ANDY HUNTERon how the Liverpool fans are waiting for the owners to show just what they have in mind for the club

THE WHEEL has turned full circle for John W Henry at Liverpool. His gameplan to gain control of the club was formulated at the London offices of the law firm Slaughter and May and, 19 months on, slaughter in May has cleared the way for Fenway Sports Group to implement their Anfield vision. Having added Kenny Dalglish to their cull, the demand will be intense upon Liverpool’s owners to finally demonstrate they possess one.

Dalglish has gone, prematurely in these eyes, following a season that encapsulated the complexities facing FSG in their decision over the manager’s position. The return on their €150 million investment in new players in the Premier League was clearly unacceptable and Liverpool are at a tipping point as Financial Fair Play draws near while their rivals head into the distance.

Liverpool’s former manager was often justified in lamenting misfortune in front of goal and lauding a performance level that was infrequently reflected in results, but an eighth-place finish – an 18-year low – reflected a campaign lacking in consistency and cohesion from players and manager alike. The club’s first piece of silverware for six years, with the League Cup followed by an FA Cup final appearance, delivered the counter-argument for Dalglish’s first full season back in charge and Liverpool’s most celebrated moments since 2008-09.

One wonders what will happen to Dalglish’s successor should Liverpool finish next season closer to the top four but trophyless.

It was in the transfer market where the owner’s faith in Dalglish first wavered. Liverpool’s style improved markedly under the 61-year-old and the fractured mess he inherited not only from Roy Hodgson, with the club four points above the relegation zone when he accepted Henry’s SOS while in Bahrain on a cruise, but from a previous ownership that had fundamentally weakened the squad, places this season into perspective.

It should also have afforded Dalglish an extra year to demonstrate that Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson, Jose Enrique and Charlie Adam – failures to a man during their debut seasons on Merseyside, despite Carroll’s late flourish – have the mentality and quality required.

An outlay of almost €113 million on that quintet is impossible to justify. Damien Comolli paid with his job as director of football having negotiated the transfer fees. As Dalglish admitted on the day Comolli was sacked, he was the one who identified the targets. The manager was now vulnerable.

His replacement will not have the same funds available to construct a Champions League challenge and, Luis Suarez aside, there are few profits to be made with the current squad. If there was risk in retaining Dalglish for the task of rejoining the European elite it is outweighed by the necessity to start all over again with lesser funds and a fourth manager in four seasons.

Dalglish restored stability and dispelled the theory he had been out of the game too long before signing a three-year deal as Hodgson’s replacement last May. His handling of Suarez’s eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra in October, however, was archaic and inflamed the controversy. However, none of this was a factor in his departure.

FSG were welcomed upon arrival at Liverpool not simply on the basis they had ousted Hicks and Gillett and removed the threat of administration. Henry’s considered nature and steely ambition, Werner’s dynamism and the obvious enthusiasm at FSG for restoring Liverpool’s fortunes as they had the Boston Red Sox fuelled the sense of a fresh start.

Now, just under two weeks before the transfer window reopens, Liverpool have no manager, no director of football, no chief executive, no head of communications and still no decision on a new stadium.

Having sacked a club icon, a man who recently claimed he would be for ever in Liverpool’s debt, FSG are now free to implement the plans they always envisaged for Anfield.

They have no more excuses. Liverpool’s support, meanwhile, awaits evidence the owners’ decisiveness is not merely restricted to firing employees.