Rafa Benitez beware! How Manchester United pushed four Liverpool managers towards the exit door

By Steve Anglesey in Mirror Football Blog

Published 19:25 19/10/09

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Defeat to Manchester United on Sunday might not earn Rafa Benitez the sack - but history shows it could be the beginning of the end for Liverpool's under-fire manager.

Liverpool's last four permanent managers - Gerard Houllier, Roy Evans, Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish - have all left in the aftermath of crucial games against Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

With the Reds struggling for form and striker Fernando Torres struggling for fitness, could there be lessons in history for Benitez from the fate of his predecessors?

MATCH DATE: 25/04/04

MANAGER UNDER PRESSURE: Gerard Houllier. With the Reds no closer to that elusive championship after six years under the Frenchman, rebel shareholder Steve Morgan was among many calling for a change at the top.

WHAT HAPPENED?: United 0-1 Liverpool. Danny Murphy's 63rd minute penalty won a dull game in which United's only real chance fell to Ryan Giggs, whose shot hit both posts and went out to safety. far more interesting was the post-match sight of Sir Alex Ferguson appearing to beg the Liverpool board not to sack his friend Houllier. "Great clubs always come back," said Fergie. "And, given patience, so will Liverpool."

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: Despite a late charge to finish fourth and seal a lucrative Champions League spot, Houllier was sacked exactly one month later with chief executive Rick Parry explaining: "The board decided change was necessary if we were to realistically challenge for the title this season." Valencia manager Rafa Benitez was installed as favourite to take over; second at the bookies was Charlton's Alan Curbishley with Gordon Strachan and Steve McClaren also attracting bets.

MATCH DATE: 24/9/98

MANAGER UNDER PRESSURE: Roy Evans. The writing had been on the wall for Evans ever since Gerard Houllier arrived at Anfield in the summer, ostensibly as a replacement for retired Boot Room head Ronnie Moran. After an away defeat to West Ham and a 3-3 home draw with Charlton, it was growing even clearer.

WHAT HAPPENED?: United 2-0 Liverpool. A routine United win was remarkable for Evans losing his rag with referee Steve Lodge, who had correctly disallowed a Karlheinz Riedele 'equaliser' for offside and for Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-match taunting of Liverpool's United old boy Paul Ince as a "big-time Charlie", a theme taken up during the game by the Stretford End. "Charlie, Charlie, what's the score," they chanted as the Guv'nor scowled.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Defeat sent Liverpool into free-fall. A string of defeats to Leicester, Derby and Tottenham ushered Evans towards a tearful exit within six weeks of the United defeat, with Houllier assuming full control.

MATCH DATE: 4/1/94

MANAGER UNDER PRESSURE: Graeme Souness. Already unpopular on Merseyside for his dismantling of the famous Anfield Boot Room and his decision to sell the story of his heart problems to the Hillsborough-baiting Sun, Souey's run of only two wins in nine league and Cup games had exhausted patience on the Kop and in the boardroom.

WHAT HAPPENED?: Liverpool 3-3 United. Souness was dead and buried after 24 minutes as United romped into a 3-0 lead through Steve Bruce's header, a magnificent Ryan Giggs lob and Denis Irwin's powerful free kick. Then, said Ferguson, "Liverpool went kamikaze". Two Nigel Clough goals made it 2-3 at half-time, then, with 11 minutes left, Neil Ruddock almost knocked himself out with a brave header to equalise and cause delirium inside Anfield. Surely it would all turn round for Liverpool from here?

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: Just three weeks later, the Anfield throng which had hailed Liverpool's rebirth howled their condemnation as Liverpool slumped to a 1-0 FA Cup third round home defeat to a Bristol City side then on the point of parting company with manager Russell Osman. Souness was dismissed the next day.

MATCH DATE: 3/2/91

MANAGER UNDER PRESSURE: Kenny Dalglish. It seemed like business as usual at the start of the 1990-91 season, with Liverpool top of the league from opening day and not even a first defeat of the season, 3-1 at Old Trafford in the League Cup on Halloween, denting the Scousers' sense of invincibility. But a series of uncharacteristic draws, coupled with Dalglish's public falling-out with Kop idol Peter Beardsley, added a rare sense of uncertainty as the New Year came in and Arsenal supplanted Dalglish's side at the summit.

WHAT HAPPENED?: United 1-1 Liverpool. Steve Bruce's penalty put United ahead before new signing David Speedie, just arrived from Coventry as Beardsley's replacement for what was then an outlandish £675,000, knocked in a John Barnes cross which Les Sealey could only tip away. United could have won it at the death when Brian McClair put Lee Sharpe through but Bruce Grobbelaar raced out of his box to palm the ball away, receiving only a yellow card from Ray Lewis, the referee from the aptly-named Surrey town of Great Bookham.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: Taciturn even by his own standards after the game, Dalglish was in fact beginning to struggle with stress caused by a delayed reaction to the Hillsborough disaster and with the demands of renewing a great side quietly slipping into decline. He lasted just three more games as Liverpool manager, quitting 18 days later after a 4-4 Cup derby draw at Goodison.  Two weeks later Dalglish was ready to return "but the phone never rang" and eventually Liverpool turned, disastrously, to Graeme Souness.

AND THE ONE FROM THE OTHER SIDE WHO GOT AWAY...

MATCH DATE: 18/3/90

MANAGER UNDER PRESSURE: Alex Ferguson. The target of terrace abuse from the Stretford End since September's incredible 5-1 derby mauling at Manchester City, Fergie was clinging on by the time Liverpool arrived, with United fifth bottom and only two points clear of the relegation places. He would have gone already had United not scraped into the FA Cup semi-final after narrow wins against Division Two sides Newcastle and Sheffield United.

WHAT HAPPENED?: United 1-2 Liverpool. Two John Barnes goals - one a deft chip of Jim Leighton after a blistering 40-yard run - pushed Fergie closer to the trap door than ever before at an angry Old Trafford, where Liverpool hadn't won in eight years.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: Chairman Martin Edwards stood firm after the game and, despite another defeat at fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday, Ferguson turned things around in April with league wins against Coventry and Southampton. Still, he would almost certainly have been sacked but for two pieces of good fortune in the Cup: Mark Hughes' late leveller in the first semi-final clash with Oldham and then referee Joe Worrall failing to award a goal in the replay when Nick Henry 's early shot crossed the line. United triumphed 2-1 at Maine Road and went on to beat Crystal Palace in the final for their first trophy under Ferguson.