The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Club

In the movie 'Jerry Maguire', Dorothy Boyd (Rene Zellweger) stumbled upon a mission statement written by Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) which was entitled; "The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business". He wrote it after he had a mental meltdown that made him revise everything he stood up for, all his life. Believing in the statement, Dorothy sacrificed her career and followed Jerry through hell and back. In between, they got married and was separated for a while but were back together after Jerry had Dorothy 'at hello'.



During one of their scenes, Jerry questioned why she sacrificed her job, life stability and married him instead? Dorothy replied she was rejuvenated by the things he wrote in the mission statement. She was inspired.

In FIFA world cup USA 1994, Maradona was selected to captain Argentina by the Argentina FA (AFA), knowing that Maradona was still on drugs. They knew they face the risk of him getting caught by the organizers but that risk was minor compared to the reason that lie behind the selection.

Argentina was in economic and political turmoil in the early 90's. People were restless and a good run in the 1994 world cup was what they needed to keep everybody upbeat. Football in Argentina is what a tamil movie is akin to in India. They believe and they thrive on it. It is common to hear news about riots or football fans killing rival fans on the streets of Buenos Aires.



Argentina was back to back finalist in the previous two world cup editions and a bad performance by the team in USA 94 would be disastrous. Without Maradona who even barely appeared for his Newell's Old Boys club then, the team ailed. In the qualifying campaign leading up to USA 94, Argentina was thrashed 0-5 playing at home to Colombia. Luckily they scraped through and qualified but signs were bad.

Realizing this, the AFA sent Maradona together with the squad of USA 94, fully aware that he was totally unfit to lead Argentina. He was only there to kickstart the team and make them play. In other words to inspire them.

Maradona did inspire the team and scored in a 4-0 drubbing of Greece in their opening game. It was one of his only two appearances in USA as he was tested positive for drugs during the competition.



Maradona managed to bring life to the team but they only made it to the final 16 that year. As expected back home, after a world cup that was not a total failure, the argentinian people then turned towards the country's economic future and remained optimistic. The plan worked. The people of Argentina were inspired albeit temporarily.

So what have all these got to do with Liverpool FC?

Liverpool need someone that can inspire them even if it means to lose a little or win a little in the short run. Many have started to whisper that there is a kink in Kenny Dalglish's armoury. I agree that we have lost many battles before, but in this current crusade, we need to have extra faith in him. Time and again we need to remember that a battle is not won overnight.



In the paragraph below, results from Kenny Dalglish's 'point collected' so far are pitted against all of his predecessor's up to Graeme Souness using a formula that you can question a Mr.Gabriel Marcotti from Herald Scotland if ever you have doubts. Due to resource and time constraints together with the fact that I am not paid to validate the data, I will assume that his calculation are as of 18th March 2012, non-biased, accurate and uses the normal system of 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw, both inclusive of cup tournaments.

Kenny Dalglish currently has managed Liverpool for 61 games (as of 18 March 2012). Percentage-wise, he has collected on average 1.73 points per game which is far better than Roy Hodgson (1.55) and Greame Souness (1.54) but way short of Rafael Benitez (1.88) and Gerard Houllier/Roy Evans (both on 1.77). Mind you that different manager had differing managerial tenure. So, when you look at accumulated points collected over their first 61 games in charge, Kenny comes 2nd at 106 points, 3 points behind Roy Evans at 109 while Rafa lies third accumulating 102 points and the rest, way behind. Compelling enough, Kenny Dalglish is right there amongst the top in terms of points collected when compared to the rest of Liverpool's manager off late.

Another major issue that "kop infidels" raised, insisting he should leave is his mistake in getting the right players in and his habit of keeping on playing players that are not "Liverpool material".

Firstly, do they realize that most of the strategic scouting for Liverpool is now done by a Mr.Damien Comolli? In the same capacity when he was with Tottenham Hotspurs, Comolli has been credited for signing Gareth Bale, Assou-Ekotto, Luka Modric and Berbatov amongst others. True, some of his buys did flopped but who would have thought that Gareth Bale and Luka Modric would be where they are now if not for Comolli.

Secondly, do they know that when Martin Jol was in charge of Spurs, Comolli got sacked in October 2008 because of Spurs poor form predominantly with the same line up which have become the backbone of Spurs team now? Today, Spurs may not be the best team in the world but they do have an exciting game up their sleeve.

What is Kenny being paid for then? My analysis tells me that he is there to focus on managing the players he has in the stable, to design a game plan that best suit the current line-up and inspire them. Scouting and handling youth at the academy are done by other credible honchos in Melwood.

Everybody and everything needs inspiration, even a club as huge as Liverpool FC. To be inspired is like benzene yearning to catch fire or like a poet longing for the exact words to dance and rhyme in his poetry.

"Do we already have a mission statement and a 'Maradona'?" You might ask. I would say yes. Now we just need to put our chin up, stand firm and believe.

#YNWA ./