Reds Hot Seat

It is not a complete surprise that LFC and Rafa Benitez have finally parted company. Having said that, I don’t think Rafa’s six years at Anfield was a complete disaster; he brought in 2 major trophies, got into 2 CL finals and came in second in the league in 2009. In fact his record for the last 6 years is better than Arsene Wenger who has not won anything since 2005’s FA Cup.

Every LFC manager since Bill Shankly has won at least one trophy during their tenure. Even Roy Evans’ short stint saw him bring the League Cup to Anfield. Graeme Souness may have dismantled Dalglish’s winning team but Liverpool won the 1992 FA cup under his guidance. All in all, Rafa did better than Souness and Evans.

Now that Benitez is an ex-manager, who should take his seat? Sammy Lee was never in contention, so we can count the ‘boot room boys’ out. Apart from King Kenny, no other ex-player has the credentials, maybe Phil Thompson comes close but his name is not mentioned. Gary Ablett is short of top flight experience and Paul Ince didn’t impress at Blackburn Rovers.

A club of LFC’s stature need a high profile manager and I don’t think Roy Hodgson is high profile enough. With all due respect, Roy is a good manager but I don’t think he is a big club manager. He can (and has) work wonders with a small-ish club like Fulham but I can’t see him doing the same at Liverpool. If he is appointed, I seriously hope I’m very wrong about him.

Guus Hiddink has firmly said no (for now) and there is no way David Moyes is crossing Stanley Park to Anfield. Martin O’Neill’s name comes up all the time but he’s having a good time at Villa (or so the paper says), so we can count him out too. Marcello Lippi is an interesting name; he is a very successful coach but has never managed a team outside Italy. Juergen Klinsmann like Lippi has never coached outside Germany but he has played (well) in almost every league in Europe giving him a slight advantage over the other prospective candidates.  Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler somehow thinks Harry Redknapp is the man for the job.

I personally would like to see Kenny Dalglish (thats him in the black and white photo) back as manager. Failing that, Klinsmann would be my second choice.