Kenny Dalglish is proud of his achievements during his second stint in charge of Liverpool, claiming League Cup glory is more important than a top-four finish.
The Scot will always be regarded as a legend at Anfield, and many fans rate him as the greatest player ever to wear the shirt. In his first spell as manager, which lasted from 1985 to 1991, he led the Reds to three titles and two FA Cups, including the double in 1986, and he remains the last man to lead them to the league championship in 1990.
Dalglish was surprisingly reappointed as manager in January 2011 following the departure of Roy Hodgson, despite his previous involvement being with Celtic some 11 years prior. His objective was to get the club back into the UEFA Champions League by delivering a top-four finish, yet he was sacked in the summer of 2012 after an eighth place finish.
This was Liverpool’s worst showing in the Premier League since 1994, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom as they lifted a record eighth League Cup when they beat Cardiff City in the Wembley final. And this, claims Dalglish, is worth more than finishing fourth in the league standings, as it at least gets you a piece of silverware in the cabinet.
“Liverpool is a massive football club and they had not won anything for six years when I got there, but we won something in our first (full) season,” Dalglish said in his book ‘Kenny Dalglish My Life’ serialised in the Daily Mirror. “That League Cup was a trophy for Liverpool Football Club. I don’t see that as anything but a positive. It’s always pleasant to get a winner’s medal. It might be more rewarding to qualify in Europe after finishing fourth, but who remembers that game when you finished fourth to get there?”
Dalglish, meanwhile, was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. The former Swansea City manager may never be as worshipped as the Scot is in the red half of Merseyside, but he is certainly making his mark this season. The Reds currently top the Premier League table having collected ten points from their opening four matches, and this has raised optimism within the club that they may finally earn their top-four finish this time round.
