The caretaker has mopped up the last drops of doubt after a successful deadline day stamped his authority on Anfield:
[sub]Kenny Dalglish and Andy Carroll Kenny Dalglish welcomes Andy Carroll to Anfield on transfer deadline day. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images[/sub]
Now Liverpool and Fernando Torres have ended the pretence that a) their jewel is not for sale and b) he has Anfield etched on to his soul, it cannot be long before Fenway Sports Group banishes another uncertainty over the club's future direction. That would be the "caretaker" prefix before "manager" in the job title of Kenny Dalglish.
The strategy of John W Henry and Tom Werner, Liverpool's principal owner and chairman, has been muddied by their first foray into the transfer market, though there is no mistaking their ambition. They approached January with a reputation for using Sabermetrics – a statistical system used to assess players that was developed in baseball – to make considered purchases and a stated aim not to make the kind of rushed judgments that had cost Liverpool dearly before their arrival. They spent £35m on Andy Carroll within 24 hours of Torres showing up at Melwood with his representatives to say there was no way back.
Promises of investment were delivered to such an extent on Monday that the mourning period for Torres lasted only a little longer than a can of deodorant sprayed on to a burning Liverpool shirt. And yet, with the £57.8m spent on Carroll and Luis Suárez being recouped by £56m from the sale of Torres and Ryan Babel, FSG's outlay spoke of necessity, not extravagance. It did, however, provide the clearest signal that Dalglish has FSG's confidence to manage Liverpool after his fire-fighting role ends, officially, in May.
The clamour for Dalglish's permanent appointment began before he was offered the position as a caretaker and it may be dismissed as sentimental or indecently premature, after five games in charge. But the evidence for his confirmation as manager is already compelling. The Scot was not some idle bystander on Monday while Damien Comolli lived up to his billing as director of football strategy and guided FSG through a potentially calamitous transfer window. Dalglish was at the heart of Liverpool's long-term planning for the replacement of Torres. Caretakers are given mops and buckets, not the most expensive British footballer of all time on a five-and-a-half-year contract.
One of the first assignments given to Dalglish by Rafael BenÃtez, after the former returned to the club as ambassador and academy figurehead in July 2July 009, was to scout Suárez at Ajax.
"We have known about him for three years," said the Scot, who will give the £22.8m striker a debut at home to Stoke City tonight, subject to international clearance. "When I came back here it was early on that we were looking at him, so when we were talking about players it was pushing at an open door regarding Suárez. He'll be a fantastic player and he's fantastic in the dressing room. For a Uruguayan, and a forward at that, to be captain of Ajax tells you something about the personality of the fella."
Dalglish was the driving force behind Liverpool's interest in Charlie Adam, which came to nothing when Blackpool rejected a £10m offer on Monday night and set a £14m price that FSG refused to pay. The arrival of Carroll, though, hardly fitted Comolli's brief, which is to unearth hidden gems at reasonable prices. Indeed it puts Comolli under a punishing spotlight.
FSG appointed Comolli 19 days after its £300m takeover in October, in response to the transfer mistakes that had contributed to Liverpool's decline. It seemed a sensible move. Now it appears to have been a rushed response by owners who never trusted Roy Hodgson and who accept, as Torres warned last summer, that Liverpool are not blessed with time if they wish to rejoin the elite.
It was said when Hodgson left the club four weeks ago that Dalglish's reluctance to step aside as caretaker would cause problems for FSG. That suspicion was cemented when the 59-year-old said at his unveiling on 10 January that he would happily move on for "somebody better". Yet FSG has struck lucky. Dalglish has galvanised Liverpool after the Hodgson era; in less than a month his charisma and outlook have affected the atmosphere, playing style, public statements and transfer policy at Anfield. His appointment would not be a populist move today. It would be an obvious one.
Reflecting on an extraordinary day in Liverpool's recent history, and the return to spending millions on players rather than on interest repayments, Dalglish said: "It's encouraging there are still players out there who want to play for the club and have a feeling for the club. It will benefit the self-esteem of the supporters and the owners and the players that this football club is still held in high esteem.
"While we have a realisation we cannot hold on to the past, the history and tradition of the football club, neither can it be used as a noose around our neck. That should be a great signal for everybody to drive forward and make their own history. I'm sure John, Tom, every supporter and the staff and players are all singing from the same hymn sheet."
