Kenny Dalglish

[Twenty26Six]

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KENNY DALGLISH IN 30 QUOTES

"Kenny is the best player to have ever worn the red shirt and is the undisputed king of Liverpool Football Club."
Phil Neal

"I never saw anyone in this country to touch him. I can think of only two players who could go ahead of him – Pele and possibly Cruyff. He was He was better than Maradona, Rummenigge or Platini. I would say that on his day he was, without any shadow of a doubt, the best player in the world."
Graeme Souness

"He is one of the best players I have ever seen and one of the best players in the history of football."
Franz Beckenbauer

"For me he's not just Liverpool's best player but probably Britain's best ever football person if you like. We're the most successful club and he's the best player so I don't think anyone beats him."
Jamie Carragher

"Kenny Dalglish is probably the most modest man who has ever been handed the nickname 'King' but King Kenny he will always be."
Former Scotland captain and Leeds United legend Billy Bremner

"I suppose above everything else when you try to assess Kenny's importance you must talk about his attitude to the game. He just wanted to play football. He had tremendous skill and the ability to set the pace of the game for the other players around him. When I had to sell Kevin Keegan to Hamburg – and we didn't have any choice because Kevin wanted to go to Europe – I didn't think it would be possible to replace him. Yet we did it so easily by buying Kenny from Celtic. In many ways he was a better player for Liverpool than Kevin was. Kenny is a model professional and was the best buy we ever made – it's as simple as that."
Bob Paisley

"Kenny had unbelievable vision and strength as a player. He was really aware of people around him. He had great balance and was a good finisher, courageous too. People often forget that the one quality great players need is courage. Kenny is as brave as a lion. He would take a kick from anyone and come back for more. Kenny is a man I shall always respect."
Sir Alex Ferguson

"Kenny was a tremendous player, absolutely tremendous. I would have paid to have seen him play. I loved the way he could hold the ball up and make goals as well as score them."
Ron Yeats

"Kenny Dalglish is a hero of mine and is the best player to ever wear a red shirt."
Steven Gerrard

"After Kevin Keegan left no one was quite sure how Bob Paisley would fill the gap but it was a masterstroke to sign Kenny from Celtic. With his football brain and ability to score goals out of nothing, Dalglish became the main man of the Liverpool sides throughout the late '70s and '80s. Kenny seemed almost continually capable of writing his own script - from his dramatic first ever Liverpool goal to his strikes that clinched the 1978 European Cup win and 1986 championship against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The way he could score goals and also create them for other players around him was special. He will always be remembered as the king here at Anfield."
David Fairclough

"I actually played against Kenny when and he turned me inside out. I thought to myself I'd love to play alongside him, and luckily for me I got that chance. Kenny is the best player I've ever played against and with."
Alan Kennedy

"Unfortunately for me I never got the chance to play with Kenny Dalglish for Liverpool so when he did play I was sat in the stands watching him. When you are up in the stand you have more of a bird's eye view of what's happening on the pitch and we had a superstar in Kenny Dalglish, without a shadow of a doubt. When Kenny put on that red shirt he was playing for it and the other 10 players in the team. He is the best player I have ever seen at this football club and he was a genius."
Brian Hall

"Kenny wasn't the quickest of movers but he was 20 yards quicker than anybody else with his football brain and he would be in position before any defender knew what was happening. I've always said the best signing that Liverpool ever made was Kenny Dalglish."
Ronnie Moran

"Kenny Dalglish would be my first choice for Liverpool's best ever player because he was a great player with a lot of qualities."
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez

"Kenny was a magnificent player by any analysis and one of the all-time greats."
Liverpool Chief Executive Rick Parry

"Kenny is probably the most gifted player I have ever seen. He could turn on a five pence piece and he was an out and out footballer. He was just a tremendous player."
Tommy Smith

"I think Kenny is the best player Liverpool have ever had. Many great players have worn the Red shirt - going back to the days of Billy Liddell - but Kenny was just a genius."
Joey Jones

"Quite simply Liverpool's greatest ever player. Kenny was my hero when I was growing up. I tried to model my game on his and he was just the master."
Paul Walsh

"Kenny is the best player to ever play for Liverpool and he was just a phenomenal player. The way he looked after himself was second to none. He was just a true professional, a great talent and he was successful which is the most important thing."
Roy Evans

"Purely and simply the best player I ever played with or against. His record speaks for itself and he is idolised on Merseyside."
Gary Gillespie

"When he took over from Kevin Keegan you thought 'How can anyone replace Kevin?' Kenny was just a fantastic player."
David Johnson

"I think Kenny was the best player in and around the box Liverpool have ever had."
Ian Callaghan

"Kenny Dalglish, he's probably one of the nicest men you'll ever meet and as a player - the partnership he had with Ian Rush was phenomenal. There's that many players over the years who've tried to get partnerships going but I don't think you'll get a better partnership that that between Dalglish and Rushie. I can remember when I was a schoolboy and I used to get the bus up to Melwood. It was raining one night and Kenny's come past me and picked up me and my dad at the bus stop. I can't remember what car it was - maybe a big white Mercedes - and I think I was only used to buses then so I was just excited to be sitting in a car never mind a Mercedes one! He dropped me off by my house and I was absolutely devastated that no one got to see me getting a lift home form the Liverpool manager. Any young kid, no matter who you support, it doesn't get much better than that, does it? Ever since I've played Kenny's been very supportive of me but I think as a player, what he's achieved has been nothing short of exceptional."
Robbie Fowler

"Kenny is Liverpool's greatest ever player simply I played with him and he made a lot of my goals. He gave me the confidence that I needed. Whenever Kenny had the ball I always knew it was going to come to me."
Ian Rush

"When I was growing up my hero was Di Stefano. Kenny for me was on a par with Di Stefano. That is the best compliment I can pay him."
George Best

"Kenny was the best Scottish player I ever played with. He could hold his own in any company and go anywhere in the world. He was a genuine world-class player."
Billy McNeill

"Kenny was a genius of a player and he is a credit to the game on and off the pitch. He always played for the team rather than himself."
Former Scotland manager Tommy Docherty

"Jimmy Greaves and Kenny Dalglish had similar know-how, but Dalglish's knowledge and reading of the game was far superior. He was the most complete footballer in British soccer."
Former England international Jimmy Armfield

"Kenny was actually here at Melwood as a 15-year-old schoolboy. He came on trial and he went home afterwards. It was only later that Bill Shankly realised that Dalglish was here as a boy and he went mad! He said 'how did we miss him?' Kenny just had the football brain. He was born with it and you can't give that to people. He had that natural born talent."
Ian St John

"I will never have a bad word said about Kenny because as a person he is fantastic. As a manager I think he was fantastic as well. He did not have the best of times at Newcastle but he won trophies at Liverpool as a manager and as a player. He won the title at Blackburn as a manager. Some of his signings did not work out for him at Newcastle but I tell you, if you ask any player who was at Newcastle when Kenny was manager, they will not have a bad word said against him because for a player he was fantastic, he treated you as a man. He treated you how you wanted to be treated. He was great for us as players, certainly here at Newcastle and definitely at Blackburn."
Alan Shearer
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[Twenty26Six]

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Years at Liverpool: 1977 to 1990
Position: Forward

Date-of-birth: 4/3/1951
Birthplace: Glasgow

Signed from: Celtic (August 1977)

Games: 515
Goals: 172

Honours: First Division Championship (1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1985/86), European Cup (1978, 1981, 1984), FA Cup (1986), League Cup (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984), Charity Shield (1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986), Super Cup (1977), PFA Player of the Year (1983), Football Writers Player of the Year (1979, 1983)

When he joined the club in August 1977 it was hard to see how Liverpool could top their first European Cup triumph of the previous season but with the highly influential Dalglish in the team the next 13 years were to bring a succession of untold riches.

Unlike many Liverpool signings of this era, Dalglish was already a household name when he made the switch from Parkhead to Anfield. His deeds in the green and white hoops of Celtic had made him one of the most sought after figures in the British game and it required a record £440,000 fee to secure his services.

The Scotland international was brought in to replace the recently departed Kop idol Kevin Keegan, who'd moved to Hamburg earlier that summer. If any player could step into Keegan's illustrious boots it was Dalglish and fears some Liverpudlians may have harboured over their new purchase were quickly laid to rest.

Dalglish found the back of the net within seven minutes of his league debut for the Reds, against Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park, and followed that up by hitting the target again on his first appearance in front of the Kop three days later as Newcastle were beaten 2-0.

He slipped seamlessly into the Paisley's all-conquering red machine and achieved the seemingly impossible by helping them move up another gear or two. The new King of the Kop crowned his first season at Anfield by topping the club's goalscoring charts and chipped in with the only goal of the 1978 European Cup final against FC Bruges at Wembley – a delicate dink over the keeper.

His superb ball control was complemented by a world-class footballing brain. He may never have been the fastest in terms of pace but if speed of thought had been an Olympic event Dalglish would have been a record gold medal holder.

Plying his trade south of the border mean his talents were given greater exposure but, never one to seek the limelight, he was loathe to take credit for his heroic actions and remained typically modest despite his increasing superstar status.

In 1979, his supreme individual ability was recognised by the football writers of England who voted the canny Scot their Football of the Year. It was a fully deserved reward for a player whose every touch had Kopites purring with delight.

A selfless team player who brought others into play, he was an on-pitch visionary who could spot an opening that the naked eye of most would never see. David Johnson, in the late Seventies, was the first grateful recipient of this but it was Kenny's strike partnership with Ian Rush that was to fire the Reds to greater glory during the eighties.

With Rush taking over the mantle of chief goalscorer, Dalglish became the undisputed creator supreme and if assists were recorded back then, he'd have been the first name on everyone's Fantasy Football teamsheet.

In the real world he was a priceless commodity and the role he played in the club's ongoing success was vital. A double footballer of the year in 1983, he was without doubt the finest British-born player of his generation and rightly spoken about in the same tone as such world renowned stars from this era like Maradona, Zico, Platini and Rummenigge.

With the ball at his feet he was a pure genius and of the 172 goals, he himself scored, it's hard to recall one that wasn't a classic. From the aforementioned European Cup winner, to sublime curlers at Highbury, Portman Road and Goodison, a mazy dribble through the Man United defence at Maine Road, a stretching volley in the League Cup final replay versus West Ham at Villa Park and title clinchers against Tottenham and Chelsea. There are countless more memorable strikes and everyone will have their own particular favourite.

The one common denominator in all the goals he netted was the famous Kenny celebration; a quick turn, arms aloft and a beaming smile that would have lit up even the murkiest night sky over the Mersey.

The adulation showered on him by the Kop could be described as hero-worship at its most fanatical. He was loved at Anfield like no player before and the feeling was mutual. His name was the first the fans would sing and many a bed sheet was converted into a homemade banner paying homage to him.

In the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster he was a surprising but popular appointment as player/manager and fears that his new role would result in him spending more time on the touchline and less on the pitch were initially unfounded.

It was on his return to the side during the run-in to the momentous 85/86 campaign that Liverpool embarked on an unbeaten run that would see them clinch a coveted League and FA Cup double and how fitting it was that Dalglish 'the player' scored the goal that secured the title.

Gradually, but inevitably, his appearances became less and less over the next few years as he concentrated more on the managerial aspects of his dual role but there was still the odd flashes of brilliance to revel in as the master sought to teach his apprentices.

What Dalglish went on to achieve as Liverpool manager cemented his legendary status but he did more than enough during his playing career to be rightfully hailed as the greatest player in Liverpool history.

Kenny, we'd walk a million miles to have you in our team again. Long live the undisputed King of the Kop!
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[Twenty26Six]

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DOUBLE CLINCHER AT CHELSEA
The famous afternoon in 1986 when Kenny Dalglish scored Liverpool's winning goal to clinch the league title at Chelsea.

The story couldn't have been scripted any better. Needing to beat the Blues at Stamford Bridge to win the championship, player-manager Dalglish scored the goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win and the coveted crown.

The goal was orchestrated by Ronnie Whelan. His header fell to Jim Beglin who produced a deft touch to set up Dalglish, and Kenny did the rest with a finish of the highest quality.

Republic of Ireland midfield Whelan always recalls the occasion with great fondness and told Liverpoolfc.tv: "Going into the game our only thought was to win to win the league. It had been a long and hard season and their pitch wasn't great. We knew it wouldn't be easy but it was almost fitting that it was Kenny who scored the winning goal.

"I only played a very tiny part in the goal. Jim Beglin flicked the ball on to Kenny and he did the rest. It was a great finish.

"Winning the double in his first season as player-manager does show you the greatness of Kenny as a player and as a manager. It was unbelievable the job he did. Taking over from Joe Fagan after Heysel, people wondered what he was going to do and then he goes and wins the double.

"Kenny had all the respect from the players because we knew him. We knew his personality and knew he would be moaning a lot but he was a winner. He got the best out all the players. He was a great manager as well as being one of the great players."

It was left back Beglin who provided the killer through ball to Dalglish, and for the Republic of Ireland international winning the league title was one of the proudest moments of a career which was cruelly cut short through injury.

"We had been on a good run and we were confident we could do it," he said. "When we lost the derby 2-0 to Everton at Anfield it looked as if it would be tough for us to come back, but we then went on this fantastic run. They lost at Oxford on the same night we won at Leicester and so we then knew what we had to do at Chelsea.

"One goal was enough and it just had to be Kenny who got it. It wasn't often I went up for a corner as it was always my duty to stay back, but for some reason even though our corner was cleared I had stayed up there. Chelsea just couldn't clear the ball and I remember Ronnie heading the ball towards me and I had my back to goal. All I wanted to do was help the ball on its way and I already knew Kenny was behind me. The rest is history as the top man controlled the ball on his chest and stuck it into the corner of the net.

"For Kenny in his first season to win what turned out to be the double was just fantastic. To score the goal that won us the league was incredible.

"What a lot of people forget is Kenny brought himself back into the side after we had lost that game to Everton. With Kenny in the side his presence alone shook everybody up and there was more urgency and an edge to the team again. When he was in the team he just demanded higher standards and everything had to be sharp and precise."

As for captain Alan Hansen, it was to be his first title as Reds skipper.

"That was one of the great days," Hansen told liverpoolfc.tv. "We had a horrific away record at Chelsea and when the fixtures came out at the start of that season everybody was saying 'imagine us having to go to Chelsea on the final day and win the championship', which of course is what happened.

"When Everton beat us at Anfield we were 13 points behind them and then we came up with this incredible run and won something like 12 games out of the last 13.

"We went to Chelsea and our confidence was high. It was typical Dalglish, taking the ball on his chest and the next thing it's in the back of the net. To win the championship in his first season as player-manager, especially after being so many points behind at one stage, was terrific."
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[Twenty26Six]

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TONY BARRETT ON KENNY DALGLISH
There are some acts which are so good they simply cannot be followed.
Now spare a thought for Paul Walsh, Nigel Clough and Jari Litmanen who were all asked to fill the boots of Kenny Dalglish, the greatest player ever to pull on a red shirt.

All of them contributed to the Liverpool cause in their own way and all three were blessed with the kind of talent which the rest of us can only dream of. But none of them could even come close to matching the achievements of King Kenny and the likelihood is no one ever will.

You can't measure Dalglish's Anfield playing career merely in statistics because although 172 goals and 19 medals (including five league championships and three European Cups) collected in just 13 seasons does tell its own compelling story, there have been Liverpool players who have scored more goals and collected more medals.

What really sets him apart is he was the ultimate team player in the ultimate Liverpool team. Never in the history of English football has a player been able to channel such magnificent individual ability into the team ethic.

There may well have been those with more talent. George Best is often cited as the finest British footballer of all time and his ability is without question.

But he wasn't even in the same league as Dalglish when it came down to sacrificing individual flair for the good of the team and neither was anyone else, before or since.

If it wasn't the pinpoint passes for Ian Rush to feed on - who will ever forget the one against Watford when Kenny spun away from his marker on the halfway line before picking out his strike partner with the kind of through ball that suggested he was telepathic? - it was the runs to take defenders away so midfielders runs into the box could go unchecked or his unerring ability to hold the ball up and bring others into the game.

The "creator supreme" as he was once famously described by one commentator was in a class of his own and everyone who was fortunate enough to see him in action knew that full well.

The first time I can remember seeing Kenny in action I was about five-years-old and my dad had taken me to Anfield to see Liverpool play Altrincham in the FA Cup.

Sat in the Main Stand on a freezing cold afternoon I was transfixed by Liverpool's number 7. Everyone sat around me got excited when he was on the ball and the Kop kept on singing his name, over and over again.

He rewarded them with two goals in an easy 4-1 win and I can remember coming away from the ground and my dad telling me how privileged I'd been to see the King in his regal pomp.

After that I was hooked and I still count myself privileged to have seen Dalglish in action on more than 100 occasions. He will always remain my ultimate hero and the goals I was lucky enough to see him score will live long in the memory.

My infatuation with him is, thankfully, not as obsessive as it once was. There was one school summer holiday when once a week for six weeks I spent all my pocket money on some sort of Dalglish memorabilia.

I'd walk a couple of miles across Newsham Park, up Belmont Road and along Oakfield Road with ten bob in my pocket to get to the souvenir shop that used to be on Walton Breck Road and all I ever wanted was a King Kenny souvenir.

I could have got the bus but the 6p fare on the 27 might have stopped me from being able to buy what I wanted.

The first time I got a picture, then I got a key ring, a badge, a poster, a pencil and, finally, a different picture. The girl behind the counter once tried to get me interested in some Ian Rush stuff but, as much as I loved Rushie, Kenny was the only one for me.

Luckily, I was far from being the only one. Kenny was king to every single Liverpool supporter for an entire generation and our devotion to him was repaid with magnificent preformances on the pitch and a quiet dignity off it.

That dignity stood him in good stead when he became manager, particularly when he led us through the dark days of Hillsborough and the sheer humanity he displayed at that time is something which no Liverpool fan will ever forget.

I have heard stories about him leaving tickets with a steward at the players entrance who gave them to a couple of unemployed lads who followed Liverpool everywhere. I've got no idea whether or not this is true but it certainly fits in with the image of a man who never lost touch with the ordinary folk who treated him like a deity.

The day Dalglish stepped down as Liverpool boss it broke my heart. I'd seen the old TV footage of Reds being in bits when they were told that Shankly had resigned in 1974 but I never knew how it felt until Kenny did the same thing 17 years later.

I think it was the first time I'd realised even heroes are mortal, although I suppose I should have got onto that when he signed Jimmy Carter.

But Dalglish's legend will always live on. As a key figure in the two greatest Liverpool sides of all time - a player in 1978/79 and player manager in 1987/88 - he has earned himself a unique place in the history of Britain's most successful football club.

Following in the footsteps of King Kenny is an impossible dream. He is, and always will be, Liverpool's greatest ever player.
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