Liverpool FC Forum

thats a good point Devaney, if Kenny had of got 4th place we'd of been dumped out because Chelsea won the CL. Would the owners of booted Kenny then? cos in effect we'd not made the CL.

Latics boss Roberto Martinez set to fly to the US for second Liverpool interview

The Wigan boss is principal owner Henry’s preferred choice to succeed Kenny Dalglish and will jet to the US later this week for a meeting with the Fenway Sports Group chief

Getty Images for Chelsea FC

Roberto Martinez will fly to Boston on Thursday for face-to-face talks with John Henry about becoming Liverpool’s new manager.

Martinez is understood to have met the club’s hierarchy in England over the weekend to discuss the vacant position at Anfield.

The Wigan boss is principal owner Henry’s preferred choice to succeed Kenny Dalglish and will jet to the US later this week for a meeting with the Fenway Sports Group chief.

Henry is keen to assess Martinez in person and feels he ticks all the right boxes to become the Reds’ next boss.

The American is pressing ahead with Martinez, even though the Spaniard has little support among fans who want to see Rafa Benitez return.

Despite Martinez’s talks with Liverpool, he is not guaranteed to get the job and the Reds still have other names on their shortlist but he will be the first one to be seen personally by Henry.

Liverpool bosses would like to speak to Andre Villas-Boas and are expected to approach him this week.

Villas-Boas was on FSG’s radar before they appointed Dalglish and they have not been put off by his failure at Chelsea.

Liverpool are running out of candidates after Ajax’s Frank de Boer joined Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp in ruling himself out.

De Boer fitted Henry’s profile and has just guided Ajax to back-to-back Dutch titles, but the former Holland midfielder says he wants to remain at the Amsterdam ArenA.

“I am honoured by the request, but I am only just getting started with Ajax,” he said

Looks like the vacant post will be offered to one of Martinez or AVB. Personally for me, I would prefer AVB because of his experience in winning trophies and Martinez is just a good relegation dodger who managed to save Wigan from relegation by an impressive string of wins over top sides, and that, to the thick heads of FSG and Mr.Henry, is good enough to appoint him to be our manager to fight for CL spot next season. This is becoming a farce and a cruel joke!!!

I respect Martinez and at only 38, he may come out good one day, yes, one day but not now. This FSG will be playing with Russian Roullette if they appoint Martinez. Looks like next season will be a repeat of the tragic Hodgson era again, I call it Hodgtinez. If he f.ucks up, then let's fold our arms and see what Mr.Henry will do. This is really Bad bad times for Liverpool.

Roger Red Hat » Tue May 22, 2012 7:56 am wrote:thats a good point Devaney, if Kenny had of got 4th place we'd of been dumped out because Chelsea won the CL. Would the owners of booted Kenny then? cos in effect we'd not made the CL.

I think it’s a bit of myth that Kenny needed to get Champions League football to keep his job, or that a new manager needs to obtain it in their first season. We just need to be a lot closer than 17 points.

It's inconsistant that the owners are talking to Martinez, AVB and Capello.  Y'know, they're all like chalk and cheese and the one moving forward is the least qualified.

FSG know that the league is the most important thing to any sports club operating in the world, just watch IPL on ITV2 to see what League success means to the supporters of Indian Premier League cricket - it's quite rightly the bread and butter of any sports club. All clubs want their team to win their league be it minnows or giants, the desire is the same for everyone. I think Kenny was expected to finish 4th this season, after the 50m+ outlay by FSG in the summer for transfers. Kenny's problem is that he regressed backwards from the season before. It was evident that our team only needed minor tweaks from Kenny's six month caretaker capacity, however he completely changed everything and ultimately it was too much change, too soon and we were punished for it last season when we threw many points away throughout the course of the season and when we needed stewardship and when things needed to change, we never got that guidance and it was just more of the same.

We went from 6th place to 8th with a fair amount of investment, irrespective of our fantastic cup runs, that's regression in anyone's books. I think Kenny should have been given another season, another chance to recapture the kind of form we showed under this caretaker management on the back end of the 2010/2011 season. What worries me more than our poor league finish is our farcical pursuit of a new manager. It seems we are after everyone and anyone and that doesn't bode well in my book.

devaney » Tue May 22, 2012 6:39 am wrote:

Benny The Noon » Mon May 21, 2012 10:40 pm wrote:No Sh*t Lakes - some thought that a while a go.

And Kenny in a moment of desperation would haves swapped your beloved Carroll for that complete and utter a.rse Tevez and yet you think Kenny can do no wrong? That worrying little bit of Carroll/Tevez information has now recently been confirmed as fact. Oh well let's not worry about Kenny's shortcomings the owners are just a bunch of unscrupulous money grabbing Americans so let's blame them for everything seems to be the stance of yourself and several others on this forum. So far I have seen very little evidence to suggest that this is the case and I am amazed by some of the misplaced insults that are being directed at them. They sacked a legend who had failed miserably. That took some guts and they knew that it would upset some of the diehard stuck in the past supporters.

You miss the point horribly

My post wasn't an excuse for you and others to have another dig at Kenny and to continue to stick the boot in on him despite getting what you and others want and that was his sacking. Kenny has acted with dignity since that day - shame the same couldn't be said about some "fans"

No one has said Kenny can do no wrong and no one has said the season was a success. We disappointed in the league whilst winning our first trophy in 6 years.

My point and worries in regards the owners is currently we have no
Director of Football
No manager
No communications officer
No club lawyer

Who is currently advising them on football matters ? Who is steering our club in the right direction ? Who is making the football choices and desicions ?

Other clubs are currently pursuing players for next season - deals are being put in place yet we are nowhere to be seen

The lists of potential managers they are going to or have spoken to worry me - also the fact they aren't going to speak to someone whose record stands out above most of them

Speaking to Martinez strikes fear in a lot of fans yet Rafa is sat there waiting patiently.

I'm worried that the most important desicion in the clubs recent history is going to be the wrong one made by owners who are inexperienced in football and are currently being advised poorly

metalhead » Tue May 22, 2012 7:09 am wrote:Why is everyone on about Kenny's behavior in the media? He answers his questions in an honest and direct manner. Also, I don't see the press criticizing Ferguson for his disgusting behaviour in the press sometimes!

If you call hitting the woodwork 33 times, having the most shots on target in the league and dominating games without scoring pathetic tactics then I don't know what to say

Like you said coming 4th wins you nothing and hitting the woodwork 33 times gets you a big fat zero as well. Bad luck or inept - you chose.

Well there was clearly something wrong with Kenny's tactics based on our rock bottom second half of the season performance.

As for the media Kenny is always on the defensive. Try asking him a question about Carroll a few months ago for example.

Don't know where you are getting your most shots on target stat from. Here are the end of season figures and as you can see at 40% we are not much better or worse than anybody else. We certainly don't stand out as doing anything very special in this area.

Team Goals Shots On Target Shot Accuracy Succ Passes
Arsenal 68 447 223 50% 16613
Aston Villa 36 320 132 41% 9120
Blackburn Rovers 47 311 137 44% 8516
Bolton Wanderers 42 318 154 48% 9372
Chelsea 62 489 218 45% 15132
Everton 47 352 150 43% 10946
Fulham 46 368 182 49% 13501
Liverpool 43 488 196 40% 14558
Manchester City 88 485 227 47% 16863
Manchester United 86 438 229 52% 16172
Newcastle United 55 339 148 44% 10592
Norwich City 47 363 152 42% 10886
Queens Park Rangers 40 368 141 38% 9629
Stoke City 34 270 87 32% 7133
Sunderland 44 318 133 42% 9727
Swansea City 43 317 135 43% 16951
Tottenham Hotspur 63 481 220 46% 15712
West Bromwich Albion 41 371 152 41% 10657
Wigan Athletic 38 353 148 42% 11868
Wolverhampton Wanderers 38 332 148 45% 10725

I really don't get the whole Martinez thing...  We really need a manager to try and get us back into the CL but instead we might be taking a punt on someone whose never played or managed at the top level.

If it is Martinez, I don't honestly know what to make of it.  Is he the kind of manager that will attract top players?  Probably not.
Does he have a fantastic CV?  No.
Is it the kind of appointment that would make our top players commit to the club long term?  I can't imagine so.

He would be a complete gamble IMO.  Not that AVB excites me too much more... 

As Benny stated, who is advising FSG on these footballing matters?  Lets pray its not the same person that advised them to hire Comolli.

I think its just media speculation at the moment, nobody really knows who FSG are seriously looking at or talking to, with the exception of martinez and that's only because Wheelan ran off to the media as soon as LFC approached them.
All these managers who have said they are not interested are already at clubs, have they been officially approached yet or has a journo contacted them and asked them about the liverpool job, if thats the case they are not going to publicly state they want to go as where would that leave them if they were not approached/offered the job. How many times have you heard someone state they are happy were they are for them to leave the following week? I take any of the media statements about people turning us down with a pinch of salt. If journos can't get anything concrete, they make it up. has any manager not at a club come out and said they are not interested, or really said anything. Rafa, Pep for instance, very quiet.

jacdaniel » Tue May 22, 2012 10:08 am wrote:I really don't get the whole Martinez thing...  We really need a manager to try and get us back into the CL but instead we might be taking a punt on someone whose never played or managed at the top level.

If it is Martinez, I don't honestly know what to make of it.  Is he the kind of manager that will attract top players?  Probably not.
Does he have a fantastic CV?  No.
Is it the kind of appointment that would make our top players commit to the club long term?  I can't imagine so.

He would be a complete gamble IMO.  Not that AVB excites me too much more... 

As Benny stated, who is advising FSG on these footballing matters?  Lets pray its not the same person that advised them to hire Comolli.

It used to be Parry now it's Comolli 

ESPN just reported that LFC approached Cappello

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/?cc=5739#

devaney » Tue May 22, 2012 7:03 am wrote:

metalhead » Tue May 22, 2012 6:48 am wrote:"failed miserably"

2 cup finals in his first season winning one of them, which is our first trophy in 6 years. Typical modern fans putting 4th place ahead of trophies.

Does 4th place get a place in the trophy cabinet?

4th place doesn't even necessarily get you into the CL qualifying rounds! I hardly regard myself as a modern fan. I have been supporting Liverpool since before Shanks arrived. I am however a realist and these are very different times. Kenny's run in the cups was impressive and gave us something to shout about for the first time in years and certainly he did not fail miserably in that area. When we got to Wembley however we nearly threw away the Carling cup to a Championship side and we did throw away the FA Cup to Chelsea through poor team selection and pathetic tactics. I'm not being harsh I'm simply stating the facts. Over £100m spent on players that didn't perform for most of the season and a second half league performance that put us in almost twentieth place. We also had the worst home league record for decades. Kenny's media behaviour was also left desperately wanting.As far as those aspects of Kenny's performance yes I think he failed miserably.

Yes Lakes I am sure that any other manager outside 4th place would have liked our cup runs but they would also have liked £100m to spend.

As I said I'm being a realist. Love what Kenny has done for the club but I'm afraid it is time to move on.

well if you have been supporting us from phil taylors day you want to use some of your memory bank, you have a go at kenny for nearly losing the league cup final to a lower division side but thats never happened before has it? what about in the 70`s when the likes of leeds and united lost to sunderland and southampton and what about west ham in 80? that was back in the days when the f.a cup was revered as well. those results happen.
yes dalglish had money to spend (i question wether he did spend it though) but we spent a large part of it trying to replace our star striker and half of it went on young players.
you cant expect players of 21 and 22 to arrive at the club from smaller teams and expect them to be the answer to all our problems overnight.
if you were around in the 80`s you know full well why dalglish has a natural suspicion of the press so i`m staggered why you are having a go at him over that if you were around back then.

With the likes of de Boer and Klopp ruling themselves out I’m starting to think that Capello might be the best choice. True he won’t be here any longer than 5 years but he is the type of guy who would get down to business very quickly. He is a top quality club manager and his England record was fantastic. His image has only been tarnished because of the media campaign against him and a poor showing in the 4 games at the world cup. People say his English isn’t good enough but I’ve seen plenty of interviews and press conferences where he was able get his point across perfectly and his command of the language isn’t any worse than Rafa’s when he first arrived.

He would instantly command the respect of the players and staff and he is very passionate about winning. Give him a 3 year contract on a sensible wage and I think he would get results quickly.

Eagle » Tue May 22, 2012 11:53 am wrote:With the likes of de Boer and Klopp ruling themselves out I’m starting to think that Capello might be the best choice. True he won’t be here any longer than 5 years but he is the type of guy who would get down to business very quickly. He is a top quality club manager and his England record was fantastic. His image has only been tarnished because of the media campaign against him and a poor showing in the 4 games at the world cup. People say his English isn’t good enough but I’ve seen plenty of interviews and press conferences where he was able get his point across perfectly and his command of the language isn’t any worse than Rafa’s when he first arrived.

He would instantly command the respect of the players and staff and he is very passionate about winning. Give him a 3 year contract on a sensible wage and I think he would get results quickly.

his english is awful mate, i saw him on that goals on sunday program on sky and the presenter would ask him one question and he`d answer a totally different one.
i`m not convinced he`s the right manager for us, he`s famous for his dull pragmatic approach and even said at real madrid that attractive footy is all my @rse, which didnt go down well there.
his CV is amazing though and if it was a choice between martinez, AVB or capello it`s not even a choice, martinez and AVB have done nothing in a competative league, capello has won 9 league titles with 4 different clubs in 2 of the biggest leagues in europe.