Many fans were surprised when news broke at the end of last season that Brendan Rodgers had decided to let go of his assistant manager Colin Pascoe. There was a lot of speculation as to whom would come in and be the new number two. One name many people did not expect was that of Sean O’Driscoll.
Rodgers had identified O’Driscoll as his perfect deputy and offered him the job which he did not expect.
“I thought Brendan wanted to know how Sheyi had done,” O’Driscoll said.
“But when I rang him back it was something else. I was like ‘okay, hang on’.
“Yes, I was surprised. I looked at it for what it is. You do your due diligence.
“I was in a job I really believed in at the FA – trying to develop young players. It was a very interesting project.
“When the offer came I spent two weeks trying to find someone to convince me not to do it. I could not find anyone so here I am.
“It’s exciting. I never thought of it as anything other than a football club with a great tradition and history – all the things people say about it.
“To experience it first hand has been the biggest shock and a pleasant surprise in some senses. People can talk about it but when you go to the other side of the world and see how many Liverpool supporters there are it’s amazing.”
One thing most Liverpool fans questioned about Pascoe was how influential is he really to the Liverpool squad? You hardly saw Pascoe get up from the bench during matches and offer his opinions directly to the players. O’Driscoll on the other hand seems so far to have a bit more say at the club and he believes that is something Rodgers demands from him.
“I think Brendan wants me to challenge and say what I think about doing things,” O’Driscoll added.
“This is what the stats say, this is what the video evidence says, this is what the training footage we review says about this player.
“It’s not to say ‘do this or do that’, but comment on how I think we can maximise the resources and the talent that we have got.
“I think that’s easy but you still have to be careful how you do it. You have to show respect.
“I wouldn’t like it if someone came into my club and suddenly went ‘you should be doing this or that’. It’s pointless doing it that way.
“I’ve gone around most of the staff and asked them what they want the team to be. What do they want? I’ll tell you in about a month’s time.
“When I walked in, I had a completely fresh view of things. I’d never worked at this level before. I had a pre-conception of what it was like in the Premier League but it’s completely different.”
