Featured: "So who else should we bring back?"

[tlw content]

It's been a case of legends re-united lately at LFC.  The King is back of course, and so too are Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Rob Jones.  But who else would you like to see brought back to the club?  Three TLW writers give their suggestions...

 

 

It’s good to hear that the club is keeping good relations with its former players after the news that four ex-reds are being brought back into the fold. The most notable being Kenny as a non-executive director with Fowler, McManaman and Jones also brought in to help the younger players with their development. It was especially heartening to see that both the club’s owners and Kenny were able to put aside whatever differences they might have had following his sacking.

 

I don’t believe that Fowler and McManaman will lend much in the way of coaching to the younger players, and I’m not sure if they have their full UEFA coaching badges, but what they will bring is experience of what it’s like to play for a big club. All three players played for the club when football exploded in the mid-90s and all of them were part of the infamous ‘Spice Boy’ era. If any players are qualified to help young players avoid the pitfalls and trappings of celebrity then it’s these three as they’re synonymous with great talent that didn’t fulfil its trophy potential because they were too busy doing the wrong things off the pitch (I feel like I’m being harsh on Jones there).

 

I should say that I don’t want ex-players brought back just for the sake of it. If they’re getting involved in coaching then I expect them to have their coaching badges and to actually bring something to the table. You shouldn’t be able to survive in football coaching if you haven’t learnt the ability to teach it. I’m also not sure what Fowler can teach people as his talent was so natural that you either have it or you don’t.

 

I’d love to see John Barnes brought back to the club in any capacity. Not only was he a great player but he’s often been the voice of reason and common sense on a range of issues that football faces in the modern day, and the work he’s done debating the nature of racism in football has been both impressive and progressive.

 

On a lighter note I’d  like to see Paddy Berger back here for two reasons. One, by and large the team’s set pieces are awful and the man with the magic left foot could surely lend some expertise there. Get to the young players early so they can actually clear the first man on a corner before they make the step up to the senior team. Two, the current squad has the worst collection of hair styles I’ve ever known. Seriously it’s awful, not one candidate for good quality hair now that Martin Kelly has gone rogue. I can imagine Paddy taking one look at Raheem Sterling’s outrageously bad haircut and bringing him in for extra hair training until he gets it right.

 

One more thing, I’d love to see Neil Ruddock be brought back to the club, but only so he could do the training that he should have done, and was paid to do, the first time around, the fat prick.

 

Julian Richards

 

 

 

I mentioned in an article last week that I'd love to see John Barnes back at the club.  Not necessarily coaching, at least not in a 'coaching an entire group' capacity.  I'm sure he could help out with the attacking players and pass on a few tips, whilst he played centre midfield for a number of years and was an expert at keeping the ball and controlling games, so his knowledge there could be useful.  

 

However, coaching would only be a small part of what Barnes could bring.  I see him more as just somebody I'd like to have around the place to help out wherever it's needed.  There are all kinds of areas where his intelligence, charisma, experience and knowledge could be of huge benefit.  Whether it's mentoring a player that is having a bit of a bad time on or off the field (Raheem Sterling immediately springs to mind on both counts), going to see the parents of a potential new Academy signing to convince them why their son should sign for the Reds, or even having him tag along with Ian Ayre to seal some kind of corporate deal, Barnes could do all of that.

 

Maybe Kenny has been brought back to do some of that, but having Barnes there as well wouldn't hurt.  'Digger' is media friendly, he talks sense on pretty much any subject you can throw at him and he's a perfect ambassador for the club.  He spoke more sense on the Suarez /Evra debacle than pretty much anybody else out there, and it's a pity he wasn't sent down to the FA hearing with Suarez, as he'd have torn the FA's stance to pieces. And if we ever get to a cup final again then we can bring back the tradition of releasing a song, with Barnes of course having his own individual rap in there.  I just think he could be a huge asset in a number of ways and he's the man that I want to see back at the club more than any other.

 

As for other possibilities, well what about Danny Murphy?  He's just announced his retirement and whilst I have no idea if he has any interest in coaching or if he's just happy to continue with his media work, he might be just the kind of person Brendan Rodgers is looking for.  He was always seen as a thinking mans footballer, and having only just retired from the game he's still close enough to be able to relate to today's young players.  It wouldn't surprise me if Rodgers has a conversation with Murphy if Danny wants it.

 

Of course it's easy for us as fans to say 'bring him back' and 'what about him', but if it's to be a full time position then really it boils down to what they can offer and whether they are qualified.  And to be fair, we don't really have a clue about any of that.  LFC can't give every ex player a job, but perhaps we should be looking at bringing as many as possible in even on a one off basis to just chat with the young players at the club about their experiences.  Maybe one day a week could be designated for a session with those who are up to doing a bit of coaching?  There's a lot of knowledge and experience out there that can be tapped into, so it makes sense to use it.

 

I'd definitely bring back Erik Meijer for motivational purposes too.  I'd have him stomp around the training ground with a megaphone, yelling at anyone that looks to be slacking off in effort.

 

Dave Usher

 

 

 

The man that immediately stands out as a candidate for this question is one that I’d force through by any means possible. If it means riding over to his current location on a bike to pick him up or taking him black-ops style in an extraordinary rendition I’d happily put my seal of approval to the operation.

 

The man is Javier Mascherano and the role he’d be filling would be that of throwing hand grenades around the middle third of the pitch, chasing opponents until they lose the will to live and just generally ruling very, very hard. The lad is wasted hanging around in defence with Pique and Liverpool currently have an El Jefetico shaped hole in our jigsaw puzzle. It makes too much sense to not happen.

 

With the glaringly obvious one out of the way we can move on to one that may be considered a little bit revolutionary; it’s time for some outside the box, blue sky thinking here. One possibility could be to bring back Fernando Torres. He’s still pretty much a figure of ridicule at Chelsea but if we were to bring him back to the club he could perform a vital role for us on the fringes of the squad. The role I’m thinking of would be to have him in a non-playing capacity, possibly sitting on a bench at the entrance to training, where all of the current players can look upon the forlorn shadow of a man and contemplate the idea that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Punishment and warning all rolled into one. In Game of Thrones they’d almost certainly nail him to the gate by his knackers or something, but Gordon Taylor would probably whine about it for weeks so we’ll not go that far.

 

My final suggestion, and possibly a little more realistic, would be to bring Stevie Nicol into the first team coaching staff. With decent experience under his belt as a manager in MLS he could be an interesting option if he could be convinced to return. Any lack of knowledge I have regarding the style of football he played or the quality of his coaching is more than compensated for by him being one of my all-time favourite players, the type that will give you the first and last goals in a 9-0 drubbing.  “What are we doing today Steve?” – “We’re doing a session on bookending hidings, lads”. If you’re not on-board with that then there’s something deeply, deeply wrong with you.

 

Stu Montagu

 

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[MLB]

I reckon Danny Murphy would make a good coach or manager. Not sure why, it's just a feeling I have.

 

Barnes seems like the obvious choice at the moment though.

[dave u]

I feel the same about Murphy, you can never know for sure though obviously.  Has he even taken his coaching badges though?  Maybe he's not even interested in it and is happy to stay in the media.

 

I'm actually surprised he retired, I would have thought he'd be one of those who played until he was 38 or something.  What is he now?  35 or 36 maybe?

[JermainePennant]

Barnes, Evans, and Sammy Lee are the three clear ones to me, all would add something to the club.

 

Then possibly some big name players from the 90s and beyond who young players would have grown up watch, they know what is expected at the club now days and they would have the youngsters respect.

 

Roy Evans is the main one for me though, he has more experience then anyone and knows how the club should be run and what's expected on the pitch.

[jonnybastard]

I don't know about his coaching credentials, but I think John Barnes would be great in an ambassadorial role- he's knowledgeable, has a good understanding of football and footballers, and he's eloquent. On the coaching side, I'd like to see the return of Roy Evans, Phil Thompson and Sammy Lee. I always had Lee down as future manager material, once he's learnt his trade at the club. I always rated Tommo as an assistant. It's good that a manager can be a nice guy, as long as he's got a right bastard as his right hand. I think Evans would have benefitted from having Thompson as his assistant.

[Captain]

If we can't bring back John Barnes, then Jesus would be my second choice.

[Stickman]

Bring back Ruddock......just to show what can happen if you go off the rails and not give a shit.

[kalasoma]

Xabi Alonso's contract runs out 30.06.2014. We could finally consider resting Gerrard and leave the running around to Mascherano (he'd be brought back as well, obviously).

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Love the Ruddock and Torres shouts.

 

On a serious note I think Barnes would be the perfect PR guy for the club. Anything needs saying by the club send Digger out, also have him as a one to one motvator for players in betweem. Imagine going to see him in the middle of a poor run. He would make you feel like it wasn't that bad and then he would bring Kenny in to share a coffee and a biscuit.

 

Nicol was a good shout and loved tje bookending hiding comment by Monty, but it is Barnes by a million miles for me.

[fowler9]

Sami as manager

 

 

once Brendan decides he has done after taking us back to the summit of course

[SCOUSE TAPAS]

Been saying for ages about Sami and the job he is doing at Leverkusen. He is doing a outstanding job imo and ok they might of been the third best team in Germany when he took over. The point is yes there still the third best there , but for such a newcomer to the managerial game he is doing wonders there , and imo there not that far behind Dortmund now since he took over.

[moof]

Alonso will be the next to come home, defo. In January.

[DooooodekNo5]

Ching chonged off my mush again!

 

Will Hughes may or not be good but hes a toff.

 

'Yes Mummy can we take Roly out for a walk and wank myself off at the same time, don't tell Daddy because he might wabt to slerp my semen from the silver platter that Grandma left.

 

Fuck him , Bjornebye has just confirmed himself as a no nothing bellend that he is, rather Will Hughes a completely unproven toff nipper over Pastore a proven world class level player, ha,,,, ha.... fucking ha, so many bellends really haven't the first fucking clue about the game and this club!

 

Bjornebye for the FA commision!, pointless and a waste of time.

[DooooodekNo5]

Whoever reads this knows damn well sense is getting spoken, even wired out of my mind on a Sat night, fucking funny how clueless some people are. really fucking is, do you even watch football?

 

 

You bellend.

[Byrnie]

Gary Mac would be great to get back to the club in some role.

[DooooodekNo5]

Hold my hands up Matic i dunno but Patore? no brainer, we are LFC and we want top draw, he is, the end.

 

Pogba wouldn't be to shabby either if were looking to teh future, (Gerrard gone)

[DooooodekNo5]

Been saying for ages about Sami and the job he is doing at Leverkusen. He is doing a outstanding job imo and ok they might of been the third best team in Germany when he took over. The point is yes there still the third best there , but for such a newcomer to the managerial game he is doing wonders there , and imo there not that far behind Dortmund now since he took over.

 

You know the score.

[DooooodekNo5]

Masherano, oh yes please, he would be immense fir us now and we would be apossible title winning team.

 

Digital spy, have a look, you cant call people cunts on there but theres this know it all Manc thats all over the LFC thread and ive been banned 4/5 times under different accounts to just remind him what a total cunt he is.

 

He was harping on 6 months ago that Jordan Rhodes would be a good signing for us, patronising wanker, told him that to and got banned )again(, takes the piss, Rhodes! yeah were a feeder club from the Championship what not sign the likes of Poulsen and Konchesk....oh wait!!!!

 

Ha, bollocksd ild love to be able to slap him one right round the chops.

[DooooodekNo5]

Alonso will be the next to come home, defo. In Januar

 

Dream on, we dont even need him anyway, we really don't.

 

We need muscle and steel in there. Yaya or Masch would be perfection, the little sprinkling to finish it off.

[mgw100]

If Nancy Reagan were still around, she'd have Doodek signed up for her next campaign. Hope you're getting some sleep now mate. Optimistic that, I suspect

 

 

 

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[Stouffer]

I'd get Steve "The Terminator" Harkness; just because he's so fricking awesome.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

I'd get Steve "The Terminator" Harkness; just because he's so fricking awesome.

Met Steve once. Sorry to disappoint Stouf, but he was a massive bell end. Mahoosive.

[Dr. J]

Mascherano? And we just forget that he refused to play whilst he was negotiating his way out to Barcelona? Respecting the shirt, eh? Feck him, he's just another mercenary.

[fowler9]

Mascherano? And we just forget that he refused to play whilst he was negotiating his way out to Barcelona? Respecting the shirt, eh? Feck him, he's just another mercenary.

 

in his defence I'd refuse to play under Roy Hodgson too

[Guest LFD]

This guy!