Kenny Dalglish has been assured his job is safe after Damien Comolli was forced out on a dramatic day at Anfield. Director of football Comolli has left in the start of a shake-up at the club. He was later followed out of the club by Liverpools Head of Sports Medicine and Science Peter Brukner. The Australian also leaves the club with immediate effect. Comolli was told by owner John W Henry that he was no longer wanted alongside manager Dalglish. On his way: Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish said he was sad to see director of football Comolli leave But chairman Tom Werner insists they are happy with Dalglish despite the clubs difficult season. The position of the Reds boss has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after a woeful run in the league in which they lost five of six matches, ending their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. Werner said: Weve got great confidence in Kenny. We feel the team is going to make strides in the future and he enjoys our full support. Dalglish will also be handed money to spend this summer as they attempt to catch the likes of the Manchester giants United and City. Werner said: Weve had a strategy that we have agreed on. There was some disconnect on the implementation of that. That strategy is a strong one and it will continue. We need to build a strong system under the first team. Were hard at work identifying transfer targets and we will be better next year. Werner also admitted they have decided to ring the changes as they attempt to improve for next season. He said: I think its fair to say no supporter would be delighted with the results weve achieved this year. We feel we are a club that needs to be perceived as the strongest club in football and we want to get there. Frankly, we make these decisions with a great deal of care because its our track record in Boston to give people authority and weve had great success with our manager, who was there for eight years, and our general manager, so we prefer stability. Moving on: Liverpool owner John Henry (L) and chairman Tom Werner (C) thanked Comolli after the Frenchman dramatically departed Anfield But when its time to act, we need to act. Were coming close to the end of the season and the transfer window for the summer, and we felt it was important to make this change expeditiously. Liverpool have spent £105million under Kenny Dalglish and Comollis watch and Werner admitted the return on the pitch wasnt good enough. He said: I would say we certainly have the resources to compete with anybody in football. I wouldnt want to get specific about any particular decision thats been made. We feel there is enough talent on the pitch to win and, as I said, weve been dissatisfied, as most supporters have been, with the results so far. But were also talking about the future - we have a strategy we need implemented and we felt Damien was probably not the right person to implement that strategy. Asked whether the would appoint another director of football, he added: Were still confident the structure weve discussed is the right structure. That doesnt mean we wont look at tweaking it, but we feel a collective group of people making football decisions is healthy. The debate is healthy. Part of the reason we made this decision now is because we want to start the process of finding an excellent replacement. We dont have any specific candidates in mind. Part of the reason we made this decision yesterday was to be in the best possible position to move forward as quickly as possible. Axed: Comolli, pictured at Ewood Park on Monday alongside ex-Arsenal chief David Dein, has left Liverpool by mutual consent COMOLLIS KOP SIGNINGS Jan 2011Andy Carroll - £35m Luis Suarez - £22.8m June 2011Jordan Henderson - £16m July 2011Charlie Adam - £9m Stewart Downing - £20m Doni - free August 2011Jose Enrique - £6m Sebastian Coates - £7m Craig Bellamy – free Jan 2012Danny Ward £100,000 Jordan Ibe – £500,000+ The Frenchman, who cited family reasons for his departure, was responsible for finding new players for the club - including the £105million they spent last year. In a statement on the clubs official website, Comolli said: I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the Club and back to France for family reasons. I wish the Club all the best for the future. Owner Henry said: We are grateful for all of Damiens efforts on behalf of Liverpool and wish him all the best for the future. The clubs chairman Tom Werner added: The Club needs to move forward and we now have a huge game on Saturday. Under-fire: Andy Carroll scored on Tuesday but has struggled during his time at Anfield Disappointing: Stewart Downing has failed to live-up to his promise so far on Merseyside It is important that everyone joins us in supporting the manager and gets behind Kenny and the team and focuses on a strong finish to the season. Initially brought in by new owners American Fenway Sports Group in November 2010 to help ease their first move into football, Comollis appointment preceded Dalglishs by nearly two months but, once the Scot replaced Roy Hodgson, there was no doubt who was in charge. Even Comolli`s promotion from director of football strategy to a wider role the following March failed to alter the balance of power that club icon Dalglish controlled. And while Comolli has been criticised for his role in Liverpools recent - and so far unsuccessful - transfer policy, the Reds boss stressed he had the final word on signings. When FSG took over in October 2010 much was made of their intention to employ the moneyball theory, which had been so successful at their other high-profile acquisition of the Boston Red Sox baseball franchise, to transfers. That essentially meant finding players who were potentially underachieving at other clubs but who could be signed relatively cheaply, made into a success and therefore have a much higher re-sale value. However, in the three transfer windows Dalglish has overseen, the owners have forked out the best part of £125million, with a net spend of about £70million. Out you go: Peter Brukner (right) quickly followed Comolli out of the door Those deals included an eye-watering £35million for Andy Carroll, £20million for Stewart Downing, £16million for Jordan Henderson. Dalglishs best deals have been for Craig Bellamy, who came in on a free but has no re-sale value because of his age, and Jose Enrique (£6million from Newcastle), with only Luis Suarez, at £22.8million, coming close to justifying his price tag. With the owners pre-season ambitions of regaining a place in the top-four ended by a run of woeful league results it appears the director of football experiment has been ditched. The responsibility now lies solely with Dalglish, who has come in for his fair share of criticism recently, and while that may not actually have changed much behind the scenes it is now more transparent and there can be no hiding behind anyone else. Dalglish insisted Comolli was at Anfield with his blessing and was sad to see him exit. He said: Hes been really helpful in every transfer target weve gone for. Jurys out: Comolli signed Charlie Adam last summer for a big fee from Blackpool Positive: Jose Enrique has been one of Liverpools brighter signings of late Everyone who has come into the club since Damien has been here was of my choice. Once I made the choice who I wanted. Damien went away and did a fantastic job of bringing them in. Its sad to see anyone leave the club and he goes with my best wishes. As well as playing a part in the signing of Carroll, Comolli also contributed to one of the most dramatic days in the history of the Premier League by helping along the deal that took Fernando Torres to Chelsea for £50million late on the same day. Earlier in his career, the 39-year-old Comolli had held a similar post at Tottenham. He was heralded for securing deals for players such as Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Dimitar Berbatov but, much like his time at Liverpool, not all his dealings were well thought of.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:15:04 +0000