Suárez allowed extra time to prepare his defence

• zocoss

  17 Nov 11, 17:55

  Would Liverpool ever sack Kenny Dalglish?

   

  

  The down side of appointing a bonafide legend is that it sometimes takes longer to see when he is letting you down
  
   

   

   

   

  Liverpool arrive in London this weekend to face Chelsea ahead of a home match against Manchester City in a double-header that will determine the present validity of their designs on a top-four finish.

  The possibility of failure in these two games raises an intriguing question: would the club ever sack Kenny Dalglish?

  His position is, of course, not under threat sitting as they do in sixth place with 11 games played, but in the minds of those who triumphantly predicted the Reds would mount a title challenge this season, King Kenny's crown has slipped a touch already.

  Liverpool invested considerable sums in players after Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson - who underperformed in an impossible job clouded by uncertainty at boardroom level - and in tandem with the return of a feel-good factor, everything appeared in place for a title tilt.

  They could yet enter the shake-up - wins at Stamford Bridge and then against City would put them in the fray - but the alternative outcome is more plausible and would increase the pressure on Dalglish that is for now bubbling along as an undercurrent.

  Lost somewhere amid the frenzied final throes of their last outing - a 0-0 home draw against Swansea - was the noise of booing at Anfield.

  It was not widespread but nevertheless indicative of the murmurings of discontent that have greeted Liverpool's concession of early ground on the Manchester clubs out in front.

  To boo King Kenny would have been tantamount to blasphemy until recently and yet some supporters - perhaps those with shorter memories and less patience than others - deemed it necessary to voice their frustration at least at the performance if not the manager.

  It could easily be dismissed as an irrelevance but equally may be a sign of antipathy towards Dalglish. He remains well in credit - and so he should after his past glories with the club as player and manager were supplemented by his fine work in steadying the ship following Hodgson's turbulent reign.

  But at what point does he begin to be judged on how he has taken the club forward rather than his role in steadying the ship?

  This column asserted in January that Dalglish should have stepped aside upon restoring order to allow a younger manager with fresh ideas the chance to impose a new blueprint on the club for the future.

  Several readers of a Liverpool persuasion denounced that opinion as sacrilege given Dalglish's status and vowed the 60-year-old would deliver success.

  But what is success at Anfield these days? Surely a club with as rich and illustrious history as Liverpool should be competing in Europe's premier competition?

  Title talk always seemed a little premature given the need to bed new players in and fitness doubts surrounding Andy Carroll and Steven Gerrard - Dalglish certainly has not failed if Liverpool do not win the League given the resources and power of those teams above them.

  But a top-four finish, given the money spent - albeit offset to a degree by the sales of Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles - must surely be the principal expectation this season?

  After all, in 2011, Tottenham have only brought in Scott Parker, Steven Pienaar, Brad Friedel and secured a loan deal for Emmanuel Adebayor while Liverpool have brought in Luis Suarez, Carroll, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Jose Enrique among others at not inconsiderable cost.

  Although Enrique has impressed, Henderson, at £20million, has been a thorough disappointment, Carroll has looked nothing like a £35m striker while Downing and Adam are yet to perform with the consistency that suggests they are the difference between the top seven and the top four.

  Of course, nearly all criticism of Dalglish is dismissed as either jealously or a failure to understand the soul of the club. Some of it has been wide of the mark. His record is roughly the same as Hodgson's was during his tenure but the statistics are unfairly balanced because 10 matches came in the Europa League against largely inferior opposition.

  Hodgson managed Liverpool for only 20 League games and amassed 25 points, while Dalglish registered 37 from his first 20 games.

  Equally, his outbursts towards officials and fixture scheduling have been interpreted as signs of pressure but any top manager complains about the system in order to work the angles.

  But Dalglish has his faults, just like any manager, and the down side of appointing a bonafide legend is that it sometimes takes longer to see when he is letting you down. The jury is still out.

  Liverpool have more than two-thirds of the season to succeed but surely questions should be asked if Dalglish fails to deliver Champions League football?

  The saddest indictment on Liverpool's start is they now lie level on points with Arsenal, who were in a turmoil over the summer that spilled into the current campaign.

  Is the Europa League really good enough for Liverpool? Perhaps the club's luminous history clouds judgment. Perhaps Dalglish's iconic standing does too.

  But that's the problem with messiahs - if they prove to be false prophets, letting go is all the more difficult because it is an admission everything you believed in was wrong. And where do you go from there?

• dragg

  19 Nov 11, 08:10

  you never know when liverpool meet chelsea.

  they might win it.

  no so possible against city.

• iceFatboy

  24 Nov 11, 10:47

  Liverpool has many legends who I believe has tried managing..

  After KK, they can try Ian Rush? John Barnes? Paul Ince? John Alridge? Mark Wright? or the famous mark lawrenson?

   

• Medicated Oil

  24 Nov 11, 11:43

  Liverpool squad is pretty lean at the moment as there are some players who are not up to experience and lacking in hunger.

  The best line-up is the team Kenny deployed last sunday. (He surprised me as I was assuming he will stick to his UK pets)

  As to whether Kenny will be retired, it is largely dependent on whether the UK players can wake up and play hard for Liverpool or else the swansea situation will occur again.

  It is also dependent on what players Liverpool can buy in Jan 2012.

  I believe Henry will allow Kenny to achieve champion league qualification for next season before he decide to change his manager.

  I am not so sure whether Kenny can handle the challenge for Champion League.

  Maybe we can get Ah Ben for this special role.

• Rooney_07

  24 Nov 11, 12:22

  of all the legendary players at liverpool, only kenny has successes, the rest like souness, evans all flopped. this season, liverpool fared quite well against the top sides, drawn w united, beaten arsenal and chelsea, facing city this sunday. not bad for kenny, as liverpool is still in the running for top 4, never mind the BPL title, which is beyond them this season.

  on his record of buying players, carroll is the flop among them all for his panic buy. this guy is not worth the 35m paid for him. the most he is worth is 10-15m, thats all. only suarez is a great buy. as for stewart downing, charlie and henderson, it is still too early to say, but these british players are all brawn, pacy and little skills compared to the europeans.

• Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1)

  24 Nov 11, 18:23

  if kenny gt some idea
  
  
  e veteran is acutally more better than the 20 plus

• zocoss

  9 Dec 11, 11:04

   

   

  Dalglish slams FA over Suarez charge

   

  

  Dalglish questions FA appeal

   

   Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has accused the Football Association of having double standards after Luis Suarez was charged with making an obscene gesture to fans following the 1-0 defeat at Fulham on Monday. The FA has since issued a statement in response. 

   

   

  Dalglish has been angry at the treatment of Suarez all season, going back to Patrice Evra's accusation of racism against the Uruguay international.

   

  The manager feels that the FA's appeal against the severity of Wayne Rooney's ban at Euro 2012 does not set the right example.

  The Manchester United striker's UEFA suspension was reduced to two matches at the same time as Dalglish was addressing the media at a press conference, and the Liverpool boss believes the FA should look at its own actions before tackling other issues.

  "I find it a bit strange the FA are supposed to be setting an example for things yet they appeal against Wayne Rooney's three-match ban,'' he said. "I don't think that's a good example to set.''

  Dalglish labelled the way the FA has dragged its heels over Suarez's racism charge as a "joke'' - despite both clubs being told not to speak about the incident until a decision is made.

  "The fact it has taken nine weeks to get a decision on one of the other charges is a bit of a joke as well. Much longer and he might get a testimonial,'' Dalglish added. "I don't think that has helped as well. The circus which is around about him has been caused mainly by that. That will be done sooner rather than later and we will move forward.''

  Dalglish pointed out that if Rooney had been judged on the FA's own rules, a three-match suspension would have been automatic, but the FA has since issued a statement in response.

  It read: "To promote speed and consistency, stakeholders in England agreed a standard formula encompassing a fixed penalty sanction should be applied across the game by The FA. The system has been in operation for many years and meets the demands of the domestic game.

  "The FA's system allows clubs to make a claim of wrongful dismissal - to reduce a sanction to zero - or appeal the severity of a sanction. Both of these processes are dealt with prior to the player's next fixture.

  "UEFA chooses to operate a different process for European matches, based on a sliding scale, under which each sanction is determined individually by a disciplinary panel. In any event, a minimum one-game ban will always be applied by UEFA.

  "This process meets the demands of UEFA football where the period between fixtures is greater than that in the domestic game."

   

   

• zocoss

  9 Dec 11, 11:12

  Kenny Dalglish uses DVD to show 'truth' about sinned-against Liverpool

  • Manager shows videos of flashpoints in Fulham match
  • Flurry of accusations against Luis Suárez irk Scot

   

  

  Kenny Dalglish reacts to one of many incidents in the Fulham match that he believes unfairly went against Liverpool. Photograph: Kerim Okten/EPA

   

   

    

   

   

  Two years ago it was Rafa Benítez with his folded sheet of paper containing various "facts" about perceived Liverpool grievances. On Thursday in the same room Kenny Dalglish went one better, with a DVD display illustrating why Liverpool were more sinned against than sinning at Fulham on Monday, a match that earned the club a double dose of disciplinary trouble from the Football Association, with Luis Suárez accused of making an offensive gesture to home supporters and Liverpool charged with failure to control their players following the dismissal of Jay Spearing. "If anyone wants to see the truth it's on the screen," the Liverpool manager said.

  "If we have infringed rules we will have to accept it and take the punishment, but I'm not certain what the rules are when it comes to disputing a decision," Dalglish added. "What I do know is that referees are inconsistent with their interpretations. The only intent in Jay's mind was to get the ball, and normally our discipline is good, as our film clip can prove.

  "If you look at the way Craig Bellamy was being provoked [by Clint Dempsey] at Fulham you can only say his discipline was unbelievable. He didn't commit a foul, he didn't respond to the player shoving his head into his face, and yet he was the one to get booked. Once that happened we ended up having to take him off so we weren't left with nine players."

  Footage from the game does appear to support that point, and Dalglish said it would be presented to the FA if Liverpool were asked to defend themselves, along with clips of Suárez being wrestled to the floor in the penalty area by Brede Hangeland and getting nothing, Andy Carroll being fouled and Bellamy being wrongly penalised for a harmless tussle with John Arne Riise.

  "We just want to be dealt with fairly," Dalglish said. "We want the same rules to apply to us as to everyone else. At Fulham I think we got the short end of a lot of 50-50 decisions that on another night might have gone our way. Anyone watching the clips can see that for themselves."

  Uppermost in Dalglish's mind is the latest charge to hit Suárez, two months after the Uruguayan was accused of racial abuse by Manchester United's Patrice Evra, a case which the FA has still to bring to a conclusion. Apart from being dismayed by the time that original investigation is taking – "Nine weeks to reach a decision is a joke, if it goes on any longer it will soon be due a testimonial" – Dalglish fears his player is being deliberately wound up by opponents and receiving scant sympathy from referees. "I've seen the picture [of the gesture] now and I'd rather be sitting here talking about football," the Scot said.

  "The charge only landed yesterday afternoon and I have yet to speak to him about it, but everyone at this club will stand by him. We know what the truth is. Because he's such a fantastic player, opponents who can't stop him on the pitch find other ways to get at him. People are entitled to tackle him, but tackle him fairly. That's all we are saying.

  "People are just jumping on the bandwagon now and accusing him of this, that and everything else. He is happy here, happy in his environment, but we need the outstanding issues to be cleared up before we can start talking about the man as a footballer."

  Dalglish claims he can list four other players who have made similar gestures to the one Suárez made and escaped without charge, though he is reluctant to say who they may be. He disagreed that the Suárez gesture to the Fulham crowd was in any way comparable to the Wayne Rooney outburst into a television camera at West Ham that saw the Manchester United player charged and banned for a couple of games last season.

  "I don't see any similarities between the two incidents at all," he said. "Saying they are a bit like each other is like saying a man is a bit like a woman. We have picked out at least four other instances that were just the same and the players were not charged. All we are asking for is some clarity on the matter."

  Despite being without a league goal since the start of October, a fortnight before the United game and the trouble with Evra, Dalglish is convinced Suárez remains popular with supporters and will continue to be central to the club's plans.

  "The contribution he makes is important, it is not necessary for him to score every week as long as he continues to terrorise people," he said.

  "As long as opponents have to resort to verbals to try and get to him he must be doing something right. The fans recognise that. They will be right behind him on Saturday, because they know what's been going on. At the end of the day he's not been getting a fair crack of the whip."

• Y_Shun

  9 Dec 11, 19:36

  Showing DVDs? when did video technology come in sia?
  
  in that case, most teams can give FA video technology of Suarez diving around and cancel their penalties/fouls or even rematch???
  

• zocoss

  13 Dec 11, 18:30

  Luis Suárez given more time to respond to FA's improper conduct charge

  • Liverpool player allowed extra time to prepare his defence
  • Suárez allegedly made offensive gesture to Fulham fans

   

  

  Liverpool will use video footage of fouls committed against Luis Suárez at Fulham as part of his defence, says Kenny Dalglish. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

   

   

    

   

  Luis Suárez has been granted more time to respond to the improper conduct charge he received for allegedly making an offensive gesture to Fulham supporters at Craven Cottage last week.

  The Football Association charged the Liverpool striker after photographs emerged of him making a one-fingered gesture following the club's 1-0 defeat by Martin Jol's team, a game in which Jay Spearing was sent off and Liverpool were charged with "failing to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" in the aftermath of the midfielder's dismissal.

  Suárez and Liverpool were given until 4pm on Monday to respond to the charges but that deadline has been extended as the player prepares his defence. Such extensions are not uncommon, although the latest deadline has not been announced.

  Fulham fans had accused Suárez of diving during the game and continued to barrack him as he headed for the tunnel afterwards. His manager, Kenny Dalglish, issued a staunch defence of the Uruguay international that included showing journalists a DVD of fouls he claimed were committed on Suárez at Fulham but went unpunished by the referee, Kevin Friend. Dalglish said Liverpool intended to use the footage as part of their defence to the FA.

  Suárez is also still waiting to discover when the FA is to hold a hearing into allegations, which he denies, that he racially abused Patrice Evra during Manchester United's visit to on 15 October.

  Dalglish last week described the delay as "a joke" and believes the unresolved case has led to people "jumping on the bandwagon and accusing him of this, that and everything else. We need the outstanding issues to be cleared up before we can start talking about the man as a footballer."