Beardsley backs job contender

The following story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club:

Liverpool legend Peter Beardsley is confident Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will stay with the club if Kenny Dalglish is re-appointed as manager.

The two players' futures with the Merseyside outfit are uncertain after a hugely disappointing 2009-10 season at Anfield and boss Rafael Benitez's departure by mutual consent earlier this month.

Dalglish - who is widely regarded as Liverpool's greatest ever player and enjoyed a successful spell in charge from 1985 to 1991 - is believed to be interested in succeeding Benitez, and Beardsley feels the Scot's return to the helm would be enough to persuade Gerrard and Torres to stay.

"I'm not saying he would be a massive success straight away because there are a lot of problems at Liverpool," Beardsley said.

"They are not Kenny's problems but they need to be resolved - the Steven Gerrard issue, the Fernando Torres issue - and I think you would have more chance of keeping those players if you had a hero like Kenny in charge of the team.

"You look at Torres and he probably came to Liverpool on the strength of watching Dalglish as a player, and Gerrard grew up watching that team.

"So I would think you'd have no problem keeping both of them if Kenny Dalglish was your manager."

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is another name being strongly linked with the post, but Beardsley - who played for Liverpool between 1987 and 1991 - has no doubts that Dalglish is the man for the job.

"Roy Hodgson is obviously a great manager and has proved that with Fulham and all over the world, but I wouldn't look further than Kenny," said Beardsley.

"I played for four years under Kenny and won the league twice and the FA Cup. He gave me his number seven shirt and to wear it for Liverpool was special.

"We were not able to play in Europe in those days, so what he did in my time at the club, and winning the double before I even arrived, was sensational.

"I can't speak for the people of Liverpool but I know the fans would love him and when I look at him, his football knowledge and his football mentality, he loves the game.

"What he means to Liverpool is sensational and I would have no qualms about giving him the job."

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.