By Luke McGovern
INCREASINGLY, over the past few weeks, I have found myself in the position of having to defend an excruciating run of results, underperforming players and a club legend who is at the forefront of the whole debacle.
It’s as though I am acting as one of those tree-hugging activists, knocking around by the Victoria Monument in Derby Square fighting for whatever it is they believe is right, but with their melodious tones falling on deaf ears as they get ridiculed and told to move on.
Unlike those rogues, I am not fighting a tyranny of global corruption and tax-evading bankers, no; my fight is simply with people like me.
It would be foolish to think you can please 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time. And It would also be self-obsessive and narcissistic to believe that my opinion is the only one that counts.
But there is a divide at the club at the moment, one of which that has never been seen before.
It is not a segregation between the staff and the players, nor is it the board and the management. In fact, you could say that them four-quarters are currently working harmoniously at the moment. The split is between the fans.
Friends, brothers, sisters, work colleagues, keyboard warriors, all at each others throat. The plot – Liverpool Football Club. The setting – Anfield. The Protagonist – Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish
Now, I am lucky enough to hold a very objective point of view. I am of an age where I did not witness, first hand, the greatness of Kenny Dalglish as a player. I never stood on the Kop singing how I’d walk a million miles for one of his goals. And I did not experience, some might say fortunately, the courage of a man who helped guide the club through the darkest period of its history.
I would like to also add that I was never an avid cheerleader for bringing Kenny back as manager.
I initially thought that a lot had changed in a decade of football since Dalglish had last managed a club, and that the role may be a strident venture back into the realms of management.
I love a good football discussion. But, it is the irrational comments and resolutions that pockets of our fan base come up with that annoy me. By all means get your point across, but at least make it sensible.
For example, and this is a classic that I have heard on phone-ins and in boozers alike – coincidentally when the result doesn’t go our way – “Get rid of Dalglish and get Mourinho in.”
Fantastic, there is your answer, Mourinho.
The man who is in the chair at Europe’s most successful club, on the brink of winning their first La Liga title in four years, thus ending the great Barcelona’s dominance.
But of course, he is likely to come because we are a Liverpool Football Club, why wouldn’t he come?
Plus he likes a challenge. Well, Aston Villa are a challenge but I don’t see the Portuguese maestro being touted around the Midlands as a possible heir to McLeish’s throne.
The forums are full of the ‘Football Manager brigade’ conjuring up names of players for us to bring in.
The team does not need major overhaul, that was done last year, and it would be detrimental and pointless for such a conspicuous change to take place again.
Some fans are so blinded by our previous success they forget where the club is and the circumstance that has led us here.
Financially, Liverpool is not top of the pile. We cannot compete with the Manchester clubs with players’ wages or revenue and our stadium looks increasingly decrepit next to the Emirates and the Etihad.
We must not forget the unprecedented change the club went through after it imploded in the hands of Hicks and Gillett.
Football clubs often adjust their squad. They infrequently – unless they are Bolton – change their manager. And they rarely alter their managing director or boardroom. But Liverpool did all this within an 18-month period.
The whole club was restructured, from top to bottom in a short space of time. To demand instant success, no matter how much has been spent, is unreasonable.
This season is a transitional period, and while one or two key signings would not go a miss, I do not see the point of, ‘selling Henderson for £6million’ and, ‘cutting our losses with Carroll’, which are just some of the suggestions I have heard.
That is not the Liverpool way.
I can see the argument for the league performance possibly signalling the end of Dalglish’s reign. But that does not mean that I agree with it.
The old adage of, ‘the league doesn’t lie’, has never been so true.
Liverpool are where they are because they deserve to be there. And as much as I would love to think that at the end of the season when they take the goals down some plucky groundsman will get his tape-measure out and discover that they are a couple of inches short of the legal requirement, that is never going to happen.
Equally, I can see a valid argument which says it’s crazy to sack a manager who may win two cups in his first full season.
Liverpool have played some excellent football this season, only to fail to convert total domination into points.
The West Brom game was a perfect example of this. If two or three of our chances had gone in we would be hailing the best performance of the season.
For me I can only laugh at how our league season has panned out, it has gone beyond rational explanation.
I am not trying to sit on the fence, but looking at both sides objectively, where a mix of the incredibly good and the incredibly bad leaves individuals deciding if their glass is half full or half empty.
For now, let us be happy we have a trophy and another cup final to look forward too, most clubs cannot boast that.
There are many people who look to knock this great club, so why must we do it ourselves?
You can follow Luke on Twitter here @LukeMcGovern
Well said, Luke. I couldn’t agree more and I can relate completely to where you’re coming from. I did not witness firsthand Kenny’s initial reign at the club, and was never on the bandwagon to bring him back. But now, I think sacking him would be the most damaging thing the club can do. And I want Mourinho nowhere near Liverpool Football Club.
I think under the circumstances, KD has done a great job. Not brilliant, as our league form has been very poor since the turn of the year, but very good. He’s got us to two finals in a year of transition and introduced a lot of these young players to what winning cups means. This is wonderful for the long term even if it feels like we’re suffering now.
I really have a hard time understanding the fans that think sacking Kenny is the solution simply because league results have not gone our way (when most of those results occurred after brilliant performances).
Next season is the real test. And if we can finish this one with two trophies, then that would be incredible.
Completely agree!
How about, instead of sacking a manager, we add a natural finisher to convert our many chances – and bring in an attacking winger while we’re at it.
Same manager, mostly the same team – but I’d bet we get a fair few more points next season.
The team isn’t a million miles from the top 4 (as the table suggests), but we have yet to sign a key player or two.
If you don’t believe one player can make a difference. Then take Robin Van Persie away from Arsenal. They wouldn’t be in 3rd place, that’s for certain…..
exactly and for that matter, Messi from Barca and Ronaldo from RM. It is a team game but great teams always have at least one outstanding player who can convert chances to goals, we haven’t had that this season unfortunately.
Luke McGovern you are a scary man! How did you manage to read my mind & my thoughts and that of a few of my LFC friends?
I would much rather see gradual progress.
Yes we are sitting in 8th position in the league and that’s not what we want to see but we have won our first trophy in 6 years and could have a second come Saturday! That is definitely an improvement to winning nothing!
I am sure there have been numerous collective groans of despair around the world as yet another shot hits the post. We even managed it in the middle of a Suarez Hattrick! But that means players have had a shot at goal! They have not just sat back and done nothing for 90 minutes!
Sure they could have done better, sure lots of things could have been different including some of the decisions by the manager perhaps… Let’s be a little patient after the wholesale changes we have been through in the last couple of years and look to the future. It does not happen in a day and instant success is no guarantee of long term success. I believe a good foundation is being laid down now for sustained success.
Excellent article! Thank you :-)
Very well put Luke.
I was one of those who idolised the great King Kenny as a kid and was also one of those devastated by his departure after the FA Cup replay against Everton.
I was worried how Kenny would react back in the hot seat but he has always held his head up high and put LFC before himself.
We can only support our team in whatever direction they take and hopefully sing our hearts out on Saturday to help our beloved team lift yet another trophy.
We are not the great Liverpool of the 80’s but hopefully one day soon we will be back at the pinnacle where we feel we belong. YNWA.
great article mate, didnt realise you had it in you!
Couldn’t agree with you more Luke. You’ve got to look at the positives and unite behind the manager and the club. That’s what we do.
It’s irritating when it’s often the national press or phone-ins on stations like talksport are stirring up trouble and passing ideas amongst the Football Manager brigade. Most fans are understandable frustrated, but it’s definitely the minority who are making the absurd calls for Kenny out.
Two cup finals shouldn’t act to hide our problems in the league. As you said, the league doesn’t lie, we are where we deserve to be and can’t blame it on ‘bad luck.’ Yet the dominance we’ve had over some teams and good wins in some huge games, tells me it’s just some gentle tweaking our team needs, rather than a mass overhaul.
Enjoyed reading your article. Some good common sense writing.
34 points ( at time of writing) off the league leaders is the only stat you need to think about…A great season if you enjoy trips to the smoke wearing a three foot high red and white top hat and waving a foam hand…..if you don’t it’s been a debacle and can’t end soon enough
As Kenny’s biggest fan I have to say that tonight simply wasn’t good enough Kenny, it was an insult to LFC supporters period. What has happened to the football we were playing last season when he first took over?? & I’m sorry Jay but you need to drop down a division for a career & that decision needs to be made for you.
@drakerichards – it’s not the only stat. How about SIX YEARS without a trophy? How about 31 times we’ve hit the woodwork? How about 40 years supporting Liverpool, and never having seen anything like this year? Kenny is a great manager. He set the team up to create chances and we’ve created more than any team in the PL. I’m as frustrated as anyone, but it’s a very modern delusion to think changing the manager is going to start making the ball go in suddenly. Luke’s dead right – what we need is a bit of patience, a couple of quality signings (personally I think we need more goals from midfield as well as a poacher – how many are Spearing, Lucas, Henderson, Adam, Shelvey, and Downing going to finish the season with?), and another year under the belts of the youngsters. What we don’t need is everyone re-learning their strategy with a new coach who has new ideas, and another excuse available in saying ‘he’s only just got the job and they’re not his squad’. Who is it that’s going to come in and make the team create more than the current manager? Kenny knows what he’s doing, but no-one can legislate for luck. And it DOES make a difference, sorry: there was mention on the Guardian of an Oxford Professor of statistics who put lie to the old myth that ‘luck evens itself out over a season’. He worked out that were that to be true, the season would need to be 3 times as long as it is now. So give Kenny 2 more years, and then let’s see how we’re going!
Touche.
Hi Luke,
The answer to me is that so many opinions are formed by the media.I don’t think many people discuss things between themselves nowadays.
You only have to look at the reports today about Hodgson becoming England Manager.They all wanted ‘arry!
Yet Hodgson was good enough for us and we all got slagged off for not accepting him.But look at the press today.They are eulogising about his non-achievement at the 94 clubs he’s managed and dragging out names of players I’ve never heard of to explain what a great coach he is.
Then they get to the nitty gritty and explain that he was the only candidate because it would have cost too much money to get ‘arry.
It’s subtle and subliminal but so many people buy it!
I wanted Kenny Dalglish and still do!But in my day we simply discussed who had a bad game and who had a good game.We didn’t want them binned after a bad game;we just supported them to have a good game next time!
So there you have it! I couldn’t care less about what they say.For me Kenny Dalglish is the Man for Liverpool.They can write whatever they like.But I trust him and his knowledge of football and LFC.
Just remember Bob Paisley in his first season saying that we could have gone bit shorter on the bends and a bit quicker on the straights.
So don’t be too troubled by other people’s opinions.
Trust your own judgement likeI I do!
The comments were all so positive until after tonight’s result!
With all things considered, I think Kenny definitely deserves another season. It’d feel too much like Chelsea if he wasn’t granted one. There’s enough positive to outweigh the more baffling points. Strangely though, it doesn’t feel it’s in our hands any more. I kind of feel that I / we called time on Souness, Houllier, Rafa even, and certainly Roy but this time my / our opinion won’t count. FSG will make that decision devoid of sentimentality. They’ll do what they feel will take the club forward, whether they get it right or wrong. Of that you can be sure.
With that in mind, I think it’s fine to question the bad and praise the good. I’m not sure it’s healthy to have to follow an official party line as a fan. It reminds of the ‘stoning’ scene in Life of Brian – don’t say Kenny.
I spend my whole week discussing Liverpool with mates, work colleagues etc. I can’t play the game that long. I’m too opinionated. If I feel something went wrong I’ll say it although I don’t put those feelings on Twitter or Facebook.
Kenny is the closest thing I had to a hero growing up and for his characteristics I’ll respect him for life. If the time comes though (and I certainly don’t think it has yet) then I’ll tell my mates that’s how I feel.
That aside, I thought that was a very good article.
Agreed the football played on many an occasion this season has been a pleasure to watch. However,Kenny refused to acknowledge the need for a finisher in the January window. The media and certain managers wish us to believe there are no “prospects” available in winter. Pardew and Moyes have proven otherwise. What has happened to Liverpool’s scouting system? I am all for allowing Kenny time, but there has to be a very abrupt change in the hunt for real talent, otherwise this season will predict things to come.
Kenny knows the season has gone pear shaped, mostly.
He knows that if they win the FA Cup, then it’ll be ‘Nice one Kenny, now let’s aim for that darn Champions League qualification’ from his bosses at FSG.
On the other hand, if all he ends up with is the Carling Cup, than he may be in the shite.
Like Luke, FSG never enjoyed the thrill of Kenny’s 80’s team, or witnessed the great man as a player.
So any decision they take will be purely objective, uncoloured by sentiment or loyalty.
I think they’ll give him another chance, but he’ll be on probation.
And if there is little improvement, then he’ll be gone by Xmas.
Kenny is the man I want managing Liverpool FC. Not because he’s the greatest British player I have ever seen. Not because of his heroics after Hillsborough and not because is isn’t Roy Hodgson. I want him at the helm because he’s a winner, driven to win and to win for Liverpool FC. This season has seen some ups and downs, but it has opened Kenny’s eyes to the task in hand. He knows that the signings have not improved our first 11, and that we have many players not suited to playing for a top club aiming to win the league. Spearing and Shelvey, Henderson and Downing are lightweight when compared to powerful midfields – they have no long term future. However Kenny is astute enough to have identified which players in the short term can improve our position and which players he needs to restore the club to supremcy. It will be a mixture of a few expensive signings and more ‘where did he come from?’ players. It won’t happen next year, although expect a great improvement. Within 3 years Kenny will have established a strong and adventurous squad with an attacking philosophy. Not wishful thinking and not hope against hope. Trust me, you don’t have the playing and managing credentials of Kenny Dalglish to accept mediocrity and not to deliver what we as Liverpool supporters expect. It’s time he needs, not vast amounts of money.
good stuff mate imagine if moyes even after 10 years ,hodgson o’neil etc got to to 2 finals journos wold be putting them up for manager of the year,and as for the rockets booing the team of at anfield fukin wake up if your not bright enough to see that kenny put out weakend side because of saturdays game and cant respect what he is doing , go and support chelsea for knee jerk reactions its not the liverpool way
Good stuff Freshie.I couldn’t have put it better myself!We’ll get there with Kenny Dalglish at the helm.
It sounds to me like you understand what Kenny Dalglish means to this Club and what this Club means to Kenny Dalglish.
If he couldn’t do it he would have thrown up his hands by now!
I see posts on forums questioning why he doesn’t criticise players.But I remember Bob Paisley coming out and questioning players attitudes just before we took off again!
Anyway Freshie,an excellent post and I’m with you all the way!
Agree with post, get not thy scarves in a twist, etc.
But KD should be less of a smarty kilt with journalists. It ill-behoves the man and does us no favours.
Kenny Dalglish is just like us on these forums.
He knows better;he can’t manage,he’s a smart arse at at times,he gives short shrift to sky,he couldn’t pick a team to save his life;he thinks Downing is a good player:he thinks Carroll is a bad player;he doesn’t understand tactics:he outwits most of the “big” teams;he thinks Carroll is a good player;he supported Suarez;he thinks Downing is a bad player;he doesn’t know where to play Carroll;he knows when to play Carroll;he should go 4-4-2;he should go 5-2-3;he should go 3-2-5!
Oh let’s just get behind Kenny Eh! and just support the team!!
That’s only reason we’re here!
So bring it on ! Chelsea here we come ! And you will all understand why Kenny will always be a legend!