...checking out the "Which manager makes sense for Liverpool?" sticky thread on the RAWK board. It includes in-depth looks at AVB and Martinez. Reading those, I get the feeling that either could be a very good choice for LFC, although I lean toward AVB because, as I've said before, he is higher-profile. But, if we were to get a big-name DoF (or whatever they're calling it now) with lots of experience -- like Begiristain -- to provide counsel on a daily basis, someone like Martinez might not be out of his depth.
I'm of two minds about Kenny. First of all, even though I'm not a long-time Liverpool supporter, it didn't take much study of our history to realize that he is one of those rarest of things nowadays: a true hero in the sporting world, one who basically embodies what is noble about human character. Because of this, I would have been inclined to cut him a lot more slack than I would anyone else. But, by the same token, if it had been someone else who had come in this season and produced similar results, I don't think I'd be shedding a tear about them being relieved of their duties. The big problem I saw was that, strangely, while Kenny seemed to adapt to the modern game and come up with some good tactical ideas in his first half-season, this year, he turned strangely conservative, running out the same 4-4-2 and not really having anything imaginative in the way of tactics. Certainly, there was nothing like Martinez's switch to a 3-4-3, which may have saved Wigan's EPL status. I know that personnel issues (particularly the injury to Lucas, as well as the thinness of the squad) tied Kenny's hands somewhat, but what I suspect the owners saw was someone who the modern game had passed by.
My big gripe is that I wish the owners had given Kenny another season, so that, if the problems continued, he himself would have seen that it was time to move upstairs, and everything could have been handled much more amicably. Instead, by letting him go when he still clearly thought he deserved more time, we wound up with a situation where our most famous figure is now completely cut-off from the club to whom he was so devoted. That's the sort of situation that will fester with the supporters (as virtually every thread on the subject on RAWK and several other LFC boards demonstrates), and that threatens to undermine support for the club. As I said before, can you imagine what might happen if we bring in Martinez or AVB and get off to a slow start? If, by the time the new year rolls around, we are somewhere below 8th? How many disappointing home showings will it take before we start hearing the chants of "Dalglish!" from the Kop?