Kenny Dalglish Sacked: 6 Possible Replacements for the Scot at Anfield

So, it’s official.

Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club have decided today to announce their decision to part ways with Anfield legend and manager Kenny Dalglish.

Kenny Dalglish’s second spell as Liverpool manager was a nightmare for the Scot, who had, at times, found the going to be tough, especially when the Luis Suarez race row was on at full swing.

Dalglish had managed to guide the team to a record eighth Carling Cup trophy, but lost to a competitive Chelsea side in the final of the FA Cup competition.

However, a disappointing league campaign, in which the Reds finished behind Everton with a haul of just 52 points, was the reason for much of the criticism aimed at Dalglish.

Although rumors of Dalglish’s sacking had broken out much earlier on Twitter, with some news outlets confirming them, Dalglish’s sacking will draw mixed reactions from the club’s supporters.

Some may feel the Anfield King has been hard done by, while others may feel that Dalglish had this coming to him.

Let the speculation persist on one side. But there is one thing that every supporter should understand.

Clearly, Dalglish hasn’t delivered on his promised objectives, and the owners were right to terminate his contract, as they felt that it would help in the club’s progress.

Now then, Thomas Werner and John W. Henry have cut off their association with Dalglish. And that means that it is my duty to let them know of a list of candidates with potential to be great replacements for the Scot. 

Brendan Rodgers, Swansea City

The 2011-12 Premier League season saw all three promoted teams retain their status in the English top flight for another season.

Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea City was the most successful of the lot, finishing 11th in the league standings with a haul of 47 points.

However, they did so with convincing victories over Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City at home and a brand of football that was to everyone’s liking.

Rodgers, who had served as a youth team coach, and later, coach of the reserve team at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, had previously managed Watford and Reading to lesser effect.

His exploits with Swansea have certainly attracted interest in his availability from clubs like Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur—who, at one point, were lining Rodgers up as a replacement for Harry Redknapp.

FSG should take a look at what this man could be capable of. But it is a bit of a letdown for Rodgers in that he has no prior experience managing a top club and the pressure that comes with it.

Rodgers managed a Swansea City side with unheralded players in the squad. However, the players’ unity in the fight for their team’s survival amongst the league’s finest was perhaps the best attribute that Rodgers inculcated in his youthful squad.

To judge if Rodgers would be capable of replicating the same with a club of the stature of Liverpool is a tough task. But he definitely would be worth the gamble if shortlisted for the job.

He has a contract with Swansea that keeps him at the club until 2015, which means a hefty compensation should go the other way for any team that wants this man.            

Marcelo Bielsa, Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao’s head coach, who is famous for his peculiar methods of training and total football style, is the best choice of manager for any team.

Bielsa shot to fame with his exploits with the Chilean national team and was widely praised for the notable changes that he brought to the squad as a whole and nurturing a bunch of unheralded players into global superstars.

Considered one of the greatest innovators of the modern game, Bielsa is a candidate of my personal liking.

It will be a tough task luring him out of his current role at Bilbao, where he has only just completed his first full season in charge.

Bielsa masterminded Bilbao’s impressive victories over Manchester United in the Europa League, a competition they would go on to lose in the finals to regional rival Atlético Madrid.

Besides, his experience managing the national teams of Chile and Argentina prior to that should place him in a better position when it comes to managing a star-studded Liverpool dressing room.

Now that Dalglish is gone, appointing Bielsa would land them a man who is capable of attracting good, continental talents and establishing better player-manager relations with Liverpool’s Latin-speaking contingent.

Andre Villas-Boas, Unemployed

Portuguese tactician Villas-Boas remains unemployed following his unceremonious sacking from power at Chelsea Football Club.

Villas-Boas walked into the English Premier League with a reputation of having guided Portuguese giants Porto FC to league and Europa Cup glory while remaining unbeaten throughout.

But, life in the Premier League got tough, as Villas-Boas found out when his team failed to produce the results which were to the owner's liking.

After being in charge for just more than six months, Villas-Boas was relieved of his duties as head coach of Chelsea and replaced by assistant coach Roberto Di Matteo.

Villas-Boas’ low point was suffering defeat at the hands of Italian side Napoli during the first leg of a knockout fixture in the Champions League. Also, his failure to bring out the best in £50 million striker Fernando Torres didn’t sit well with owner Roman Abramovich.

But that is not to take away the talent at disposal here. With Villas-Boas in charge, Chelsea did play an attacking brand of football that saw them press their opponents more, but found limited success due to the back four backfiring on almost every occasion.

Villas-Boas is another candidate who perfectly fits the bill as a possible replacement for Kenny Dalglish.

In Villas-Boas, the Liverpool hierarchy would have the perfect youngster who, if successful, could lead the Reds for a very long time.

Perhaps Abramovich's constant intervention in team affairs was what undermined Villas-Boas’ authority over the Chelsea squad.

With Liverpool, that isn’t going to be an issue, since the owners are more than happy to stay away from team affairs as long as there is sustained success and a handsome revenue coming their way.

Fabio Capello, Unemployed

The former England boss is another candidate who is on the unemployment line.

But with a handsome departing paycheck from the FA at the time of his resignation, Capello need not necessarily think of sticking his head into another high-pressure job.

A holiday in sunny Spain is definitely a better alternative!

Anyway, the point is that if FSG needed an experienced coach, they needn’t look further than ex-England boss Fabio Capello. Only a few people can boast of a managerial career that spanned over two decades and included managing some of the best clubs in Europe.

Capello’s managerial career includes spells at AC Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus and Roma, clinching the domestic-league title with all of them.

Fabio Capello, therefore, is indeed a suitable candidate to replace Kenny Dalglish. But, bringing in Capello does indeed mean breaking the bank to pay his wages.

In Capello, FSG would get a strict disciplinarian, and one who doesn’t bend over to unrealistic player demands.

However, the sticky situation is the England job was widely considered—even by Capello himself—the last time that he would take to the dugout as a coach. But Capello seems to have relaxed a bit over retirement speculations, and the Liverpool job might be too appealing for him to turn down.

Louis van Gaal, Unemployed

Van Gaal is another one of the managers in the unemployed queue, but this one boasts an impressive CV that includes domestic-league title triumphs and lifting the Champions League.

Louis van Gaal’s last employer was Bayern Munich, with whom he parted company in 2011 after having led them to victory in the Bundesliga and the final of the 2009-10 Champions League (where they lost to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan) in his very first season in charge.

Van Gaal is best known for his time with Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam in the '90s, during which he led them to three successive Eredivisie titles and one Champions League crown in 1995 with a squad that included former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Louis van Gaal was also the man whom Manchester United’s former chief executive, Peter Kenyon, once famously shortlisted as replacement to Sir Alex Ferguson when the Scot famously revealed that he intended to retire, only to do a full U-turn on his decision by the end of the season.

In Louis van Gaal, FSG have got themselves another suitable candidate to replace the Anfield legend, and one who can successfully lead the Reds into serious title contention.

Rafael Benitez, Unemployed

This is the man who is the favorite amongst Dalglish critics to replace the Kop hero.

This is the man who had a successful, long career with the Reds that ended under controversial circumstances about two seasons earlier.

In his six-year spell with the Reds, this man led Liverpool to an unprecedented Champions League triumph over AC Milan in 2005 after having trailed the Italian side 3-0 at halftime.

An FA Cup trophy came in the next season, and he followed it up by guiding the Reds to another Champions League final the following season.

This is the same man who led a strong chase of the Premier League title in 2009, fighting against the tide and Alex Ferguson’s mind games, only to fall short to Man United after having accumulated 86 points.

This is the man who got the sack from the Liverpool hot seat during the summer of 2010. Former owners Hicks and Gillett came under much criticism for their decision to remove this man as head coach of Liverpool.

A six-month spell at Inter Milan followed, and to this day, this man remains unemployed.

This is the man who still resides at Merseyside and is the firm fan favorite to replace the fallen king of Anfield.

This is the man who goes by the name of Rafa Benitez!