The abrupt removal of Kenny Dalglish from the manager’s seat in May was more than just a shocking decision. It marked the end of a line, the severing of any sense of continuity with what has gone before in the club’s history. And that clearly was the point John W. Henry was making by brandishing the axe. It’s hard to forgive. It no longer feels like our club. However, as kick off approaches, it is impossible not to feel the customary pre-season air of anticipation and excitement, such is the drug of football.
Dalglish was more than just a manager; he was a link to the past. Not just the past of trophy winning teams but also to a time when club and supporters were intimately aligned. His dignity, strength and humanity in the aftermath of Hillsborough should never be forgotten and to see him disrespected and pilloried last season during the Suarez affair was an affront to any right-minded fan.
Numerous statements have been given to the press this summer regarding the sacking of Dalglish and the appointment of his successor, Brendan Rodgers. None of them make any real sense unless they are read as a reluctance to plainly state the impossible to escape conclusion that Henry and FSG decided that the club needed a clean sweep and that Dalglish just didn’t fit their vision of the future.
Between Henry’s hints of dressing room apathy and denial that the Suarez incident was a major factor, Tom Werner’s predictions of the “relentless attacking football” to come under Rodgers and Ian Ayre’s assertion that even victory in the FA cup final would not have saved the Scotsman’s job, there is nothing to suggest that anything Dalglish could have done or said at any end of season review would have received a empathetic hearing from the club hierarchy.
Clearly it was a decision already made and no justification can be adequately proffered for it, it can only be understood as a ruthless wielding of power.
So we approach the new season with the club now being remade in the image of FSG. I am not sure what to think about it. As the summer weeks have passed the instinct to turn away from a club that appears to have lost its soul has lessened. It is hard to break a forty-year habit after all. Something has changed though. The owners have given no real reason to suspect they are of the same stripe as Hicks and Gillett, the very existence of the club is not threatened. However, the firing of Dalglish has left no doubt, if any existed, that their ownership is devoid of sentiment. It is hard to reconcile that with the fundamentally sentimental nature of football support. The club may not be facing extinction but its essence has been diluted, a business model apparently replacing sporting ambition.
FSG’s choice of Rodgers will ultimately determine whether criticism of their ownership grows or dissipates. There is nothing in Henry and Werner’s background to suggest they were qualified to assess potential successors to Dalglish. Their reliance on secret “advisers” did not inspire too much confidence. In choosing Rodgers they have taken a huge gamble. They have naturally rallied behind their man but the talk of introducing a passing game and attacking play to Anfield seems unnecessarily disrespectful to Dalglish who was not exactly an exponent of alehouse football. It is also setting Rodger’s up for a fall if his team fails to deliver. The fixture list has, with opening home games against City, Arsenal and United, thrown up a difficult start for the Ulsterman, but also an opportunity to win over doubters. It promises to be a trial by fire.
Rodgers has so far impressed. His response to this run of games was a declaration of confidence that his side would be “flying” and ready for it. Pre-season friendlies and their Europa League qualifying round doppelgangers are not fertile ground for divining hard clues for the season ahead but the second leg against FC Gomel saw what is likely to be Rodger’s first choice eleven, apart from Allen presumably in place of Shelvey. There was cohesion to the play and evidence of the high tempo pressing that Rodgers has championed. The performance against Bayer Leverkusen was also encouraging. It has been a while since pre-season gave the impression of a Liverpool side hungry and fit to face the opening fixture.
Last season, around this time, I wrote, on this site, that Kenny’s signings of Adam, Downing and Henderson could mark the beginning of a new era at the club, filling the holes in the squad as I saw it. I even went as far to speculate about a possible title challenge. While we are at it, I also committed to “paper” the idea that FSG had not put a foot wrong in their stewardship of the club. Twelve months later all of those sentiments look ridiculous.
The insipid contribution of those three players and the underwhelming impact of Andy Carroll saw Dalglish’s side struggle for any kind of consistency.
The failure to mount any kind of sustained challenge to the leading clubs was largely the result of not dispatching the sides in the lower half of the table. We have witnessed this with succeeding managers. It is a failing that has seen the end to Evan’s, Houlier. Benitez and now Dalglish. The club may have been poorly run during the years since the last title win but the players in successive teams have ultimately failed to deliver on their potential.
Given that I could not have been more wrong last year I will reserve judgment on Borini, Allen and whoever else may join before the transfer window shuts. One thing I feel confident in saying is that if Rodgers enjoys the luck that deserted the club last season then he has a squad capable of finishing higher than eighth. The return of Lucas is significant and his fitness will no doubt prove as vital as his absence last season proved debilitating.
One thing that has given me confidence in Rodgers was his obvious discomfort at the execrable press conference announcing the recent Chevrolet sponsorship. When contrasted with his obvious ease around players it is clear that he is a man who breathes football and has little love for the PR circus that follows the club. This single mindedness will serve him well at a club where expectation far exceeds anything he has experienced before.
Ultimately, for me, Kenny Dalglish should have been given at least a second full season to build on last year’s cup successes and his absence leaves the club a much poorer place. However, as the season beckons and it goes back to the basics of eleven vs eleven it is impossible to not want Rodgers and the players to succeed. The fascination that is football somehow rises above all feelings of disgust over the treatment of a club legend. That doesn’t feel right but it is undeniable. Bring on Saturday.