was appointed, you wouldn’t have appointed Dalglish. If you did, you’d have been doing things from the heart. Hodgson was not the right man but you can’t slag them off for not appointing Kenny.

    Kenny was appointed as a care-taker mid-season, partly to appease the fans and partly to stabilize things. Both have worked, but nobody could have predicted that Kenny would have done this at the start of the season.

    You can’t use hindsight to slag people off.

    Broughton being a Chelsea fan has nothing to do with anything either. He’s an extremely wealthy and successful business man. You don’t achieve his status without being professional and not letting your heart rule your head.

  10. Oh, and didn’t Purslow and Ian Ayre help broker a very lucrative shirt sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered? Can’t remember the exact figure, but wasn’t it supposed to be the biggest shirt sponsor deal in Premier League history or close to it?

  11. All in the grim,dim & distant past boys and girls…lets move onwards and upwards. As the king said in his first speech we ALL have to be singing from the same hymn sheet to get where we want to be…and that includes us fans! I understand the point, but until we get back to doing what we do best ie singing our hearts and lungs out in support of the men in red, then we’ll never get anywhere. IKWT YNWA.

  12. Guys, let’s look forward not back here.

    Broughton got us sold. He’s been recognised and thanked for that.
    Purslow played manager. He got Hodgson in, bought Joe Cole, told Hodgson who he thought was/wasn’t good enough and all off the back of what? Being a fan? Purslow is long gone, and good riddance.

    But like I said, let’s look forward. Give Kenny a contract, even if it’s a 1 year, no-pressure, rolling one.

  13. We’re not going to win the league this year, probably never were going to win the league, and we’re still looking at sixth or at best fifth position at the end of this campaign as most expected in the first place. Who knows what might have been and, more importantly, who at this point really cares? What good does it do?

    We’ve new owners who clearly care about the club, we’ve a new manager who has added a rudder to the ship, we’ve two terrific new players, and we’ve now a summer trading season to salivate over. We’re in GOOD shape, lad. In a way, Hodgson’s poor management might have done LFC a favor by keeping the estimation of the club low enough where alternative buyers to FSG thankfully kept their hands in their pockets. I don’t believe in fate but if ever there were anecdotal evidence of it’s reality you’d have to say that the way things have unfolded for us are proof positive.

    Keep that glass half full, friend. We’re doing alright.

  14. I didn’t know anyone who wanted Hodgson in as manager, he was 63 and had 1 semi successful year in England. At the beginning of the season we needed someone who could pull the club back together as one, Hodgson was never going to be that man. Kenny was the obvious choice, but Purslow though he knew better, and went along with London press and appointed nice old Roy. Everyone I go to the match with knew he would be a diaster

  15. I think it’s time to move forward now.
    I dont disagree with the article and I enjoy reading them mate but lets look forward and stick together. They are part of our history now.

  16. Mark’s article was centred predominantly around the decision to take on Roy as manager. No more no less. It’s a mistake I have forgiven them for having ousted H&G.
    No more talk of debts, no more talk to paying all our profits as interest, no more administration risk, no more moaning from managers complaining of this or that and not of their woeful tactics.
    Not withstanding possibly no CL football next season, and possibly not even EL football, life’s still good compared to 12 months ago.

  17. Why do people think it was just Purslow and Brought who got rid of H&G. RBS were the main players in getting rid, their lawyers put in the clauses that it would be a majority board decision, not Purlsow or Broughton. They choose the new owners,I could have done that job. Hardly a surprise that the new owners kept Purslow on? I hate the way they are held up as messiahs, they are far from it, and especially Purslow

  18. What has the fact the Martin Broughton is a life long Chelsea fan got to do with anything?

    Looking at it from objectively, at the time it was a choice between RH who had lead Fulham to the Europa League final or KK who had been out of first team management for a considerable time.

    Bearing in mind that after we parted ways with Rafa, Broughton and Purslow had to make a tough choice about who to bring in to make sure the club was attractive to potential buyers. From a business and footballing perspective it’s difficult to see how they could have given the job to KK at that time. Remember, potential investors wouldn’t have known as much about KK as the fans.

  19. Im not a Benitez fan but he revealed that Purslow interfered in transfers, signing NINE players and changing the fitness coach in Rafa’s last season, Purslow was a wannabe manager, he had too much power and influence at the club. Good Riddance. As for Hodgson most Liverpool fans were underwhelmed and dissappointed with his appointment from day one. Broughton? Would he have appointed Roy as Chelsea manager, i think we all know the answer to that!

  20. Sorry Mark Sproul….you are just being childish. You shud have written the same article at the start of summer. Its easier to say things now. And this is absurd n amateur to say that Broughton didnt make the best decision becoz he was a chelsea fan.
    They tried to pick a man who could manage squad with limited budget n i beleive they acted in honesty, although no doubt their choice proved to be disastrous. But it again its easier to say things now.
    And not only CL we r also in danger of missing EL spot……YNWA

  21. The ones i blame are moors and that im crap at my job parry, they should hang there heads in shame for what happend to are great club and what for greed thats all

  22. regarding Houghton you are WRONG

    I’ve been watching and waiting, wondering if this bloke is ever going to get a mention for his critical part in our recent and historical metamorphosis. I’m not sure who got in the ears of our former owners who must have been sold on the idea of appointing him and in the end must have been cursing him for his tenacity in doing things the liverpool way; that guy played a cunning hand during his short tenure; overseeing the forced removal of our former owners and the installation of our future. It could have all been very different…think about that!

    On his appointment he said: “I am excited and honoured to be taking up this position. Liverpool is a great club with a fantastic history. I will run this sale process in the right way, for the benefit of the Club and its fans. Liverpool is one of the world’s greatest clubs and my aim is to try and ensure that we find new owners who are able to build on the Club’s recent improved financial performance in order to help deliver sporting success.”

    The work he did resonates with me every time i think of our progress, our new owners, Kenny’s appoinment..

    When the next chapter in our history book is written, when we’re sitting on a haul of silverware – premiership title, European Honours, hailing our owners, our manager, our team and our city, and we look back again to pivotal moments in our history and wonder what were the catalytic moments we can point to, will we remember someone who undertook a huge responsibility and was unflinching in his mission to answer the clubs call and get this change in motion?

    He’s such a humble guy he probably doesnt even want an accolade, but i will personally raise a pint every now and then, doff a cap in his direction and say ‘he’s another liverpool hero’

  23. The decision by Purs and Brough not to appoint KK was an unpopular decision but I believe they unknowingly did the right thing. If KK was appointed in August in the midst of all the financial turmoils, ownership issues, High court battles, lack of funds, threat of 9 pt deduction etc etc, I don’t think KK could bring any positive outcomes either and fans would be disillusioned with KK. He is a football genius but he is not God. So the appointment of RH made poor Roy the scapegoat and KK could have been the scapegoat if he was appointed in Aug. But what really happened next I’d say was God’s will. With new owners, no debts and a legendary manager re-appointed to start everything fresh. I look forward to next few seasons with Kenny in charge. YNWA

  24. what a stupid article. there were a lot of reasons not to go with kenny at the start of the year, the biggest being his time away from managing. as the situation grew worse this year the time came for his return.
    i can’t believe you’re actually ripping on Broughton. He stood up to the owners and pulled off a coup. Liverpool are in good hands because of him.
    Get a brain

  25. Poor article. The reference to Broughton’s Chelsea links and the implication that they influenced his decision making around Hodgsons appointment is disrespectful. One only has to look at the extent to which he went out on a limb to get the ‘right’ owners on board as evidence of the man’s integrity. Shame on you for throwing it into question. Purslow on the other hand was naeive and in many respects was out of his depth just like Hodgson. Ultimately the short term pain of not being in Europe next year, if we don’t achieve it, is a small price to pay for getting the right owners and the right manager, as Kenny is proving to be. This time last year, we would all have taken this scenario over the situation we were in then. Mistakes were certainly made, such is life, but ultimately we got the right result. Let’s just focus on moving forward, it will take a bit of time but more quality additions in the summer and Kenny offered a permanent contract and we will soon forget this season. In or out of Europe, we are still a big draw for quality players as shown by Suarez, Meireles and Carroll. On ward and upwards fellow Reds. I am really optimistic since … well, thr last time Kenny wad in charge. YNWA

  26. Hello mark, what a way to write an article. Perfect hindsight is a powerful tool indeed. Your article serves our fans and LFC no purpose at all.

    Martin and Purslow had done more good than harm during a short period of time, as compared to Rick Parry.

    My request to EOTK as a reader, please pick your writter carefully and be more stringent with the quality of the articles.

  27. Wow – it is great to see how you know the inner workings of the club at the time. Do you know how much influence H&G had on the decision?

    Try a bit of research before you write.

    Really easy to blog with hindsight…

  28. guys my article was only an opinion on B&P failing to seriously KD for the job last summer..like I said in subsequent posts they did an excellent job in the subsequent ownership battle and for that I am entirely grateful. There were many LFC supporters including former players and also other football managers who said at the time that KD should be considered. He was shot down first day by Broughton and Purslow and yes we have the benefit of hindsight now but this is only an opinion that he should have been taken more seriously. I agree that it is all in the past now and so I draw a line under it and move on. I thought the site was all about differing opinions and debate on our great club and lets be honest we have had plenty to talk about in unprecedented times over last few years. I am disappointed the article has created an attack on what is only an opinion drawn from disappointment at our earlier season performances which has left us struggling to catch up. I am very hopeful that even without European football next year we will strengthen and challenge for everything sgain in 11/12 season. YNWA

  29. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Broughton and Purslow got rid of H and G and sold the club,job done. I dont believe H and G would have let Dalglish take the job as he was a threat to them. We’ve moved on as a club so forget about the past and look to the future.

  30. No adfence to you’d but kenny should of been appointed so shut up u pack of mouths and get ur facts write u agree with Mark so wiseup

  31. Can we stop pointing fingers at whatever has happened how-many-aeons-ago and start focusing in the FUTURE? What’s past, is past, you’re never gonna change it.

  32. Theres nothing wrong in debating what has happened, of course we are all looking ahead now to a better sound and stable club. But the main thing that comes out of this is that Purslow and Broughton are financial men and NOT football experts. Credit to them for selling the club but buying and selling players and advising Roy on who to sell was not their area. Dont forget too that Kenny was given the task of headhunting the new manager himself, if he felt HE was the right choice then i wouldnt argue with that! His knowledge and experience in the game far outweighs Broughton and Purslows by a million miles. Any way onwards and upwards.

  33. We need to get a Europe spot for next season . We should buy about four players in the summer.and next season challenge for the title YNWA

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