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Stephen Gerrard has let it be known that he supports Kenny Dalglish to become the permanent manager of Liverpool.
“I want to do everything in my power to ensure that he stays here for a long time, beyond the initial six months,” Gerrard told LFC Weekly.
“I won’t lie. When Kenny rang to say he was coming back it was a big lift.
Dalglish is a talismanic figure at Anfield, and the support of Gerrard, another Liverpool legend can only help his case for staying on full time with director of football Damien Comolli. The main obstacle to Dalglish taking over in the long term will be the results that his side have gotten since he took over. Granted, he took over a team in crisis, and has managed to steady the ship as any good caretaker should. However, he will need to be able to muster a string of wins to truly make his case.
This is going to be very hard for him to do with the side he has at his disposal, but should they win at Wolves next week it may truly mark a rebirth for the men in red. One could argue little has change since Dalglish took over, other than the formation and the selection, and they’d be right, but its a testament to the belief that the players and fans have in him as the King that things are improving. Dalglish was over looked last summer by Liverpool previous owners, who don’t deserve their names in print, in favor of Roy Hodgson. Hodgson may have seemed the ideal candidate at the time for the previous owners, who didn’t want to court the support to much so as to maintain their imagined hierarchy, but he proved to be a disaster.
Now under new ownership, who have thankfully had some experience with a truly devoted fan base with the Boston Red Sox, understand the need to involve the supporters, and deffer to their wisdom. They seem to be aware that fancy soccer apparel won’t be enough to move up a side who have no heart. Currently, the Reds are four points away from the relegation zone, and it may be tempting to label the battle between Wolves and Liverpool as a such. But if they should win, and King Kenny reclaims his crown as permanent manger, it may finally give the stability and steady hand needed for a true rebirth in Anfield.
For Gerrard’s part, he said the following:
“I’d love nothing better when the end of the season comes than for us to be on the back of a good run of results that ensures he gets the job full-time,” said Gerrard, who is currently serving a three-match ban after his red card in the FA Cup defeat at Manchester United, which was Dalglish’s first game back in charge.
“That’s my short-term plan, to give everything I’ve got and all my energy to try to make that happen.”
For Liverpool’s sake, I hope he can make good on that.
Written by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com
