05 Oct 2021 09:27:45
I noted earlier that it's Roy Evans' birthday today. I believe he is still involved in Liverpool TV but he seems like something of a forgotten man.

I know he didn't play a lot for us and that he's not really remembered for his spell as manager but he is the only living connection back to the "Boot Room" and to the legacy that we have from Shankley > Paisley > Fagan and Moran. I would imagine that Roy Evans is somebody I could sit and ask questions of and listen to his answers for hour after hour after hour. It's an unusual situation, due to Evans going into coaching pretty young because his playing days were ended by injury, to have somebody who worked alongside and under our legendary managers in the 70s and 80s but is still only 73. It's an invaluable connection back to something so glorious and iconic. I would certainly like to see and hear more from Evans.

Must have been interesting for Evans to see the different managers and players come and go through three decades and then eventually find himself as a coach working under managers who he once coached when they were players (Dalglish and Souness) . Difficult to quantify exactly the level of influence and input Evans would have had during the golden period of the 70s and 80s, and I assume he would have been considered pretty junior alongside the likes of Shankley, Paisley, Fagan and Moran but they obviously all saw enough in him to keep him in the coaching team all of those years.

I get a bit nostalgic thinking about this sort of thing and imagining what it would have been like in the manager's office or at the training ground when Shankley was manager with his coaching team of Paisley (who subsequently took over from him), Fagan (who subsequently took over from Paisley), Moran and Evans. I wonder why the the succession didn't continue after Fagan, which would have meant Moran taking over. Perhaps he didn't want to, and if he had, maybe we'd never have had Dalglish as our manager.

1.) 05 Oct 2021
05 Oct 2021 09:55:51
I think Moran told the club he didn't want the job permanently when he was caretaker manager after Kenny resigned. Maybe Ed001 knows more. He was also caretaker when Souness was ill. His record in both periods is only alright, but it wasn't "his" team so it's hard to judge.

Evans was a decent manager who could've done so much more with better backing from the owner. He had faults, he had too much faith that some players would come good, David James being the biggest example, but I think he was well ahead of Houllier, who replaced virtually the entire team and really only bettered Evans in one season.

One wonders would things have been different had the Champions League places extended to 3rd and eventually 4th when Evans was manager like they did for subsequent managers.

2.) 06 Oct 2021
06 Oct 2021 10:48:06
Some of the football we played under Evans was brilliant if the club had backed him a bit more he'd have won a few titles, he's also 1 of the nicest men in football.