The following extracts were taken from an interview I held with Roy Evans on May 2nd 2003
On his move into the Boot Room ...
"I guess they'd seen something in me that they liked. It was my enthusiasm for the game."
On life with the reserves ...
"We did the same thing in training with the reserves as we did with the first team. The idea was that
anyone could slot into the first team if required without having to alter their style of play."
"A big part of it was motivating the players. If a big name dropped out of the first team and played in
the reserves you had to make him understand that he had to force his way back into the first team with
his displays."
"I learnt quickly that you had to be even handed. I gave a rollicking to a youngster once and I could tell
he didn't appreciate that he was getting stick while an older more experience pro was getting let off. From
then on, on the rare occasions I had to, I gave rollickings to whoever needed it regardless of who they were."
On Paisley ...
"Bob's biggest asset was that he could pick a player and that was a great skill to have. I remember the time
I had a couple of reserves about to break through, Kevin Kewley and Sammy Lee, and Bob asked me which of them
was the best prospect. I said Kewley and Bob gave him a game in the first team but it was Lee who Bob thought
was the better and of course he went on to play for England. That was his greater knowledge and experience
coming through."
On Shankly ...
"When I first started as a player I used to get changed alongside Bill and you never had a conversation with
him, he just made statements and threw facts at you. Black was black and white was white with him. I don't
mean he wasn't friendly because he was, he was very friendly towards the younger players, but really you
just listened to him. He was so enthusiastic about the game. He would say it's a great day today even if it
was raining but you knew what he meant. It meant we were about to play football !"
On the Boot Room ...
"It was my apprenticeship."
© Derek Dohren, Spion Ltd 2003
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