‘Shock’… 60-year-old British manager now says he surprisingly almost got the Liverpool job

Add as preferred source on Google

Before Jurgen Klopp came to Liverpool, the Reds couldn’t settle on a manager.

Rafa Benitez had a decent stint at Anfield, but after Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers all came and went within a short spell, Liverpool easily could’ve fallen into the trap of changing their manager every 18 months a la Manchester United.

Luckily, Liverpool got it right in the end with Klopp, but in the early 2010s, they explored some rather strange options.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Mark Hughes has now shared that he interviewed for the Liverpool job before the Reds ultimately brought Kenny Dalglish back for a second spell at the club.

Hughes almost got the Liverpool job

The 60-year-old shared how he almost became the manager of Liverpool.

“Is there a managerial job that you almost took that nobody knows about?” Hughes was asked.

“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.

Wouldn’t have gone down well

Mark Hughes was a decent manager in his time, but he would’ve been set up to fail at Anfield from day one.

Think about it, Liverpool would’ve just sacked Roy Hodgson, could you imagine if they then went and hired another Fulham manager just months after taking Hodgson from Craven Cottage.

The Reds needed a bigger name and someone the fans and players could trust and respect, and while it didn’t necessarily work out too well at the time, Kenny Dalglish was that figure and ultimately a better option than Hughes at the time.

Factor in that Hughes is also a Manchester United legend and a former Everton player and this appointment probably wouldn’t have gone down well at Anfield.