Dalglish: Give Torres the reception he deserves
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has told the club’s fans to give former idol Fernando Torres the reception they think he *deserves.
He has shunned any chance to tell fans to lay off the one-time Kop hero when he lines up against the Reds on his Chelsea debut today.
Supporters had burned replica No9 Torres shirts outside Anfield on transfer deadline day after it was revealed that the Spaniard was heading to Chelsea, *following their £50million bid.
And looking ahead to today’s match, Dalglish said: “The fans will *behave the way they have always behaved – they will support *Liverpool *Football Club.
“How they choose to do that is up to them – they don’t need me to tell them how to behave.”
Dalglish has admitted that he was disappointed by Torres’ decision to leave.
But he was quick to recall how he built a legendary *Liverpool team after another hugely admired Reds striker left the club – and believes he can do it again.
Dalglish said: “The disappointment was there to lose Torres, but it’s no major problem for us. We got up the next day and signed two *fantastic footballers in Andy Carroll and Luiz Suarez.”
Dalglish was handed a £57million kitty to land Carroll and Suarez *in the aftermath of Torres’ *departure and Liverpool’s owners seem certain to hand the Scot a long-term contract after he was initially given until the end of the season to prove he had lost none of his old magic.
Dalglish, who turns 60 next month, knows it was a big leap of faith by new owners, the Fenway Sports Group – but remembered how sacrificing Ian Rush to Juventus in 1987 enabled him to build arguably the most exciting team in the club’s history.
Dalglish said: “Whatever happens in your life, you’ve just got to move on. If we didn’t get up and move on, then it would be totally *disrespectful to the people who support this *football club.
“When Rushie did move, we’d *already signed John Aldridge in the previous January. We then got John Barnes and Peter Beardsley, and in the October we signed Ray Houghton.
“ So the club moved on from losing a great player by building a great team – and that’s how it should *always be. What do you do – sit and have a moan about it or react *positively?”
When asked about his chances of being manager beyond the end of the season, Dalglish added: “The owners planned to invest money in the transfer window anyway – *regardless of whether Torres was sold.
“They have put a lot of trust in the footballing staff to come up with players and I think the two players we brought in will be fantastic *signings.
“But the owners must have a *certain amount of trust in somebody’s judgement, mustn’t they?”