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The Manager |
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When Roy Evans was finally appointed manager of Liverpool in January 1994, it was the fulfilment of a
prophesy made by chairman John Smith two decades earlier. At the age on 46, Roy Evans had finally reached
the pinnacle of his Anfield career.
On the field of play there was little Evans could do to rescue Liverpool's league campaign, which had lurched from bad to worse as the season had progressed. Off the field however, his appointment brought a much needed freshening of the atmosphere at the club, coming as it did in the wake of Graeme Souness' fortress mentality. There was little that could be done however, to rescue a season that had rapidly gone off the rails. A symbolic 'last day of the Kop' game against Norwich City, on April 30th 1994, was probably the most emotive match of the whole season. It was the day that marked the passing of the Kop as English football's most potent symbol of fanatical support. Within hours of the game ending the bulldozers would be moving in to convert the terracing into a modern all seater stand. Sadly, the game was won by a crisp volley into the Kop goal by Norwich City's Jeremy Goss. Liverpool finished the season in 8th place. The following season started with a bang. A 6-1 rout of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on the opening day was a very promising start and was followed up with victories over Arsenal and Southampton. The newspapers were running their 'Back to Basics' headlines as a return to Boot Room values appeared to herald a new dawn, but the signings of John Scales and Phil Babb ( who had starred for the Republic of Ireland in that summer's World Cup finals ) were only a qualified success in the ongoing attempt to shore up a leaky defence and provide some consistency. If league form remained patchy, the team did at least reach the League Cup final, coming up against a spirited Bolton Wanderers side in April 1995. It was getting on for 3 years since the last piece of silverware had graced the Anfield trophy cabinet ( Souness' F.A. Cup win of 1992 ) and the fans were desperate for a victory. An inspired display from Steve McManaman, who had also been instrumental in that Souness led F.A. Cup victory, helped the Reds beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1. A first trophy in three years was a harbinger of more to come - so the fans' hoped. The line up that day read: James, Jones, Bjornebye, Scales, Ruddock, Babb, McManaman, Redknapp, Rush, Barnes, Fowler The team finished the season in 4th place, an improvement of the previous season's finish to be sure and hopefully a springboard to greater success the following year. The general improvement in play and the success in securing the club's fifth League Cup were hopeful signs. In the summer of 1995 Nottingham Forest's Stan Collymore was signed for a club record fee of 8 million pounds. His signature electrified the fans and he struck up a remarkable partnership with new teammate Robbie Fowler. Jason McAteer, a Scouser who had performed against the Reds for Bolton in the previous season's League Cup final, was also added to the squad. Going into April the team was reasonably placed for a title challenge with just Newcastle United and Manchester United sitting above them in the table. On April 3rd, one of the most breathtaking matches in English football history saw the Reds beat off Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United 4-3. A last gasp Collymore goal clinched the game that was later voted by fans across the world as the Premier League's 'Match of the Decade'. Sadly though the team could only manage a 3rd place finish after taking just 9 points from their remaining 7 games. The familiar trait of poor defending was costing the club dear, particularly against the so called lesser lights of the division. If the league campaing had ended as a damp squib there was still the F.A. Cup final to look forward to. In probably the defining moment of Roy Evans' time as manager the team turned up at Wembley in outlandish Armani cream suits looking for all the world like movie stars. It would hardly have mattered had they gone on to win the game against arch rivals Manchester United, but a solitary Eric Cantona goal put paid to that notion. United went home with the cup, Liverpool went home with their fancy suits and sunglasses and their losers medals. For many, the ill-fated 1996 F.A. Cup final summed up the problems at the club. The players had acted like film stars rather than professional footballers. They were out of shape and look more fit to sit and play poker games than kick football in the field. In contrast, their more sober suited and serious minded opponents from Old Trafford, appeared focused only on the task in hand. Liverpool had come to collect a cup, United had come to win it. As a microcosm of the 1990s Liverpool it was a startlingly accurate precis. Rumours where now pouring out of Anfield that certain players were getting above themselves. Huge wages, flash cars, modelling contracts, soap star girlfriends - this was the generation of players that had it all. The 'Spice Boys' had arrived. But could they play ? The answer was a resounding yes, er sometimes. Certainly the team oozed talent and class, but like all boys, when they were good they were very very good but when they were bad they were awful. Though the club was packed with star performers, a return to title winning ways was becoming more and more unlikely. Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp and Stan Collymore represented the new darlings of the Kop whilst old timers like Ian Rush and John Barnes provided a link to the good old days of the previous decade. Offensively, the team seemed well placed, but defensively and in midfield there were huge problems. Fowler when he was on song was irrepressible. Learning his trade from the old war horse Ian Rush, he looked set to break goalscoring records for years to come. His buddy McManaman was like a throwback to a bygone age, an age when cocky skinny wingers gave hapless leaden footed full backs the run around week after week. But and early exit from the UEFA Cup and the non show at the F.A. Cup final of '96 had shown that Liverpool were unable to rise to the challenge when it was most required. The European Championship tournament in England in 1996 witnessed an impressive display from the Czech Republic who were beaten in the final by Germany on FIFA's ridiculous golden goal rule. One of the more eye catching of the Czech players was Patrik Berger and he found his way back to Anfield ( the Czechs had played there during the tournament ) for the start of the '96-'97 season as Roy Evans continued his policy of adopting good attacking football. Again the club fell short, managing only 4th place in the Premier League and missing out on a place in the European Cup Winners Cup final after going down 3-2 on aggregate to Paris St. Germain in the semi-finals. Paul Ince was recruited in the summer of 1997 from Italian giants Inter Milan in an attempt to provide the missing steel and backbone in the middle of the park. Season 1997-98 developed along a now familiar pattern. Good football, some great results, but ultimately a lack of consistency leading ultimately to disappointment and failure. The team finished 3rd again but with a lower points total than each of the previous seasons. In the close season on 1998-99 the club appointed a Frenchman, Gerard Houllier, to work in tandem alongside Roy Evans in a joint managerial capacity. Houllier had masterminded the revolution within French football and was seen as something of a saviour by fans and club alike. It quickly got to the point where Roy Evans knew he had been trapped into a no win situation. Any improvement in results and performances would be due to the new manager whilst any slip ups would be down to the 'old boy' still trying to do things the 'wrong way'. The position was untenable and Roy Evans jumped ship on November 12th 1998. At an emotional press conference Evans spoke about not wanting to be a 'ghost on the wall.' It truly was the end of the Boot Room now. A new era had begun. There's no doubting the strides the club has taken under Gerard Houllier's sole stewardship since 1998. There is much more the sense of togetherness and team spirit than there was at the club around the mid 1990s. The free spirited days of the 'Spice Boys', of Macca and Robbie and Stan have long gone and the team is all the better for it. There is more solidity, more backbone, more professionalism. But it remains a fact that Houllier has not yet managed to capture the joie de vivre that existed around Roy Evans' teams. The Liverpool of today, though palpably more successful, no longer plays with a swagger and a style that makes it endearing to the neutral. That may change in time of course. In the meantime the purists who hark back to ideas of how football should be played will have to content themselves with memories of Roy Evans' Spice Boys in their pomp. |
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The Managerial Record
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