embraced authenticity more than its precursors. It used real 
footballers and underlined the 
cynicism that separates professionals from dreamers, none more so than the scene where its hero has a wasted trial with Newcastle United.

Against the backdrop of a typical Geordie winter, young Santi Muniz, a kid from Los Angeles, flounders in the rain, much to the amusement of Alan Shearer and co. When he finally conjures up an impressive overhead kick, the camera pans to the Newcastle manager, who has his head turned away from the action, taking a call on his mobile phone.

Football was ever thus. An entire career, or lack of one, can depend on a twist of fate. Or, a manager taking a shine to you. Paul Dalglish will be in that very role next week, assessing youngsters eager to catch his eye, but you can be sure that – unlike the fictional Newcastle boss – the Scot will not be distracted.

The analogy with Goal! is apt. Dalglish was one of the many professionals who filled its scenes. He was cast as a Newcastle player, something he did in real life, of course. The film was made during Dalglish’s sabbatical from football, just before Paul Lambert and Tony Mowbray rekindled his love for the game by recruiting him to Livingston and then Hibernian.

Now, the roles are reversed. The man who was simply an extra on ‘Goal!’ is the director of his own production. The 32-year-old has given up playing and is embarking on his first job as a manager, at Tampa Bay Rowdies in the United States. This week, Dalglish will be back in 
Liverpool – the city where everyone knows his name – trying to find new talent to take back to Florida. In the company of his father, Kenny, he will be auditioning
hopefuls at Liverpool FC’s academy.

Dalglish knew what it was like to end up on the cutting room floor as a player. He had 13 teams, following his initiation at Celtic, and has a far greater insight into the uncertain world of trials than his legendary father: there is no way 102 Scotland caps and four European Cups with Liverpool can create the sort of empathy that Dalglish junior will have with those nervous rookies.

“Judging by the response we have had to the trial in Liverpool, the desire to play in America is incredible and it will be tough to tell some lads no,” says Dalglish. “This is not even the MLS. Tampa Bay are the level below that. Not all footballers are simply about money. Some just want to experience the US and play in the sunshine, which we have plenty of in Florida. People get fed up with the weather back home.”

Dalglish sought a lifestyle change when he left Hibs in August 2006 to join Houston Dynamo. He helped them win the MLS Cup and met his future wife there, so it was understandable that – after a brief spell with Kilmarnock in 2008 – he returned to Texas and began coaching at Dynamo’s youth academy, setting in motion his move into management.

“At Kilmarnock, I could barely run,” Paul recalls. “The tendon had come away from the pubic bone and I was told that surgery was not an option, only two years of rest. I had broken my ankle when I played for Houston and that started my problems. I was training and grinding out games, but I was not enjoying it. However, I love coaching. It gave me a new lease of life, and I don’t miss playing.”

Fittingly, for someone with a famous name but looking to reinvent himself in a fresh venture, Tampa Bay Rowdies came along. The Rowdies were co-stars to Pele’s New York Cosmos when soccer swept the US in the 1970s with the North American Soccer League (NASL), luring notables like Rodney Marsh. They packed up in 1993 but were reformed in 2008 to play in the USL first division, the tier below the MLS.

However, last month the Rowdies announced they would be co-founders of a new NASL, drawing sides from Canada to Puerto Rico. They also hired Dalglish as their new coach, a decision that was prompted more by his MLS background than his family one.

“I have seen all of the Rowdies’ games from last season on DVD,” says Dalglish. “In fact, I have probably watched about 100 games from the USL since I have been here and played against their teams in friendlies while I was at Houston. I know the players here and the type of football they play. The game in the US is less direct than in Britain. You have to keep the ball better, mostly because of the humidity – and sometimes altitude – that the MLS play in during a summer here. It’s easier to chase the ball in 
Scotland because it is colder.”

Dalglish is not disowning his Glasgow origins any more than his name, but the world has changed a lot since his dad packed five-month-old Paul into a car and swapped Celtic for Liverpool in July 1977. Kenny is indisputably homespun, whereas his son has wider horizons – but the goal is the same.

“I should know about managers – I have had enough in my time,” laughed Paul. “I had a lot of negative coaching from sergeant-major types, who only tell you what you do wrong. But society has changed and so have footballers. I have studied sports psychology and will use that. Players do not have to like you but they have to perform for you.

“I am not going to get into the debate about the ‘old school’ and ‘new school’ of football managers. What worked yesterday might not work today. If you look at the top clubs around the world, only Sir Alex Ferguson still has that character. I had people like Tommy Burns, who was my first boss at Celtic and my reserve coach at Newcastle – he treated everyone with such humanity that they felt special.

“At Hibs, I had Tony Mowbray, who was brilliant with the players. The way you deal with people is important. Confidence is everything in football. It can take you to the top – and if you don’t have it, it can take an international
player to the lower leagues in a few years. I have seen it and I want to fill my players with confidence.

“I will have far more confidence in myself as a manager than I ever did as a player. I was OK as a player, no more. I knew that I would never play in the Champions League with Liverpool. But in management, I honestly believe I can achieve something special.”

Tampa Bay Rowdies are not quite Liverpool or Celtic when it comes to history, but in US soccer they have a pedigree to live up to. Dalglish is not worried. “Of course the Rowdies have a great reputation but living up to the past is nothing new to me,” he says. “I grew up with an icon as my dad. All my life I have had to live up to a name.

“I speak to my dad every day and he has given me great advice. He has helped me with the trials at Liverpool’s academy. He would not be worried if I became a better manager – just as long as I didn’t beat him at golf.”