• Premier League

Dalglish has transformed Liverpool - Ayre

ESPN staff
October 12, 2011
Kenny Dalglish has led Liverpool to victories at Arsenal and Everton this season © Getty Images
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Kenny Dalglish has been credited with transforming the fortunes of Liverpool Football Club since arriving at Anfield at the start of this year.

Liverpool are preparing to welcome Manchester United to Anfield this weekend, knowing victory would take them within three points of the champions. The Reds go into the game off the back of a 2-0 win at Merseyside rivals Everton and, with fit-again Steven Gerrard pushing for a start, Liverpool will look to bolster their Champions League qualification hopes leading into the Christmas period.

The situation is in stark contrast to a year ago, when Liverpool were battling to rid themselves of owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who were leading the club towards administration. Fortunes are also different on the pitch, where Liverpool claimed just six points from their opening seven games of last season under Roy Hodgson, compared to the 13 points gathered under Dalglish.

The Reds' seventh fixture of last year represented their most significant low point as they lost 2-1 at home to Blackpool. 12 months on, managing director Ian Ayre credits Dalglish with an astonishing turnaround.

"The feel of the place has been transformed. The spirit had gone 12 months ago, because everyone felt the burden of negativity," Ayre said. "It's such a different place now, and that maybe is what I'm most proud of.

"I think bringing everyone together has been the catalyst, and the appointment of Kenny was the heart of that and still is. We talk about how I felt coming out of that court case [against Hicks and Gillett] and even after we'd got John [Henry] and Tom [Werner] and Fenway Sports Group in the door, we were still kind of spinning, and there was still a period of, 'What's next?'

"What the appointment of Kenny did was give everyone something to focus on, stopped the spinning and brought everyone together. It's what the fans wanted, it was right. It galvanised the players.

"For me, it let everybody stop, and we started to build on that. I think Kenny's appointment is the catalyst to what we've achieved. The owners weren't lucky, they were smart in the appointment of Kenny.

"There were others who could have been considered, but based on what they heard from many different people, they made a very wise decision."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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