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Liverpool hint Kenny Dalglish will become permanent manager

Carl Markham,Pa
Friday 04 February 2011 11:26 GMT
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Dalglish has had a decent start on his return to management
Dalglish has had a decent start on his return to management (GETTY IMAGES)

Liverpool's principal owner John Henry has hinted Kenny Dalglish could be given the manager's job on a permanent basis as a result of the impact he has had in just one month.

Dalglish was brought in by owners Fenway Sports Group to take charge until the end of the season after Roy Hodgson was sacked just six months after taking over from Rafael Benitez.

In that time Dalglish has had a significant effect on the fortunes of the club both on and off the pitch.

Liverpool have won their last three matches with successive clean sheets and are up to seventh in the Barclays Premier League, targeting at least fifth-placed Tottenham now.

And the fact Dalglish was able to spend all of the £56million the club received from the sales of Fernando Torres to Chelsea and Ryan Babel to Hoffenheim - breaking the club's transfer record to bring in Andy Carroll from Newcastle for £35million - suggests FSG have faith in the 59-year-old Scot in the long term.

"It's still early but in retrospect you could not have made, in our case it was very fortunate, but we could not have made a better choice," said Henry.

"I know he, for a long time now, has wanted to be in this position, so it's a great thing for the club, for Kenny and for us."

Henry has also hinted they may opt to redevelop Anfield rather than build a new stadium in Stanley Park.

"The Kop is unrivalled," he added.

"The atmosphere, I was really surprised because we've heard so much about needing a new stadium.

"We were surprised at how beautiful Anfield was both viewing it as an empty stadium and then with the first game.

"It would be hard to replicate that feeling anywhere else."

Henry also explained why they sanctioned the sale of Torres.

"One of things that we talked about from the very beginning was how important it was that everyone was on the same page. No player is bigger than the club," Henry told Fox Soccer Channel.

"We expect players to want to be there. If they don't want to be part of Liverpool Football Club then we should do everything we can to facilitate them going elsewhere."

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