Against All Odds: Stephen Kenny to get revenge at old club

"The Lilywhites have amassed 24 points from 13 fixtures to date, losing just three times."

Lay Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk @ 1.794/5 

Dundalk have made a bright start to their campaign in Ireland and Paul Robinson is backing them to continue their good form by avoiding defeat during the 90 minutes in their EA Sports Cup tie at Shamrock Rovers this evening.

Shamrock Rovers could only finish in fourth place last year and that meant a change of manager for the Hoops. Trevor Croly was appointed as boss in 2013 and the former assistant had his first job as a number one. It's been a slow beginning for him though as Rovers are only sixth in the table after 14 games with just three victories to their name.

In defence of the manager, his side have only lost twice, but an astonishing nine draws has hindered their progress and they already trail Sligo at the top by 12 points having played a game more. Things have been a bit better away from the league though as they lifted the Setanta Cup 10 days ago, beating Drogheda 7-1 in the final.

Dundalk also have a new manager at the helm and in a twist of fate, the man in charge is Stephen Kenny. Kenny was sacked by Shamrock Rovers last September after a 1-0 home defeat to Bohemians.

He is doing much better at the moment though as he has his side up in fourth place - a quite remarkable feat considering that they had to come through a relegation play-off tie to keep their top flight status last year.

The Lilywhites have amassed 24 points from 13 fixtures to date, losing just three times. One of those defeats was at Tallaght Stadium and Dundalk do have a terrible head to head record with Shamrock, but this is the cup and they will be highly motivated to exact revenge.

Dundalk have been the better team this season and although Shamrock Rovers do appear to have the Indian sign over them, I think they have to be opposed to get the job done in 90 minutes at around the 1.794/5 mark. That's why, at the prices, I'm making them my lay of the day.

Recommended Bet
Lay Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk @ 1.794/5

Wagered: 140 pts
Returned: 128.41 pts
P/L – 11.59 pts (after commission)
(2012 P/L: + 9.60 pts)

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Should Liverpool sack Kenny Dalglish?

Premier League / Richard Aikman / 25 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

"How many league matches do Liverpool have to lose before Dalglish’s credit runs out? Does he need to win the FA Cup to consider this a successful season?"

They won the Carling Cup but have lost five of their last six matches and are floundering in the league. So why does the Liverpool manager retain staunch backing from fans and pundits? Richard Aikman puts the boot in where others fear to tread.

For Liverpool the season gets stranger and stranger. There is more silverware in the trophy room, an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley awaits, but league form lurches from bad worse. Were it any other manager at the helm, the natives would be getting restless, but as it is Kenny Dalglish who is in charge, normal rules don't apply.

Once upon a time, any form of silverware would serve as job insurance for another season, but in an era in which the Champions League is the all-important money-spinning holy grail for Europe's leading clubs, the League Cup is small beer.
Even the FA Cup has lost much of its lustre, last year's 1-0 victory for Manchester City against Stoke a lowlight in the calendar both in terms of the quality of the match and the outcome. There was a time when the FA Cup was all-important, when two thirds of the nation's television output was devoted entirely to the build-up to the big day. After a long affair, however, the romance is gone.

Heads are now only really turned by the Champions League. The anthem, the floodlights, the Camp Nou, the kudos. Nothing else really compares, except perhaps for winning the title. And Liverpool, despite the vast sums have spent, seem as distant from that as ever.

So the question is, just how many league matches do Liverpool have to lose before Dalglish's credit runs out? Does he need to win the FA Cup to consider this a successful season? Would defeat to Everton in the FA Cup semi-final, assuming they overcome Sunderland in the last-eight stage, cause the board to review their coach's position?

These are genuine questions, not barbed pot-shots designed at denigrating a manager's name. The fact remains, though, that Liverpool have lost five of their last six matches - the last two defeats coming against relegation-embattled clubs - in their worst run since January 2005. Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if Roy Hodgson was still in charge?

Hodgson, incidentally, is second favourite to Harry Redknapp for the England job after yet another example of miracle working at West Brom. The former Inter Milan and Blackburn coach never stood a chance at Liverpool because he was in charge of a club in the process of being sold, had minimal backing in the transfer market (he spent £24m and recoupled £26m) and was having to work under the shadow of his eventual successor, the then academy director Dalglish.

King Kenny, meanwhile, has spent £117m (£76m recouped) on seven players who have so far failed to deliver (unless you count a League Cup which Birmingham won last season before getting relegated). The Reds are seventh in the table, just two points clear of Everton and Sunderland - and three of Norwich and Swansea. Indeed, Dalglish's league record this season reads as follows: W11, D9:L10, or in other words W37% D 30% L33%. Hodgson's read: W7 D4 L9 or W35% D20% L45%. Under anyone else's tenure, this would be a disaster.

BBC pundits Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson seldom hold back when putting the boot into teams in the mire, but both former Liverpool team-mates of Dalglish were conspicuous by their absence from Match of the Day last night. It seems that not even the neutral media are prepared to damage the legacy of a living footballing institution.

At least Dalglish had the good grace to front up to the press, unlike Roberto Mancini, who sent his stooge David Platt out to field questions form the press after a 1-1 draw at Stoke that handed the title initiative to Manchester United. A sharp man with a quick tongue, Dalglish normally holds his own against anything reporters throw at him, but the wily Scot was scraping the barrel on Saturday, when he passed the Wigan reverse off as "the price you pay for success". Seriously, what?

"'If you play Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday it's going to take its toll," claimed the 60-year-old, presumably referring to the herculean triumphs against Cardiff and Stoke.

"Whether that's the price you have to pay for success or a demanding TV schedule, I don't know. We're disappointed because a lot of the final balls in good positions we didn't deliver. Put that down to tiredness."

Didn't Liverpool concentrate on buying young players like Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and players in their prime like Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Luis Suarez so that they could endure the rigours of a long season? And how on earth does Dalglish think his side would fare if his team actually got into the Champions League, if his multi-million pound squad can't handle minor domestic cup assignments?

No one wants to see more managerial casualties in a business which places too much stock in short-term results and Dalglish, like everyone, should be given time to make his stamp on the side, but managers should also all be judged with equanimity and at the moment the silence that has greeted King Kenny's recent failings has been deafening.

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Kenny Dalglish is honest if nothing else after Bolton defeat

Premier League / Richard Aikman / 22 January 2012 / 3 Comments

Kenny Dalglish has spent a lot more money than his predecessor Roy Hodgson but results haven't been that much better

"It should be pointed out, though, that Dalglish’s untouchability does present problems of its own, for neither should the Reds’ coach be exempt from all culpability."

Liverpool's season suffered a huge setback with defeat at Bolton yesterday but Kenny Dalglish pulled no punches when it came to laying the blame on his players. He may be honest but he needs to start winning some matches, says Richard Aikman.

Kenny Dalglish has come in for a good deal of criticism of late. There is no question that his public position over the Luis Suarez affair was unacceptable, but the Liverpool manager should be commended for his unsparing public criticism of his players following their abject capitulation at Bolton Saturday night.

Liverpool, (now a well-priced [5.6] to finish the season in sixth place were outplayed, out-thought and outfought by a club that have spent most of the campaign languishing at the nether end of the division and who, before last night, had mustered just one league victory at home all campaign. Afterwards, it was only natural to expect the blame to be levelled at the referee or perhaps his assistant, such is the present day norm for match-day reactions. Arsene Wenger was a case in point last weekend when he tried to put Arsenal's deserved 3-2 defeat by Swansea down to a match official who had made "strange decisions" and a penalty award he described as "a complete imagination".

How refreshing it was, then, to hear a Premier League manager for once giving the supporters the benefit of some intelligence by telling it as it was. "We've got to look at ourselves and if that's the level (the players) expect to play then they'll not be here long," he said.

When offered the chance to explain the result away with a penalty appeal that went unheeded, he added: "That's not the problem. The problem starts with your attitude and your approach to the game and if that's not right then who are we to disrespect anyone and think we can go to any football ground and automatically get a result? Liverpool Football Club has not been built on that foundation, they've always been respectful to people who have paid and have worked hard to get the result. If they don't want to do that, then fine. I don't know where this attitude has come from but it had better go quickly."

Cue: collective sigh of relief. Too many modern-day managers spend their entire post-match press conference seeking excuses, alibis and smokescreens in a thinly-veiled bid to protect their obviously culpable players. Indeed, one of the reasons so many players that leave Arsenal are so complimentary about Wenger is precisely because he never hangs them out to dry. And the reason most managers don't publicly criticise their own is for fear of losing the dressing room.

Dalglish, however, is an exception to the rule because he would have to get his side relegated and burn down Anfield before losing the unswerving support of the Kop. No player is bigger than the club and not even Steven Gerrard is bigger than King Kenny, who decided to use his position to inflict an entirely justifiable withering attack on his own.

It should be pointed out, though, that Dalglish's untouchability does present problems of its own, for neither should the Reds' coach be exempt from all culpability. After all, unlike his harshly vilified predecessor Roy Hodgson, it is Dalglish who was given the keys to the coffers and his £100m plus outlay on players has not paid dividends hitherto. His claims in August that the club had spent "responsibly" are beginning to ring hollow with his side lying seventh in the table and 16 points off the top, having played a game more than leaders Manchester City.

Andy Carroll has yet to justify a tenth of his £35m price tag, while Luis Suarez, aside from letting down his team-mates in the whole Patrice Evra affair, has not translated star quality into goals. Five strikes in 18 league matches is a poor return for a player at a club who, before yesterday, had created the second most goalscoring chances than any other club this season. In total Liverpool have scored just 25 goals all season: significantly less than half of the 57 Manchester City have managed, and their lowest return by this stage of the season in 40 years.

On Saturday, with the exception of Craig Bellamy and Pepe Reina, the Reds were abject, ceding possession cheaply, defending naively and receiving no protection from Charlie Adam or Gerrard, who failed to track back. On a day when Chelsea dropped points and Newcastle lost this was a chance to make gains on the top four, but after Saturday's performance they are as likely to earn a Champions League place as 16th-placed QPR are to finish in the top ten.

Dalglish fell short of suggesting that he will delve into the transfer market to salvage his side's flagging campaign, saying that there is "no need for a knee-jerk". In all honesty, to do so would represent an admission of failure on his part; it would highlight just how poor the likes of Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson have been. However, he needs to do something soon to inspire a reaction from his players, who yesterday seemingly had half an eye on Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Anfield and Saturday's FA Cup fourth round encounter against Manchester United.

Perhaps the public scolding will suffice. It can't do any harm because Liverpool need something to rouse themselves from their present state of torpour. Either way it was refreshing to see the players being berated rather than pampered for once. For that much Kenny deserves the thanks of us all.

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