Scot’s appointment as permanent manager at Anfield looks a formality after club discuss long-term deal with his second in commandKenny Dalglish’s appointment as permanent manager of Liverpool appears to be a formality after the club began talks with Steve Clarke over a long-term deal.
Since assuming the position of Dalglish’s temporary No 2 in January, Clarke has become the caretaker manager’s most trusted lieutenant and the move by Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner, to tie down the former Chelsea assistant first-team coach to a new contract — expected to be a three-year deal — is the most telling indication yet that Dalglish’s own position is set to be made permanent.
Clarke’s reputation has been enhanced since his move to Liverpool, with the club’s most high-profile players crediting him with creating a vastly enhanced training regime that has been one of the main contributing factors behind the improvement in results compared with Roy Hodgson’s brief stint in charge.
Although Dalglish maintains a policy of not singling out people for praise, believing it apposite to put the club first at all times, he is known to have been hugely impressed with Clarke’s work and remains keen to see the 47-year-old retained beyond the terms of his present deal, which is due to expire at the end of the season.
Liverpool are also aware that Clarke’s stature would make him an attractive proposition to any club seeking to bolster their coaching staff and would be loath to lose such a valued member of their own back-room team.
The most obvious concern has been that José Mourinho would seek to entice Clarke, who was assistant to the Real Madrid coach at Chelsea, away from Anfield in the event of him taking up a managerial post in England.
By opening talks with Clarke, Liverpool are effectively sending a signal to Dalglish that he will be their long-term choice as manager and also making it clear to other clubs that the former Scotland defender’s future is no longer up for grabs.
For his part, Clarke is revelling in his role as Liverpool’s first-team coach, particularly as the opportunity to help to revitalise a previously ailing club came after he had spent seven months out of football. He was first-team coach under Gianfranco Zola at West Ham United, but the former Chelsea team-mates left Upton Park at the end of last season. Now Clarke is keen to extend his stay at Liverpool and the club are equally keen to come to an agreement.
“Every manager I’ve worked with — you pick up good qualities from all of them and so far, I’ve seen a lot of great qualities from Kenny,” Clarke said. “I hope to continue the work into the future. Anyone watching us play right now can see the spirit is high, the confidence is good and the performances have been decent. Now we need to continue it.
“If you are working well as a group and working well day in, day out in training, you can see they’re taking that on to the pitch right now. If you’ve got that togetherness. it goes a long way in any team sport, especially football.”
Clarke highlighted Dalglish’s man-management skills as being one of the keys to the transformation in Liverpool’s form since he returned to the club at the start of the year. Those qualities were evident on Sunday when Dalglish was seen sharing a joke with Jack Robinson before the 17-year-old took to the field during the 1-1 draw away to Arsenal and again when he calmed John Flanagan, 18, after the right back had been involved in an accidental collision with Jamie Carragher that resulted in the Liverpool captain leaving the pitch on a stretcher.
“Before Jack went on Kenny was making a joke and trying to relax him going on to the pitch,” Clarke said. “Obviously it’s a very nerve-racking moment for a young player and Kenny was trying to take the edge out of the situation.
“It was the same with John [Flanagan]. When you’ve got someone as experienced as Kenny who says the right words at the right time, it can only help.”