IN these days of 24-hour media, aggregator football websites, and football fans' insatiable thirst for information and knowledge, it is rare for anything to remain a secret for very long.

But perhaps it can, if Liverpool have anything to do with it.

In his short time at the helm since taking over at Anfield, Kenny Dalglish has already brought a few guiding principles to bear on the club.

They all relate back to his time in charge of the Reds during the hugely successful late 1980s when Liverpool ruled the roost.

Firstly, the attractive pass-and-move football has returned, something in evidence at Wolves last Saturday and in the first half against Fulham on Wednesday night.

But more intriguingly, it is the public persona of the Anfield club which is undergoing a metamorphosis.

Any journalist trying to tease a soupcon of information about transfer targets during this rollercoaster January window has found it an uphill task.

New recruits or players set to exit L4 are subjects strictly off limits during the newly installed Dalglish era.

Some hacks are finding out the hard way.

Sky Sports, who demand answers in shriller tones than most, have most publicly felt the realities of the new Anfield regime.

Presenter Andy Burton felt the full force of Dalglish's poker face in a post-match interview at Molineux last Saturday.

Knowing the Scot would likely give him short thrift on questions of transfer movement, the TV reporter had a tactic in mind.

“Kenny, allow me to ask about transfers which my be coming up this week, are you aware of what might be happening in the next week, particularly with Charlie Adam?,” said Burton.

“A lot of the fans watching the show today will want to know if that's getting closer.”

The word 'transfer' prompted an immediate non-plussed and wide-eyed reaction from Dalglish, followed a mystified face.

But it was the 'fan' angle which gave carte blanche to cut down Burton.

“It’s a bit sad when you spin it onto the fans,” shot back the Scot.

“We know more about our fans than what yourselves do, so we know how they want to be treated – and they know what we want.

“They want us to treat them with respect.

“And they want us to treat them the way Liverpool fans have always been treated by the club. If we’ve got business to do we’ll do it behind closed doors.

“I know what’s going on, but it doesn’t mean I’ve got to tell you.”

It's the way Kenny knows how and how he likes it best.

In those halcyon days of the 1980s, the first the Kop knew of a new signing was when he was standing on the pitch, arm round his manager, with a red scarf adorned across his shoulders.

It might not quite fit in the modern communication era, but who said anything about having to maintain that status quo as a path to success?

The Liverpool stance is certainly being appreciated by some, including Blackpool manager Ian Holloway who paid tribute to the Reds' boss earlier this week.

The Reds have vigorously pursued Tangerines' playmaker Charlie Adam during the transfer window, but as it came under the guise of confidential bids, that tactic won Holloway's approval.

The outspoken former Queens Park Rangers player might have found the Liverpool valuation of Adam too low for his liking, but he was more than happy with the Anfield way of transfer dealings with his club in the past fortnight.

That respect, however, does not seem to be mirrored towards ex-Reds boss Gerard Houllier, who has similarly been trying to coax Adam to Villa Park, but according to Holloway, has gone about his business in the wrong way.”

Travel to the opposite end of the spectrum and you arrive at Spurs boss and media darling Harry Redknapp.

He's hugely personable and accommodating, of course, but he operates completely the contrary to the managers discussed above.

Harry is more than happy to speak at length about another club's player, jovially stopping his car to wind down the windows and chat on the record in front of TV cameras about potential incoming recruits.

Contrast that to the Dalglish approach, and its two standpoints which are poles apart, the merits of both methods can be widely debated.

For the fact-thirsty football fan, scouring the web every 30 minutes, the new Liverpool way will be a source of disappointment.

But for those with a true love of the club, deep down, they may grudgingly accept there is understanding why the lips remain tightened in mad, bad January.