Becoming Liverpool manager was a surprise. I loved that camaraderie in the dressing room - but suddenly, you become the manager and feel things clam up when you enter the room' Kenny Dalglish on becoming Liverpool boss

"who took over the Liverpool job as a 34-year-old in 1985 after Joe Fagan resigned following the Heysel Stadium disaster. Well, it was a surprise, Dalglish recalls to FourFourTwo. The way that I saw it, I was just going to give my best, and if my best transpired not to be good enough, then I'd hold my hands up and say, This isn't for me it's not fair on the club, so get somebody else in.'"

"Dalglish felt forced to create clearer boundaries with his players. One of my favourite things about being a footballer was that camaraderie in the dressing room, he explains. But suddenly, you become the manager and feel things clam up when you enter the room. If they were in there having a laugh and a joke when I walked in, I'd show them"

The player-manager role was common in the 1980s and 1990s but is rare today due to modern club structures. Kenny Dalglish became Liverpool player-manager at 34 in 1985 after Joe Fagan resigned following the Heysel Stadium disaster. He initially hesitated to pick himself, starting only two of the opening eight league games. He struggled with transitioning from teammate to manager, finding team selection and leaving friends out emotionally difficult. Dalglish established clearer boundaries to assert authority and noticed the dressing-room camaraderie change, deliberately projecting managerial presence to maintain discipline while still performing on the pitch.

Read at www.fourfourtwo.com