Owners keep faith in Dalglish

SOCCER:TOM WERNER, the Liverpool chairman, has confirmed Kenny Dalglish retains the full support of Fenway Sports Group despite the exorbitant transfer policy that cost Damien Comolli his job as director of football at Anfield.

Liverpool’s owners, who are reluctant to overhaul the management structure of the club despite Comolli’s exit, are still in the market for a director of football and admire both Johan Cruyff and Louis van Gaal for their influence on the development of young players at Ajax.

Cruyff resigned as an Ajax director in February over the board’s decision to appoint Van Gaal as chief executive. David Dein, the former Arsenal vice-chairman, has also been spotted with Anfield officials at the club’s last two league games but Liverpool have dismissed that link as a coincidence as Dein is visiting all Premier League clubs as part of the league’s 20th anniversary.

Comolli’s departure was announced only 48 hours before Liverpool face their Merseyside rivals Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and, despite an official statement claiming “family reasons” were behind the development, Werner later said the cause was a poor league campaign following an outlay of over €130 million on new players since FSG assumed control. The Liverpool chairman also admitted there were problems with Comolli over this summer’s transfer strategy.

Dalglish has accepted full responsibility for the signings that have helped win the League Cup this season but under-performed in the Premier League, with Liverpool currently eighth and 33 points behind leaders Manchester United. But Werner moved quickly to state FSG retained faith in Dalglish and he would not pay the same price as Comolli for this season’s Premier League failings.

“Absolutely not,” said the chairman when asked if Comolli’s exit impacted on the Liverpool manager’s position. “We’ve got great confidence in Kenny. We feel the team is going to make strides in the future and he enjoys our full support.”

Werner, however, did not disguise FSG’s disappointment with the return from a squad they believed was equipped to challenge for Champions League qualification this season. He added: “I would say we certainly have the resources to compete with anybody in football. We feel there is enough talent on the pitch to win and we’ve been dissatisfied, as most supporters have been, with the results so far. But we’re also talking about the future – we have a strategy we need implemented and we felt Damien was probably not the right person to implement that strategy.

“We’ve had a strategy [for this summer] that we have agreed on. There was some disconnect on the implementation of that. We need to build a strong system under the first team. We’re hard at work identifying transfer targets and we will be better next year.”

Dalglish has met Werner and John Henry, the club’s principal owner, in Liverpool this week but rejected suggestions his own position was up for discussion. “I don’t need any reassurance,” he said. “We have got a big game on Saturday which is the focal point for us.

“The reasons for Damien going are there. He hasn’t gone because there was any problem in any way, shape or form with myself in a professional or personal relationship. There is no problem with the position he held at the football club in any way, shape or form as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately the guy has lost his job. But it won’t affect our preparation for the semi-final and nor would Damien want it to.”

The Liverpool manager insisted no player has arrived at the club during his 15 months back in charge without his agreement. “I have brought every player in here – end of story,” he stated. But Dalglish did confirm Comolli was responsible for negotiating transfer fees such as €42 million for Andy Carroll, €24 million for Stewart Downing and €24 million for Jordan Henderson; largesse that the director of football ultimately paid the price for.

“Damien was never involved on the training pitch,” said Dalglish. “He was involved in having a look, setting up scouting, sending scouting reports in, doing a lot of administration work, players contracts, even getting Peter Gulasci back [from loan at Hull City for the FA Cup semi-final], Premier League meetings; things that seem a bit mundane but are very important. I had a really good working relationship and a good personal relationship as well.”