Keegan on Kenny, Luis and Andy
Kevin Keegan is confident the confirmation of Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool's long-term boss will see the club return to the principles that served it so well during the halcyon days of the 70s and 80s.
The Reds legend reckons the successor to his famous No.7 shirt is the ideal man to get the club back on track and feels he has all the attributes to follow in the footsteps of the most iconic figure in our history.
"With Kenny, Liverpool now has a chance to get back to what it was," said Keegan.
"It is a unique club, and you need people who know the club.
"For Roy Hodgson (Dalglish's predecessor at Anfield) it was difficult; he thought he knew the club, but I'm talking about the city, the fans, the people. And Kenny knows that. He has managed, he has played, he has been through some really good times and some really bad times as well.
"Now, though, he has the chance to lay the foundations, like Shanks did for Bob Paisley. Bob, by his own admission, didn't need to do all that much after Bill left, except let the ship sail on.
"He made some good signings yes, but he had the same backroom staff with Ronnie Moran and Joe Fagan, the same chief scout in Geoff Twentyman. So the nucleus of the club was still there, and I think you see a bit of that now with Kenny and (assistant manager) Sammy Lee. The club has continuity, which is important."
Meanwhile, Keegan has joined the growing list of admirers to heap praise upon the latest No.7 to emerge as a Kop hero.
Luis Suarez has made a stunning start to life at Anfield and is already earning rave reviews for his performances from both fans and players alike.
Keegan admits he has been amazed at how well the Uruguayan has adapted to English football - but refuses to accept there are similarities with his own Reds career.
"Suarez has done better so far than I thought he would, and quicker than I thought," added Keegan.
"He has been very good, and settled very quickly.
"The comparison with myself comes up a lot, but I think he's a different player to me. I can't see him getting a lot of headed goals, as I did, for example, but I can see him scoring more spectacular goals than I did.
"He uses space differently to me. I would see the touchline as my enemy, he sees it as his friend. So he's very different to me.
"Sure you can compare myself and Toshy to Suarez and Carroll, because one is a good header of the ball and the other is a bit nippy, but there is a bit of a difference.
"I think Liverpool paid £110,000 for Toshy (from Cardiff City) and they paid £35,000 for me, so it is a bit different. And I didn't come from Ajax, or from another big Barclays Premier League club. I came from Scunthorpe. I hadn't been near an England set-up when I arrived at Liverpool in 1971, and I wouldn't do so for another year afterwards.
"Suarez has played in the World Cup and the Champions League, so he is coming in as an established player. When I arrived, nobody knew me. I couldn't even get into the game for my first match at Anfield, the security guard didn't believe me when I said I was playing!"
Liverpool fans aren't alone in relishing the thought of Suarez and Carroll in tandem on a regular basis next season.
Keegan knows all about the Reds' record signing from his time at Newcastle and has high hopes that he will prove to be a big hit on Merseyside.
"I did a lot of work with Andy at Newcastle," he said. "He is certainly the best header of a ball I've ever seen, and I don't say that lightly. But he is more than that.
"He is left-footed, which helps him I think. Defenders are used to right-footed centre-forwards, there are not many out and out centre-forwards who are left-footed, so it gives him an advantage I think.
"He has got a lot of courage and determination. He is still young, so he doesn't have that many cuts and bruises.
"Next year will be a big, big test for Andy. He is now at a big club with massive expectation, and he hasn't had that before, even at Newcastle. He is still young, he is still very inexperienced, so next year will be a very big test.
"He is nowhere near the finished article yet, and he'd be the first to admit that, but he has got the attributes to be, that's for sure."
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