Blackpool manager Ian Holloway hopes that Kenny Dalglish does not tarnish his Liverpool legacy after returning to the club as manager.
The pair go head-to-head on Wednesday night, in Dalglish's first Premier League game in over 12 years following his return to Anfield on Saturday. The Scot enjoyed a trophy-laden spell as a player and manager with the Reds in the 1970s and 80s, but arrives back at a club that has lost its top-four spot and has not won the league for two decades.
And Holloway hopes that his reputation does not suffer as a result, and he said: "I don`t want the fans to ever turn on Kenny. He doesn't deserve that. What Kenny can`t do is carry the can for all this."
He added: "If he was young enough to play he would make a difference, but when you're on the line, sometimes no matter what you say, it doesn`t always have the same effect.
"Look at Alan Shearer at Newcastle. That`s the best example. Luckily the fans still like him."
Holloway also believes that Roy Hodgson, who Dalglish replaced following an unsuccessful six-month stint in charge, was always on the back foot because of Dalglish`s presence as an ambassador for the Reds.
He added: "The whole thing about Liverpool was that Kenny was given the job of finding someone, then said he wanted it himself.
"I`m not sure that it was a good job for anyone else to take after that. Maybe Jose Mourinho could have dealt with it, but I`m not sure about anyone else.
"Has Kenny ever really left? If ever there was a skeleton in the closet, it`s Kenny."
Source: PA
