Red of the Day - Bjorn Tore Kvarme

Kvarme had impressed the Reds' coaching staff while training with theclub during a visit to Merseyside to see his close friend, Stig IngeBjornebye. Indeed, for the first few months he was at the club, manyfans referred to him simply as "Stig's mate".

The early signs were encouraging for Kvarme, who despite being acomplete unknown in England before his arrival, took to the Premiershipwithout any problems. His debut came at Anfield in a 3-0 win over AstonVilla and he was outstanding on the right side of the reds three mancentral defensive system. He was many observers' man of the match thatday, and he continued to impress for the rest of that season.

He was a popular figure with the fans who instantly took to hisno-nonsense approach to defending. Man marking was his best attribute,but his heading was weak, and in English football that type of weaknessin a defender is always likely to be exploited, so during the offseason whilst the rest of his team-mates were sunning themselves andgetting wasted in various tropical paradises, Kvarme returned to trainwith his former club Rosenborg to work on his heading skills.

Such determination and commitment were admirable, and it seemed certainthat Kvarme would go from strength to strength as a Liverpool player.So his subsequent fall from grace is something of a mystery. It allstarted to go wrong for the Norwegian when he was caught in possessionduring a Merseyside derby at Goodison.

Being robbed of the ball by Danny Cadamarteri and seeing the uselesslittle bag of shite turn Neil Ruddock inside out before scoring at thePark End was something that Kvarme simply never recovered from. To makethings worse, a couple of weeks later he made a carbon copy error atAnfield which allowed another useless bag of shite striker, Andy Cole,to also score against us.

Committing two such vital mistakes against the Reds' two main rivalsdestroyed Kvarme's confidence and he was never the same player afterthat. When Roy Evans scrapped the wing back system to play 4-4-2, therewas some hope for the Norwegian that he may be able to make the rightback spot his own as that was in fact his preferred position. Unfortunately for Kvarme, the presence at the club of both Rob Jonesand Jason McAteer meant that he had no route back into the first team,and despite showing some signs in the reserves that he was coming backto form, his days at Anfield were numbered.

He soon joined French side St Etienne, where he enjoyed something of arenaissance and even forced his way back into the international arenawith Norway before earning himself a lucrative move to the SpanishPrimera Liga with Real Sociedad. He spent three years in La Liga beforereturning to France with Bastia for a year, and finally ending up backwhere it all started at Rosenbord, where he played out the remainder ofhis career.

Date of Birth: 17/06/72 Nationality: Norwegian Postition: Defender   Games: 45 Goals: 0 ClubHons: Int Hons: 1Norway cap Other Clubs: Rosenborg(twice), St Etienne, Real Sociedad, Bastia Bjorn Tore KVARME 1997-99