MANCHESTER – New Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said critics who questioned his sanity in returning to the Anfield hotseat had got it all wrong, insisting it was a “no-brainer” of a decision. Dalglish’s first game back in charge following the departure of Roy Hodgson barely a day earlier ended in 1-0 FA Cup third round defeat by arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard sent-off into the bargain. Dalglish, who received a hero’s reception from 9,000 travelling Liverpool fans at Old Trafford, insisted he was still up to the task.
“I’ll deal with the pressure the same way everyone else deals with it,” he said. “You go about your job to the best of your ability and what happens happens. “How do you know you can do anything unless you try it? I’ll give it everything I’ve got to put this club in a better position. “Whether that will be sufficient for everyone I don’t know but I can’t see into the future. “All I can do is promise what I did when I signed for the club in 1977 – they will get 100 percent effort from Kenny Dalglish and that is the way I’ll go about it.”
DAGLISH RECRUITS CLARKE: Dalglish made his first appointment since returning as Liverpool manager on Monday when Steve Clarke joined as first team coach. Clarke was Jose Mourinho’s assistant at Chelsea and most recently performed a similar role with Gianfranco Zola at West Ham United. “Steve is a great addition to our backroom team and I’m delighted we’ve been able to bring
him to the club,” Dalglish told Liverpool’s website (www.liverpoolfc.tv).
