Soccer: Liverpool's principal owner John Henry flies in for this weekend's 215th Merseyside derby with a number of issues to address.
He will meet Kenny Dalglish for the first time in his official capacity as manager for a second spell after taking over from Roy Hodgson less than a week ago.
Director of football strategy Damien Comolli will be party to some discussions as he and the 59-year-old Scot try to plot a path forward after a disappointing six months.
Comolli will be a key component as he has been in the post since November working on transfer policy and a long-term blueprint.
And despite Dalglish's extensive knowledge of football at many levels, even having been out of management for more than a decade, he is happy to defer to the Frenchman on such matters as he is concentrating on getting things right with the current squad.
"Forget transfers and talk about the position Damien has," said Dalglish. "There is so much demand on a manager's time that it is important to have someone actively organising people, going to see either teams for reports on matches or individual players. Having conversations daily with people in the game and seeing what the movement of players are and then reporting back to the manager so the two of them can make a decision.
"I think it is a fantastic help and I don't have a problem with Damien."
A second successive defeat, at Blackpool in midweek, has made Dalglish's first home game on Sunday against Liverpool's near-neighbours even more significant. There were few positives to take from the performance at Bloomfield Road but what is encouraging is the effect the manager appears to have already had on Fernando Torres.
The striker has struggled for goals this season but the way in which he took his third-minute strike against the Seasiders was like the Torres of old, racing onto Martin Kelly's through-ball to emphatically fire home from a tight angle.
In that moment the Spain international showed more confidence and intent than he has at any other time this campaign. That, and a second successive good display from Kelly and a decent performance from Christian Poulsen on his first league appearance for nearly two months, gave something for Dalglish to focus on.
"It was a great goal from Fernando and he was a real positive," said the Scot. "As was Kelly at right-back and Daniel Agger at centre-back, who felt unwell before the game, but went right through it. And Christian Poulsen did well in the middle, passing and moving."
Dalglish now has to get more of his players performing closer to their best as they host Everton on Sunday.
The former Reds player knows the significance of the game, having quit as manager first time around nearly 20 years ago following a 4-4 draw in the FA Cup at Goodison Park after the emotional strain of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster finally took its toll.
"The derby is always a great occasion," said Dalglish. "Every city which has a derby thinks they have the best one of the lot but ours taking some beating."
