Dalglish happy with owners

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has praised the owners of the club, the Fenway Sports Group, for their continued support and investment in the club.

The owners provided ample funds and brought stability to the club, something that was well received by the club's employees and fans alike.

Saturday will mark the first anniversary of the purchase of the club, and Dalglish believes that the principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner have conducted themselves admirably.

"The greatest compliment I can pay to them is that they're as good as the people who ran the club the first time I was here," said Dalglish.

"That's a hell of a statement because the people who ran the club then, Sir John Smith and Peter Robinson, were two of the best any football club could ever have had.

"John, Tom Werner and the rest of the investors that have supported this football club have been absolutely fantastic.

"Since I came in January they've been nothing but supportive towards what we have to do.

"I am only looking at the football side. There will be other areas of the club where other people are better placed to answer questions about that.

"But as a manager everything you look to find in a good owner they have.

"They have been fantastically supportive, honourable, honest and respectful - everything that you would want - and we are very fortunate to have them."

Managing director Ian Ayre also had a few words to say regarding how he felt FSG had rescued Liverpool.

"You don't want to remember back to a year ago because it was such a difficult time and we have been through a lot of very stressful processes," Ayre told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"What is more pleasing is that you wake up and realise just how far we have come since that day when we came through the courts to sell the club.

"Administration was a very real threat and it was widely publicised at the time RBS had that option.

"For all of the negativity that people put around them at the time they were incredibly supportive to the club because they didn't take the club down into administration, which was the last-ditch solution.

"Fortunately we found a solution just in time."

"The appointment of Kenny was a transformation," he added.

"Even post-sale we were still spinning and in a bit of turmoil.

"We had new owners trying to understand the business and the decision to appoint Kenny gave everyone a reason to stop spinning and focus on something.

"He being the person he is and the history he has with this club he was probably the only person that could have done that.

"It was a fantastic thing to do and I think it was the catalyst for everything.

"The owners have made a significant investment on the pitch and also off the pitch.

"There has been a lot of hard work and change and it is starting to pay off as there is optimism around the club, the training ground and the academy.

"Across the board it is heading in an upwards direction."