Topic: Should Kenny stop making statements that are not football related

[nellyp]

The title of this will probably get me some abuse, but please read on. Ok i amended it slightly
I love Kenny he is a brilliant man, manager and ex-player,and I used to love the way he handled the press.I admire him massively because he wants to fight in our corner over everything, but these statements over the last couple of weeks should start being made by somebody else. Can we please stop putting this extra pressure onto Kenny. I understand that he wants to defend the club and players to the death, and we love him for it. But I feel that this is bringing him down at the moment, and could drag him down further. I think that we need to release a statement to the press, saying that Kenny will no longer comment on this. We could then have  somebody present at all interviews to take over any questions about the Suarez incident and the whole Liverpool - Racial comments fiasco. I know that some twats who write stories will distort the reasons for this, but I worry about Kenny's health as well as as the clubs status. Get a professional to fend off the ridiculous questions, possibly somebody with a law background who will be authorative in his answers (obviously none of the dicks who handled Suarez's defence). I will be much happier seeing Kenny looking better through not having to defend all and Sundry, and just talk about football. 

[alfonso]

I have thought this for a while.

He should just refuse to talk about it and talk about the game he is at the conference for.

I would like to see certain 'reporters' banned and certain media outlets banned too.

Even Mancini is answering questions about the Suarez thing - which is ridiculous.

[shelovesyou]

The club will have discussed the issues at lenght and Kenny does not seem like the kind of man to do something he isnt comfortable doing.

[Number 7]

Someone said it perfectly the other day. There is no spin doctor at the club. Kenny is having to do all the work himself.

[shelovesyou]

Someone said it perfectly the other day. There is no spin doctor at the club. Kenny is having to do all the work himself.

Peter Hooten.

[love:the:game]

So it's not so much statements he shouldn't be making, but responding to off-topic questions in interviews, which is a fair point. Other clubs always seem to have a Press Officer who briefs the journalists and tells them what they can and can't ask, not sure why we don't do the same. Is Ian Cotton still at the club?

Someone said it perfectly the other day. There is no spin doctor at the club. Kenny is having to do all the work himself.

Not sure what help they'd be in Press Conferences as I doubt they'd be fielding questions themselves - by trade they're more versed in pre-prepared statements and talking in the broader sense.

[mysterio_86]

Someone said it perfectly the other day. There is no spin doctor at the club. Kenny is having to do all the work himself.

Rafa fought for club internally and externally, Kenny is doing the same & he has all my support. Mancini can RickyLickyMyAss !

[Arcadian]

It's a misleading title alright and you'll probably get some heat from those that can't be arsed reading on, but it's not a bad suggestion. I feel like he's said basically all he needs to on the subject at this point anyway, and there can't be much more he wants to address.

Also, I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself. He obviously felt that he wanted to deal with it personally.

[It's Jimmy Corkhill]

No. Whatever he is doing, he is doing it because he thinks it is right for Liverpool Football Club, and I trust Kenny Dalglish.

[sideshowme]

Rafa fought for club internally and externally, Kenny is doing the same & he has all my support. Mancini can RickyLickyMyAss !

rafa was fighting on the club's behalf on two fronts though.  i sincerely hope that is not the case with kenny.  he does seem to have been hung out to dry a little. 

there seems to be a sense of amused anticipation from many fans of other clubs i've encountered, waiting for kenny to 'snap' or 'crack up', and the media (especially the fucking guardian) seem to be feeding that particular fire.  by constantly thrusting kenny into the firing line the club are merely expanding that particular narrative.

for all kenny wouldn't do anything he's not comfortable with, i get the impression he'd do anything asked of him for this club. 

[red_Mark1980]

It's a badly worded title IMHO.

Kenny won't and can't stop making statements, he's the manager of one of the most famous football clubs in the world. As such he needs to be heard.

What needs to be done is an internal review of the club and a new P.R. set up installed.

Whether its an external agency or employing someone else.

Kenny doesn't and shouldn't have this amount of pressure on him.

The amount of respect and love I have for him is beyond words, but the pressure he is being put under at the minute is unfair. He's being forced to defend the club (and the city to a certain extent) for the second time.

In saying that, knowing what I know about the man, he's doing it for his love of the club and the city.

[bordeauxred]

I have been concerned about this from early on as Dalglish seems to be taking on so much - lets hope its not a case of "Rafa Mark II" and he gets caught up in taking the fight to all hands.

Perhaps as mentioned earlier he just says " I'm only talking about the match" or sends out Clarke or one of the other coaches now and then to do the media so that he gets a break.

[gazzathered]

Yes, your totally right, the way the club and Suarez have been portrayed by the media then why should we talk to them, there treating Suarez like he killed someone. Suggesting the club and kenny back racists, perhaps only talk to the media that haven't tried to ruin our clubs reputation.
Is that going too far ?

[rakey_lfc]

If he didn't make the statements the media would only criticise him for not doing anything! He's the front man of Liverpool FC and the right man to do so! As a few said I don't think he'd do anything he wasn't comfortable with or anything he didnt agree with

[hide5seek]

There should be no statement from the club saying that KK will no longer talk about Suarez etc. Press would just lie saying Henry and co have slapped him down.

Personally would like to see Barnes take more of a roll and if Suarez/racism comes up as a topic he should also be able to put an imput into any answers. Very hard for the scum press to twist a mans word who'll know more about racism than most.

Anyway our press conferences would be very small if i was in charge as most of the scum would be banned for life, mirror in particular as well as most so called journalists.

Any player ever going on talkshyte from now on too is in my opinion no longer a Liverpool player and open to  abuse, particular if they go on Durhams show, bloke is a tosser.

[Upinsmoke]

No, because he knows we don't have a fucking voice. If you let a fella with no affiliation to the club start talking then we lose a lot.
I don't wanna see kenny put through the wringer either but he knows how it works. He knows how the press try to manipulate things, if we let somebody else answer questions then we've lost, stopped fighting, gave up.

[nellyp]

 

there seems to be a sense of amused anticipation from many fans of other clubs i've encountered, waiting for kenny to 'snap' or 'crack up', and the media (especially the fucking guardian) seem to be feeding that particular fire.  by constantly thrusting kenny into the firing line the club are merely expanding that particular narrative.

for all kenny wouldn't do anything he's not comfortable with, i get the impression he'd do anything asked of him for this club.

This is what i was getting at. It seems almost as though the media want to hammer Kenny into the ground, presumably as he is the front man for LFC. I did not mean not to make any statements at all, but just to talk about the football. This should be stipulated before the interviews as a prerequisate (??) of being allowed in. If this is abused then you can happily ban the reporter (though this would just be more ammuniton for them). I also believe he would do anything for the club ,whether comfortable or not. But some times you can do too much and need protecting, before you harm yourself personally or your health

[ricflairandy]

No, Kenny will back his player to the hilt if he thinks he is innocent. And so he should.

Unfortunatly (and its not bias or paranoia), the media have double standards when it comes to this.

[Jack Slater]

... but I worry about Kenny's health as well as as the clubs status. 

Yes.  Anyone at any match who does anything less than get fully behind the team, and/or anyone at any match who gives out any racial abuse, is puttin Kenny's welfare on the line.

But I dont think Kenny necessarily needs to stop responding to questions.  He stands by his players in a perfectly reasonable way, and is no different to most managers.  The fact that his comments are reported in a twisted and biased manner is no reason to stop doing that.  Our enemies would have won if they force our manager to change his approach. 

Get behind the team, and the results will improve.  The results improve, and the pressure is alleviated.

[It's Jimmy Corkhill]

No. Whatever he is doing, he is doing it because he thinks it is right for Liverpool Football Club, and I trust Kenny Dalglish.

With the changed title, this still reflects my beliefs.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

It's up to him to say what he feels is necessary. We don't have a CEO who can share some of the load which is an issue sometimes. I think Ayre handles a lot of the things which would fall under the remit of a CEO, but his position is still that of 'MD', so I can understand if he chooses to mostly keep shut on certain matters such as race issues.

If we had a recognised CEO, I could see a lot of the statements on the racism issue being handled by him / her, rather than Kenny.

In terms of health and pressure, the guy's built from Glaswegian steel. He can handle it. In terms of significance, it's not even close to the club ownership issues Rafa had to fight ; it's one big circus over a relatively minor matter (the spat between players I mean, not racism itself). The kind of racism that is in most need of tackling, with real life and death consequences, isn't to be found on the football pitch playground of millionaires and court cases nor he said - no - he -said tit for tats.

[Classic goal]

what the fuck do we pay ian cotton for? Get the impression he was woeful at his job.

[sideshowme]

Yes.  Anyone at any match who does anything less than get fully behind the team, and/or anyone at any match who gives out any racial abuse, is puttin Kenny's welfare on the line.

But I dont think Kenny necessarily needs to stop responding to questions.  He stands by his players in a perfectly reasonable way, and is no different to most managers.  The fact that his comments are reported in a twisted and biased manner is no reason to stop doing that.  Our enemies would have won if they force our manager to change his approach. 

Get behind the team, and the results will improve.  The results improve, and the pressure is alleviated.

i take your point, and he should be free to answer questions as he sees fit, but the club could be more muscular about how they set the limits on questions.  if kenny were ferguson he could stand up and storm out of a press call just because a journo dared to ask him a question, but of course if kenny did that it would be "has kenny lost the plot...again?" posted by respectable journalists on twitter within 20 seconds.

similarly, the most recent statement on the website was, while completely true and eloquent by kenny, slightly creepy and cringeworthy.  it was like the club thought the only way to convey its valid and important message on anti-racism was for the king to bolster it with his own credibility and reputation.  the owners have often spoken of kenny's connection with the fans, but that's not an acceptable short cut to having a functional PR department and club ambassador position.

i'm a bit saddened and disappointed by it all to be honest.  i thought the era of the club thrashing around in disorder and desperation had ended with the arrival of the new owners.  it seems patrice evra's forked tongue is all it took to bring that rudderless sensation back.

[Jay012345]

Yes. There is backing players, but then there is blind faith.

[Jay012345]

No, Kenny will back his player to the hilt if he thinks he is innocent. And so he should.

Unfortunatly (and its not bias or paranoia), the media have double standards when it comes to this.

Shouldn't we be savvy with the media by now? we have a whole press department for fowlers sake. We have to be smarter than we are currently showing before our reputation is hemmeraged even further.

[ziggyy]

I still think our captain should step in and take some of these shit of Kenny's shoulders.

He's the only one that the neutral fans recognise and respect and the bloody media would be a little more careful messing with him.

[Red number seven]

I still think our captain should step in and take some of these shit of Kenny's shoulders.

He's the only one that the neutral fans recognise and respect and the bloody media would be a little more careful messing with him.

I have thought that. I would like to hear Stevie confirm he agrees that the lads were right to wear the Tshirts in support of what they saw as an unfair judgement and also explain that not one person at Liverpool believes Evra's version of events, which is why the club can both be non-racist and support Luis Suarez.

[greenone]

I'd imagine Kenny is quite happy dealing with the press. He reminds me of a cat playing with a mouse after it's caught.

[Danyaals Kop]

No. Whatever he is doing, he is doing it because he thinks it is right for Liverpool Football Club, and I trust Kenny Dalglish.

[danwarb]

I think the players should keep quiet on this now. They made their statement, it was posted on the website.

[Cadno]

Kenny is the one at the press confrences week in week out he deals with the questions he is given.  He showed early on that he would only answer questions that were relevant so I dont see how that has changed.  Kenny obviosly feels strongly about this and lets be honest if itwas coming from anyone else at the club they would be given far less respect
 and the cnuts in the press would use it as a wedge to drive between the fans and the owners. Kenny says what he wants to say and personally im all for it. 

[Stussy]

Kenny has said all that he needs to say on the matter. anythung else just feeds the media firestorm cycle. how many more times can he reiterate the same thing. strict policy of no comment and move on to the next question for me. put an aggressive press officer next to kenny too if need be.

[Dubred]

I'd imagine Kenny is quite happy dealing with the press. He reminds me of a cat playing with a mouse after it's caught.

I think this too.

I think his past experiences have definitely made him stronger.  In particular, dealing with the press.

I think he's confident enough and stern enough to tell them where to shove it if he can't be bothered with their questions anymore.

I dont think anybody can back Kenny into a corner or get the better of him.

[montysmum]

The title of this will probably get me some abuse, but please read on. Ok i amended it slightly
I love Kenny he is a brilliant man, manager and ex-player,and I used to love the way he handled the press.I admire him massively because he wants to fight in our corner over everything, but these statements over the last couple of weeks should start being made by somebody else. Can we please stop putting this extra pressure onto Kenny. I understand that he wants to defend the club and players to the death, and we love him for it. But I feel that this is bringing him down at the moment, and could drag him down further. I think that we need to release a statement to the press, saying that Kenny will no longer comment on this. We could then have  somebody present at all interviews to take over any questions about the Suarez incident and the whole Liverpool - Racial comments fiasco. I know that some twats who write stories will distort the reasons for this, but I worry about Kenny's health as well as as the clubs status. Get a professional to fend off the ridiculous questions, possibly somebody with a law background who will be authorative in his answers (obviously none of the dicks who handled Suarez's defence). I will be much happier seeing Kenny looking better through not having to defend all and Sundry, and just talk about football. 

I dont think we should change anything.

It is the Manager's job (or the assistant manager) to deal with the press, answer questions etc.  To change anything because of the Suarez fiasco will give the press just what they want - the sense that we as a club are running scared, unable to cope with questions being asked and I do not think that is what we want to portray.

I can just see the headlines -"Kenny gagged by club". 

I would be happy to see some journo's banned from press conferences, some papers made not welcome because of their headlines etc, but other than that.

I think Kenny is quite capable of making it clear what he does and does not want to talk about, and as long as he knows that the club, players and fans are behind him, (hence the call for a Dalglish Day!) then he will cope with it.

[CHOPPER]

He's the figure head of the club and at times(such like the past few weeks) will be called upon to make statements. I'm sure he himself doesn't feel comfortable addressing none football issues, but if it's effecting us as a club, then I'm sure he doesn't mind standing up and commenting on the clubs stance.

[Red Beret]

You may as well ask should the media stop asking loaded/leading questions.

[love:the:game]

I still think our captain should step in and take some of these shit of Kenny's shoulders.

He's the only one that the neutral fans recognise and respect and the bloody media would be a little more careful messing with him.

It could be entirely feasible that Kenny's actually asked Gerrard not to make any comments. Given the backlash against Reina and Johnson's initial statements, it might be that he wants to protect the players from getting caught up in all this and just concentrate on the football. We can all easily see Kenny doing that.

[Mutton Geoff]

Yes. There is backing players, but then there is blind faith.

Fantastic super group!

Has anyone noticed that recently as much as Kenny has tried to talk about football these media cretins have jumped in with the Suarez incident with both feet, Kenny is as honest and open as it gets he tries to reply to questions, sometimes that are so bad he takes the urine out of the persons asking them but in the end if it is club related and player related then it is his remit to comment about it.

For me this is what our club is about, a community we back each other up and the manager is our spokesman, not with all due respect Ayres but Kenny. Would we have not wanted Shanks comments on Socialism then or about the City of Liverpool?

For me as always Kenny has handled this well considering he was battling against a shit storm of Spin , opinions used as facts, and media knife sharpening, the day I want any manager to stop making statements and defending this club and all in it, is the day I take up watching paint dry instead.

[Niru Red4ever]

If KK feels any pressure he handles it better than Rafa did (health wise). Just compare how Rafa used to look in his last year and how he looks now.

I do agree that club should have a proper PR setup - I thought a business of this magnitude will have it anyway?

[redalways]

There is still a story to be told about the Surez Evra incident and I believe that the truth will not show the FA in a good light . It will be how they buckled to pressure just to make a point to Blatter and FIFA. I havent given up that a paper may well take the story up - although it wont be the  redtops.

LFC shouldnt ban any journos or refuse to engage with them. If it does, ultimately the club will suffer. Like it or not we are reliant on publicity and sponsorship to get the name of the club brand across in order to get cash for the club to invest in the team provide a return for FSG and ultimately redevelop the stadium.  Thats a fact of life . I am afraid that in a free press we cannot pick and  choose who we deal with or what stories they print. Any brand needs free publicity. If we boycotted the press or banned individual journos, Standard Chartered for one would probably look elsewhere at contract renewal as we would be acting like a provincial Barry Fry type small club.

The tramp refused to speak to the BBC for years and just made himself look a prat.

What we should do as fans is feed information to journos - they are by and large quite lazy and need stuff feeding to them. It isnt difficult to point  out areas of the Suarez case that have been mishandled by the FA. Some broadsheets will be quite receptive to information that puts the FA in a poor light..