Kenny Dalglish has been officially unveiled as the new Liverpool manager at a press conference on Monday afternoon.
The Scotsman was re-appointed as manager at Anfield on Saturday following the dismissal of Roy Hodgson.
Dalglish lined up alongside director of football strategy Damien Comolli and commercial director – and speculated new chief executive – Ian Ayre to answer questions on his appointment, his hopes for the future, possible transfer signings and the chances of keeping the job long term.
Dalglish has been appointed on an initial interim basis until the end of the season, something he says he is happy with. “My understanding that this job is until the end of the season and that’s no problem for me,” he explained.
“There’s no conditions, no promises, nothing. I came back here to work at a club that myself and my family are eternally grateful for the many things that they’ve done for us. As I said yesterday, there was no way that I was going to be disrespectful and say no.”
“If I can get to the end of the season, I’ll probably end up one of the longest-serving Premiership managers,” he quipped.
Meanwhile, Comolli told reporters what the club is looking for in their long-term appointment, and explained that Dalglish may yet be that man. “Someone who will fit into the club philosophy and playing philosophy. Man-management is huge. Those are the three things that will be most important to the club.”
“It’s honestly open to people who we think fit into what I’ve described. Obviously Kenny will come into this category because he has exactly what I’ve described.”
Dalglish continued “We aim to gain as many victories as we possibly can. We will do our very best and hope it’s good enough. It’ll be nice to get out there on the football pitch to see how the players can perform. We had a training session today and the lads did really well.”
Monday was a busy day for Dalglish, with the Scotsman taking his first training session at Melwood, alongside the newly appointed first-team coach Steve Clarke.
“It’s important we have good backroom staff, and Steve certainly comes into that category,” Dalglish said.
“To be fair to Steve, he was phoned Sunday night, and he was here Monday morning for training. That tells you something about Liverpool Football Club. Steve’s had success at several clubs, none more so than with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, so I think we’ve got a good guy there and he’ll work alongside Sammy [Lee].”
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