Boston Red Sox: Liverpool Firing Should Be a Wake-Up Call for Bobby Valentine

John Henry wants to be the best, whether it be in baseball with the Boston Red Sox or in soccer with Liverpool.

If things aren't working out, he's going to make changes. We saw an example of this during this past offseason when a total restructuring of the Red Sox started. Henry let GM Theo Epstein go run the Chicago Cubs and he also got rid of manager Terry Francona after Boston failed to make the postseason for the second straight season.

Now, there's another example of Henry's urgency to win. According to ESPN, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was fired after the team finished eighth in the Premier League this season.

Liverpool chairman, and also Boston's chairman, Tom Werner reiterated the team's decision.

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"Results in the Premier League have been disappointing and we believe to build on the progress that has already been made, we need to make a change."

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Bobby Valentine should take the firing of Dalglish as a wake-up call.

The Red Sox started this season off horribly. There's no other way to put it. They've rebounded as of late, but still sit at the bottom of the American League East and are still under .500.

Valentine has to do a better job of managing this team if he wants to keep his job. It's that simple. He needs to find the lineup that works best while playing the best player at each position. No more special treatment for those with tenure in Boston. It's time to win.

Early in the season, we saw Valentine fail to realize how long some of his starting pitchers should pitch. Should he know when guys need to be taken out? Yes, but everyone should've known that the transition wasn't going to go perfectly. He only had a month or so to learn about all of his players.

It seems like Valentine has started to figure a lot of things out, as Boston has started to win games like the way they're supposed to. The Red Sox are currently riding a five-game win streak into an eight-game road trip and need to stay strong over the next few weeks.

If Boston fails to make the postseason for the third consecutive season this year, change is going to happen again as I've predicted.

Whether Valentine realizes it or not, his job is always going to be on the line if the team isn't winning. The firing of Dalglish could be a preview of what could happen to him if he doesn't succeed this season.