The vacant manager’s job appears to be a two horse race at present, with current club ambassador Kenny Dalglish and Fulham boss Roy Hodgson the frontunners.
Tony Barrett writes in The Times today that Dalglish is prepared to takeover for a second spell in the Anfield:
Dalglish has told friends that he would like the job, although he is not willing to compromise the club in any way by making his interest in the position known.
This news came on the back of journalist Henry Winter writing on his Twitter feed that he recently worked on a new book with Dalglish and that he believes the Scot would love a crack at returning to the helm at Liverpool.
Dalglish remains the last Liverpool manager to win the League title and is the only contender to have won the Premier League – with Blackburn back in 1995. He has, though, been out of football management for the past decade. He left the club in 1991 for personal and health reasons.
Meanwhile, David Maddock in The Mirror writes that Hodgson is the man Liverpool will look to after Rafa Benitez’s departure last week. He explains:
The club’s directors are certain to give the green light to make Hodgson their official target within the next two days, and approach his London club with an offer of compensation to make him the next Liverpool manager.
Former Inter Milan boss Hodgson has a one-year rolling contract with the Craven Cottage outfit, negotiated at the start of the just completed season. Crucially, it contains a clause which allows him to leave to join a top club for a compensation figure of around £2.5million.
Hodgson guided Fulham to the Europa League Final last season and has previous experience across Europe, including two spells with Inter Milan.
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TIA Comment: Appointing Dalglish would give the fans and the club a huge boost – and we certainly need that right now. It could also persuade Gerrard and Torres in particular to remain at the club for another season at least.
Appointing Hodgson on the other hand could divide fans further, with those in the ‘pro-Rafa’ camp struggling to work out how we’ve let our manager leave for the European champions and appointed a man whose side finished 12th in the league last season. Some players may also think similarly.
Some may say it’s head vs. heart given our allegiances to Dalglish but there appears to be nothing to lose in giving him a chance at rebuilding the empire he did so much to create as both a player and manger.
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