Dalglish: a short term fix or the long term solution?

There is no doubt that Liverpool have come a long way since last January, when the club parted company with Roy Hodgson, but their indifferent start to this season has served as a sharp reminder that Kenny Dalglish’s charges are still very much a work in progress. But is Dalglish the man to guide them through this transition period and reassert their place in the Champions League among Europe’s elite?

After a ten year absence from football management, Dalglish was the popular choice to succeed Hodgson, who presided over the worst period in recent history for Liverpool. Dalglish’s promotion coincided with a takeover from Fenway Sports Group and a £50 million bid from Chelsea for prized asset Fernando Torres. This immediately gave the Scot the chance to breathe life into his beleaguered squad, signing Ajax’s Luis Suarez for £22.8 million and Newcastle’s Andy Carroll for a staggering £35 million, while offloading the want-away Torres.

Morale improved in the Liverpool camp, along with results, and Dalglish steered them to a respectable sixth placed finish with Suarez irrepressible. Another spending spree followed in the summer months, as Dalglish looked to sign young talent and clear out some of the ‘dead wood’ remaining from the Benitez and Hodgson regimes. Sunderland starlet Jordan Henderson was signed for £20 million, along with Aston Villa winger Stuart Downing (£15 million) and Scottish creative midfielder Charlie Adam (£7 million), who had both impressed in the previous Premier League season. The signing of Jose Enrique from Newcastle filled the problem left back position, while promising Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates was also added to the squad having won Best Young Player at the Copa America over the summer.

An imbued sense of optimism led many fans to predict a passage straight back into the Champions League, in the face of a declining Arsenal following the departures of Cesc Fabreagas and Samir Nasri, and a stagnating Tottenham Hotspur with the future of Luka Modric under a cloud. But after wins against Arsenal and Bolton, Liverpool suffered a reality check at Stoke with a 1-0 defeat, before an ill-disciplined 4-0 mauling at White Hart Lane demonstrated how far they still have to improve to mount a serious challenge for fourth. Already Dalglish has shown signs of pressure by hinting towards a refereeing conspiracy against his team; such wild accusations will do his new-look Liverpool no favours in their bid to challenge again for trophies.

There has been scepticism among many about the size of transfer fees paid out to land their primary targets. The most glaringly obvious example of this is the £35 million paid to Newcastle to make Carroll, unproven at the highest level, the most expensive English footballer in history. Some have voiced their concerns over Carroll’s performances, maintaining that he looks sluggish and off the pace, and has been detrimental to Dalglish’s encouragement of a new, fluid passing style. £20 million for Henderson also seemed excessive. A hard-working, honest player, Henderson was mightily impressive at the beginning of his last season and was duly rewarded with an England call-up, but his form tailed off dramatically in the middle part of the season, and he is another player who still has plenty to prove. However, Dalglish maintains that these were buys with the future of the club in mind.

The sales of Christian Poulsen, Joe Cole, Paul Konchesky, Alberto Aquilani and Sotiris Kyriagkos were largely approved by fans, but the most surprising sale was that of Raul Merieles to Chelsea on deadline day, a player who was voted the PFA fans Player of the Year for his exploits the previous season. This may have been a symbolic move to dismantle the last remnant of the Hodgson regime, but murky details surrounded the transfer, with both parties (Merieles and Liverpool) arguing that it was the other that forced the deal to go through. To some extent this has relieved some of the congestion in the Liverpool midfield, but the squad looked a much stronger one with Merieles a part of it, as demonstrated by his match-winning performance coming off the bench against Arsenal. I don’t think there would be many clubs that would pick Adam and Lucas Leiva ahead of a player of Meireles’ calibre and versatility.

However, while a couple of Dalglish’s decisions have come under scrutiny, he retains full backing from supporters. A club icon as player and manager, when compared with the Liverpool of last season, Dalglish’s work in rebuilding the team and restoring confidence has to be admired. But after such a long exodus, can Dalglish still deal with the pressure of day-to-day management? When the pressure at Anfield got too much for Dalglish in 1991, he resigned. 20 years on, football is an even tougher environment. It is when Liverpool endure a bad run of results, perhaps brought on by an injury crisis or a tough run of fixtures, that we will see whether Dalglish still has the hunger and the tactical awareness to turn things round, or whether a new man will be required to lead Liverpool back into the big time.

At 60, this will probably represent Dalglish’s last shot at management and the football community wishes him well. But it’s an unforgiving business; the honeymoon period was the back end of last season. Now, his signings must gel, and the team as a whole must become more difficult to beat. But judge Dalglish and his team at the end of the season. It is then that we’ll see how much progress has been made, and whether Carroll, Henderson and company will look like sound investments. 

The Championship promises to reach new heights

‘I was playing in Serie A last year and I don’t think the Championship is a step down. There are big clubs and the crowds are fantastic’. These were the words of talented Switzerland international Gelson Fernandes, who this week became big-spending Leicester City’s latest marquee signing. As the standard of football improves in the Championship year after year, it is becoming difficult to argue with the view of Fernandes, who becomes the latest of a number of high profile players such as Craig Bellamy, and more recently Kevin Nolan who have chosen to ply their trade in England’s second tier. Certainly in terms of excitement, competitiveness, and quality of football there are few leagues that can compare. We have constantly seen that anyone can beat anyone, and thrilling games have been aplenty in the last few seasons. 2011/2012 promises to be the best yet.

The Championship is an unforgiving league, and one that’s notoriously difficult to predict, and there are certainly a number of key players in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League this campaign. Coming down from the top flight are West Ham United, Blackpool and Birmingham City. West Ham will view themselves as big fish in a small pond, and, now under the tutelage of respected boss ‘Big’ Sam Allardyce, who has bolstered his squad with players such as Nolan and John Carew, will expect to bounce back at the first time of asking. For Birmingham, the task would appear much tougher, amid a cloud of financial uncertainty and an owner behind bars, but they retain a strong squad and have a hungry new manager in Chris Hughton, determined to prove a point. Blackpool have lost their talismanic captain Charlie Adam, but with a newfound respect and an admirable playing style, they can expect to be there or there abouts come the season’s finale.

Leicester City, under Sven Goran Eriksson, have been the most active club in the transfer window, bringing in quality players such as Fernandes, Kasper Schmeichael, Matt Mills and David Nugent, making them the bookies’ favourites to end the season as champions. Cardiff City finally lost patience with Dave Jones after another faltering campaign ended in play-off disappointment, and have brought in bright young manager Malky Mackay as his replacement. Mackay is renowned for encouraging slick, passing football, while his signing of Kenny Miller looks an astute piece of business. Fellow play-off semi-finalists Nottingham Forest opted to do the same, sacking the outspoken Billy Davies and replacing him with Steve McClaren, who will be confident he can achieve promotion after a spell abroad. However, losing play-off finalists Reading are unlikely to eclipse last season’s achievements, particularly with the departure of Mills and potentially Shane Long.

From League One arrive sleeping giants Southampton, who have a core of talented footballers spearheaded by the skilful Adam Lallana, and will be buoyed by their opening day 3-1 win against Leeds United, in which all three goals oozed class. Brighton will also expect to make an impression on the Championship under the guidance of livewire Gus Poyet, having dominated League One from first to last in 2010/2011. Hull City, Burnley and Middlesbrough will be looking to consolidate solid finishes last season, while Ipswich Town could be the surprise package under Paul Jewell, having spent wisely over the summer. At the other end of the scale, Barnsley, Watford, Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City are all expected to struggle, and could be facing a long season in which survival is the priority.

 But expect a season of twists and turns and of unpredictability, with six-goal thrillers, late comebacks, drama, slumps in form and promotion and relegation battles that go right down to the wire. Last season Cardiff, Middlesbrough and Burnley began the season as favourites to win the league but none of them got close. As Serie A declines in terms of footballing quality and competitiveness, look no further than the Championship to provide football at its entertaining best, the perfect supplement to the Barclays Premier League.