Gareth’s Blog

Tosh is Boss for Reds

Now this won’t go over as an especially popular choice but surely John Toshack deserves consideration.  Since his early days at Swansea in the 1980′s he’s carved out a solid, and at times spectacular management career across Europe.  Yet for some reason his former club has never come calling for him, either because of the strong tradition of the Boot Room or the preference of a foreign coach.  However Toshack embodies the best of both these, having been a player at Liverpool and a successful coach abroad.  He was part of the second great side built by Bill Shankly, signing from Cardiff City in 1970.  His partnership with Kevin Keegan throughout that decade, which captured two championships, a Uefa Cup and FA Cup, is still recognised as one of the best English football has had, the perfect combination of little and large. 

Following on from that he did what most British managers fail to do and tried his hand on the continent.  Although you can argue that the record is mixedwith many of his tenures proving brief, although that was hardly unusual even twenty years ago, a La Liga win with Real Madrid is impressive when you consider the supposedly superior managers who’ve failed at the Bernabeu.  In truth his five years with Wales have been disappointing, the 2009 World Cup qualifier defeat to Finland proved especially painful as a 38 year Jari Litmanen effectively won the game on his own.  Howvever not all the blame can be left at Toshack’s door.  He inherited a squad which had just failed to qualify for Euro 2004, largely due to Mark Hughes’s poor tactics in the play off against Russia, and had frankly run its course.  Hughes knew this and wisely left the stage before his name became tarnished.  Since that day Toshack has been left the unenviable task of rebuilding from a tiny base.  With the likes of Bale, Ramsey and Ashley Williams there’s hope that Wales can become more competitive over time but my sense is that Toshack needs a new challenge. 

Classic 70's publicity shot - Tragic the modern day professionals deny us of such Gold!

So what is the challenge? To effectively clear up the mess Rafael Benitez has left at Anfield, who I have to agree with Alan Hansen has left Liverpool in a worse state than Bill Shankly found the club in 1959.   Forget Istanbul and the 2006 FA Cup win, Liverpool fans need to get a better grip on reality.  Having missed out on Champions League football, and with Manchester City and Tottenham both likely to maintain their assault on the “old order” next year, the Red half of Merseyside will have to appoint a manager who understands the club, and what it takes to succeed.  The football will be having to be winning next season and this in turn will appease the fans and allow a better hand for the board to attract new investors, although that in itself will present problems.  Therefore it comes down to choosing from the list of former greats.  Could Kevin Keegan astound the football world and return to the Premiership to take up the reins at the club where it all began, in which case Maxi Rodriguez should get excited as Keegan always has the generic player who he’ll talk about as being “One of the 3 or 4 best in the world” with utter conviction.  Unlikely. 

I really would love it if KK went to Anfield!

So that really leaves Toashack and Kenny Dalglish.  Already we’ve seen King Kenny play a fairly active part in the recruitment process, as he flys out to South Africa to consult those celebrated intellects of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.  Many have argued Dalglish should do the job himself.  It would undoubtedly be the media and fans prefered choice and understandly so.  Over 13 years Dalglish presided over the most successful period the club has ever known.  He’s a walking, talking embodiment of so much good the club stands for, and is good for a quote as well.  However his mangerial record since that famous title win with Blackburn, famously secured at Anfield, in 1995 has been pretty woeful.  A year with Newcastle brought a sense of underwhelment whislt his experiment with John Barnes as Head Coach at Celtic was a shambles.  Since then he’s not been at the sharp end of football and you wonder if he really is strong enough to take over again, especially when he sudden decision to quit in 1991 was put down to the pressures of the job, pressures which have been multiplied in the years hence.  So that leaves us with Tosh.  Yes as I said earlier I know he wouldn’t go down as a popular choice but he can play attractive football, at least Ii think that’s what Wales are trying to play, has experience at the highest level and knows the club, which actually I feel is crucial for Liverpool with this appointment.  Of course someone like Roy Hodgson deserves to be considered, and his career is pretty similar to Toshack when C.V.s are compared, but on that point I’ll leave you with one question.  Why is it that a Southern manager has never taken over one of the big Northern clubs and had success (At the minute Dave Sexton’s the only person I can think of but I think it’s a valid point).  And why would that change under Hodgson?

Roy might need to research the sales figures of the 2nd hand Mazda market in Liverpool if he wants to succeed!