Love Me Do

All the pages written, the keyboards pounded and the phone-lines lighting up at ever grateful radio stations - there can be only one simple statement about why the appointment of Kenny Dalglish excites Liverpool fans so much. Quite simply - Kenny gets it!

It is a quirk in the machinations of life in 2011, a year we reach in search of the ultimate meritocracy, that there are people who can move in what can only be described as mysterious ways. 'You get what you put in' - 'Don't believe the hype!' - phrases that are becoming more and more common place, no doubt a reaction to the spin-doctors of the New Labour era and the credit card busting spending of the early years in the new century. The years of austerity that lie ahead call for pragmatism and a sensible approach. God forbid those who dream a dream or let their imaginations run away with them.



Liverpool has been on its knees and how the mass media have enjoyed it. Fair to say that the very same media cannot help themselves standing in front of The Kop on Champions League nights having their own 'Love Me Do' moment. Yet, this year has been different. This time people have smelled blood. The story has been the fall down - the demise. Now it seems that such crisis has breathed a new life into the club. Liverpool fans want their club back. Dalgish is the first step.

It is a shame to some extent that football has become so global that fans embrace different cultures and label them as there own. A shame because it dilutes the feelings that people have for their own particular club. For some a spending spree of £200 million and the appointment of Pep Guardiola may have cured all ills. No doubt a Champions League challenge would have been set in motion in super-quick time. But there would always be somnething missing.

The name of Dalglish in the city of Liverpool evokes many powerful emotions. It is well-documented how Kenny Dalglish took it upon himself to attend so many funerals following the Hillsborough disaster. What is less reported is the work that his wife, Marina Dalglish, has done in fundraising and engaging with cancer patients across the region. Dalglish is in the fabric of the club, the community and the lives of Liverpool people.

Columnists of national newspapers look at clubs like a balance sheet. Wins, losses, relegation?! By doing so they miss the wider point. What if Dalglish only mirrors the results of Roy Hodgson? is asked widely by the London press - the fact is that Liverpool fans will have something entirely different to hang their hats on.

Liverpool have their identity back. For Dalglish to come out fighting with his famous stubborn resolve to attack the incompetent Howard Webb and support his captain in face of the evidence was the tonic the fans needed for the inevitable defeat against Manchester United.

You can list the legends. The best musicians rarely become John Lennon. The best actors rarely Marilyn Monroe. Kenny Dalglish is as sussed as they come. He will not fail because he has the ability to know what to do and when to do it. Out of touch? He appoints Steve Clarke - a man in tune Jose Mourinho and the Premier League who was criminally wasted by West Ham. When the question was put to Dalglish about the need to sign new players - there was never any doubt he would fall into the trap of calling of for new faces and in effect rubbishing his predecessors and current squad. Dalglish replied that he would do anything to work with the current squad. It gave everybody a boost.

The belief is back at Liverpool off the pitch and perhaps a little on it too. They may lose a few more and sink a little deeper in the short-term, but what price the soul of your club? Liverpool fans never liked the Chelsea and Manchester City approach. NESV have taken a punt on the romance of a fan base. It has already paid dividends.

Liverpool is engaged again.