11 Apr 2020 06:56:10
Morning Ed,
Sad to hear about King Kenny, let's hope him and everyone inflicted by this disease makes a full and happy recovery.
But, whilst on the subject of Kenny, how good a manager was he? Right place, right time? Or was he a genuinely great manager.
He has quite the record of managerial trophies.
Should he/ could he have done more if he carried on?
Be nice to hear your views.

{Ed001's Note - hard to say. Early on he had Paisley, then Hillsborough came along when Paisley retired properly. Kenny was not the same after that and the team was going downhill under him alarmingly. After a break he came back and won the league with Blackburn but spent heavily and they were a functional side rather than a great one. That is why it fell apart quickly as they had very little quality to their play. It was basic at best.

His time at Celtic was an aberration best forgotten. Then he returned and got us turned the right way but he did seem out of his time. As a player he was without doubt the best we ever had. As a manager it is difficult to judge him as he had to deal with the 2 most difficult periods in the club's history taking over right after Heysel and then managing us through Hillsborough.

To me all of it is really irrelevant. What matters is what he did in the aftermath of Hillsborough. That is his legacy as Liverpool manager. That made him a true great who deserves recognition as probably the greatest man to be involved with the club and everything else is simply insignificant. }


1.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 07:54:08
To carry the weight and hurt of those families takes a truly special gentleman, get well soon Kenny.


2.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 08:12:46
And that is the best 3 paragraphs I’ve read in a long long time. Perfect summary of the greatest we’ve had. Hope you’re home soon King Kenny,

{Ed001's Note - thank you mate.}


3.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 08:24:56
Thanks Ed.
Completely agree on your points made to what he did off the field trumps all.
Such a genuinely lovely man.
Appreciate your time.

{Ed001's Note - cheers mate. Fingers crossed he makes a full recovery!}


4.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 09:46:08
How do you rate Souness as a manager, ed001? He seemed to have some decent success abroad but it didn't really work out at Liverpool.

{Ed001's Note - he was ok when he was working with a lesser standard of player who were overawed by him. The better quality needed at Liverpool just were not.}


5.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 10:30:16
I would just like to 2nd what WarMachine said. Well written piece, Ed.
May our King have the speediest of recoveries and a Happy, safe Easter to everyone on here and all the Eds.

{Ed001's Note - thank you very much. Is it Easter? I hadn't realised to be honest. That explains why I was able to buy creme eggs last time I was able to go to the shops before all this hit.}


6.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 10:51:42
They do tins of Cadbury mini eggs as well now.
I purchased a tin for my daughter.
She may be disappointed with how many are in there though.

{Ed001's Note - I think she will be just delighted to get Easter Eggs this year!}


7.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 12:44:57
Football wise, two things killed Kenny's second spell. One was Lucas' injury and the other was a £35m gamble on Carroll. We actually played decent football quite often, but didn't stick in the net. My over-riding memory is a team that continuously fluffed easy chances, including several missed penalties, and hit the post more than they scored. Downing got hammered for getting zero assists that season, but I lost count of the amount of times he put one on a plate for Carroll only for the ponitailed drunkard to head wide.

Of course there were also non-footballing issues with Carroll's strike partner that we all know about.


8.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 13:27:07
Agree SR. I don’t know if it was ever an option or whatever, but Torres and Suarez would’ve been unstoppable. Prem and Europe.


9.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 15:48:29
Kind of agree SR however I think the Suarez incident was the biggest factor. Like ed said tho I think he was probably out of his time. I remember a few interviews that were genuinely uncomfortable to watch.

However he only ever does what he thinks is best for the club and we're lucky to have the man. An absolute great and hope he pulls through this.


10.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 15:57:37
Oh agreed Bledd, Suarez was the main reason he was sacked overall. I was talking purely from the point of view of the football on the pitch. We were 8th when we were probably good enough for 3rd or 4th.


11.) 11 Apr 2020
11 Apr 2020 16:30:45
Ah sorry yeah I see what you mean. You could really see the positive effect he had tho. Giving the likes of Flanagan a run with that back 5 formation everyone just seemed to get a lift.