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da dobrowin： On the 10th January, Liverpool picked up a free agent that may have passed under many people’s radars. It wasn’t a back page headline-making move for a star striker or a solid wing back to provide competition for Glen Johnson, yet it could prove to be more important than either of those things. For after being in charge for less than five days, Kenny Dalglish’s first move in January was to bring in experienced number two Steve Clarke to work along side him.
This latest backroom move means that Liverpool now appear to be clawing themselves away from the off-field mess that they were in only a few months ago. With new owners intact and the unsuccessful and unpopular Roy Hodgson replaced (albeit temporarily), Liverpool have finally realized that nothing will be achieved on the pitch until pressing matters are resolved off of it.
The inclusion of Steve Clarke to the coaching staff is a very shrewd move by Dalglish since a managerial acquisition with the track record of Clarke can only be beneficial. Clarke has worked under, and learnt from, the likes of Jose Mourinho, Bobby Robson and Luis Felipe Scolari, and has won the Premier League twice, League Cup twice and the FA Cup in his role as a managerial assistant. During his semi-successful time at West Ham in which he and Gianfranco Zola took West Ham to within two points of European qualification in their first season, Clarke’s important role was recognized when he became the highest paid assistant in the league.
It could certainly be argued that Liverpool have acquired one of the finest assistant managers in England, and history has shown how important having a number two, and crucially the right number two can be. Two of the Football League’s most successful managers, Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson, have always had a right-hand man by their side throughout their most distinguished managerial spells.
Peter Taylor was assistant to Brian Clough at Hartlepool, Derby County, Brighton and Nottingham Forest and is now widely regarded as one of the best assistant managers of all time. The chemistry between the two men was undeniable and both were fully aware of the contribution that the other had on their success. Clough humbly said of Taylor: “I’m not equipped to manage successfully without Peter Taylor. I am the shop window and he is the goods in the back.”, while Taylor said of Clough: “We just gelled together, we filled in the gaps…My strength was buying and selecting the right player, then Brian’s man management would shape the player”. Taylor and Clough won seven different honors while working together from 1968 to 1980 which included two European Cups and two League Championships.
While Alex Ferguson’s list of assistant managers is far longer than Clough’s, the success that the right partnership has brought is equally as impressive. Bryan Kidd, Steve McClaren and Carlos Queiroz have all contributed in no small part to Manchester United’s success over the last two decades and it’s surely no coincidence that during 2003/04 when Ferguson had no assistant for the majority of the season United finished 15 points behind Arsenal. Ferguson is clearly aware that the support and ideas that an assistant can provide is the catalyst for creating a good team, and without a number two around who else would he get to speak to the BBC?(!).
Steve Clarke was a firm favorite during his time at Chelsea and I’m sure that he can achieve a similar status if he can help rebuild the shambles that Liverpool currently find themselves in. Two minds are always better than one and when they are as experienced as Dalglish and Clarke, who have around 70 years of football know-how between them, it can only be a good thing. The afore-mentioned Peter Taylor perhaps put it best when he said: “I always knew that two men, the right two, could build up a club quicker than one”, Liverpool fans will be hoping that they’ve finally found the right two because there’s plenty of building to be done.