The Mirror 
Kenny Dalglish has made it clear – through friends and family – that he wants the Liverpool job.
Speaking to those people close to him, all have a very similar message… quite simply, no matter how long he has been out of the game, he still retains the hunger to succeed as a top-flight manager.
As a journalist, I have covered three different teams managed by Kenny, and at each club, he has exuded a real sense that he is true football man, who cares passionately about the game, and has a deep understanding of its nuances.
Which is exactly what is needed at Anfield right now. The club is in a mess. They have owners who still won’t sell - despite some perfectly reasonable offers on the table – because of a ridiculously myopic view of what the business is worth.
They seem to lack leadership at the top, too, where the amateur bumblings into the world of football by two Yanks who know diddly squat about the sport has left an embarrassing vacuum which has not come close to being filled.
Which means that the decision to sack Rafa Benitez took a preposterously long time, and was handled in a terrible way. And now the decision to appoint a successor has been conducted in the same agonising manner.
What is needed at Liverpool right now is decisive action. It doesn’t need a couple of Americans saying they have heard some random, unsuitable coach is the right man for the job, and so let’s go get him.
What it needs is real football knowledge. Apparently, Dalglish was employed to provide that in the selection process, and after careful deliberation he came to the conclusion that he is the right man for the job.
What he can do is bring rival, warring factions together, and appease those who are still clinging onto an understandable grievance about the nature of Benitez’s departure.
His qualities are what is required at Liverpool right now. He is a football man, who cares about the club, and has a sense of calm authority that has been missing for too long at Anfield.
Roy Hodgson also possesses these qualities, and for all the unfair criticism aimed at him by some Liverpool fans, he too would be a fine choice to bring some dignity to a club that has shown precious little in recent years.
But if Kenny wants the job, if he does come out and suggest he is ready to take it, then he clearly would be an outstanding choice, no matter how long he has been out of the game, and especially if he has a talented young coach alongside him.
