SOCCER ANGLES:Should Liverpool lose to Newcastle tomorrow Dalglish will have more questions to answer, writes MICHAEL WALKER
WOULDN’T IT have been telling, and not just for his own sake, if Kenny Dalglish’s recent opinion had rung a bell of recognition rather than one of alarm? When Dalglish stated on March 12th – “I don’t think there’s any reason why anyone would say there’s not been progress made. You go off the pitch and see how much monies we are getting through sponsorship, kit deals. You go through the academy and look at how much better it is. You look around here and most of the people have got a smile on their faces now” – he was giving a broad assessment of the state of Liverpool FC.
Dalglish was saying that in the 13 months since he succeeded Roy Hodgson, the Anfield club had rediscovered a sense of itself, some calm confidence after a period of turmoil that went back to the last season of Rafa Benitez, then Fernando Torres and all that.
This seemed like an admirably inclusive analysis, a welcome step back from the hurly-burly of results-driven angst. Think of clubs that spark admiration for their self-contained realism – Crewe Alexandra at one level, West Brom at another – and the reasons are all about self-awareness.
Crewe and West Brom know who they are and what they are. We appreciate their honesty.
The Championship is thronged with ambitious clubs who want to be up a level, which is grand, as long as those who do go up do not bankrupt themselves for short-term gain. Burnley didn’t, and Swansea and Norwich aren’t, so a fall need not bring about a collapse. Others have shown less pragmatism.
From a platform of realism a club can use money made in the Premier League and rebuild – Burnley have a redeveloped training ground for example. From there they are aiming to re-seed their squad with younger players on smaller contracts. This appears to be what we know as common sense. Swansea and Norwich will surely invest this summer but it will be at a controlled level. Neither think they will be in Europe in August 2014.
Even so, the week-to-week thrills and pain still kick in. But boundaries are known. At the likes of Swansea or Burnley there is a conscious and unconscious knowledge of who and what they are. That does not kill ambition, it makes it realistic.
Dalglish would appreciate that. He will appreciate too that there are several high-profile and historically significant clubs in Europe who understand themselves in a selling context nowadays. They have come to terms – have had to come to terms – with the skewed finances of Europe’s leagues.
Ajax, Benfica, these clubs sell their best players now, they don’t add to them. Yohan Cabaye won the double in France with Lille last season but moved to Newcastle United, who had just finished 12th in England.
Lille went into the Champions League and drew Inter Milan and increased revenue in their group. They may still have to sell again, Eden Hazard this time, but if deep down they are unhappy with the economic imbalance across the continent, at least they understand it. Their average attendance this season is around 17,000.
Liverpool’s understanding of itself as a club is not so sure and that is because Liverpool do not see itself as a club that has never won the Premier League; it sees itself as a global institution that won the European Cup for the fifth time in 2005 and were beaten finalists in 2007.
In the midst of that obvious contradiction – and recalling money spent last summer – what equals realism at Anfield?
Contentedness is not Liverpool’s aim it seems unless it comes with a Champions League place attached.
The progress that Dalglish witnesses inside the training ground is not the measurement by which others judge. This is why there is tension around Anfield.
“What other areas are there to improve upon – apart from points?” Dalglish asked on March 12th. The question was posed after Liverpool had lost their previous three league games.
On March 13th Everton were beaten at Anfield but the subsequent two Liverpool league games, away at QPR and home to Wigan, were lost.
That means three points from the last 18 have been won, which is why Liverpool go to St James’ Park tomorrow eight points adrift of a Newcastle team that sold Andy Carroll to them for €40 million.
Should Liverpool lose to a Newcastle team that has had €600,000 Mike Williamson at centre-half in 17 matches, the gap in spending as well as in points will again be put to Dalglish.
True, Liverpool have won the League Cup and are semi-finalists in the FA Cup, but it is presumptuous to think the latter of those already sports red ribbons. Moreover, Alan Hansen has already said he does not wish his old club to be considered “a cup team”.
Dalglish needs Liverpool to have a strong finish in the league. Essentially what he said on March 12th was about balance and long-termism.
This is sound thinking, it’s just that given the money spent on men like Carroll, striking a balance is almost as hard as winning the league. Amid football’s natural restlessness, as a counterweight, Dalglish could do with some of the other things he mentioned that day – points.
High-profile Lennon pays the price
ONE week after being deprived of the right to manage Celtic from the dugout in the second half against Rangers, Neil Lennon is unlikely to have any such problems tomorrow. Celtic are expected to win at home to St Johnstone and claim the SPL title. Parkhead is preparing a party.
Steve Lomas, a former Northern Ireland midfield colleague of Lennon's, is St Johnstone manager but it was another international team-mate, David Healy, who put Lennon's place in Scottish football in some context this week.
A Rangers player, Healy said of last Sunday at Ibrox: "I don't know what was said in the tunnel but Lenny's a major figure in Scottish football and maybe he doesn't get away with things that others can."
If Healy, a diehard Blue, recognises this, Lennon will doubtless be asking (again) why the Scottish Football Association tends not to.
THERE has been some fuss about James McClean, Derry City and Sunderland's supposed desire to get a grip on any Derry sell-on clause. This is what Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill said yesterday: "I hope it's received okay in the higher echelons of this club, but my view is that Derry City are entitled to whatever agreement they're entitled to."
Given O'Neill's role in the higher echelons of the club, that would appear to be that.
