Dalglish was not first choice, admits Henry

Liverpool owner John W. Henry has revealed that Kenny Dalglish was not his top choice to take over as manager.

The Kop icon took over as caretaker boss following Roy Hodgson’s dismissal in January and was initially expected to hold the post until the end of last season only, before convincing the Anfield hierarchy that he was the right man to appoint on a permanent basis.

Henry insists he is happy with the Scot’s management and also spoke positively about the progress made by the club during his ownership.

“I had been talking with Kenny about his philosophy and initially he was brought aboard just for the remainder of last season,” Henry told The Guardian.

“Initially our blueprint was for a younger manager, because you want to have long-term stability in as much of the staff as possible.”

“But it became obvious that Kenny was the right man to lead the club, and in no way did we feel pressured into appointing him [permanently].”

Henry also reserved praise for Manchester United ahead of Saturday’s clash between the great rivals.

He continued: “We know we are still a long way behind [United]. They were well set up going into this year and then were able to insert great, young players. Mr Ferguson is a genius.”

“But, overall, we are happy with the progress that has been made in the year since we arrived, but we recognise there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Much of that work will surround the financial side of the club, with Henry also hinting at poor practice from previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

“By the time we made the purchase of the club, we were aware of a lot of bad contracts and the fact that it could take years to get the club back where it needed to be,” Henry explained.

“But that has not been a surprise, and there has never been a moment when we regretted the decision to buy the club.”

“We are quite happy so far, even though we know more work needs to be done.”