Dalglish: Stop Blaming Owners For Poor Form

Kenny Dalglish has told
Liverpool's players not to use
the ongoing ownership
problem as an excuse for their
poor start to the season.
A 2-2 draw with Sunderland
capped off a difficult seven days
after losing to Manchester
United and crashing out of the
Carling Cup to League Two
outfit Northampton whilst
uncertainty continues to linger
over the club's long-term future.
But Kop legend Dalglish, back at
Liverpool as a youth
ambassador, insists that the
club's underperforming squad
cannot use George Gillett and
Tom Hicks' continuing presence
as Anfield custodians as
justification for their recent
performances.
"Everyone knows the
ownership situation but that
should never affect how the
players prepare or perform," he
wrote in the Mail on Sunday.
"There is no reason
experienced internationals
should be distracted from their
jobs and they shouldn't need
Roy Hodgson to remind them.
"If the club is up for sale, the
best way for players to deal
with it is to get results on the
pitch and make it a more
attractive proposition to buy.
"I never celebrated winning a
trophy at Liverpool by thinking:
'It's all down to the owners -
they are brilliant.' So if owners
don't receive credit then,
neither can players look to
blame them or anyone else in
defeat.
"Maybe Roy will be able to
improve the team if new
owners come in by shopping at
the more exclusive end of the
transfer market. But that
doesn't give the current players
a get-out to avoid responsibility.
"My message to them would be
to leave the business side of
things for managing director
Christian Purslow to be
concerned about.
"While you find in any walk of
life people who don't need
much encouragement to find
excuses, we don't want them at
Liverpool right now."