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Gerrard calls Dalglish critics “ludicrous”

Comment: 0 January 25th, 2012 by: admin

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard dispelled talks that manager Kenny Dalglish should be sacked after their 1-3 defeat against Bolton. He explained the pressure put on the Reds boss as “ludicrous”.

People and pundits are almost in unison in calling the Reds’ current form is abysmal, winning only once in their last six league matches, including the terrible showing at the Reebok Stadium.  Public opinion also suggests that enough breathing space has been given to the Scottish manager.

Though Gerrard agreed that the team’s performance “simply wasn’t good enough”, he maintained the argument that things are only going to get better.

The English international also disagreed with the suggested manager sacking, saying “The few whispers about a change of manager after one defeat are ludicrous to me – it’s absolutely ludicrous and I just take no notice to that at all.”

“Change happens at football clubs year in and year out because everyone is desperate for success,” he continued.

“For me the thing that needs to change is the people who are here need to try and not put in performances like the one against Bolton and get back to the way we’ve been 95% of the time under Kenny which has been very good.”

The midfielder cited that they should get needed results.

“We all know what it’s about at Liverpool. If you get a bad result some people cry out for change but you need to accept that and get on with it. As a group, we need to start turning draws into wins and avoid performances like Bolton. That’s what needs to change.”

The Liverpool captain also came to the defence of the team and insisted that things aren’t completely off-pace. “We’re six points off fourth and there are 16 games left. You’re not telling me that this team and the players we’ve got here are not capable of making that up? The sides we’re competing with aren’t on all out consistent runs, so why isn’t it possible? Why are people crying out for change?”

“At the end of this week we could be going to Wembley, we could be in the fifth round of the FA Cup and six points off fourth. The flip side of that is different but big weeks happen at big football clubs and this is a big week.”

Gerrard then suggested that the squad need to focus on the tasks at hand and disregard the disappointments of the past. With the second leg of their Carling Cup tie against Manchester City on Wednesday, he insisted that they keep focus. “That is the danger – going into the game thinking that we’re 1-0 up and that we need to protect that lead. These are too good an opponent to try and do that against.”

“On their day City are one of the best out there at the moment. But there’s nothing to fear with them,” he explained. “We’ve proven we can beat them. We proved in the first half of the first leg we can be better than them and with our crowd behind us and with such a big prize at stake I’ve got an inner belief and a confidence that we can achieve it.”

Liverpool welcome City at Anfield for the second leg of their Carling Cup tie. They currently hold a 1-0 aggregate lead from an away win courtesy of a Gerrard penalty at Etihad Stadium.

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