da heads bet：
da doce： Stability: resistance to change, especially sudden change or deterioration. Stability is one of life’s necessities and provides us with the backbone with which we can build our success. When instability reigns, fulfilling potential becomes an unforgiving task.
Too often in football is stability pushed aside in favour of quick alternatives, the possibility of instant solutions proving too seductive. Liverpool’s owners appear to have taken this route with the sacking of Kenny Dalglish, paving the way for a third manager in a little over 14 months. Once the very nucleus of immutability, Liverpool are now in very real danger of severely compromising their core ethics and completing the transition from the epitome of solidity to a club in constant upheaval.
The history of Liverpool Football Club is characterised by the enduring dynasties of long serving managers, each one bringing with them their own impressive catalogue of trophies. Loyalty forms the basis of Liverpool’s unfaltering presence as one of world football’s most widely recognised and venerated clubs, a symbol of English football’s indelible mystique. Stories of allegiance and fortitude are what make the club so alluring.
Since the departure of Rafael Benitez, however, Liverpool have been unable to attain the stability they so crave and have been left exposed to the perils of insecurity. Between them, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish clocked up barely 100 matches in charge, with neither able to amass a win ration of over 50%.
When assessing records of previous managers, it is all too clear that stability pays dividends. Between 1959 and 1983, only Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were entrusted with task of assuming one of the most coveted roles in English football. Their combined total of 1318 games at the helm brought 714 wins, a ratio well in advance of 50% and far superior to Liverpool’s past two appointments. In Dalglish’s first spell, over 300 games saw a win ratio of 60%. Of all the Liverpool managers of the modern era to have overseen over 100 matches, only Graeme Souness failed to win 50% of games or more, though was still able to bring an FA Cup to Merseyside. It is more than evident that as a general rule, stability breeds success.
With Sir Alex Ferguson’s enduring influence over Manchester United’s emergence as a global footballing superpower often cited as the greatest advert for stability, the comparative records of Liverpool and their historic rivals in the past 25 years or so is a damning judgement on the constant alternation of managers. The revolving door of the manager’s office at Stamford Bridge is also an indication of this, as Chelsea constantly resist the the sanctuary of stability.
Liverpool’s next move must be geared towards a long-term strategy of recapturing the assurance and safety of yesteryear. Often a club accused of trading on past glories, continual progressive prosperity should become the primary focus as opposed to attempts to elicit previous exploits. The next appointment should be aimed at durability, a man with a vision for the next five, ten, even fifteen years of Liverpool Football Club. Only by assuming a sense of abiding continuity can Liverpool recapture the essence of Shankly and Paisley; only by fixating on the future can Liverpool salvage their previous stability.
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