Don't expect Kenny Dalglish to manage the modern footballer - it can't be done

Kenny Dalglish is getting a lot of stick over his unwillingness to criticise Luis Suarez. Maybe Dalglish realises the truth about "managing" top footballers today. The truth is it can't be done. Today's multi-millionaires are not amenable to reason or persuasion, let alone discipline.

This should be even clearer in the same month that Alex Ferguson, arguably the most powerful personality in European football, has let the extravagantly talented youngster Ravel Morrison leave Manchester United because he's come to the conclusion the boy is simply unmanageable.

This should be even more obvious this morning when we read that Roberto Mancini is considering letting Carlos Tevez back into the fold at Manchester City, just a couple of months after saying he would never darken their doors again.

The flavour of the month in management is our own Harry Redknapp who's being lauded for his "putting an arm round the boy" management technique. What this amounts to in practice is getting along with the players who are lucky enough to be in the team and hiding from the players who aren't.

Like all top managers, he only has power once a week when he fills in the team sheet.