The Man United legend who once had an interview to become Liverpool's manager but has since been sacked by a club in League Two
Liverpool have an incredible track record of hiring incredible manager after incredible manager. From Bill Shankly to Bob Paisley to Joe Fagan to Gerard Houllier...
Liverpool have an incredible track record of hiring incredible manager after incredible manager.
From Bill Shankly to Bob Paisley to Joe Fagan to Gerard Houllier to Rafa Benitez to Jurgen Klopp, barring a few exceptions, Liverpool always get their managerial hires right.
Even now, Arne Slot is earning tons of praise for the job he’s doing on Merseyside.
Liverpool wanted Xabi Alonso in the summer too, and he’s also doing an incredible job in Germany.
Of course, there is the odd manager who doesn’t fare so well at Liverpool.
Roy Hodgson was a disaster on Anfield, while Kenny Dalglish’s second spell at the club wasn’t the greatest, with all due respect to King Kenny.
However, before hiring Dalglish in 2011, Liverpool very nearly went down a rather bizarre route.
Indeed, Liverpool interviewed Mark Hughes for the vacant managerial role at Anfield, but, luckily, the Reds went in another direction.
Liverpool interviewed Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes revealed last year on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast that he had an interview for the Liverpool job back in 2011.
The Welshman is a Manchester United legend, so it’s strange that he interviewed to become the Liverpool manager.
That said, Hughes has managed Manchester City in the past, so perhaps he wouldn’t have found a move to Liverpool so strange. Although, Liverpool fans may have felt a certain way about this appointment.
“I once had an interview for the Liverpool job, I don’t think that’s well-documented, but I didn’t get it so that doesn’t really count does it. I think Kenny decided he was going to be a manager again, maybe the choice of candidates wasn’t great. I had a sit down with people at Liverpool, there you go, I think that would’ve been more of a shock than me getting the Man City job,” Hughes said.
How has Mark Hughes fared since Liverpool interview?
It’s interesting that Hughes interviewed to replace Hodgson at Liverpool. After all, only a few months prior he had replaced Hodgson at Fulham.
Hughes’ spell at Fulham was perhaps the final high-point of his managerial career, as his stock has fallen substantially since.
Games Wins Draws Losses Highest finish Fulham 43 14 16 13 8th QPR 34 8 6 20 17th Stoke 200 71 48 81 9th Southampton 27 5 10 12 17th Bradford 82 31 26 25 6th*
Within just over a decade, Hughes as gone from being in the running to managing Liverpool to being sacked by Bradford City, and there aren’t many managers in the game who’ve had that sort of journey.
Ultimately, Liverpool went for Kenny Dalglish, a feel-good appointment that kept the Reds ticking over before getting Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers very nearly won the league with Liverpool, and he laid some brilliant foundations for Jurgen Klopp to take Liverpool to that next level and become European champions once again.
What's Your Reaction?
