Dynamo's Dalglish rediscovers his self-belief

FRISCO, Texas -- When you ask Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear about forward Paul Dalglish, the first thing he says is, "Paul gives us something different." Given the soccer odyssey that has characterized Dalglish's career, it's clear the Dynamo have given the same thing to the well-traveled Scot, both on and off the field.

Since arriving from Scottish side Hibernian in August, Dalglish's pace and darting runs have proved to be the perfect compliment to target man Brian Ching. Dalglish's mobility has also had the added benefit of creating space for midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, allowing the Canadian to make the late forays into the box that have long been his specialty.

But a forward's most obvious impact can be viewed on the scoreboard, and Dalglish's influence has been felt there as well. Since his arrival, Dalglish has tallied four times in nine appearances, including two goals in last week's 3-1 victory over Colorado that secured Houston's place in Sunday's MLS Cup final (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) against the New England Revolution.

To say that success has been slow to come for the Houston forward is like saying Jason took a few detours on The Argo. The son of Scottish legend Kenny Dalglish, the younger Dalglish's every move was watched with microscopic scrutiny, and with predictable results. It didn't matter how well young Paul played. It was never going to measure up to the exploits of "King Kenny," who won numerous honors with both Celtic and Liverpool, and made 102 international appearances for Scotland.

"Back home, Kenny Dalglish means to us what Michael Jordan does to [an American]," said Houston's Scottish assistant coach, John Spencer. "I think, inevitably, people are going to look at [Paul] and say, 'Well, his father would have done this or that.' Well, you know what? His father was one of the best ever to play the game, so people are always going to come up with those criticisms."

For Dalglish, that fact didn't make it any easier to ignore such comments.

"It was quite annoying," Dalglish said. "But it was something I had to deal with when I was growing up over there."

Dalglish began his youth career in the mid-90s at Scottish powerhouse Celtic, before moving on to Liverpool and eventually Newcastle United, where his father was the manager. But in 1998, the elder Dalglish was fired and replaced by Dutchman Ruud Gullit, who made it clear to the son that his services would not be needed. Paul Dalglish contends that the reasons for his ousting had nothing to do with soccer, and were entirely personal.

"Gullit fell out with my dad and told me that I was never going to play for Newcastle again," said Dalglish. "That was when my head started going down with [soccer]. I lost my confidence. [Soccer] was my love. Until that stuff happened with Gullit, it was something that I just enjoyed doing every day. He took the enjoyment of it away from me."

Dalglish's slide down the levels of the English League coincided with that loss of self-belief. Starting in 1999, Dalglish made stops with Norwich City, Wigan, Blackpool, and finally a loan spell in 2003 with Scunthorpe United, who at the time resided in the fourth tier of English soccer. Dalglish's travels even took him briefly to MLS, where he turned down an offer from D.C. United in 2002 and failed to latch on with Dallas a year later. But unlike his experience at Newcastle, Dalglish blames his struggles during this time on no one but himself.

"My attitude wasn't right after I left Newcastle because I was bitter and twisted about the whole affair," Dalglish said. "I never did myself justice, or the teams I was playing for."

At that point, Dalglish made appearances for Northern Irish side Linfield, but discouraged with his soccer prospects, he directed most of his energies into various business interests, even doing radio work for Sky Sports. But while attending a party, Dalglish bumped into a former teammate (whom he refused to name), and it changed everything.

Dalglish recalled, "My friend said 'You've gotten fat. What are you doing? You could have been anything you wanted in [soccer]. Look at you now, you're not even playing. Why don't you get yourself fit and give it another go?' It was maybe the kick up the backside that I needed, because I respected him so much. I took his advice, and got myself fit."

Dalglish reemerged in August 2005 with Scottish side Livingston, before moving on to Hibernian five months later. But when first team action still proved elusive, he decided to give MLS another try. He had a six-day trial Spencer called "electrifying," and Kinnear also liked what he saw.

"[Dalglish] is a good finisher, and we did notice that he would try to link up with the other forward instead of being off on his own," Kinnear said. "And when we'd play 11-against-11, he'd always get a chance or two, and that was due to his movement, pulling away from the ball."

It took a while for Dalglish to crack the lineup, making his first appearance on Sept. 10 against Los Angeles. Spot duty followed, but goals in his last two regular season games against Real Salt Lake and Colorado won him a regular place in Kinnear's starting lineup. And his performance against the Rapids in the Western Conference finals makes it a certainty that he'll stay there for Sunday's match.

But while there's no doubting that Dalglish will do his utmost to lead Houston to victory this weekend, it's worth noting that there is no trace of anxiety in his manner. In fact, one senses a rare contentment, as if he's realized, after all of his travels, that the only person he needs to satisfy is himself.

"One thing I promised myself when I came back to play was that I'd give 100 percent every day," said Dalglish. "If I could look at myself in the mirror every day and know that I'd done my best, it didn't really matter what I had achieved. I'd go home a happy man."

For Dalglish, that is something different indeed.

Notes:

Practices before an MLS Cup are usually tedious affairs, but New England's was notable for the fact that defender Avery John sat out almost the entire session. Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said John had injured his toe, although John characterized his ailment as "a little strain." An ice bag could be seen conspicuously wrapped around John's left knee, but whether that was indicative of a serious injury or merely preventive maintenance, no one was saying.

Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPNsoccernet. He can be reached at eljefe1@yahoo.com.