A Look At: Dynasty by Paul Tomkins

Yesterday I reviewed Paul Tomkins' latest book Dynasty which, in case you missed it, I wholeheartedly recommend. Here's a brief-ish chat that I had with Paul about this book and Liverpool's current situation.

How did the idea of the book come about?
I was getting sick of the notion that everything in the club’s history was perfect, and Benítez could do no right in some people’s eyes. Liverpool FC has such a wonderful past, but it is often used against the men of the present. At times people talk about the great old teams as if they never lost, or even drew games. That doesn’t help anyone, as it’s patently untrue. They sometimes lost to poor teams at home or lower league sides in the cups, and in 1984 won the league when failing to win almost half their games. It was three points for a win, and yet the win-rate was below what Benítez has delivered.

I wanted to try and write a definitive history of the last 50 years in terms of the club’s managers, looking at every relevant aspect I could think of, to make it as fair as possible. I wanted to celebrate the genius of Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish, and herald their strengths, but also point out that they also bought some crap players, and lost plenty of games. I also wanted to try and find some good things to say about the less-popular managers, including Souness, even if the overall story was one of failure.

So I wanted to try and create a level playing field to judge all the managers. Much of the effort went into finding out how strong the rivals of the day were, and devising a way to judge each manager’s spending, so that valid comparisons could be made with other Liverpool managers and also with the spending of the clubs of that era.


There was a bit of controversy early on with the book and the official site. What was all that about?
Someone at the club felt there was criticism of the owners and the current manager. They then told the official website that no mention of the book could be made, when my agreement to write for them was based on the fact that they didn’t really pay me – although in 2007, after two years unpaid, I started getting a small monthly fee – but that they would help promote my books, to help me make a living.

So I’d just finished this book, only to be told that all mention of it had been banned. Naturally I was distressed, particularly as I’d worded the book carefully. As far as I was concerned I merely reported the events of the fallout behind the scenes in 2007 as they appeared in the press, based on the statements of those concerned. It was all 100% factual. Anyway, the people at the website were very supportive and argued my case, and the ban was overturned.

How much research went into the book?
A lot! I think that much is clear from reading it. One of the nicest reactions to the book has been how many older match-going fans have emailed me to say that they loved it, and were surprised at how much they learned from it. I learned a lot researching it, and I think that comes through.

What brought about the idea of the panel?
A key part of the book was determining the quality and contribution of each player over the past 50 years, whether to judge a manager’s signings or to work out the strength of the squad he inherited. So I decided to assemble a Brains Trust of experts, supplemented by a cross-section of longstanding fans, to get a truer picture, rather than rely on just my own opinion. A consensus would always be better.

Vic Gill – Bill Shankly’s son-in-law who was on the club’s books from 1957-1962 – had been a fan of my writing for a while, and had contacted me a couple of years back to let me know. So he was an obvious person to ask. Some of the others, such as Brian Reade and Oliver Kay, I’d exchanged emails with about the Reds, while everyone else had contacted me at one point or another. When you get people in their 80s, who first went to a game 62 years ago, contacting you to say they like your stuff, it seems absurd to not invite their views on the past 50 years. I think it’s a great panel of people, with most having been fans for a long time, and I’m grateful for their contribution.

Are you happy with the end result?
Very much so. You can always look back and think of things you could have added, or done differently, or more research you might have uncovered, because you cannot cover every aspect of 50 years in 256 pages, but overall I believe it to be my best book by some distance. The feedback has been incredible. I’m usually sick to death of a book by the time it hits the shops, having lived with it for months on end and read and reread it eternally, but Dynasty is different. I’m very proud of it.

Is it fair to judge Benitez seeing that his is still a work in progress?
Dynasty puts into context what he’s achieved so far, but as I point out in the book, opinion on what he’s doing will change if he brings league success, or if it falls away badly like it did under Houllier after his first four years. I make it clear that he can only be judged at the time of going to print, and that it is therefore not definitive in terms of a final analysis. But as it’s a book on the past 50 years, you clearly he’s been part of that.

I also made it very clear that the perceptions of his signings would change in time. Martin Skrtel’s form this season would mean he would now be rated higher. Nabil El Zhar has moved from being seen as a total irrelevance to a tidy little squad player. Lucas, however, looks less assured than last term, but of course, could still come good.

There is occasionally a comparison between Benitez and Shankly: do you think that this stands?
There are a number of similarities and parallels outlined in the book. But also, of course, there are a number of differences. Also, clearly Benítez isn’t yet proven to Shankly’s level at the club.

In terms of personality, they’re miles apart, but some of their philosophies are similar. For example, a player’s character was crucial for both men when making a signing. I can see Shankly loving someone like Dirk Kuyt, and not touching El Hadji Diouf with a barge-pole. Shankly said he let talented trainees go if they didn’t sweep the floor properly, but those kids who put their all into it got contracts. I think Benítez has put a lot of that work ethic and pride back into the club.

Both managers also signed a pretty equal mixture of successes and failures, but the ones they got right were massively influential, and that’s always the key thing. But of course, it’s a different era now, with very different challenges, and that is also outlined in the book.

Reading through the book I realized how few players have come through the youth system yet Benitez keeps getting blamed for not giving young players a chance. Is such criticism fair?
I believe that if young players are good enough, they will play. Of course, initially it’s catch-22, because to be good enough they usually need experience, and those same fans will not have the patience for a rookie to find his feet if it means risking losing games. These days that experience has to be on loan. But too many Liverpool players have failed when out at lower league clubs, and that suggests they weren’t ready even for those teams, let alone Liverpool. Equally, Danny Guthrie aside, none of the youngsters let go are undoubtedly good enough to be in the Premiership, let alone the top four. Mellor, Welsh, Potter, Otemobor, Partridge: none have pulled up any trees.

Someone like Paul Anderson did very well in League One, now he has to prove he can cut it in the Championship. If he improves, he has a chance. Ditto Jack Hobbs. Nemeth was knocking on the door, but has been injured all season.

Also, it’s hardly like the Reds have let the next Wayne Rooney go from the Academy in order to accommodate Robbie Keane. Also, there are more world-class foreigners in the league now, so home-grown players need to be that much better. It’s the same at Chelsea and United. Their best youngsters now tend to be foreigners, and even they don’t play that often.

The other thing is that Benítez has bought a lot of young first-team players who are already internationals, and in some cases world-class stars: Torres, Mascherano, Agger, Skrtel, Reina, Babel and Alonso, plus Sissoko, were all 20-23 when signed. So it’s harder to put in teenagers when the core of the team is already pretty young to start with. Most weeks, Liverpool only have a three players over the age of 26 in the team, with Carragher, at 30, the oldest.

Overall, how do you judge Benitez's buys?
Overall, he’s spent his money very wisely, particularly as he can’t buy lots of £20-£30m players like his two main rivals. Every manager signs duds, but his ricks have mostly been inexpensive and quickly shipped out. In real terms, as is calculated in the book, he’s spent the least money per-player of any Liverpool manager on his first-team squad. He’s not even come close to breaking the British transfer record, while someone like Souness not only did so, but bought several other players who were almost as expensive. In today’s money, Paul Stewart cost £22m!

I would rate Torres, Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Mascherano and Alonso as players who would have not looked out of place in even the very best Liverpool sides. Riera and Babel have the potential to join that list, and in time others might too. As with Wenger at Arsenal, it’s the great ones that are remembered, and the chaff gets forgotten. At least they do in Wenger’s case!

Then there’s the fact that players like Crouch and Sissoko had excellent seasons early on in their time at the club, and were then sold for a profit after they lost form or fell down the pecking order – that’s unheard of at Liverpool in recent decades, with unwanted players usually leaving for a big loss. Add players like Bellamy and Carson, and you have a manager selling for profit in order to raise his own funds to reinvest in better players. When Sissoko lost his way, he was sold an it helped the club afford Mascherano. So that is good trading-up.

Finally, if you look at how we was denied the chance to sign players like Simao and Alves because of the money involved – which wasn’t even massive figures – and how well they’ve flourished since moving for even bigger fees, you can see that his judgement is generally excellent. Put those two into the current side, and it would be very interesting.

Finally, what are your plans for the future?
The books sell well for the genre, but as any sports author will tell you, bar the biographies of the big stars, they are not very profitable. And as it’s almost my only source of income, I have to keep thinking of new ideas, hence also selling another new book, Compendium, via my website.

I’d like to take time off and have a rest, but my plans to do so usually end up in tatters as I have to get working on promoting the current book, or thinking about the next one. I know for sure that I cannot maintain this pace of output, so something has to give. If the credit crunch hits the Christmas book market, I’m stuffed. The long term aim has to be to get well enough to get more paid, regular writing work. Of course, a 19th league title would be an excellent excuse to pen the next book.

Read my review of Dynasty here.

Further book reviews can be found here.