Let me start off by saying that I am against the sacking of Kenny as I think considering where we were 2 years ago, we have made significant improvements both on and off the pitch. I realise our league season cannot be defended as it has been our worst league season since the 1950's but Kenny has brought us our first trophy in 6 years and we have reached an F.A Cup Final. No one can deny improvements have been made in the 18th months Dalglish was in charge and I believed we would continue to improve if Kenny had been given more time.
Since Kenny's sacking, many names have been mentioned for the job including the likes of Roberto Martinez and Rafa Benitez. I believe that both Rafa and Roberto would be poor appointments for the next manager at Liverpool football club. Martinez has been a fantastic manager for Wigan and has made a habit of heroically saving them for relegation. This season Wigan picked up fantastic wins at Anfield, The Emirates and at the DW against Man United and Newcastle; these victories helped to ensure their safety. But my argument is that ensuring premier league safety of a small club like Wigan cannot mean that he could reflect a success like top 4 champions league qualification at Liverpool. I'd argue Martinez is a very similar choice as Hodgson was as he is proven to be a good manager at smaller clubs but like Hodgson I think Roberto would struggle in charge of LFC.
Now I realise he is probably the fans choice and this is controversial but I hope I won't be scrutinised to hell in saying that Benitez isn't the right man for LFC either. Firstly, I never like the idea of legends returning and was skeptical when Dalglish was appointed that he would never bring the success back that he has brought before (although he may have if he had been given the time). I feel this would be the same if Benitez was appointed; he would in my opinion never be able to reflect a Champions league triumph success or a top 4 league finish. At the time I didn't think Rafa should have been sacked but a 7th place finish with no trophies in his last season did make me realise why he maybe had to go. I don't think anyone can say he was the perfect manager for LFC as he did make quite a few poor signings including: Josemi, Nunez, Pelligrino, Morientes Gonzalez, Diouf, Pennant, Palletta, Cheyrou, Leto, Keane, Voronin, Dossena, N’gog, and Nemeth. We cannot afford anymore kop flops like these in our current position and maybe we could more so back then. If Benitez was to take over Kenny's reign at Anfield I'm sure there would be plenty more of these types of signings which simply we could do without. This and the reasons above are the reasons why I don't think Rafa should take over at Anfield.
A more suitable replacement in my opinion would be the likes of Frank Rijkaard or even a Fabio Capello? I think Capello is a more controversial appointment due to his poor time at England but his managerial record at clubs is second to none. Capello has won 7 league titles in Italy, 2 La Liga titles and also a European Cup. In addition to his fantastic club record he is also in search of a premier league top job (
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17950830) - and has spoke of how he wants "one more challenge" before retiring and is keen to take charge of a Premier League side. I know it didn't work out at England but I think he would bring back success to Liverpool. Similarly to Capello, Rijkaard would be a good appointment for us as like Fabio he has won many honours as a manager as he won two La Liga titles and One Uefa Champions League title with FC Barcelona. To add to this, he also brought youngsters through the ranks as Iniesta and Messi rose to prominence during his time. I realise Rafa has similar successes to Fabio and Frank but I don't believe he could return us to what we once were and that we cannot afford anymore signings like he previously made for us and I am always skeptical about a legend returning as Dalglish's return didn't go to plan and I don't think Rafa's would either for the reasons I listed earlier.
