Why Manchester United made life easy for Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool

A match with Manchester United is a relief for Liverpool rather than an ordeal. Kenny Dalglish could hardly have picked a better fixture to show himself in a favourable light as returning manager. His team were knocked out of the FA Cup, but there was credit to be had in a 1-0 defeat to a debatable penalty on an afternoon when the captain, Steven Gerrard, was sent off with just 32 minutes gone. Liverpool had at least escaped the drab sort of failure that has characterised their season.

There was defiance, too, from visiting fans who would not give the home crowd the satisfaction of seeing them crestfallen. Dalglish's influence was hailed by those supporters even though this is a fixture in which the club regularly produces good form. The team would have shown pride even if nobody at all had taken the place of the sacked Roy Hodgson.

Of the last half-dozen matches with Sir Alex Ferguson's side, three have been won and the others were lost by just a one-goal margin. Dalglish is, above all, a realist and will have understood the artificiality of the short trip to Old Trafford that often lets Liverpool leave their usual selves far behind. There is still plenty of cause to doubt whether he should be seen even as a candidate for the post of manager.

Dalglish will appreciate the incongruity of his sudden status as a candidate. If the American owners had taken over in the close season, when their predecessors were drawn to Hodgson, it is inconceivable that they would have plumped for him. Dalglish does not fit the bill for men enthralled by the hi-tech approach that is perfect for baseball. Apart from that, Dalglish's presence at the disasters of Heysel and Hillsborough must have stripped him of the delusion that football should ever take precedence over normal, priceless life.

His reservations about the sport and the demands it makes have often been witnessed. Dalglish, with good cause, had been putting a safe distance between himself and the game for many years until the return at Old Trafford. He was last a manager with Celtic in 2000 and could hardly duck that appointment. Dalglish initially had the role of director of football operations there, with the inexperienced John Barnes as head coach. The board thought the older man would be a mentor, but could not see any sign of it.

Following the Scottish Cup loss to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dalglish flew back from La Manga and asked the waiting journalists: "Do you like my tan?" It was not the moment for flippancy. He took over as manager from the sacked Barnes, but a win against Aberdeen in a League Cup final did not deter the board from sacking him. Martin O'Neill then galvanised the club and that decision to ditch Dalglish was vindicated fully.

The issue for Liverpool's owners will not so much be the bad times he has endured as the deterioration in effectiveness. Arriving at St James' Park in January 1997, he led Newcastle United to a second place finish in the Premier League. The club came 13th the following season and he was dismissed, despite a run to the FA Cup final. If Dalglish persisted and talked himself into a return to the technical area it must be because he had already proved to himself and everyone else that he could excel as a manager.

For a while, it had been a masterful career. There were exceptional signings and achievements in his first managerial post, at Liverpool. The horror of the Hillsborough disaster took its toll, yet after stepping down at Anfield he still became manager of Blackburn Rovers. Ewood witnessed the greatest demonstration of his insight. There was hefty spending for that period, with £3.5m paid for Alan Shearer and £5m for Chris Sutton, but it still took sharp management to take the league title to Ewood Park in 1995. Graeme le Saux, for instance, arrived for £700,000 and was eventually sold to Chelsea for £5m.

This is precisely the sort of acumen that Liverpool most need if the side is to be catapulted up the league. The owners, however, must doubt whether Dalglish still has the knack, yet it will not be lost on them either that the Anfield crowd reveres him. The Americans face an early examination of their judgment. Dalglish, with an intriguing fixture at Blackpool tomorrow, might well improve on the miserable results, yet they cannot afford sentimentality towards a club they bought for £300m.