Soccer:Mark Lawrenson has suggested his former Liverpool team-mate and club legend Kenny Dalglish could be drafted in to replace Rafael Benitez as manager on an interim basis.
Benitez’s departure from Liverpool was confirmed today after the club announced they had agreed to end his six-year reign by mutual consent.
Dalglish, who is already at Liverpool as an academy coach, has immediately been installed as the favourite to take over, almost 20 years after his first spell in charge ended.
With the ownership of Liverpool still in some doubt, Lawrenson believes Dalglish could serve to fill the role until the club’s situation is settled.
“I would have thought Kenny would be heavily involved and quite rightly so — maybe not just in choosing the manager but holding the fort in the meantime,” Lawrenson told BBC Radio.
Former Reds striker John Aldridge believes it is unlikely Dalglish would be interested in becoming manager of the club again, although he conceded it was likely the former Kop hero would play a leading role in the search for Benitez’s successor.
“I don’t really think Kenny would want the job,” said Aldridge. “He might be a bit too long in the tooth. But certainly over the last six months he’s become a massive figure in and around Anfield and he’d be a trusted figure to perhaps go out and find the ideal candidate we need at the club.”
Aldridge also felt the Spaniard’s departure would come as little surprise to those who closely follow the club’s fortunes on Merseyside.
“It’s been a matter of time,” he said. “There’s been a lot of rumours going through the city the last 10-12 days, and you just sensed it was going to happen.
“I think the decision has purely been made on the last 12 months. If you look at Rafa’s reign over the last six years, he’s got a strong case over that time, but in all honesty over the last 12 months he’s lost a lot of fans on his side, and we’ve struggled badly.”