The outgoing Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, is at the top of Liverpool's list as the club searches for a new manager. |
Liverpool have wasted little time in the search for Kenny Dalglish's successor by drawing up a wishlist headed by Pep Guardiola and Fabio Capello, and have already approached Roberto Martínez at Wigan Athletic, Swansea City's Brendan Rodgers and André Villas-Boas within 24 hours of bringing the Anfield legend's reign to an end.
Fenway Sports Group,
the club's owners, received permission to hold talks with Martínez from
the Wigan chairman, Dave Whelan, as their wide-ranging approach to
identifying Liverpool's next manager became apparent a day after
Dalglish's exit. Unlike Whelan, Swansea have not cleared the way for
Rodgers to meet Liverpool as yet but are expected to do so. Villas‑Boas
is also in the frame for the Liverpool job but John W Henry and Tom
Werner, the principal owner and the chairman at Anfield respectively,
intend to assess several candidates as they finalise a shortlist.
Martínez, Rodgers and Villas‑Boas are by no means the only coaches under
consideration. The ideal candidates are Guardiola and Capello but
Liverpool's prospects of landing the outgoing Barcelona coach and former
England manager are understood to be remote. Guardiola has previously
stated his intention to take a sabbatical from the game following a
trophy-laden but draining spell at the Camp Nou, while Capello is keen
on the Chelsea job. Borussia Dortmund's Jürgen Klopp and Marseille's
Didier Deschamp are also thought to be under consideration.
The
Wigan chairman revealed: "When Liverpool sacked Kenny I have to say I
thought Liverpool would be knocking on the door, and sure enough they
are. I did promise Roberto when a big club comes he will have permission
to talk to them and they don't come any bigger than Liverpool. I gave
permission and he will be talking to them soon."
Martínez does not
have the title-winning experience that forms part of FSG's criteria but
he will get the opportunity to convince Liverpool's owners that he can
fit into the new management structure they intend to install at Anfield.
Whelan said: "We played there [at Liverpool] about two months ago.
There's no heart at the club. It's a bit disturbing when you think a
club like Liverpool is functioning without a heart. I mentioned that to
Roberto and I think there's no heart beating at Liverpool. I think the
sooner they get a heart the better. I don't know Roberto's feelings
about Liverpool, I think he's going there with an open mind. I would
love to keep Roberto, he's a great manager."
Liverpool's managing
director, Ian Ayre, claimed the selection of Dalglish's successor
represented the most critical in the club's recent history. He also
insisted Anfield remains an attraction for the finest managers in the
game. FSG are being advised on the process by "highly regarded people
within football", according to Ayre, who revealed the next manager must
work under a new management structure at Anfield. Damien Comolli's
former role as director of football is to be fragmented this summer
although the new manager will continue to have an influence on
transfers.
Liverpool face a third season outside the Champions
League next term and Uefa's financial fair play rules, which requires
clubs throughout Europe to break even, come into effect in 2013‑14. The
failure to mount a challenge to the top four this season, and FSG's
doubts over Dalglish's ability to deliver one next year, cost him his
job despite winning the Carling Cup and reaching the FA Cup final.
Asked
if Liverpool had made a more important appointment than the one now
confronting Henry and Werner, Ayre said: "No. It's absolutely critical
that we get it right and we move forward. The Champions League is where
the football club has to be. When John and Tom arrived, they said they
wanted to win. They mean winning and being in that competition. They
want to be winning the league. It won't happen overnight. Nobody is
kidding themselves. But you have got to be heading in that direction."
Replacements
for Comolli – with his old job to be divided between its
administrative, scouting and negotiating functions – Graham Bartlett,
the former commercial director, and the head of communications Ian
Cotton are expected in the next fortnight. The managerial search, said
Ayre, who recently had his contract extended at Liverpool, is based "on
a whole range of things, from experience and ability, methodology,
style of play, character traits. As we've seen in the past it is not
just about the football. It is about how controlling some are compared
to others. There's a particular process that fits part of the plan we
are trying to put together. It has to be a manager who fits in all of
that."
Ayre's "controlling" comment would appear to rule out
Rafael Benítez from a Liverpool return, the former manager having been
given control over all football operations in his final contract.
David
Dein, the former vice-chairman of Arsenal, was spotted at several
matches with Liverpool officials towards the end of the season but Ayre
refused to confirm who is advising Henry and Werner. Villas-Boas, Klopp
and Deschamps all meet the criteria of younger title-winning coaches
but, having again failed to qualify for the Champions League, and
appointed from Fulham (Roy Hodgson) and within (Dalglish) for its last
two managers, Ayre denies Liverpool are struggling to entice the most
coveted coaches.
Ayre added: "Liverpool still gets everyone
excited and interested. We may have lost our way a little in terms of
performances but it is still one of the biggest football clubs in the
world. It still has a huge fan base. It has also got a good solid
business foundation. It has got good owners who are committed. A lot of
that doesn't exist in a lot of other football clubs. If you are a
manager at that level or you are a manager aspiring to get there, I
still think this is one of the biggest jobs in world football.
"I
am under no illusion that we can go and find a top-class manager to come
to this football club, for all the reasons I have stated. I do not
think we are in a situation where the very experienced, very capable,
very driven managers who people would want to see here do not want to
come."
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