Martinez offered LFC manager job according to Whelan

AVB is favourite now so will probably change all the time

Ayre denies Liverpool have shortlisted Martinez

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has insisted the club are yet to draw up a shortlist of potential successors to Kenny Dalglish as the club's manager.

Dalglish was dismissed from his position on Wednesday, after a season that saw victory in the Carling Cup tempered by a disappointing eighth place finish in the Premier League.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has immediately been installed as the hot favourite for the Anfield post, but Ayre denied the Spaniard was already on the club's shortlist.

"Not at the moment, no," Ayre told Sky Sports, when asked if the club already had identified any candidates for the job. "We come back tomorrow and look for a new appointment, that's when we start on that."

Ayre revealed that league form was the primary reason why Reds owner John W Henry decided to remove Dalglish from his position, one the Scot took up - originally on a temporary basis - after Roy Hodgson was fired in the early weeks of 2011.

"Results, perhaps, were not where we wanted them to be and that drives the decision," Ayre noted. "We feel it's the right decision and one we have to move forward with, but there's lots of praise and admiration for him.

"We have a big long-term plan for this football club, we've always talked about progress and moving forward. We've made a lot of progress off the pitch, creating a lot of foundations to build the business on and improve revenues, and the next important thing to move forward is football."

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/151181.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

I'm not sure I have seen a single post in favour

Here you go

Martinez is an admirable manager, he created Swansea's foundation and instilled the philosophy that has got them where they are today. Many people including myself, appreciate the way he has attempted to transform Wigan, battling relegation with a limited side with a poor fan base whilst trying to emulate that same entertaining, fluid football that made him famous as a manager.

I think he deserves to step up from Wigan eventually and I do believe he is too good for a club of their stature however I can't help but feel we need an enormous personality who is capable of handling the pressure, of an under-performing side with massive expectations and fans that will be heavily skeptical of the next appointment.

I like Martinez as a man and as a manager, many people aren't giving him enough credit already but I feel the board are offering a poison chalice in managing this club at the moment, I'd support him if he came here, seems likely he will, but I cant help but feel incredibly nervous with him in charge.

Ayre denies Liverpool have shortlisted Martinez

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has insisted the club are yet to draw up a shortlist of potential successors to Kenny Dalglish as the club's manager.

Dalglish was dismissed from his position on Wednesday, after a season that saw victory in the Carling Cup tempered by a disappointing eighth place finish in the Premier League.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has immediately been installed as the hot favourite for the Anfield post, but Ayre denied the Spaniard was already on the club's shortlist.

"Not at the moment, no," Ayre told Sky Sports, when asked if the club already had identified any candidates for the job. "We come back tomorrow and look for a new appointment, that's when we start on that."

Ayre revealed that league form was the primary reason why Reds owner John W Henry decided to remove Dalglish from his position, one the Scot took up - originally on a temporary basis - after Roy Hodgson was fired in the early weeks of 2011.

"Results, perhaps, were not where we wanted them to be and that drives the decision," Ayre noted. "We feel it's the right decision and one we have to move forward with, but there's lots of praise and admiration for him.

"We have a big long-term plan for this football club, we've always talked about progress and moving forward. We've made a lot of progress off the pitch, creating a lot of foundations to build the business on and improve revenues, and the next important thing to move forward is football."

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/151181.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Ayre denies Liverpool have shortlisted Martinez

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has insisted the club are yet to draw up a shortlist of potential successors to Kenny Dalglish as the club's manager.

Dalglish was dismissed from his position on Wednesday, after a season that saw victory in the Carling Cup tempered by a disappointing eighth place finish in the Premier League.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has immediately been installed as the hot favourite for the Anfield post, but Ayre denied the Spaniard was already on the club's shortlist.

"Not at the moment, no," Ayre told Sky Sports, when asked if the club already had identified any candidates for the job. "We come back tomorrow and look for a new appointment, that's when we start on that."

Ayre revealed that league form was the primary reason why Reds owner John W Henry decided to remove Dalglish from his position, one the Scot took up - originally on a temporary basis - after Roy Hodgson was fired in the early weeks of 2011.

"Results, perhaps, were not where we wanted them to be and that drives the decision," Ayre noted. "We feel it's the right decision and one we have to move forward with, but there's lots of praise and admiration for him.

"We have a big long-term plan for this football club, we've always talked about progress and moving forward. We've made a lot of progress off the pitch, creating a lot of foundations to build the business on and improve revenues, and the next important thing to move forward is football."

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/151181.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Complete bullshit you dont sack your manager UNLESS you have some idea who you want to replace him ......This is a mask

Complete bullshit you dont sack your manager UNLESS you have some idea who you want to replace him ......This is a mask

Its got Klinnsman/Rafa all over this again.

Martinez can F**k off. He is nowhere near ready to manage us or any big club yet.

Martinez would be a catastrophe.

2011 - 2012   -    Kenny

2012 - ?   -   Roberto Martinez

Sorry Roberto - just don't look right

Didn't we already try the "bring in the successful manager of a mid to bottom club team" with Roy Hodgson? How did that work out for us? Wigan finished 15th anyways, hardly "extremely successful".

We took Shankly from Huddesfield, didn't we? Hardly world beaters.

Martinez is a young manager, working his way up in his career. To dismiss him just because of his current team is not fair. If he was 60 and still managing Wigan, it would be a different story. But he's one of the younger managers in the league.

Also, finishing 15th with Wigan is no easy task at all. They have low attendances and hardly any money to spend. I find it rather incredible how Wigan are still a EPL club after all those years. They've been surviving from free transfers and very cheap signings for a few years.

I'm not saying he is a suitable replacement for the king. I would prefer someone who I could look at as a real upgrade (even though it's difficult to find another manager with Kenny's curriculum), and Martinez would be no more than a big gamble. He does try to make his team play football though, and is not in any way comparable to Roy Hodgson in terms of style of football.

We took Shankly from Huddesfield, didn't we? Hardly world beaters.

Martinez is a young manager, working his way up in his career. To dismiss him just because of his current team is not fair. If he was 60 and still managing Wigan, it would be a different story. But he's one of the younger managers in the league.

Also, finishing 15th with Wigan is no easy task at all. They have low attendances and hardly any money to spend. I find it rather incredible how Wigan are still a EPL club after all those years. They've been surviving from free transfers and very cheap signings for a few years.

I'm not saying he is a suitable replacement for the king. I would prefer someone who I could look at as a real upgrade (even though it's difficult to find another manager with Kenny's curriculum), and Martinez would be no more than a big gamble. He does try to make his team play football though, and is not in any way comparable to Roy Hodgson in terms of style of football.

My main issue is that there has been no progress at Wigan since he's been in charge. Every season is the same. A relegation battle. I know that he hasn't had much too spend, but for a club that has been in the Premiership since 2005 and for Martinez not have progressed them since 2009, I find that a little under-whelming.

However, I think it's a very dangerous road for us to go down of dismissing managers credentials because they aren't 'big' enough. We need the best man for the job, however I don't believe that to be Martinez, Rodgers or Lambert or any of these other flavour of the month types.

Would be beyond Hodgson proportion of disaster. Please God No.

My main issue is that there has been no progress at Wigan since he's been in charge. Every season is the same. A relegation battle. I know that he hasn't had much too spend, but for a club that has been in the Premiership since 2005 and for Martinez not have progressed them since 2009, I find that a little under-whelming.

Yeah I know what you're saying but I don't think there is much room for progress when you have a low payroll and hardly any money to spend on players. They have recently sold Valencia and N'Zogbia for relatively big fees and the manager has seen very little of this money to spend in the squad. It's also hard to attract good players to the club and keep them even if they're not being sold (they have 3 or 4 players leaving in the end of their contracts this season, if I'm not mistaken). To expect progress in this situation is probably asking too much IMO. Saving the club from relegation has been the task at Wigan for a while.

However, I think it's a very dangerous road for us to go down of dismissing managers credentials because they aren't 'big' enough. We need the best man for the job, however I don't believe that to be Martinez, Rodgers or Lambert or any of these other flavour of the month types.

Fully agree about that. I think either of these 3 would be gambles, but at this moment in time I'm skeptical about them. Remember all the talk about Owen Coyle last season and now Bolton went down. Don't think it would make any sense to sack the king to invest in a gamble.

Please, can we lock this thread.  It's making me feel uncomfortable that he has his own thread when there is a 'next manager' thread already.

Basically he got the ball rolling with Swansea and a lot of where they are now is down to what Martinez helped them build. He made the jump from lower league football to Premiership by taking on the Wigan job and has done alright by keeping them in the League which is Whelan and Wigan's one and only aim at the start of the year. His sides play decent football.

However I think having been at Wigan since 2009 and not actually progressing any further than a team happy to come 17th kind of puts a dampner on him. Obviously he's had financial restraints by the club but I still think after three years he should be aiming slightly higher. Especially when you see other clubs with very little to spend doing a lot better than a relegation battling side i.e. Swansea, Norwich, Fulham.

Doesn't fill me great confidence but seems to be favourite for every job that's going so obviously some people see something I don't in the fella. If he got the job, I'd welcome him openly and wish him all the best but he wouldn't be anywhere near my top 10 choices.

no avb now fave.

To be Liverpool Manager, you must have a proven track record,not only Domestically but also in Europe.You must have the scouting network to spot young talent,and bail out the CEO who knows f*ck all about football.And of couse have the ability to handle overpaid,under-performing,so-called "Super-Stars".Roberto Martinez,nice man,but why wreck his life?

Basically he got the ball rolling with Swansea and a lot of where they are now is down to what Martinez helped them build. He made the jump from lower league football to Premiership by taking on the Wigan job and has done alright by keeping them in the League which is Whelan and Wigan's one and only aim at the start of the year. His sides play decent football.

I think that's a fair assessment of Martinez.

Especially when you see other clubs with very little to spend doing a lot better than a relegation battling side i.e. Swansea, Norwich, Fulham.

In his defense I would say it's not unusual to see clubs doing better in their first season in the EPL just so to fade away in the 2nd or 3rd seasons. Wigan themselves fought for European places in their 1st season in the EPL under Paul Jewell.

And I wouldn't put Fulham in the same category of clubs, yes they don't spend much but certainly more than Wigan (Bryan Ruyz cost them £10M this season, for example)

I am astounded Wigan are still in the league.  That is all I am going to say about Martinez.

On the topic of Roberto Martinez becoming manager ... Wigan charmain Dave Whelan has been quoted by ESPN saying:

"Liverpool is a morgue, a desolate place, without heart, all I can say is what a shame for their supporters,"

Also he continued to say:

"I don't know who they will appoint, they have to sort themselves out, all I can tell you is that I haven't had an approach for Roberto."

Full article: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1071806/dave-whelan-advises-roberto-martinez-to-stay-away-from-liverpool?cc=5739

What a silly old man.

What the F**k is that all about?

What an old bitter fool(as polite an insult as I could give)

However I think having been at Wigan since 2009 and not actually progressing any further than a team happy to come 17th kind of puts a dampner on him. Obviously he's had financial restraints by the club but I still think after three years he should be aiming slightly higher. Especially when you see other clubs with very little to spend doing a lot better than a relegation battling side i.e. Swansea, Norwich, Fulham.

This for me. Will be VERY dissapointed if he gets the job and frankly i'm amazed to keep reading that the Amercians have been impressed with him. Really? Based on what? How many times do you think they have watched Wigan this season? If they had done they likely would have seen them lose (except when they played us!) and I can't quite picture John Henry and Tom Werner discussing the lovley expansive football that Wigan played. It doesn't add up for me. I don't tihnk he has the backbone for this type of job. His teams don't play with much backbone either for much of the time. Too many heavy defeats in the last two seasons, a lot of poor defending.

Swansea City    24 February 2007    15 June 2009      126    63    37    26    50.00 %
Wigan Athletic    14 August 2009    Present             127    34    36    57    26.77 %
Total                                                                     253    97    73    83    38.34 %

A CAREER WIN RATIO OF 38 F***ING PERCENT ?

OH DO F**K OFF .