Heir to King Kenny aims to conquer in America
HE was once heir to the throne, a prince who played on the royal grounds of Anfield while his father was in residence there. His family name is still enough to stir the masses in the cities of Liverpool and Glasgow, realms in which his dad conquered league titles and domestic trophies and where rest the crown jewels of three European Cups, prizes of his father’s distinguished reign on Merseyside. He is Paul Dalglish, the son of King Kenny.
That title remains unique to a father whose appearances for Scotland number over a hundred, a peerless parent who performed with excellence for Celtic and distinction at Liverpool. The playing career of the younger Dalglish was less vaunted – spells as a youth at each of his father’s clubs would be followed by stints at such as Blackpool, Linfield, Livingston and Hibernian – but it was as a coach that he always wished to follow his father more closely. Now 38, Dalglish is manager at US club Austin Aztex and on a mission to deliver them into the play-offs in the club’s inaugural season in the United Soccer League.
Dalglish took charge at the beginning of the year and describes the process of constructing a new squad as “a journey”, one which has led him to within four points of the play-off places ahead of a match with Real Monarchs today.
His father has acted as a guide along the way and their connection can now only be broken by a poor mobile signal. “He seems to call me more now than he ever did,” says Paul, who has lived in the US for the past six years.
He was born in Glasgow but speaks with the accent of one whose formative years were spent in Liverpool. Dalglish would later pursue a private education at Blackburn, studying the coaching practices of his father as he brought the Premier League title to Ewood Park in 1995. Kenny Dalglish is thought to be the finest footballer Scotland has ever produced but he was also the best role model for a teenage son dedicated to one day becoming a manager.
“When I was younger and people were playing video games, I was always more of a Championship Manager guy than a FIFA guy,” says Dalglish. “I’ve always enjoyed the coaching side more and I suppose a reason for that could be that I always remember my dad more as a manager than a player.
“When I was young and he was player-manager at Liverpool I would go and kick the ball about during the warm up then wait for him to finish. It was more his time at Blackburn I remember because I was a teenager. There were always conversations about what he was doing – I used to irritate my dad by asking him why he did this, why he did that, what the reason was for that, why he never did this . . . it drove him insane because he would get home to try and get a rest. I was just inquisitive and tried to learn from him, even at a young age.”
Those early lessons have since been refined by practical experience as an assistant at Major League Soccer sides Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake, while Dalglish was also in charge at FC Tampa Bay before returning to Texas to manage the Aztex. “We’re doing how most expansive teams do in year one; we’ve had good games and bad games,” he says. “Everything is new. It really is a two- to three-year project to put a team together. Luckily for me the owners understand that.”
They will accept too that an impressive debut season in the USL might also make Dalglish a target for bigger franchises, with the Scot understood to have ambitions of managing in MLS. America continues to promise career satisfaction even though his arrival in the country – signing as a player for Houston Dynamo nine years ago – took him out of his comfort zone.
“Back then I was part of a really good Hibs team. I loved living in Edinburgh,” says Dalglish. “It was just a chance phone call from an agent who asked if I would be interested in going to the Houston Dynamo. Since then I’ve loved every minute of it.”
In US soccer, it seems, he has found a kingdom of his own.