It’s not nice when I take a look back at one of my previous clubs. It’s not a good beginning.
I don’t know the current dynamics around Tranmere Rovers, Ian Dawes, but it’s a results-based game, so it is what it is. I feel bad for any manager that is fired.
What’s coming up? With whoever takes over, they simply need to begin turning things around, try to restore the players’ faith in them, find a solution to their current predicament, and work to rise back to the top of the table.
The season has a long way to go, but if they fix those issues, I have little doubt they can turn it around.
Tranmere, however, has already experienced it in the past, and they do not wish to find themselves in the same situation once more and be eliminated from the Football League. You really do not want it. It was a dreadful experience, and it must not occur again.
I want to go back and talk about another significant time in my professional life. I played and scored in my final game for Liverpool in front of the Kop precisely 34 years ago on this night.
One of my most difficult evenings ever was the one. Growing up in Garston, I had dreams of playing for Liverpool and honoring the great Sir Roger Hunt by donning the No. 8 jersey.
For myself and my family, I’ve already done it, and I’m extremely happy about it.
The emotional conclusion to the game made me realize that was the last day I would play at Anfield as a Liverpool player.
I had 63 goals in 104 games, so I knew the Kop adored me even if I was at my limit. Because I was a local lad and because I adored both the Kop and Liverpool, the Kop liked me.
I was forced out the door and had no choice but to go to Real Sociedad; the 104 games I played there were the best of my life because I was playing for the side I had always wanted to play for—and for which many young people in this day and age still wish to play. You simply miss playing football because you spent your childhood kicking a ball around, but you really miss representing Liverpool.
The management was excellent, but it can’t take the place of playing football, and I missed being a part of that amazing team. With the talent we had and the way we approached it, I was only humbled to be a part of such brilliance.
It would have been extraordinary if we had simultaneously won two doubles matches. Although we lost both times and were eliminated from Europe, it was still an incredible team to play for.
