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Liverpool's Martin Kelly competes for the ball with Swansea's Scott Sinclair at the Liberty Stadium. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
One "King" is dead and another one had a moribund look about him on Sunday night. It was party time at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea City fans celebrating a memorable and unexpectedly successful first season in the Premier League by dressing as Elvis Presley. For Liverpool's "King", however, it all ended with five wins, three draws and 11 defeats from the last 19 league matches, after which Kenny Dalglish has to be on borrowed time as manager.
After a Sunday newspaper story suggesting he was about to be "kicked upstairs", Dalglish was asked: "Do you think you'll still be in charge in August?" He replied, testily: "I expect the club's owners to have more integrity and dignity than that." In defiance of mountainous evidence to the contrary, he added: " Our performances have been excellent on a lot of occasions. We have to keep believing, keep going and maybe next year the luck will drop in for us."
Brendan Rodgers offers an interesting contrast. At 39 he is young, with his best years in front of him, which is clearly not the case with Dalglish, at 61. Swansea have finished 11th, Liverpool eighth. The difference between them is five points. The Swans had no big names at the start of the season but several of their players are getting there, notably the goalkeeper and newly-elected player of the year, Michel Vorm, who cost £1.5m from Utrecht and is now coveted by Arsenal, among others. Then there is Danny Graham, the matchwinner here, for whom Rodgers paid Watford £3.5m. Graham finished with 12 goals from 36 league appearances to Andy Carroll's four in 35.
Rodgers, invited by Spain to attend their preparations for Euro 2012, has made his "Swanselona" team add up to more than the sum of their parts through state of the art coaching and astute man management.
Dalglish describes Liverpool's record this season as "not bad", claiming that they have been "unlucky" and pointing out that they are back in Europe. Not good would be nearer the mark and he should not need reminding that one of his distinguished predecessors, when asked about the merits of the Uefa Cup [the old equivalent of the Europa League] famously replied: "I don't know, we've never finished low enough to qualify."
Swansea were the more cohesive unit for most of the match and Gylfi Sigurdsson twice threatened to give them the lead. Doni, deputising for Pepe Reina, thwarted him and further distinguished himself in using his legs to keep out a goalbound shot from Nathan Dyer. Presumably, the end of season factor was behind Mark Halsey's decision not to send off Andy Carroll in added time at the end of the first half after a scuffle that saw him grab Ashley Williams by the throat. The referee opted to book both players.
For the most part Carroll charged around like a big red fire engine unable to locate the fire but he did provide a highlight for Match of the Day with an overhead kick, executed with his back to goal, which brought an equally stunning response from Vorm.
Stewart Downing's dire season – no goals, no assists in 36 Premier League appearances – was brought to an end after an hour, when he gave way to Craig Bellamy, and another substitution gave Dirk Kuyt a farewell appearance for Liverpool before moving on, probably back home to the Netherlands. Kuyt quickly supplied a centre from the right which deserved a better fate than Carroll's feeble shot, straight at Vorm.
Graham showed him how such things should be done with four minutes of normal time remaining, driving home the winner from near the penalty spot from a cross supplied by Angel Rangel. "A fairytale" was how Rogers described the Swan's season. Liverpool followers probably preferred another f-word
- Graham 86
- Joe Lovejoy at Liberty Stadium
- guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 May 2012 17.07 BST
- Comments (168)
Liverpool's Martin Kelly competes for the ball with Swansea's Scott Sinclair at the Liberty Stadium. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesOne "King" is dead and another one had a moribund look about him on Sunday night. It was party time at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea City fans celebrating a memorable and unexpectedly successful first season in the Premier League by dressing as Elvis Presley. For Liverpool's "King", however, it all ended with five wins, three draws and 11 defeats from the last 19 league matches, after which Kenny Dalglish has to be on borrowed time as manager.
After a Sunday newspaper story suggesting he was about to be "kicked upstairs", Dalglish was asked: "Do you think you'll still be in charge in August?" He replied, testily: "I expect the club's owners to have more integrity and dignity than that." In defiance of mountainous evidence to the contrary, he added: " Our performances have been excellent on a lot of occasions. We have to keep believing, keep going and maybe next year the luck will drop in for us."
Brendan Rodgers offers an interesting contrast. At 39 he is young, with his best years in front of him, which is clearly not the case with Dalglish, at 61. Swansea have finished 11th, Liverpool eighth. The difference between them is five points. The Swans had no big names at the start of the season but several of their players are getting there, notably the goalkeeper and newly-elected player of the year, Michel Vorm, who cost £1.5m from Utrecht and is now coveted by Arsenal, among others. Then there is Danny Graham, the matchwinner here, for whom Rodgers paid Watford £3.5m. Graham finished with 12 goals from 36 league appearances to Andy Carroll's four in 35.
Rodgers, invited by Spain to attend their preparations for Euro 2012, has made his "Swanselona" team add up to more than the sum of their parts through state of the art coaching and astute man management.
Dalglish describes Liverpool's record this season as "not bad", claiming that they have been "unlucky" and pointing out that they are back in Europe. Not good would be nearer the mark and he should not need reminding that one of his distinguished predecessors, when asked about the merits of the Uefa Cup [the old equivalent of the Europa League] famously replied: "I don't know, we've never finished low enough to qualify."
Swansea were the more cohesive unit for most of the match and Gylfi Sigurdsson twice threatened to give them the lead. Doni, deputising for Pepe Reina, thwarted him and further distinguished himself in using his legs to keep out a goalbound shot from Nathan Dyer. Presumably, the end of season factor was behind Mark Halsey's decision not to send off Andy Carroll in added time at the end of the first half after a scuffle that saw him grab Ashley Williams by the throat. The referee opted to book both players.
For the most part Carroll charged around like a big red fire engine unable to locate the fire but he did provide a highlight for Match of the Day with an overhead kick, executed with his back to goal, which brought an equally stunning response from Vorm.
Stewart Downing's dire season – no goals, no assists in 36 Premier League appearances – was brought to an end after an hour, when he gave way to Craig Bellamy, and another substitution gave Dirk Kuyt a farewell appearance for Liverpool before moving on, probably back home to the Netherlands. Kuyt quickly supplied a centre from the right which deserved a better fate than Carroll's feeble shot, straight at Vorm.
Graham showed him how such things should be done with four minutes of normal time remaining, driving home the winner from near the penalty spot from a cross supplied by Angel Rangel. "A fairytale" was how Rogers described the Swan's season. Liverpool followers probably preferred another f-word
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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