Football opinion

It's been a long time coming, but then again Liverpool fans have grown accustomed to waiting. Kenny Dalglish signed a three-year deal to become Liverpool's manager on a permanent basis yesterday, but can he bring back the glory years, or is this just the latest in two decades of false Liverpool dawns?

By Tom Moss

You've got to admire the optimism of Liverpool supporters. Practically every year since their last league title since 1990, we've heard the positive noises coming from the Anfield faithful.

'This is our year, definitely', the random sprinkling of Scousers would roar outside the Shankly Gates, only to witness the players subsequently dash those hopes in the months that followed. There have, however, been times when the Liverpool optimist has had good reason to expect the end of the league title drought.

When they smashed the British transfer fee by signing Stan Collymore for £8.5m back in June 1995, they were seen as the main pretenders to the crown. It wasn't to be, nor was it when similarly marquee signings were made in the 15 years that followed.

Man United, Chelsea, City, watch yer backs, Liverpool are here to stay.

Under Rafa Benitez, Liverpool went through the 2008/09 season losing only twice but fell just short of Man United thanks mainly to a dismal run of scoreless draws against the likes of Portsmouth and Birmingham at a crucial stage in the season, where Benitez decided to rest a bang in-form and eager to play every game Fernando Torres.

That summer, just in case they might win something, Benitez hastily offloaded Xabi Alonso, completing one of the most flagrant abuses of a world-class talent in recent years. Alonso had been key to Liverpool's threatened rise to the top, but Benitez flogged him in order to fund a move for Gareth Barry, and in doing so started the ball rolling towards his own demise.

Mess

When Rafa left after conspiring with Gillett and Hicks to leave the club in so squalid a mess that it made the Republican prisoners dirty protest in Long Kesh look like a charmingly fragrant work of art, the optimism had faded for the first time in 20 years. No-one expected ‘Woy’ Hodgson to turn the fumbling giants into league hopefuls, but with the club cash-strapped and crippled with debt, it was a straight choice between him, Susan Boyle or a turnip from Lidl.

Kenny wanted the job, but the powers that be overlooked him and Woy got it. The turnip would have been a better option, with Woy proving himself so out of his depth that the increasingly downtrodden Liverpool fans almost started to feel sorry for him until he questioned their loyalty after a terrific 1-0 home defeat to bottom club Wolves and his fate was sealed.

Since then, Kenny Dalglish has revitalised the club. Offloading the sulking Fernando Torres and replacing him with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez, he immediately made an impact. Players who had apparently lost their ability to kick a ball under Hodgson were given a new lease of life by the return of The King, with Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez looking like new men under the Scot.

Hodgson's more bizarre signings were demoted to the reserves or loaned out, while Raul Meireles, possibly the one good thing to manifest from the whole sorry Hodgson era, grew in stature in a Liverpool midfield that flourished despite the absence of Steven Gerrard for large chunks of the second half of the season.

Gusto

When Dalglish was confirmed yesterday as the permanent manager on a three-year deal, we were brought back to the pearly gates outside Anfield. The usual bravado was crammed down the Sky Sports News cameras. The gusto was back. Champions elect. Man United, Chelsea, City, watch yer backs, Liverpool are here to stay. It's all terribly familiar, but there can be little doubt that the signs are very promising for their fans.

Luis Suarez looks like becoming the most exciting player in the Premier League. Andy Carroll has the potential to be a big player for them too, and with the likes of Lucas shaking off the once incessant criticism to become part of an efficient and creative Liverpool midfield, the future of the club looks to be bright.

Who knows, with a few carefully selected signings, the squawking Scouse fans might not be too far wide of the mark this time next year. But if they're wrong, at least they'll be used to it.

CLIP OF THE DAY: Liverpool lift the Division One trophy in May 1990

The sound is dodgy, the haircuts are worse, while the shorts are more like hot pants. But that's what happens when you have to trawl back 21 years to see the last time your side lifted the top-flight trophy.