One of the most frustrating aspects of yesterday's draw with Norwich was the substitution of Craig Bellamy, who scored Liverpool's goal and was a consistent attacking threat. After the game, Liverpool legend David Fairclough echoed the thoughts of many fans and expressed his disappointment at Kenny Dalglish's decision.
Fairclough said:
"I was a little bit disappointed to see him come out of the game. I would've stuck with him until he couldn't run any more. The opposition don't like Craig Bellamy on the team. He stirs everybody up.
"There was a moment just before he was everntually substituted where he had a good run down the right hand side, and I thought that might have won him a reprieve. I would've stuck with him.
"Rarely do you see craig Bellamy do something and then ask 'why did you do that'? I think he's got a great football brain, and...when he's got the ball at his feet, he's aware of what's going on, and...he has the ability to pick out the right pass.
I totally agree with Fairclough - Looking back on the game now, I still can't see the sense in taking off Bellamy but leaving on Stewart Downing, whose end product this season (in terms of goals and assists) has been zilch.
Luis Suarez aside, Bellamy was the biggest goal-threat for Liverpool throughout the game, and his pace caused regular problems for Norwich.
When you're at home, and trying to win the game, why take off your goalscorer, especially someone who has scored two goals in two starts? Surely scoring a goal should give you a better chance of staying on the field?!
Some of Kenny's decisions this season have been hard to fathom, and his arguable (mis)use of Craig Bellamy is a growing cause for concern (IMO).
Jaimie Kanwar
Fairclough said:
"I was a little bit disappointed to see him come out of the game. I would've stuck with him until he couldn't run any more. The opposition don't like Craig Bellamy on the team. He stirs everybody up.
"There was a moment just before he was everntually substituted where he had a good run down the right hand side, and I thought that might have won him a reprieve. I would've stuck with him.
"Rarely do you see craig Bellamy do something and then ask 'why did you do that'? I think he's got a great football brain, and...when he's got the ball at his feet, he's aware of what's going on, and...he has the ability to pick out the right pass.
I totally agree with Fairclough - Looking back on the game now, I still can't see the sense in taking off Bellamy but leaving on Stewart Downing, whose end product this season (in terms of goals and assists) has been zilch.
Luis Suarez aside, Bellamy was the biggest goal-threat for Liverpool throughout the game, and his pace caused regular problems for Norwich.
When you're at home, and trying to win the game, why take off your goalscorer, especially someone who has scored two goals in two starts? Surely scoring a goal should give you a better chance of staying on the field?!
Some of Kenny's decisions this season have been hard to fathom, and his arguable (mis)use of Craig Bellamy is a growing cause for concern (IMO).
Jaimie Kanwar
Its not 1990 anymore ..we are in 2011 but some people will never criticise Kenny even though he has got it wrong so many times. jamie agree with you...if we continue like this for much longer ...Kenny will have a big problem
ReplyDeleteI have critisised Kenny, and your point is what exactly?
ReplyDeleteQuestion...when will we be allowed by fellow Liverpool fans to question dalglish?
ReplyDeleteAt least city are helping is forget about yesterday somewhat ;-)
ReplyDeletepoor mancs...
ReplyDeleteto be hammered by 5 goals to 1 is going to make Fergie the happiest man on planet earth :)
My point is that Kenny is taking us backwards and not forward..constant blaming refs for his own short comings..picking wrong teams and formations ...how about taking strikers off and putting on midfielders or defenders on when we are chasing a game.
ReplyDelete5-1 to city that's how to play not the way kk has us playing and we have spent some money too
Make that SIX!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh dear Mali341
ReplyDeleteHow many times did saint benitez pick the wrong team and formations and let's not even go to his substitutions either...
Ah I have got it now, Rafa never did anything wrong did he?
Although we all have to be positive, I think liverpool need a better manager to succeed, one who knows who to buy, and who to select for a particular game. Have you noticed that we are not only failing to defend a goal, we never came back from behind to win a premire league games. The good thing is if you are not a good manager you will nor stay long at liverpool.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had sky to see the look on Gary nevilles face
ReplyDeleteSo how on this earth did Rafa manage to stay at the club for 6 seasons and that is without a single trophy in his last 4?
ReplyDeleteGive it to him REdders redknapp!!
ReplyDeletepriceless! lol
ReplyDeletelol
ReplyDeletedoes it make it alright just because Rafa made these mistakes ..Kenny should make the same mistakes too. Or if he were super clever as you suggest then he should learn from others mistakes. by the way Rafa got slated when he messed up and deservedly too and so should Kenny ...
ReplyDeleteBut i have got a feeling he's going to be our version of KEVIN KEEGAN
Rafa kept a silly Goatie ...will King Kenny will be doing it too ??
ReplyDeleteCan anyone help me out to try and figure out what Mail341 is trying to say with "our version of Kevin Keegan"?
ReplyDeleteHe has mentioned the same thing before but I am struggling to comprehend.
I can just imagine how Fergie is throwing teacups around in the utd dressing room HA HA HA HA
ReplyDeleteAs Clint Eastwood said after ordering five coffins.....make that SIX
ReplyDeleteWe had 26 attempts at goal what more can Kenny do! The signings are fine and will start taking their chances.
ReplyDeleteEven when Bellamy went off we should of scored.
We should have or could have won every game this season except for Spurs.
If we were n't creating then you should be worried easier for players to start scoring then for a team to start creating chances.
Kevin KEEGAN was the saviour who came back to newcastle to rescue them and what happend and they had another one too called Allen Shearer and look what happend
ReplyDeleteKenny 's tactics and Subs are getting more and more questionable. His sub agasnt Norwich took the speed out of our game and taking Bellamy and leaving Gerrard or Downing was extremly silly.
ReplyDeleteI think he is getting away with those mistakes because he is Kenny and no othe manager of liverpool in recent years would have been called for everything for those mistakes.
I think Martin o Neill must be rubbing his hands at the state of liverpool under Kenny should...He will be keeping his mobile switched on in case Mr John Henry calls
ReplyDeletedamn it was x-max for city
ReplyDeleteQuestion all you like...but look at where we were this time last year! It was always going to be a transitional season - like it or not. You don't change that much of the squad and immediately win the league. If it wasn't Dalglish who would you have? And don't forget - not all 'top' managers would have been attracted to Liverpool
ReplyDeleteI just wish our players would just start taking their chances nothing to do about formations or tactics!When players are n't taking chances then all the ground work,tactics,formations and subs must be spot on or we would n't be getting the chances to score!
ReplyDeleteSpurs our main rivals for 4th? Arsenal still to worry about? I'm close to writing this season off early as I did with hodgson because we drop points both when we play well and poorly. Fate?
ReplyDeleteWhat??? State of Liverpool? MON? - are you joking? Did wonders at Villa didn't he. Is that what you really want?
ReplyDeleteDALGLISH WHY CARROLL & BELLAMY WERE NOT ON THE PITCH AGAINST MAN UTD .DON'T BLAMED CARROLL FOR NOT PERFORMING DALGLISH BOUGHT HIM £35 M TO SIT ON THE BENCH AND PLAYED ONLY 10 MINS
ReplyDeleteTHE BEST SQUAD :
REINA
KELLY-CARRAGHER-AGGER-ENRIQUE
KUYT-LUCAS-GERRARD-BELLAMY
CARROLL-SUAREZ
Forget about last year. It's simple, we needed a couple of good buys in summer and we would've been certs for 4th. Kenny has bought poorly with an impressive amount of money supplied to him by our fantastic owners. I wasn't a fan of rafa but he would've had much more of a go against a poor man utd lineup than kenny did. He keeps faith in players who clearly aren't good enough, to the detriment of Liverpool fc. His British policy is ludicrous especially when you see that bar gerrard our best players are foreigners. I know all managers make mistakes but my main gripe is that we're top gutless in our performances and reactive rather than proactive
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the point. Is Downing the problem? The fact that You're pointing the finger against Stewart Downing when Dirk Kuyt (He spoke volume at Melwood training ground against Dalglish, in order to influence manager's decisions and claim an undeserved place in the first team : it's the only time that Kuyt hit the headlines this season) was totally bare and a mess for the whole 90 mins. He was uncomfrotable with the ball, He missed all chances, He never played a good ball as Downing played a host of good crosses for his team mates.
ReplyDeleteAnd one THING MUST BE CLEAR: IN TERMS OF FOOTBALL TALENT HENDERSON IS FAR FAR SUPERIOR THAN DIRK KUYT. FAR SUPERIOR.
Instead of protecting always the usual players, We need to give a break to our young & talented lads, like Hendo & Carroll.
FACT.
We are fifth in the league not fifth from bottom like last season!
ReplyDeleteAdam??? Adam out? I don't believe it that there are some "so called fans" Who are persisting to blast the best Liverpool's player. Incredible.
ReplyDeleteHe's comfortable with the ball, He runs with the ball properly, He has vision, He has a fantastic shot from 35 - 30 yrds.....
Mah... I don't believe it.....
Adam out, when Kuyt is a mess....
Next time Suarez plays notice how he always apologises when he is being selfish by looking over to the player who was in a better position and holding his hands up. Suarez did this after almost every shot he took yesterday and also in other games this season. My question? when someone opologises sincerely usually they make a habit of not commiting the offense again or at the very least reducing its occurrence. At the moment Suarez is looking menacing but is ultimately playing for himself and his own reputation.
ReplyDeleteGordon Strachan once said of Darren Huckerby, "Darren is a scorer of great goals, what we need is a great goalscorer".
Judging by Suarez's goals to chances ratio and the type of goals he scores for us I feel that he too falls into this category. Like I said earlier if he shows a little more generosity in the final third it will go along way to papering over the fact that he isn't a natural goalscorer.
"Your version Kevin Keegan" still does not make sense as he was a player for us not a manager and Shearer had no connection with LFC so what a load of horsesh** you are talking.
ReplyDeleteYou are the most.....................................................................................................................................person in the world.
Now you can just imagine what I really wanted to say.
Thats a fair point. Look what happend at Everton after they brought back their saviour Howard Kendall.....twice.... Nothing is written in stone. Hoddle at Spurs, Joe Royle at Everton, Souness at LIVERPOOL, Wilkins at Q.p.r, Francis at Birmingham the list is pretty endless. Kenny has a hard job on his hands fighting this kind of history. Kenny may eventually go on to achieve success but he won't with this squad. We need some Robbie Keane type Fire sales sharpish.
ReplyDeletekuyt???? loving stoke mate. kenny? the king? hahahahaha.he has no idea of the modern footie mate.tell me if it was roy yesterday? as simple as that,kenny out or liverpool out of the c.l. again.anyway when you keep lucas and send aqua and merieles away it s enough to talk about.kenny out.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with David Fairclough about substituting Craig Bellamy. Not every change will be meet with 100% approval but why does Kenny take off guys who are pumped up and giving their all ? This week Bellamy, the other week Saurez. And once again, Carroll under-achieves !!
ReplyDeletedowning should have been taken yesterday,put kuyt on the right and carrol up front.carroll came on and there was no service,i fear he's becoming a scapegoat without getting a proper chance.it's also baffling that bellamy isn't getting a proper run.
ReplyDeleteit's like the way kenny stuck with henderson over kuyt earlier in the season,henderson wasn't performing.alot of these things are starting to add up and the results aren't going our way.
I'm with you on this. Adam is a good little player. He has everything apart from a real engine. One of my Favourite players in the prem at the moment.
ReplyDeletei was suport liverpool fc now i am suport man city bkz liverpool never will on the top 4 annymore bkz all bussenes man want money like henrry gillet so u kwon y example bkz they give us monney but they need more profit than that kyine of money and y they did nt sell that wiz abou diabhi bkz he is muslim just see man city now how good is they now they r going 4 a glorry but all american is a poore bussenesman bkz they need money 4 bussenes look at diabhi he is bussenes man but he dont care aboute money bkz par 1hr he got a lots of money and specially he is a fans for liverpool fc n me i am still dream 4 the title but we r playing premier leaugue but y we need top 4 and y we not going 4 the title.
ReplyDeleteMali341,
ReplyDeleteNo matter how hard you try to make some people see reason, the penny will never drop for them. Some of the posters to this board are more loyal to Kenny Dalglish than to Liverpool FC.
but i will hope in the end of the seasson if liverpool will really fiht 4 the title or nt but its nt to late for lfc they can challege for titlle i hope they will annyone bkz i got a shirts 4 lfc but iam steel nt use it bkz i was promise myself and i said if liverpool will win the title n zen i will ware it but now i am 28 years old but still nothing but i am still hope i no its dificulte but i am still trust my liverpool fc but i have to say iam true blood for liverpool fc yuill never warlk allone
ReplyDeleteYes Rafa did do things wrong! but overall he was the best LFC have had since Paisley - BY FAR ! And most LFC fans would have him back tomorrow !
ReplyDeleteI forecast when KK took over that it would all end in tears.I believe he will ruin his reputation! I loved him as a player and ambassador for LFC,but sadly,I just don't think he will succeed as manager.He was helped for three years by Paisley in the past!
I hate to say it but,I could'n't agree more!
ReplyDeleteYou need to wake up, Keegan stuffed up completely at NEWCASTLE as their 'MANAGER'. He could'n't handle the job !!!
ReplyDeleteThen support City and fuck off.
ReplyDeletejeez the slating of kenny on here is more embarrassing than the result yesterday. don't forget how he turned us around last year. I'm not an old school fan, Kenny was before my time, so don't say I'm being blindly loyal and no I don't agree with all his decisions but we're a lot better off for having him, let's give him a few more games before you start calling for his head!
ReplyDeletethere are lots of positives, but that won't do us any good we need points - but I'm sure the team realises the results haven't been good enough and they'll be working on it. if we string a run of results together we'll be fine.
I agree downing doesn't seem to work on the right, his link up play with enrique down the left has been really good so far this year but his end product is lacking so far. adam is a good player, but personally I think we lose something with him in the team even if he's playing well - we just seem a bit more static and I think he leaves the back 4 a bit exposed. Gerrard isn't match fit yet but he needs to play to get there. Good to see Agger back, hopefully he'll start from here on. I think we miss Meireles and I'd like to see us get a crafty player with a bit of guile in Jan. But firstly I'd like to see 6 points from the next 2 games!
take care of your language when You name KING KENNY DALGLISH.
ReplyDeleteWhat a total wanker
ReplyDeleteWell put ..when Roy Hodgson took over...all you heard was that we would win the league in the next 2years and look how that ended.KK took over and we heard the same not just supporters but so called pundits as well who said the same...
ReplyDeletewell so far its been over 120million spent and pathetic signing apart from suarez and enrique who cost 30million combined ...the other 100 million could have transformed the squad .
Simple question...if Carroll was available for 35million tomorrow would you sign him?
So all of Kennys success is down to Paisley????????????
ReplyDeleteYou call yourself a Liverpool fan you are an embarrassment.
The 2 teams Kenny built in the 80s were all down to Kenny and to start questioning those teams make you a fool.
We are still 6th in the league and only 9 games have gone.
Rafa the best since Paisley by far?
ReplyDeleteThat is a joke right?
You even go as far as saying that Rafa was better than Joe Fagan?
I bet if Rafa told you that the sky was purple you would believe him and even if you know that the sky in fact is blue you would still argue with others that Rafa is right by saying that the sky is purple.
Mali341 pick your toys up ,there are lots of positives from the game .and only one negative .spurned chances :)
ReplyDeleteThats what people used to say after every game under Roy..
ReplyDeleteplease go away. plastic + illiterate. you from dale's farm?
ReplyDeleteCraig did good , but he had his chances. Kenny was RIGHT we needed a spark.
ReplyDeleteHad Andy scored ,we would not be having this little chat now.
Give Kenny his chance.
Exactly what I have been saying spot on. Caroll shd have been played after Everton match. Kuyt zero. He shd only be brought in as sub. KK was doing right thing but then listened to stupid media and fans. Carra also needs to be replaced by Coates -young fit and needs to start getting games to become regular. Why Johnson rather than Kelly. Stupid.
ReplyDeleteMali341 you cant see the improvement (when i get down with football i think of roy and that time) ,maybe it would still be 1 . 1
ReplyDeletebut i will bet you not 29 shots I cant believe people feel the need to write a thesis on why we arnt winning games we should. Its simple we arnt converting our chances.But its not doom and gloom or the end of the world.Its not the fault of Kenny, or his signings, its just football, and it happens. You go back to the training ground and you continue to work, and hopefully become more clinical.I cant believe for the life of me some of you who are giving down the banks to Kenny's signings. It was only a few weeks ago Downing was a smart signing, now that he's having a dip in form everyones turning.The whole lot of you need to get a grip and get some perspective and patience. Its a new team, new season, new management, new owners and it takes time to develop and build a squad of players capable of knowing each others game.For the record i think we have done brilliantly because after pre season i was expecting a struggle and a tough transition but we've been far better than i thought, just a lack of clinical touch that has cost us in a few games.Stop over analysing everything. We arnt perfect and its going to take time. We will ship goals and we will score them, but from what ive seen of Kenny and the lads im encouraged. We look like we can score - we look like we can win games against anyone and indeed should have won 4 more games than we have after battering opponents. Its good to see expansive footy but its going to take fine tuning and a bedding in period.Have faith and stop scrutinising every little thing and think of roy and that time and H & G :)
Do you judge a team and manager after 10 games?
ReplyDeleteThen Rafa should of gone after the Lyon game it was those games which Rafa had won in the past it was those games that made Rafa great like Marseille,Real Madrid and Barcelona in previous seasons not the Premier League.
Rafa took us backwards in the 09/10 season when he did his Brutus and stuck the knive into Alonso the man he built his team round for the previous 5 years the rest of the squad must have thought what the hell is he doing you could tell the spark and life had gone from the team and by the end of that season he had lost the faith of all the senoir players because of his poor tactics in the league.
Kenny had to deal with a sulking Torres leaving, Rafa's problem.
Carroll has still nearly a full still season to proof himself and I am not giving up on the team after 10 games and it is nothing to do with Kenny being the manager I will stand by the club.
So he has bought poorly? Henderson England U21 captain - one for the future. Downing - player of the season for Villa and England international. Enrique - not even going there. Adam - wanted by Utd and Spurs last year. Bellamy - not going there either. Coates - young player of tournament at Copa. His British policy - Enrique/Suarez/Coates??? You are also forgetting that we couldn't attract the 'big foreign name' as we aren't in Europe - we had no chance in getting Mata - fact!!!. Listen we're all disappointed after the last two results (not performances) but jumping on the 'let's slag them all off bandwagon' isn't going to do anybody any favours. We're only nine games in!
ReplyDeleteMaybe getting to a second champions league final helped?
ReplyDeleteHenderson u21 captain. Point being? Do you know who was captain before him? MICHAEL MENCIENNE. He "one for the future" also?? Suarez was a Commoli buy and even hodgson wanted him. Carroll poor. Coates can't even make the bench. And stop this future rubbish. We need to get back into the cl NOW. Didnt want Mata anyway so no point mentioning him. I'm not saying sack dalglish but we just needed a couple of decent signings and we wouldn't have had to worry about the like of spurs. Correct that we are only 9 games in but we can only judge on what we have seen so far.
ReplyDeleteSimon this is an alternative Liverpool website where real fans have to fight for the honour of the club.
ReplyDeleteAnd as I said, my biggest gripe is our reactive nature so far this season in most of our games. We start playing/attacking after the oppo score or get a red. We were proactive in the way we started against Sunderland and Norwich and Bolton. Not exactly setting down a marker when you attack from kick off at home against those 3 teams. Every team will start off in an attacking manner at home against them. Don't know what you guys think but I reckon it's time we put in 90mins where people say "wow look at Liverpool". We all know the scum utd pick up a lot results simply through instilling fear in the opposition. Time we had teams trembling at the prospect of facing us!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who says that the ref wasnt 100% biased against Suarez is either a liar or he is blind .
ReplyDeletePersonally I would have taken off Kuyt & pushed Bellamy up front with Suarez , then replaced Suarez with Carroll especially as Suarez become more & more frustrated by the totally unjust totally prejudiced treatment he was receiving from yet another corrupt referee .
Kuyt had a few good moments but by the 60'th minute his race was run .
Suarez seems to enjoy playing with him but if he lasts beyond January with us I'll be surprised .
On a side note , although Suarez was outstanding at times yesterday & I'm not questioning his starting position within the squad but on at least 3 different occasions yesterday he failed to connect simply with Bellamy , Gerrard & Downing .
He looks frustrating to play with but equally he looks worth it for the quality he can conjure & if or when we ever get an honest referee to ref a game , the vast amounts of fouls his style forces defenders to concede , he truly looks one of the best players in the world & the way he can turn on the ball & make a monkey outa almost anyone trying to mark him reminds me of Maradonna at his very very best . Compliments cant come higher .
I thought Downing had an outstanding game , he delivered at least 3 brilliant pinpoint cross's from the right but there was no attacker with the heading skills to plant a forehead on it .
His consistently good performances so far this season have left me in no doubt he is an excellent signing .
Him & Gerrard linked very well yesterday but if , if , if he could only improve his finishing , for me he would be pushing Arjen Robben very close for the title of the worlds best winger , He's already better than Giggs & has been for a few seasons now .
Gerrard was outstanding as was Adam , their passing at times was mesmerising .
Bellamy played well on the left as did Enrique .
Johnson & Skrtel stood out in possession for us also .
All in all its the best I have seen us play since Roy Evans left us .
We hit the woodwork sooooo many times & their Keeper pulled off at least 2 miracle saves .
How we didnt win that game 6-0 is a mystery & proves only that its a funny old game with both devils & angels controlling fate from the heavens .
We must have hit the woodwork more than all other clubs combined so far this season ?
That is one stat that cant continue , not even the best player in the world can continuously hit the woodwoork at will .
Its only a matter of time & should we win away against West Brom then at home to Swansea that will see us 6 league games unbeaten & having taken 14 from 18 available points , thats TITLE WINNING FORM .
We could be very nicely set up going into our back to back 50/50 games away to Chelski & home to City , if we stay unbeaten that sets us up for a run of games in December that we will be favourite to take maximium points from .
Its shaping up to be a very interesting season & we are looking lively in the League Cup with revenge on our minds before we go to Stoke .
I'd love it if we won the League Cup & finished strongly in the top 3 .
Anything beyond that would be the stuff of dreams but the way we are hanging tough with the world against us at the moment ?
I cant help thinking we are going to upset a lotta Clubs when we do start to get a long overdue fair crack of the whip .
thats right we were getting plenty of crosses in and creating chance and abit of havoc in the norwich box but we only play carroll in the last 10 minutes give the bloke a chance and he doesnt perform then bag him not just 10 minutes and say he did nothing
ReplyDeleteGreat comment Mr Burt but lets not get hasty .
ReplyDeleteKenny has us set up tactically in such a way that Suarez has a free role , he is a luxury player & the other players bear the brunt of that luxury .
John Barnes had a similar role to express his artistic liecence , under Kenny .
Neither Barnes or Suarez could do a thing without the 10 other players sticking religiously to the tactics & freeing him up to express himself .
I made a similar comment on this thread before I read yours but I felt the need to congratulate you on yer excellent point because for far too long our fans have fixated on the performances of individual players & ignored the excellent work of those digging in & creating the circumstances for others to flourish .
Gerrard & Adam were brilliant yesterday , they made it look easy .
Totally agree Leonerick. Adam has been great; 1 goal and 4 assists so far - that's more creative contribution than Henderson, Downing and Carroll combined. Plus, Adam was only 8m, so it's comparative bargain.
ReplyDeleteInteresting points, Burt. If fans are brutally honest with themselves, I think it's clear that Suarez is destined for Barcelona at some point in the next 2 years. I can't see him staying in the long-term, especially if we miss out on 4th place this season.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Also, Bellamy's last football before Norwich was on the 11th October in an international game. That's 11 days of rest time, hence the bags of energy he had during the game.
ReplyDeleteI have to echo the response of JJ and Red4Life here - Rafa the best since Paisley? It's just not true. A manager who doesn't win the league cannot (IMO) be considered to be better than a manager who *has* won the league. Both Joe Fagan and KD are ahead of Benitez in that regard. Additionally, Gerard Houllier won more trophies than Benitez, and Roy Evans' team played much more attractive, entertaining, attacking football.
ReplyDeleteI see your point about Adam - I wonder how he would do playing in the hole behind Suarez. Less running to do, and he could just concentrate on opening up defences with his great range of passing. Worth a shot I would say. 6 points out of the next two games has to be a necessity, especially Spurs and Arsenal creeping up the table.
ReplyDeleteO'Neil is a fine manager & for me is about the only man walking on the face of the planet who even has a glimmer of a hope of filling Fergusons shoes when he leaves UTD .
ReplyDeleteIf Kenny didnt want to come back then I woulda taken O'Neil & I would have taken him everyday of the week ahead of Hodgson .
As a player O Niel won everything except the FA Cup including back to back European Cups he would have no trouble dealing with top players , as a manager he worked wonders on shoestring budgets at Wycome & Leicester , then crowned Celtic in domestic glory & even brought them to a UEFA Cup final , at Villa he took them from the relegation zone & made em consistent top 6 & cup finalists .
At worst he would have at least matched Benetiz & at best he might even have eventually won us a league .
Once Dalglish announced his interest there was only ever one man for the job , only a ressurected Bill Shankly stands a slim chance of doing a better job for us than Kenny & I dont think Shanks could do it quicker than Kenny .
Had O'Neil stayed at Villa ?
I dont think Spurs would have made it into the top 4 .
He was a highly successful player so that tells me he would have no problem dealing with big Egos but his managerial career has been more bread & butter basics than the champagne extravagance required for LFC to strut her stuff once again at the pinnacle of English & European football .
In terms of man management I have yet to see better than Dalglish .
In terms of Tactics & Formations I have yet to see better than Dalglish .
In Terms of Going the Distance & lifting the League I have yet to see better than Dalglish although I confess that Ferguson has the same steely cold nerve in the final furlong .
But in saying that Kenny & Fergie have contested the League 7 times while at similar sized clubs with similar sized budgest , Fergie has won it once while Kenny won it 4 times .
Fergie never won it from a Dalglish managed club but Kenny won it at Blackburn from Fergies Utd .
O'Neil hasnt got a chance with us .
If or when that happens I'm pretty sure there will be a player of similar quality either in Midfield or up front already at the club for at least 6 months .
ReplyDeleteMuch as we all love the way Suarez is playing he isnt yet an Ian Rush , who scored loads of goals while winning us absolutely everything INCLUDING the Kitchen sink , who then broke our hearts & left us .
Suarez is a foreigner , a grown man , not a kid who came through the reserves into our side so its very likely he is going to move on sooner or later thats part & parcel of modern day football .
But what isnt part and parcel of modern day football is when a legendry manager at a legendry club gets to work with a potentially legendary player from Uruguay .
Lets be brutally honest here , no matter where Suarez goes from here he is highly unlikely to fulfill his potential to be one of the worlds best ever players .
He is noticeably one of our best because of his rare Latin style but at Barca his Latin style isnt much different to 99% of that squads .
Suarez knows which side his bread is buttered on he knows that financially speaking he wont do any better anywhere else .
He knows there’s a strong chance that Kenny Dalglish backed financially by Fenway is at least likely to contest both the Champions League Final & the Premier League over the space of Suarez's playing contract .
Theres about 6 clubs in Europe who could realistically make that claim & theres about 4 managers in Europe who that could be realistically expected from .
At best Suarez can only move sideways from LFC , there is no step up no matter which way he looks at it .
Lets enjoy it while we can eh ?
I was vary much pleased to see the starting line up. But feel as surprised to see when Bellmey was substituted. I think he was a constant threat to norwich goal. If he could had stayed full time then he could made difference. Liverpool is clearly lacking finishing touches. we urgently needing a finisher. after creating too many chances we could not convert any one ? opponents are creating two three chances and scoring. Therefore, We Need a brilliant finisher.
ReplyDeletethe king is losing the plot,its time for plan b,bring back rafa,never did we draw home games against lowly opposition..at this rate we will be fighting for europa.
ReplyDeleteJesus fucking Christ I'm seriously sick to death of our own fans now.
ReplyDeleteEh JJ, tell me when Real Madrid come knocking, who has stopped them? Ronaldo, Zidane and Alonso were all wanted by Madrid and they always get their person!
ReplyDeleteQuit blaming Rafa. What he did was get a fantastic price for him. Rafa grew our squad value. One bad year! I'm positive he would of had a plan and we should have given him a year to prove it. Now we have Kenny. We need to back him but if he does not get us into the Champions League then what?
Who can we bring in?
why leave carrol for the last 10 mins. surely 20 mins or more was needed.
ReplyDeletebellamy should never of come off simple ! he scored and was wippin balls in to that box everytime he got the ball so i agree kenny messed up big time coz that was two big points dropped from a game we should of won easily but with the way we defended !!!!!! im shocked we didnt lose .... carra has lost it pace wise now still has the brain but the body wont keep up and ive never really been happy with skrtle agger should of played (untill he got injured anyway) we need marko marin or hazard, two centerbacks ie cahill (if glenn is right back put kelly cb) and a striker gonzalo of madrid would be nice.
ReplyDeleteif liverpool are to make a claime for a top 4 finish they have to sack king kenny now as he is not good a enough.100 million pound investment and still can not impress as a coach you deserved a sack.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool rely way to much on suarez, just like they did with torres. They need a few more players of the quality of suarez to be serious contender.
ReplyDeleteMali341 two words spring to mind "Bell end"
ReplyDeleteyou really dont know what you are talking about!
yes we have problems scoring at the minute,yes downing is
getting away with murder and producing absolute zilch!
carroll is a waste of money,henderson looks poor and the defence cant
stop conceding goals,but rome was not built in a day!
King kenny is the man to get us glory,it just wont come overnight
the team needs time,and maybe another player or two in january,support the team mate or go and support the worlds richest club(man city) because
we dont need fans like you at our beloved anfield.
Crazyhorse - your views are very welcome here but I'd be grateful if you could refrain from personally attacking other posters. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, Downing has been a surprising disappointment for me. I expected him to be typically English (not set the world on fire, but put in a steady shift more often than not) and I definitely thought he'd have more of an impact in terms of creativity and conversion of chances. It's early days though and he's been played out of position a bit too often.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that I liked about him when we signed him was his attitude, and I defended him as a result. In comparison with our other British signings, I felt that he was far better equipped to deal with the pressures of potentially having to lead the team at times - his performances at Villa last season alone showed that he not only had the ability grab a game, but he also had a nice adaptability to play in a couple of different positions. I personally felt that this mentality set him aside from Henderson, Carroll and Adam - the first two of which I personally feel lack genuine character, and the latter of which I still feel is playing a level above where he's best suited.
There's an interesting parallel between Stewart Downing and Glen Johnson's LFC careers. The first month for both of them showed great attacking promise, but then they both seemed to become a little introverted when the going got particularly tough.
I still fully expect Stewart Downing to come good though. For me, the weight of expectation will only truly be on him when Kenny starts playing him in his natural left flank position regularly. And as has been said before, perhaps putting Johnson in as the right-winger and allowing Downing to swap sides could be the fresh injection of pace that we so badly need.
I wouldn't hold my breath though...
How can I blame him when that is the truth!
ReplyDeleteReal Madrid didn't come knocking(!)
Alonso's own words are that Rafa said to him he wanted to change the team and he would be made available for transfer,which then allowed Mascherano,Reina and Torres to start wanting to leave the club Rafa destabilized the whole team in the one move.
The Aqualina who he brought to replace him with he had no faith in.
It would be like Fergie selling Roy Keane or Paul Scholes in their prime!
I can sense your disappointment and believe you me I'm as disappointed as you but I just don't think we can lay the blame at Dalglish's feet nor do I think it is constructive that we are saying he isn't the right man for the job. I know it is all ifs and buts, but a couple of decisions the other way or luck and there would be another 6+ points on the board easily and we would be sitting here talking about something else! For me we are playing the best football for a good number of seasons. Also the more pressure we put on the new players the more they will feel it which is just self destruct mode. I totally agree with you about the full 90 mins - watching Arsenal in mid week shows what you can do if you keep going and I'd like to see Liverpool that way. Football is all about opinions but for me we need to get behind them all and give them a chance to prove all the naysayers wrong.
ReplyDelete...But downing has only stared on the right once this season which is the position he played the whole of last season for Villa. Downing played as one of three forwards on the right in a 4-3-3. We have decided to play him left midfield of 4 in a 4-4-2, a position he has never excelled in with the exception of his first season in the top flight. Expecting Downing to come good I'm afraid is a waste of good quality expectation. If we would have signed the lad Royston Drenthe and Charles Nzogbia for 9m a piece that would have represented far greater value for money and quality. For some reason our last four managers have hated flair on the flanks which is ironic because it is this very same flair in wide positions that wins Fergie the league every year.
ReplyDeletecompliment accepted :-)
ReplyDeleteBut I'm sure it was Beardsley who played that role of Rushie. Nonetheless like you say Barnes had the license to play wide or play as an inside forward safe in the knowledge that Mcmahon, Whelan and Houghton were grafting in the middle of the park.
Kenny has taken a combination of styles to make this Liverpool team. Carroll and Suarez = Toshack and Dalglish. Downing= Jason Wilcox, Henderson=Houghton. The choice of going with a Jason Wilcox type player instead of a John Barnes type player has proved to be Kenny's biggest mistake as the team is screaming out for flair and trickery on the flanks. Going with Downing means we will play in straight lines down the left because Downing has no plan B.
Do you feel Gerrard and Adam would be as effective together against an inform Arsenal?
I have to concede that I agree with you pretty much 100% in all of your comments. I personally wanted us to sign Drenthe too and I totally agree that flair on the wings has been unforgivably overlooked by all of our managers for over 10 years, in favour of players who can offer a shift in a couple if different positions.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to defend Downing pointlessly here as I can't fault your summary. I'd suggest that his performances for Villa varied as he was sometimes employed in a more central role too when they needed more drive, but I personally hoped that the days if being forced to sign multi-position players died out when the new owners came in and offered Dalglish substantial funds.
I still think there's a deeper problem with Downing which should arguably be properly addressed at managerial level but perhaps it's finally occurring to Kenny and Comolli that the last summer transfer window was massively important in terms of making a statement across Europe that we were still a force, but they seriously dropped the ball by only signing British players - some of which are evidently very much out of their depth.
Good post theycallmemrburt.
James. Henderson has not contributed in one game this season ( invisible man ) Charlie Adam was English media hype, he is one of the slowest midfielders in the league, Aquiliani pre season made Shelvey Spearing Adam and Downing look like pensioners. None of the aforementioned have guile, creativity or pace. Downing ( unless you havnt noticed has only made it to the byline a handful of times all season ( why, because he is a one trick pony, his pace is non existent compared to the youngs, walcotts and matas of the league and its not surprising 9 times out of 10 he ends up playing the ball back, or taking it infield. Useless purchase for LFC. Comolli said Aquilani had no place at Liverpool as the only position that worked for him was Gerards, what nonsense, but hey hes in the Italian team.. Mereiles was treated like shit, none of our midfield could lace his boots right now. Carroll, regardless of price tag, is not putting the ball in the net, I think he gets a lot of abuse, but additionally he isnt good enough for LFC. Coates, who knows? he looked like a lost boy when he played a few weeks back. We havn't seen him since. Bellamy, is that the best we can do, a journeyman, who has played for everyone. Bad purchases, bad management, bad decision making. Fenway hopefully wont put up with it. Dalglish Clarke and Comollis days are numbered. Oh and by the way, 9 games almost 1 quarter of the season gone, way of the pace, norwich, sunderland, stoke, its a joke.
ReplyDeletefootball isn't about opinions, its about winning games and picking up trophies, if you don't lay the blame at Dalglish's feet, who then do you blame? Lets face we were not going to beat arsenal until they went down to 10 ( beaten by blackburn ) we were not going to beat Everton ( unitl they went down to 10 ) We are slow and predictable. We never looked like getting the winner at Sunderland, or Stoke, or Norwich. These ifs. buts and maybe's are deluded. No one fears going to Anfield. Its pathetic, thats not an opinion, according to recent results and a dire pre season. Its fact.
ReplyDeleteAgree a lot with what Shane says and see the points James is making too. James you mention us being unlucky but do you not make your own luck? There main negatives have been substitutions and personnel. And for that I believe any blame lies at the feet of dalglish. You can't really blame the players as the good ones are generally performing well. Any players who are underperforming are dalglish signings. Tactics, substitutions and poor signings have led to our poor, albeit not disastrous, start to the season
ReplyDeleteAlso have to add I think you're talking nonsense re: Bellamy and Downing. Bellamy makes a very very good squad player which is what he is for us. Downing was terrific last season, started well this season and now is on a bit of a blip. I reckon one good performance from him and he'll be back. He's visibly lacking in confidence right now and doesn't seem too keen to run at defenders which we know he can do, based on last season and thr countless times he has terrorised us in the past.
ReplyDeleteSo Henderson hasn't contributed in one game - I guess scoring isn't classed as a contribution anymore? Aquilani had been after a move back to Italy for a long time - heart wasn't in it - pre season was his shop window. Mereiles submitted a transfer request as a result of (if you believe the stories) of something that had been promised under the PREVIOUS regime. If they don't want to be here sell them. MY OPINION. Blame Dalglish, Bellamy a journeyman - what? - YOUR OPINION. I am really wondering about some of our fan base - seriously I am. Why on earth if Dalglish was the man 9 games ago he isn't the man now? Yeah let's sack him now replace with somebody else let him shape the squad over the next two transfer windows and then have the same discussion this time next year. Have you listened to any of the players since he came back - have you seen some of the performances compared to the previous regimes??? This isn't championship manager! And I'm not deluded and nor am I a Dalglish sycophant just, I would suggest, more realistic. If you thought we were going to win the league this year then that's YOUR OPINION, MY OPINION was (and still is) that, given we had changed half the squad and laid the foundations, we would settle for Champions League spot and a domestic trophy. Still on course for them as far as I can see. Next summer buy bigger and better - then push on!
ReplyDelete