Former Newcastle United forward Paul Dalglish was left depressed after Ruud Gullit left the club only a few months after joining Norwich City permanently.
Paul Dalglish believed he had thrown his life away when Ruud Gullit resigned, just a few months after the exiled forward left Newcastle United.
Although Kenny Dalglish brought his son to St James’ Park in 1997, Gullit, his successor, gave him his debut. In fact, Dalglish appeared 13 times in four months under the Dutchman.
However, Dalglish previously told ChronicleLive about the exchange that resulted in the then-21-year-old being abruptly frozen out. Gullit accused Dalglish’s father of being ‘unfair’ by continuing to speak with players and staff at the club after departing, and the Newcastle manager said, ‘If he’s going to be unjust, I’m going to be unfair back’. Dalglish, surprisingly, would never play for Newcastle again.
“Nothing to do with me,” Dalglish recalled to the Times. “But I never trained with the first team again and Ruud seemed reluctant to sell me.
“Thanks to managers like Gareth Southgate, mental health in football is talked about now but back then it was all swept under the carpet. My world had been pulled from under my feet.
“I went on loan to Norwich, living on my own. Newcastle offered me a contract but it felt wrong with Gullit still there. Dad said, ‘Well, you don’t know how long he’ll be in charge.’ I didn’t listen and signed for Norwich instead. On the second game of the next season Gullit was sacked [sic].
“I was 21 and I felt like I’d thrown my life away. I’d go home after training at Norwich and cry myself to sleep. Stupidly, I never told anyone I was depressed.”
