Dalglish ignores evidence to insist Reds are on the up

It is a sign of the malaise afflicting Liverpool, in the league at least, that the biggest cheer of the day from home supporters — save for that which greeted Luis Suarez’s equalising goal — was the one which met the introduction of Andy Carroll at half-time.

The much-maligned £35 million forward, with three goals to his credit this season, has hardly won over the Anfield faithful but, far more importantly, his arrival meant that Liverpool supporters no longer had to watch Jordan Henderson.

That is a sign of the depths of despondency that afflict Liverpool currently.

For, despite Kenny Dalglish’s belligerent insistence to the contrary and despite one — or possibly even two — cups heading Liverpool’s way this season, Anfield supporters are among the most discerning in the football world and recognise when their club is not meeting their high standards.

They are certainly educated enough to know that this current Dalglish reign is rapidly running out of ideas and heading towards mid-table obscurity, a fact summed up by the wretched first half display by Henderson, for whom the manager paid a staggering £16m last summer.

Dalglish insisted last week that anyone who cannot see that improvements have been made on and off the field at Liverpool over the past 12 months “needs an intelligence test”.

However, after Wigan won for the first time ever at Anfield, Dalglish complained that his players were exhausted and his squad was not big enough to play three games a week, hardly the sign of a club that has made strides over the past year.

Dalglish’s defiance also conveniently ignores the fact that Liverpool are now actually three points worse off than they were at exactly the same stage last season and five home wins in 15 league games at Anfield this season — their worst record in 59 years — is hardly overwhelming evidence of an improvement on or off the field.

Put simply, if any other manager were in charge of their club right now, these Liverpool supporters would be baying for blood.

Dalglish was his usual bullish self after the most humbling loss of his latest Liverpool reign and clings to his claim that, with the Carling Cup in the trophy room and his team two wins away from adding the FA Cup to it, this will have been a good campaign for his club.

“We have just got to keep working,” said Dalglish. “It is amazing. You can look at us and pick out our league form but you can look at someone else, who has been knocked out of three cups — or two international [European] cups. Yet you take that as a good season.

“It depends how you depict it. All we can do is to continue to do as we have done.

“We try to pass it to each other but we never passed it to each other today as well as they are capable of.

“We have got a good squad of players. You don’t get into an FA Cup semi-final or be a Carling Cup winner if you are not. We have got a problem winning games in the league. We have to educate ourselves. Maybe we don’t play the lovely football that we have been. Maybe we have to change our philosophies a bit.”

If Dalglish is hinting at adopting a route one, long ball philosophy and building his club’s attacking game around Carroll, that is hardly likely to endear him to his supporters. Indeed, so bad was this performance that, for the first time since Dalglish’s return a little over a year ago, there are the first signs of a sea change in supporters’ attitudes towards ‘king’ Kenny.

For however aggressively Dalglish attacks those in the media brave enough to question the way he conducts himself or carries out his job, the simple fact is that his transfer record alone would be enough to have pushed any other manager to the brink of dismissal.

Wigan took the lead on the half our after Martin Skrtel kicked Victor Moses in the face and Shaun Maloney coolly converted his first goal for Wigan from the spot.

Suarez levelled, equally clinically, two minutes into the second half then saw a second ‘goal’ ruled out as he clearly bundled it into the goal with his arm.

Dalglish disagreed with that decision but there was still no excusing his team’s defending when, just after the hour, Gary Caldwell switched his feet neatly in the box and sent a clinical right-foot shot past Jose Reina.

“Those are the moments you play football for,” said a delighted Caldwell. “They’re the moments you remember, the big moments in your life.”