Thursday, May 17, 2012

Dalglish deserved more time at Liverpool - John Scales

The 45-year-old former Reds defender suggests that Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez could be in the frame to replace the Scot after his sacking on Wednesday

 


 



EXCLUSIVE
By Rob Stewart
Former Liverpool defender John Scales has admitted that he is still shocked by the sacking of Kenny Dalglish and has insisted that the Scot deserved longer to invigorate the Anfield club.
Scales spoke out as the Reds begin searching for their fourth manager in two years after Dalglish paid the price after a disappointing league campaign that saw the club finish behind Everton in eighth place in the table.

"It is still a shock because I don’t feel as though Kenny was given enough time," Scales told Goal.com.
"Or was it always considered that Kenny was just going to assume this role for a period of time in what was a very difficult transitional period. Then it would not be that much of a shock to Kenny. But I think it will have been a huge shock and he will really feel disappointed.
"It is a difficult situation. It was a surprise in many ways and not a surprise in others that Kenny was sacked. As a former Liverpool player I know that he occupies a unique place at Liverpool and it is sad that he only got 18 months to do the job and he will be very frustrated that he has not been able to see that through."
Dalglish’s second spell as manager was brought to an end after Liverpool ended up with their lowest points tally in almost six decades in the league.
"It is a club that has had decidedly mixed fortunes this season," Scales added.
"It has also won a trophy which was fantastic and reached the FA Cup final and produced some great performances but on the other hand there were just six home wins in the league which was a very disappointing return and the worst league campaign since the 1950s and were well adrift of even the Champions League places.
"But I honestly felt Kenny would get next season to see that these players who had been brought in where settling down and starting to get some form and get really acclimatised to what it is like to play for Liverpool Football Club."
"The big question for me is where do Fenway Sports Group go from here? What is their ambition and what are their resources? For me those are the key questions.  It is all well and good saying you are going to get someone in and it will be a long-term project and then sacking someone," he continued.
"Do they want the step-up to be a quick process which means bringing in a very experienced manager who they will throw a lot of money at? Or do they want a young manager with a long-term objective who buys into the philosophy that would take Liverpool in a slightly slower direction and build it differently?

"We don’t know. Only Fenway Sports Group will be able to answer that. So it is a case of do you go for a big-name manager and give him the transfer budget that he will effectively demand so the club supports him in a major re-building process or do you go with someone like a Brendan Rodgers or a [Roberto] Martinez or whatever and they buy into building the team over a three-year period?
"That is the conundrum - we don’t quite know how they will tackle the appointment of a new manager. It is difficult to guess where they are coming from.
"The stadium issue is a problem and is something that needs to be addressed. Are they going to re-develop Anfield or build a new ground at vast expense? There are a lot of difficulties. Plus there is no communication director or technical director."


Source : Goal.com