by supersub » Sun Jul 20, 2003 6:14 pm
As Joe Fagan's no2,Ronnie Moran was widely expected to take over when Fagan retired,but instead he was overlooked in favour of Kenny Dalglish.When Dalglish resigned as manager in February 1991 Moran temporarily took control but a poor run of results almost certainly cost Moran the chance of becoming manager.
Graeme Souness was manager of Rangers when Dalglish resigned and it was almost inevitable that Souness would one day wind up back at Anfield.After Ronnie Moran's failure to impress the Liverpool board of directors,Graeme Souness stunned Glasgow with the announcement he was indeed Liverpool-bound.Souness's arrival at Anfield initiated major changes.Players such as Peter Beardsley,Barry Venison,Gary Ablett,Glenn Hysen,Steve McMahon,Steve Staunton,Gary Gillespie and Ray Houghton were sold as part of a policy of introducing youth.New players were bought - Dean Saunders,Mark Wright,Mark Walters,Paul Stewart,Michael Thomas,Rob Jones,plus the Scandanavians Stig Bjornebye and Torben Piechnik - while some of Anfield's youngsters were given their chance.It was a massive turnaround of playing staff that did not really help continuity.At the same time there were serious long-term injuries affecting a number of players,including John Barnes,Ronnie Whelan and Jan Molby,that again did not help matters.In his first full season in charge results went from bad to worse and Liverpool were never really title contenders.In the end we finished up in 6th position,our worst position since 1965.But if results did not go well in the league,Souness could certainly claim some satisfaction in the FA Cup as Liverpool went on to win the trophy,beating Sunderland 2-0 in the Final.The following season,1992-1993,turned out to be even worse than the previous season,with further injuries and poor form at one stage plunging Liverpool into the relegation zone.By January they were out of every competition,even beaten at home by lowly Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup.It was a situation that did not go down well with the fans and the call for Souness's resignation was soon being openly mooted on the terraces.At the end of the season it did indeed seem that Souness was to be sacked,but in an astonishing turnaround he was given a vote of confidence by the board and further time to prove himself.But results never really improved and in January 1994,after Liverpool had been knocked out of the FA Cup by Bristol City,he was sacked.
...............to be continued.................
THERE'S A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW SHINING AT THE END OF EVERY DAY.
THERE'S A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW AND TOMORROW IS JUST A DREAM AWAY.