For any footballer making the transition from player to manager, a shift in dressing room dynamics can be one of the toughest aspects to deal with. In the blink of an eye, you go from trusted team-mate and confident to feared and respected gaffer. If you’re even lucky enough to command respect from your charges, that is.
Liverpool icon Kenny Dalglish, arguably the most important figure in the club's long history, knows that feeling better than anybody. Not only did he go from Reds skipper to manager in the summer of 1985, but he didn’t even fully cross the divide – remaining player-manager for a further five and a half seasons.
He can still recall being told he’d got the job by the Liverpool board just weeks after leading his side to defeat in the 1985 European Cup Final – a match played in the immediate aftermath of the Heysel disaster which claimed 39 lives.
'I hated making decisions that affected my players adversely. My biggest challenge was coming out of that dressing room dynamic I’d been a part of for so long and picking a team' – Kenny Dalglish recalls his tough switch to player manager
“Well, it was a surprise,” Dalglish tells FourFourTwo of his shock appointment, just one of many entertaining scenes in new documentary film ‘Kenny Dalglish’ from renowned director Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy, Maradona).
“The way I saw it, I was just going to give my best, and if my best transpired not to be good enough, I would hold my hands up and say this isn’t for me – it’s not fair on the club, get somebody else in.”
Reluctant to field himself initially, Dalglish started just one of his side’s opening eight league games of the 1985-86 season, as Liverpool got off to a bumpy start. What’s more, he was finding it tough to adapt to life in the dugout.
“My biggest challenge was coming out of that dressing room dynamic I’d been a part of for so long and picking a team,” Dalglish recalls. “That meant leaving players out that you’d befriended. I hated making decisions that affected them adversely.”
Dalglish felt forced to create clearer barriers. “One of my favourite things about being a footballer was that camaraderie in the dressing room,” he says. “Suddenly, you become the manager and you feel things clam up when you enter the room.
"If they were in there having a laugh and a joke when I walked in, I’d show them some respect and let them know I’d be back in five minutes, because I knew how important it was for the lads to have that time together – sharing some jokes without the boss being about.
“But it was very tough not to feel part of that anymore.”
Dalglish began to rely on the advice and influence of an old mentor. “Bob Paisley still held a position upstairs,” he smiles.
“He was a great help to me. He would sometimes ask me if he could have a word with so and so before the game or whatever. I didn’t mind that, because he was 100 per cent behind me. He was doing things that were useful. He was helpful, no end up.” Paisley’s assistance no doubt played a crucial role in Liverpool reeling in rivals Everton before the season ended, with Dalglish himself making key contributions on the pitch during the title race’s denouement.
King Kenny would go on to win three league titles, two FA Cups and a League Cup in his first stint as Liverpool gaffer, before lifting the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95. Testament to his world-class ability to pull strings in the dugout, just as he had done during a glittering playing career.
KENNY DALGLISH WILL ONLY BE IN UK & IRELAND CINEMAS 29 & 30 OCTOBER: WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO IN UK & IRELAND FROM 4 NOVEMBER.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
