Liverpool FC's scattergun manager search points to testing times ahead
by Richard Buxton. Published Mon 21 May 2012 20:00, Last updated: 2012-05-21Somewhere near the midway point of Liverpool's tumultuous Premier League campaign, the club unearthed a quote attributed to legendary manager Bill Shankly; a quote so rare and unheard that not even the most esteemed Shankly biographers could verify its authenticity.
The general consensus was, and remains, that said quote - "if you can't support us when we lose or draw, don't support us when we win" - was fabricated to restore continuity following the booing which greeted the final whistle after a goalless draw with Swansea City in November.
Explanations as to why the club appeared to have undertaken Anfield's equivalent of rewriting the bible, despite countless requests from supporters, has been limited to a solitary, and quite laughable excuse that 'just because he didn't say it didn't mean he wasn't thinking it'.
Quite what he would have made events of the past seven days at the club he helped mould into one of the dominant forces of world football would have made for interesting reading.
With such rewritings of history now considered acceptable, owners Fenway Sports Group may wish to consider updating further Shankly prose so that it is applicable to the 21st century.
But the Americans have stayed true to history and one of his quotes as they scour for Kenny Dalglish's successor; "At a football club, there's a holy trinity - the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques."
That mantra has remained a firm favourite of Liverpool fans in recent years, when Rafael Benitez was virtually canonised for standing firm against Tom Hicks and George Gillett's pillaging, but what little directors remain at Anfield have demonstrate affirmative leadership.
The wide-reaching search for a new manager has been liked to a beauty parade but the current series of events resembles more a failed car auction as drivers take their turn in declining to sit behind the wheel of a nice little runner that hit its peak in the mid 1980's.
To date, only two managers have been formally approached, in Wigan's Roberto Martinez and Swansea City boss Brendan Rodgers - the latter of whom spurned Liverpool's overtures, and both names have being greeted by a widespread dispondency from the Kop's masses.
Martinez is more memorable for seeing Wigan evade relegation consecutively in the past two seasons than laying foundations at the Liberty Stadium, of which Rodgers is now reaping the benefits after Swansea secured a respectable finish in their first Premier League season.
John Henry and Tom Werner's approach to the vacant manager's position has been condemned as scattergun, and some would argue justifiably so. Managing director Ian Ayre attempts to dismiss suggestions that Liverpool are again in crisis have fallen on deaf ears.
Such is the calibre of candidacy that few have faith in the club's custodians repeating the history of the 2004 selection process when, prior to Benitez's appointment, Alan Curbishley and Gordan Strachan were both considered as possible successors to Gerard Houllier.
The closest either came to the home dugout since that period was when they travelled to Merseyside as opposing managers while Strachan's most recent wander through Anfield's corridors of power was as a pundit on ESPN's coverage of the FA Cup last season.
Contrary to denials, the possibility of Benitez returning to the helm two years after he was dethroned was mulled over, such is FSG's yearning to see Liverpool progress and reclaim what they feel is its rightful place at the top table aboard European football's gravy train.
With Jurgen Klopp, the Borussia Dortmund manager, Ajax boss Frank de Boer and Marseille's Didier Deschamps all ruling themselves out of the running, the options remaining appear underwhelming.
Whether, as some have speculated, the public courting of managers akin to Strachan and Curbishley's calibre is merely subterfuge on FSG's part, they are in danger of breaking the golden rules of PR which was one of the reasons for Dalglish's sacking barely a week ago.
Andre Villas-Boas remains the object of their affections, as he was prior to Dalglish's appointment last summer, but is seeking assurances as to the club's overall project. He may be waiting some time with a current structure that can only be described as skeletal.
Moves are afoot to fill in the blanks in the roles which were cleared so vastly in a matter of weeks but when those appointments will materialise, and for whom, has made this arguably the most crucial stage in the club's recent on field history.
Further misguided choices will render this sleeping giant comatose.
http://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/liverpool-fc/1216166-liverpool-fcs-scattergun-manager-search-points-to-testing-times-ahead.html?Excellent piece
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