When we look at the season - which we've classified as bad - we still managed to win our first trophy in six years, and were in the final of the FA Cup, so three trips to Wembley in a season we're all disappointed with. The league form was bad, but it was also very weird when you think about it. I don't buy into the argument of "We were unlucky" but there were quite a few games where we probably deserved more than we got, for example. We only really performed badly in a handful of games and were rightly beaten in those. I know football is a results business, but generally speaking, our performances were good. At times we played some of the best football the club has played in some time, but we didn't get the results - and that built up over time.
I hand on heart believe that if this season were to be repeated, we would have finished higher up the table, maybe 5th, but probably 6th. Our biggest failings, in my opinion, were not being better in the first half of the season when Arsenal and Chelsea were struggling as badly as they were. We should have capitalized and been like 10-12 points higher than what we were when Lucas went down. (And for the record, fourth does not necessarily mean Champions League. Third does.)
I disagree with the notion of "If it were any other manager..." because I've personally said one bad season is not a reason to fire a manager (something like relegation is a completely different scenario). Keeping in mind, of course, this bad season still resulted in a trophy. In my opinion, whoever the manager was deserved another season.
But we're not just talking about any manager. We're talking about Kenny Dalglish, the heart and soul of Liverpool. I'm not saying he should be given a free pass and blank check or anything like that, but his managerial record at LFC should have warranted him another season at least. I mean, considering Kenny Dalglish's "worst season as Liverpool manager" resulted in 1 cup, 1 runners-up, and 1 disappointing league campaign, he's shown what he can do as manager of this football club. He needed another year.
So realistically, I don't know what FSG are expecting. They - and too many supporters - probably expected too much this season to begin with, so if we have a repeat of this year, will that manager get sacked too? I don't know. I think they're going to tell the new manager Champions League or bust because there was something poignant in Kenny's comments about his firing:
"Of course I am disappointed with results in the league, but I would not have swapped the Carling Cup win for anything as I know how much it meant to our fans and the Club to be back winning trophies."
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