Werner basically said that KD was fired because of the team’s poor league form:

“However, results in the Premier League have been disappointing and we believe to build on the progress that has already been made, we need to make a change.”

Dalglish on the other hand focused on winning the Carling Cup saying:

“Of course I am disappointed with results in the league, but I would not have swapped the Carling Cup win for anything as I know how much it meant to our fans and the Club to be back winning trophies.”

And that I think that was the difference between KD and Fenway Sports Group. It boiled down to how do you define success? Dalglish said that a club like Liverpool should be winning trophies every year. So winning the Carling Cup and reaching the FA Cup final is a big step in the right direction towards installing a winning attitude at Anfield.

FSG on the other hand don’t care much for winning domestic cups as it does not have much of an impact on the clubs bottom line.

To them the Holy Grail is the Champions League and the £30+m that comes with qualifying for that. It seems from afar that to FSG a successful season is finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League, not winning trophies. So the Arsenal model would be considered successful to Fenway Sports.

As a Liverpool fan what do you consider a successful season to be? Is it winning domestic cups, qualifying for the Champions League, or is it winning the big trophies like the Premier League and Champions League?

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Liverpool Football Club announced that Kenny Dalglish is to leave his post today as Manager after having his contract terminated.

After a careful and deliberative review of the season, the Club came to the decision that a change was appropriate. It is not a decision that was reached lightly or hastily.

The search for a new Manager will begin immediately.

Dalglish meet with Fenway Sport Groups principal owners John W Henry and Tom Werner in Boston on Monday and obviously Dalglish and FSG have different views not only on the clubs performance this season but where the club are going.

Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner seemed to allude to this in his statement today saying it was a tough decision, but ultimately one that needed to be made.

“Kenny came into the Club as Manager at our request at a time when Liverpool Football Club really needed him. He didn’t ask to be Manager; he was asked to assume the role. He did so because he knew the Club needed him. He did more than anyone else to stabilize Liverpool over the past year-and-a-half and to get us once again looking forward. We owe him a great debt of gratitude.

“However, results in the Premier League have been disappointing and we believe to build on the progress that has already been made, we need to make a change.”

Dalglish was fired because of the club’s terrible league performance, plus the PR disaster that was the Suare affair. Two cup-finals and winning a trophy are nice, but ultimately the owners want Champions League football and the money that goes along with it. And they are probably asking whether Liverpool are closer to a top four finish now versus a year ago, and that answer is no.

Liverpool’s starting XI or squad is not as good as Man City’s, United’s, Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle or Chelsea’s. The club needs investment in new players and the big question is whether FSG will support that.

After being pretty hands off since buying the club, the American owners have obviously seen enough and are taking the scorched earth approach to the club.

Consider that in the last two months FSG has gotten rid of the club’s director of football Damien Comolli, the head of sports medicine Peter Brukner, the director of communications Ian Cotton and now the club’s manager in Kenny Dalglish. Considering that Comolli and Dalglish were both hired by FSG, many Liverpool fans have to wonder WTF is going on with their club?

So who will FSG bring in to replace Dalglish? Thee names mentioned already are Roberto Martinez, Rafa and Brendan Rodgers.

I don’t think Martinez is good enough or experienced enough to run a club the size of Liverpool. Similar thoughts with Brendan Rogers. Love the job he did with Swansea, but worry that it is too big a leap to give him the keys to Anfield.

That leaves Rafa, who still lives in Liverpool and loves the club. It is a new group of players since he was last in charge at Liverpool. Could he return to manager the club again?

What do you think about Kenny Dalglish getting fired? Who do you think should be the next manager of Liverpool?

Kuyt has been widely quoted as saying:

“Under this manager I don’t have the feeling any more that he will put me in the side every week.

“I’m under no illusion about playing every week. But I believe I am still good enough to play for Liverpool every week.

“My physical stats are better than ever before.”

Kuyt has been kept on the bench by Dalglish for most of the season and feels it has killed him.

“Last season I was scoring goals all over the place. But this season the manager bought three players who all played in my position.

“In the rotation system he used, I never found my rhythm again and never felt my old self.

“Deep in my heart I’d love to stay at Liverpool so I could have full revenge on everyone in my final season at the club.”

Roma and Hamburg are leading the chase for the Holland international and Kuyt added:

“Clubs from real big leagues are knocking on the door.

“I’ve turned down an offer from my old club Feyenoord for financial reasons. I’d have to take an 80 percent wage cut.”

The reason you are not playing every week Dirk is because you are not the player you were. How many chances did you miss inside the six yard box this season? Five, six, seven?

And the Feyenoord quote illustrates a problem that Liverpool has. They are paying Champions League wages to players who are past their prime, while not receiving Champions League money.

Kuyt has one year left on his contract, Liverpool are not going to give him a new deal and he will be sold this summer. Simple as that.

The ‘U19 Champions League’ has been expanded to include 24 teams divided into six groups of four. Each side will play six games (home and away) between 13 August and 13 December 2012, with the top two from each group being joined in the last 16 by the four best third-placed sides. If two or more teams finish level on points, qualification will be decided by goal difference then goals scored. Like this year all matches in the final stage of the tournament – from the semi-finals onwards – will be held in the same location.

Here are all six groups:

GROUP 1
Tottenham; Barcelona; Wolfsburg; Anderlecht.

GROUP 2
Manchester City; Juventus; Fenerbahce; Paris St Germain.

GROUP 3
Chelsea; Ajax; CSKA Moscow; Molde.

GROUP 4
Aston Villa; Sporting Lisbon; PSV Eindhoven; Celtic.

GROUP 5
Liverpool; Borussia Dortmund; Rosenborg; Inter Milan.

GROUP 6
Arsenal; Athletic Bilbao; Olympique Marseille; Olympiacos.

Dalglish and Steve Clarke travelled to Boston after the Swansea match for talks with the Fenway Sports Group.

Reports are coming out suggesting that club owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner are not satisfied with Dalglish’s reign at Anfield so far.

ESPN sought to obtain clarity amid the rumours over Dalglish’s future, but no comment was given, although an official statement is anticipated later today.

if Dalglish is returning as Liverpool managers next year there is no need to delay issuing a public statement. You only do that if you are making a change and want everyone on the same page.

I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that this day is not going to end well for Kenny Dalglish or Liverpool fans.

The award, voted on by the fans, was won easily by the big Slovakian defender who picked up 44% of the 66,937 votes cast.

Luis Suarez was the runner-up with 33%, while Daniel Agger clinched third after collecting four%.

2011-12 was Skrtel’s most consistent season in a Liverpool jersey, with the 27-year-old cementing his place amongst the finest central defenders in Europe.

Skrtel made a total of 45 appearances and helped himself to four goals, including a crucial equaliser in the Carling Cup final triumph over Cardiff City at Wembley in February.

Upon being presented with the award at Melwood, Skrtel told Liverpoolfc.tv:

“It’s a great feeling. It’s my first big award at Liverpool and I’m very happy about it.

“I think it was my best season since I came to Liverpool and I’m happy with my performances. I hope I will carry on in this way.

“I scored more goals than in past seasons, and I also think the way I played was better than in past years.

“Thank you very much to everybody who voted for me. I will try to do my best next season as well and we’ll see how I go on.”

Danny Graham’s 86th minute goal condemned the Reds to defeat at the Liberty Stadium, despite the visitors having enjoyed sustained spells of pressure throughout the second half.

Afterwards, Dalglish told his post-match press conference:

“I think after the second-half performance, the players didn’t deserve what they got – the least they deserved was to come away with a draw.

“Even right at the death when there was a collision between their goalkeeper and two defenders, the ball still didn’t even drop for Luis (Suarez).

“We’ve just got to keep – and the players have kept – believing what they’re doing to be correct. The passing and the moving has at times been excellent.

“The goalkeeper made a fantastic save from big Andy’s overhead kick. We’ve just got to keep going and maybe next year the luck will drop in for us.”

Dalglish added:

“It’s a great credit to the players that they do keep working and do keep believing. It’s the last game of the season and it would have been easy for one or two to get the Ambre Solaire out and have an easy afternoon, but they did not want to lose the game.”

Liverpool finish the campaign in eighth position in the Barclays Premier League table with a final tally of 52 points.

“We’re not going to run away from the points tally,” said Dalglish. “We’ll stand up and face up to reality. We’re not trying to hide behind anything and say the points tally is going to be satisfactory to anybody who works or supports Liverpool Football Club.

“I think the performances have been excellent in a lot of cases, but not the points tally. We’ll try our best to correct that.”

Swansea (Probable, 4-2-3-1): Vorm; Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor; Allen, Gower; Dyer, Sigurdsson, Sinclair; Graham.
Out: Augustien (ankle), Bodde (knee), Tate, Orlandi (both calf).

Liverpool (Probable, 4-4-2): Riera; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, José Enrique; Kuyt, Gerrard, Spearing, Downing; Suárez, Carroll.
Out: Adam, Leiva (knee).

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Matches 24, R7 Y73).

Team News
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers has no fresh injury concerns.

Full-back Angel Rangel returned from a hamstring problem at Manchester United, while midfielder Leon Britton shook off a knee niggle to feature as a second-half substitute at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Kenny Dalglish may decide to freshen up his team for their final day trip to Swansea.

Captain Steven Gerrard missed Tuesday’s win over Chelsea with a minor back problem while left-back José Enrique also sat out that game.

Teenager Raheem Sterling is likely to get another run-out from the bench having made back-to-back league appearances as a substitute.

Match Notes
The relief of securing enough points to remain in the Premier League could be felt all over Swansea.

On Sunday it’s time to celebrate, with more 1,000 supporters set to dress up as Elvis Presley in response to a pre-season comment from a bookmaker that seeing the King or an Alien was more likely than Brendan Rodgers’ side staying in the top flight.

The carnival atmosphere should be reflected on the pitch with two sides desperate to finish the season on a high. This will not finish goalless.

Betting: Home 12-5, Away 11-10, Draw 12-5.

Stat of the game: If Liverpool fail to win, their 14 victories would represent their fewest wins in the league for 58 years.

Prediction: Swansea City 1 Liverpool 2

Cotton is the third high profile person to leave Liverpool in the last four week. Last month the club announced the departures of director of football Damien Comolli and head of sports medicine and sports science Peter Brukner were announced.

Liverpool owners Fenway Sport Group and the club issued a joint statement confirming the long-serving Cotton will leave on Sunday, the final game of the league season, by mutual consent.

“We would like to thank Ian for the important contribution he has made to the club during his long career here,” managing director Ian Ayre said.

“He has played a key role as a member of the executive team in managing our relationships with key external stakeholders in the media and in the community.

“We wish Ian every success in his future career.”

Cotton added:

“It has been a privilege to be at Liverpool FC for the last 16 years.

“I would like to thank everyone I have worked with for all their support during that time and wish this great club all the best for the future.”

My guess is that Cotton is paying the price for Liverpool’s PR blunders this season including how the club handled the Luis Suárez -Patrice Evra racism case.

Players and manager Kenny Dalglish wearing T-shirts in support of Suarez, who was subsequently banned for eight matches, generated a massive amount of negative publicity around the world, and it appears that is what cost Cotton his job.

Liverpool’s No.2 claimed the team owed the supporters a good display in their last home game of 2011-12 and the England man played his part in an outstanding performance.

“After a disappointing result and performance in the final that was exactly what was needed,” said Johnson.

“We wanted to start where we left off in the final and we did that. The lads started well, kept the pressure on and did really well for the full 90 minutes. There was only one team in it.

“We all wanted to give the fans a performance in the last home game. It wouldn’t have been nice to lose the last one. It’s great to finish at home with a win and score a few goals.

“Now we have to try to get another three points at Swansea and try to finish as high as possible. We want to finish seventh and if we beat Swansea we’ve got a chance of doing that.

“I supposed it was typical we played that well tonight.

“Everyone would have preferred this result to come in the final but that’s football.

“If we knew why we played the way we did for the first hour on Saturday we wouldn’t have done it.

“Everyone wanted to play out of their skins in the final.

“No-one wants to go to a final and not perform. The important thing is we bounced back and now we need to push on.

“At times it’s been a frustrating season. Sometimes we haven’t had the rub of the green. We’ve played well and not won at times.

“You have to ride through the bad times and wait for the good times. We’ve got a good win and now we want to keep it going into the start of next season.”

Johnson also had words of encouragement for youngsters Jonjo Shelvey and Jordan Henderson who both netted on the night.

He added: “Jonjo has been waiting for his chance and it was good to see him get a goal.

“Both Jonjo and Jordan did really well in the middle of the park.”