Shankly, Paisley, Fagin or Dalgleish. Who is/was Liverpool's greatest ever manager?

Question

I know who I think it was.

However, I'm not saying because I don't want to influence the forum. This is not a trick question from a United fan baiting you. I want to hear you construct a case for why you think your choice was the best.

Please submit your views.

Answer 1

Bill Shankley.

Although Paisley was brilliant, Shankley laid the foundations for it all.  He dragged Liverpool out of then second division obscurity to winning European trophies.  He retired prematurely before he had the chance to win the European cup.

However Paisley was his understudy for years; and he learnt well from the master.

All were good, but they built on the first mans foundations.

Answer 2

Shankly by a country mile!

Answer 3

Bob Paisley and Shanks = 2 of the best ever

I hope Dalglish will be!

He is not our king Kenny for nothing!!

Answer 4

I am an Evertonian and have many mates who are reds as well as blues and have discussed this numerous times. I once had an argument with my Dad who insists it was Shankly, but if you look at his trophy haul it was no more impressive than Matt Busby or Harry Catterick. In the first 4 years after the 60s Shankly won a further title, UEFA Cup and F.A. Cup, which takes him slightly above Catterick but not Busby. The difference in my opinion is that Liverpool were blessed with a board of directors who had vision and recognised the need to keep the momentum going when Shankly went, whereas Everton had a complacent board without that vision who did not plan for when Catterick moved on (he was an excellent manager - just compare his record with anyone else's at the same time) and they failed to capitalise on a young team that won the league in 1970 and could have dominated English football for years - it actually fell apart for Everton before Catterick left because for the last couple of years he was very ill. Utd made the awful mistake of moving Busby upstairs so subsequent managers always had his shadow hanging over them - reading Bobby Charlton's autobiography made this clear to me, whereas when Shankly left Liverpool he was made unwelcome there, which prevented Paisley having to work in his shadow - ruthless, but it certainly helped pay dividends.

Paisley then took over and his trophy haul well and truly eclipsed that of Shankly. Only Sir Alex Ferguson can compare with Paisley in terms of successful outcomes for his club, and therefore it is arguable Paisley is LFC's greatest manager. However, Shankly laid a great foundation and who knows if Paisley would have had the success he did without that - probably not.

The difference for me though is that whilst Shankly was undoubtedly a brilliant manager (but that brilliance was exaggerated by his wit and extrovert nature in my humble view) several other clubs have had managers with success comparable to Shankly, e.g. Everton and Man Utd in the 60s, and even Leeds with Don Revie - and don't forget Cloughie at Forest, but none of that continued when they left - with LFC it not only continued, but increased and became almost non-stop under Paisley. Whilst I believe the directors play a part, i.e. having a succession plan, it also needs the right man and in Paisley Liverpool had someone who did what no other manager could do, that is use the profile and success generated by his predecessor as a platform for success no-one would dare predict - I remember my Dad saying when Paisley took over that he was on a hiding to nothing, but in terms of success he left Shankly in the shade.

Whilst I recognise Shankly was the catalyst for Liverpol having almost 30 years of success, which would not have happened without him - if only he had stayed at Huddersfield - the bulk of that was the 8 year period from 1976 to 1984 and down to Paisley - when he left the success continued, but it became diluted and eventually petered out - they only won a further 3 titles and since 1990 they have only won a few cups and for a club with their previous success they have under-achiveved since - I know Fagan won the Euro Cup, and Dalglish won 3 titles, but they were in Paisley's wake so don't even enter the equation for me.

A difficult choice, Shankly transformed them from second division strugglers (if only I could turn back time and stop him getting to the interview), but for me it has to be Paisley because he did what no-one else has done anywhere and that resulted in an awesome collection of trophies over a relatively short period of time. They say you should never follow a star, but Paisley is one of the few people who ever did and came out with people wondering if he was actually better than the star he followed. That makes him by far the better manager for me. However, I understand that sentimentally, given the Scottish one's sharp wit and charisma, and his time at LFC happened to coincide with the 60s spotlight on Liverpool - Beatles etc, how people have more affection for him.

Answer 5

Bob Paisley

Why that great man was never given a knighthood is a disgrace!

Answer 6

prob paisley, don't rate dalglish as a manager at all, he inherited a top class team, allowed it to grow old and bought rubbish in the end, when he left he knew it was a sinking ship, jimmy carter, david speedy, and ronnie rozenthal, he also had the help of paisley as asst man for first 2 years

Answer 7

Paisley was hugely successful, but for me it would have to be Shankly, his one liners are legend  and he liked Catweasle!  

Answer 8

I heard it was shankly. My mates always going on about him and how he "Brought us up and kept us up".

Answer 9

Fat Raf.

Answer 10

4 intelligent Managers who know and love the game inside out.  Shankly built it Paisley dominated it Fagan and Dalgaleish just continued where Paisley left of.   So i think this order is Justified.

Answer 11

they were all great managers in there own right, and would not want to say really, but if pushed then paisley would be my choice.

Answer 12

MY PERSONAL CHOICE WOULD BE WHOEVER BRINGS THE CLUB TO ITS KNEES AND TEACHESS SOME OF THE IGNORANT b******s WHO SUPPORT THE CLUB SOME FECKING MANNERS. especially the kids on here who support liverpool, they are a vile bunch, led by the biggest kid of all uranobhead bellend *********** wankdog, have i made my point ?

Answer 13

bill shankley...................................

started something everybody else will never finish

Answer 14

i am who i am he who shall not be named has appeared sooner than i thought  i thought he that shall not be named would only appear if united beat us but he who shall not be named has spit his dummy out and has appeared

Answer 15

Im an Everton fan and can tell you without hesitation your best was Shankly.  He's got a bloody statue for craps sake....

Answer 16

bill shankly hands down.  he took liverpool from 2nd division obscurity to league champions and laid the foundations for paisley's remarkable success.  the word legend is thrown around far too casually these days.  it should be reserved for a select few, like shankly

i see mr irony giggs has forgot to take his maturity medication again.  he should try yoga or meditation or camomile tea lol

Answer 17

as a utd fan i think shankly was the best of those because he built the foundation to achieve what they did but my personal favorite liverpool manager is between roy not a clue evans and graeme sourness