No beer for Liverpool players if they lose

“He would list all the teams he played for and they were like third division and university teams! I would say to him, ‘That’s not football! Tell me where you got the experience that comes with being in the dressing room at the top clubs.’

“I did it with the greatest respect, because I knew his achievements demanded my respect. But maybe it is a truth as well, because by spending time in dressing rooms as a player and getting close enough to the players to understand their moods and the way they are, I think it can make you a better manager.

“You only have to look at what Rafa, Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas-Boas and Louis van Gaal have achieved in football and the trophies they have won to realise that you don’t have to have had a great career as a player to be a great manager.

“But, in my opinion, the most complete managers are always likely to be the ones who had a great career as players for many years as well.”