Former players and managers - general discussion (Part 1)

Remember us having high hopes for him. Had a solid career in the end; especially cf our earlier startlets like LeTallec.

Random one for you from the 90’s. Roy Naylor!
I don’t think he ever played for the first team (I might be wrong) but I remember as a kid I used to get the official LFC magazine and there was an article on him in the form of an interview. He was talking about how hard he wanted to work to one day become Liverpool number 1. I was very young and assumed he’d be our next keeper :rofl:
So why can I remember random stuff like that from 30 odd years ago but can’t remember why I walked into a room??

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Here in Germany, football fans hate ā€œDidiā€ Hamann as a pundit. Of course, sometimes he says rubbish, but i think, him recieves lot of hate, because he spent the majority of his professional career in England instead in domestic Bundesliga. Since 1998, he has played for Newcastle United, at our ā€œRedsā€ and Man$hitty.

It might just be because he’s not a very good pundit, which is surprising as he was an intelligent footballer.

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@Bekloppt

But i can not do hate Didi. Too if he says rubbish.

I don’t mind Didi. His opinions can be strong and a bit unusual at times, but I’ve learned now that there certainly isn’t any rule like successful or intelligent footballer = quality pundit.

We all love John Barnes, but when we signed Thiago, he said some rubbish he slows the game down for us (in a negative way). You wouldn’t think someone of his game understanding would think that, but there you go.

It’s just like it is, football is a game of a thousand opinions. There will be some opinions from likeable characters from the past that some of us might not like or disagree with.

For me, it’s not enough to change my overall memory I have with Didi.

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Walked out of Tesco once into the carpark early one Saturday morning… big tall guy in front of me with two carrier bags loaded with bottles of spirits. It was Didi Hamman.
Obviously it wasn’t a ā€˜playing’ match day for him, so maybe he was stocking up for a barbeque later on, or his matchday commentary, or he just needed to refuel from the night before. Either way, he looked a right miserable bastard. Not once did he ever acknowledge anyone that had said hello to him, as you do, when passing…!
Whenever I look at some of these pundits on TV these days, it makes me wonder whether it is them that are talking, or the booze…

There was a famous audio clip of him on Talksport telling the presenter he had just fallen off his chair, and sounding drunk while doing so.

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It’s great to see the 38-years old Aspas enjoying his goal as if it was the first of his career, and enjoying himself on that pitch! :+1:

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Aye… but that corner that Aspas took. I’m still fuming!

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Good luck to Rafa. He was brilliant for us but then sadly got derailed trying to work under G&H when the club was in crisis.

The jobs he had after that always seemed to have something lacking, and I also thought that the wider footballing public didn’t think highly enough of Rafa. He was an excellent tactician.

He took a few poor jobs, on a hiding to nothing, but I always thought it was because he just loved the game, and he wants to do something.

So here we are again, and it’s probably a similar thing. Either way, Good luck Rafa.

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There was a 4 or 5 year period after Aspas returned to Spain where the only two players who scored more La Liga goals than him were Messi and Suarez. Not Benzema, not Bale, not Griezemann, not Neymar. It’s a pretty remarkable level of success for a guy so remembered for his struggles with us.

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I remember the Guardian’s Spanish footballing correspondent at the time (Sid Lowe?) really excited by our signing of Aspas.

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At a certain point in that summer of 2024, I thought there was a chance of him staying as one of the 4 CB’s instead of Gomez. But I think he made the right decision. We all did, actually.

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Yup he’s had a good career.

Former Liverpool goalkeeping coach Jose Manuel Ochotorena has died, it has been announced this morning.

The Spaniard served under Rafa Benitez from 2004-07 at Anfield and was a famous goalkeeping figure in Spanish football for his exploits with Real Madrid and most notably Valencia.

Real Madrid announced the passing of Ochotorena on Monday morning, saying:

ā€œReal Madrid C. F., its president and Board of Directors are deeply saddened by the death of JosĆ© Manuel Ochotorena, one of our club’s legendary goalkeepers.

ā€œReal Madrid extends its condolences and affection to his family, his teammates and all his loved ones, as well as to all clubs where he played.

ā€œOchotorena wore the Real Madrid jersey for 6 seasons, from 1982 until 1988, during which time he won 2 UEFA Cups, 3 LaLiga titles and 1 Copa de la Liga.ā€

Mr Ochotorena was 64.

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Lets be honest, that coud be any number of TalkShite ā€˜presenters’

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True

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