LFC : Why Mr John W Henry should give a full-tme job to the 'King'

The Year was 1990 - manager Kenny Dalglish. Liverpool FC last won the league title. After that we had Graeme Souness (1991-1994), Roy Evans (1994-1998), Roy Evans/Gerard Houllier (1998-1998), Gerard Houllier (1998-2004), Rafael Benitez (2004-2010) and Roy Hodgson (2010-2011). The closest that Liverpool FC came close to be the champions was during the 2008/09 season where LFC finished second behind rivals Manchester United.

The highlights of that season was doing a league double over both Manchester United and Chelsea, including the 4-1 mauling of Sir Alex Ferguson's men at Old Trafford. This ensured us finishing the campaign by setting a new personal BPL best, with 86 points.

Finishing 2nd made the next campaign harder as the expectations were high. Xabi Alonso left for Real Madrid during the summer and that was the sign where Benitez's reign was going to be over. Finishing the league at 7th place and Benitez left Liverpool on summer 2010.

Rafa Benitez - (2004 - 2010)

We knew what happened to Liverpool FC during Roy Hodgson's tenure as the manager. He was voted as the league's best manager after guiding Fulham to the final of the Europa Cup a season before that. Things never really happened for him at Liverpool FC and after John W Henry bought LFC from another fellow Americans, Gillet & Hicks, it was left to him to prove to the new owners of his worth.

As the new owner, John W Henry had every right to choose any manager he wanted but I guess he just chose to give Hodgson some time to prove himself. Liverpool kept on sinking and the fans also played a major part when they started to ask him to leave.

The final straw came just before Liverpool's FA Cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford. King Kenny was called upon to take charge as the care-taker manager until the season ends. The King never needed any second invitation.

Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish

1991 - 2011, it's like the time in between those years suddenly vanished. Kenny's inclusion to the dugout had an instant impact. Liverpool didn't really exploded suddenly to get better but things just changed from there on. The fans was talking about 'him' as though he never left Liverpool FC. It made all of us (the fans) excited and this is happening all around the globe. That was Kenny's first impact outside Liverpool FC. As for me, I was smiling as though we just won the league. Yet the team still has a game against United.

Around the club, at Melwood, on the field, people at Liverpool, everybody was just happy. The players also responded well to the news. Liverpool lost 0-1, but the fans was not too focused on the result. Because we knew in no time Liverpool FC will start challenging for honors again.

In the first couple of weeks, pundits, critics, columnist, fans were saying if Liverpool could finish at high as 6th place that is good enough. The damaged was too much. Suddenly, with 5 more games left before the season ends, we are still fighting for a place to qualify for Europe next season.

King Kenny may have not managed any team for more than a decade, but his touch has never eluded him. His knowledge of the game is spot on. Besides that, he knows his players. Meireles never stopped scoring for at least 5-6 games, even Torres before he left for Chelsea managed to score a couple of goals. Its the personnel and the tactics that Kenny uses somehow neutralized every opponent they met, well it was almost perfect.

Liverpool FC has been hanging on Steven Gerrard for far too long. No doubt he is still the captain, the best player that we have but Liverpool FC can't really always depend on him alone.

Steven Gerrard

Since Kenny came back, he somehow managed to instill the belief into his players. Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt, Jamie Carragher, Pepe Reina had never really performed under Hodgson. These are the key players. Even Stevie G was not at his best.

Now we don't only look at Steven G alone, because the fans acknowledged that Kenny knows best. With or without their talisman the fans had belief that Liverpool will do good.  It's not about one individual. As Kenny always say, no player is bigger than the club itself. We can see now the players work hard for each other and for themselves.

Latest clear example when the team had 4 very junior players ( junior in the sense of age and experience) against one of the best teams in Europe, Arsenal. John Flanagan (18 years old), Jack Robinson (17 years old), Jonjo Shelvy (19 years old) and Jay Spearing (22 years old) played their hearts out and came out good.

The gaffer had Ngog, Joe Cole and Maxi Rodriguez on the subs bench but he chose to call Jonjo Shelvy and Jack Robinson. Maybe Robinson was called upon mainly because of the injury suffered by Aurelio. This showed his level of confidence he had with his players. Not to say he has doubts with the more established players like Cole, Maxi and Ngog but the situation at the moment and plus his tactical know-how must have played some part on his decision making. Liverpool finished good, 1-1.

Tactical knowledge, man management, trust he had with his players and vice-versa; these are among the reasons why Mr John W Henry should appoint him as the full-time manager of Liverpool Football Club. The only reason that I can find is it's just simply of the man himself. King Kenny Dalglish.

YNWA.