Emery would relish doing for Liverpool what he wasn’t allowed to do at Arsenal.
Build a team that competes for trophies.
He has reached the ceiling at Villa, was never going to win a title with Sevilla, and did what mist competent managers would do at PSG.
He has put in hard yards, and in my view would be more than capable, given the squad he would inherit.
I think it probably was, which in particular for his Valencia sides was rational enough - there was a chasm between them and the big two
I reckon we should appoint someone really crap and then sack them in 12 months.
The next guy instantly gets compared then, someone like David Moyes
I know you’re joking but that’s the main thing I hope we avoid. Would be a long year and could do similar long term damage.
I hope we appoint someone that doesn’t think or care about Klopp, but is confident enough to do his own thing.
I’d be happy with Emery, or potentially Amorim (based solely on TAN posts).
Any of the other suggestions (so far) I find depressing
When Paisley was manager of Liverpool, I always felt he excelled at changing tactics midway through a game, if it was needed… to do that, and more often than not, get it absolutely right… made him such a special manager in my eyes - There was no 3 or 4 substitutes allowed in those days either…
One memorable game was this one…
Howard Gayle is best remembered by Liverpool fans as the Scouser who ran Bayern Munich’s defenders ragged in the second leg of the 1981 European Cup final.
This was a young lad who hade never had a look in… besides his blossoming talent, what he did have going for him, he was as hard as nails - would fight anyone, anyone at all, including Tommy Smith. The lad was a real handful…
What did Paisley do… plucked him from the kids squad, threw him into the Bayern Munich game, with one simple instruction… Don’t let these German defenders intimidate, or rough you up - show them what you are made of…
If anyone watched this game… well, its one of those games, and performances that stick with you forever… the rest is history, it was the year we won The European Cup for the third time - Still don’t think we would have got past Bayern only for the performance of this lad…
Anyway, my point is, what is my point…? Oh yeah… Too many managers these days have a Plan A that they drill into the players all week before sending them into a game ( Bodgers for eg)… problem is… they don’t have a Plan B, or C, or any other plan when things go tits up in the game… To me this is a trait that impacts the young managers, less than it does the older heads… Can’t replace experience
The thing with Amorim… he is 39yrs of age… Emery… he is 52yrs old.!
Do we go for the young gun… or the guy who has ridden shotgun for a lot longer…
For me, I hope LFC get Emery
"…I stood in the Kop for the first leg and Bayern were the better team. Liverpool seemed to run out of ideas against a well-organised defence and a 0–0 draw was a fair reflection of the way it went. As I funnelled out of the exit gates with my hands in my pockets a few minutes before the end I didn’t consider what the result meant for me. Not for a second did I think about being involved for the second leg a few weeks later in West Germany. Bob Paisley always went for the tried and trusted players on these occasions.
The odds of choosing to use an untested player with barely half an hour’s first-team football behind him must have been a thousand to one. I went home and sulked like every other supporter. The odds, indeed, were stacked against Liverpool reaching the final.
Joe Fagan marched into the Liverpool dressing room inside the Olympic Stadium and said, “There you go, lads – this is what that lot out there think of you.”
Joe pinned a translation of an interview with the Bayern captain Paul Breitner in which he criticised Liverpool’s performance in the first leg as “lacking imagination”.
Joe then pulled another sheet from his pocket. “Look here, lads.” It was a leaflet the Germans were handing out to the home supporters inside the ground of directions to Paris where the final was taking place.
I felt like a visitor. It wasn’t my place to react. I looked at Graeme Souness. His eyes were wild with rage. It was at that moment I knew that Liverpool would be the team going to Paris and not Bayern.
I knew at that point I was on the substitutes’ bench for the match. Bob had told me after we’d finished our pre-match meal that I was going to be involved.
I’d travelled to Munich believing that I was only there as help, in case of an emergency — if someone else pulled out with injury, because Liverpool’s players were falling like flies.
Bob offered no explanation of why he chose me, nor did he explain what he expected of me, although I didn’t expect him too. He wasn’t a man of many words.
It was only then that it sank in that I was representing Liverpool at a European Cup semi-final. Suddenly, there was a chance — albeit a small one — I might play.
It was clever management because I suppose if I’d been told a few days before, I’d have thought about it too much and become needlessly nervous. It was also clever management because the Germans, despite their reputation for meticulous preparation, did not have a clue who I was
As a player, I was unconscious in terms of the moment’s magnitude. When you are in the moment, it’s difficult to enjoy it because all of your energies are focused on the ultimate aim of helping the team to win the match. I did not think about the fact that a few years earlier I’d been banging in goals for the Timepiece, being chased around boggy pitches by hulking defenders in front of 30 people on a Sunday morning; and now I was here: in Munich, pitting my wits against some of the most decorated players in Europe inside a historic football stadium where a World Cup final had been hosted, with more than 75,000 spectators watching
When the teams lined up before the kick-off I could see Klaus Augenthaler, Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. They were legends of the game. I was a kid not long off the street. But I wasn’t daunted, not one bit.
All of our preparation had been especially guarded, so maybe, looking back now, perhaps it shouldn’t be viewed as a surprise that Bob had another trick up his sleeve.
There had been no training session at the Olympic Stadium. On the Wednesday morning, we went to a park and worked on set-plays, practising a routine where we’d overload the near post from corners then the kicker would aim for the back post, hoping to sneak someone in. It was all very secretive.
The hostility of the crowd was not my focus when Bob Paisley decided to bring me on for Kenny Dalglish. I was only focused on what was to follow, not what was going on around me — or even the significance of the event. The first few minutes were like being swept away in a dream. You can hear the voices of individuals: team-mates shouting for a pass. Sometimes they get louder. But chanting is different, just a constant hum.
I relished the atmosphere. The more people watching, the better, as far as I was concerned. I was an adrenalin junkie — feeding off the energy of the occasion.
I had no idea of how Bayern were doing in their league campaign. Basic information like that wasn’t readily available to everyone as it is now. I knew about Augenthaler, Rummenigge and Breitner because they were international standard players. What other clubs were doing didn’t interest me at all, though.
I’m sure Bob Paisley did his research, especially going into a game of such importance needing to use four inexperienced players. But he never stressed the strength of other teams as if it was something to worry about. Tactically, it was a simple case of him ordering Sammy Lee to follow Breitner around the pitch.
If Liverpool broke forward then Sammy could free himself of that responsibility, but as soon as Bayern regained possession, he knew that he had to track Breitner straight away.
I remember dribbling past Klaus Augenthaler and creating a chance before turning around and seeing the look on his face. He looked surprised, even scared. From then on, every time we were involved in a foot race, I knew I had two more gears on him. He knew he was in for a hard night. He had to find a way to stop me, so he threw in a foul. Then his team-mates followed.
One of the fouls should have resulted in a penalty. I received possession and legged it towards goal, beating the right-winger, Wolfgang Kraus. A few defenders had a nibble, trying to bring me down, but I was away.
Suddenly, Wolfgang Dremmler appeared from nowhere. I was darting in towards goal, then he launched into a tackle, cutting me up — almost in half — nowhere near the ball. It was the clearest penalty I’ve ever seen. It was an easy decision to make. As the last defender before the goalkeeper, Dremmler should have received a red card. The crowd fell silent, the whistling stopped — they knew it too.
Yet the referee — Mr Garrido da Silva from Portugal — pointed for a goal kick instead. He was quite a few yards behind play because the foot race between Dremmler and me had been rapid. Nothing, though, was impeding his view.
I watch the replay now — 35 years later — and still, it leaves me utterly bewildered. At the time, I turned around waiting to see my team-mates celebrate, only for my face to turn to horror upon realising Garrido’s decision. Only the referee can answer why he chose to award a goal kick instead of a penalty. I don’t know whether he’s still alive.
Friends who were watching inside the stadium and those back home believe he simply bottled it. There was a tendency for referees to favour home teams during European matches back in the 1970s and 80s. I’ll admit, sometimes Liverpool probably benefited from decisions: a consequence of referees wilting in the febrile atmosphere of Anfield…
(The penalty incident HG mentions, is at 22sec…)
Great post! Should probably add that the reason for fighting Tommy Smith was his racism
You are quite right, and there was an unsavory side to the Anfield Iron. I prefer to remember the good points, and extend the benefit of the doubt to a man who was a product of his time with views that were, unfortunately, more commonplace in his generation than now.
Anyway, well done to Howard Gayle, as fighting Tommy Smith was an unenviable task for a seasoned pro, never mind a kid breaking through.
No one has have they? 
How good was Arsenal when Unai inherited that team? He took over directly from Wenger too which was a tough ask. Wenger was there for 22 years and if I recall the wheels had come off for Wenger that final year (6th place), they didn’t make Champions League, so less money. Wenger was quoted along the lines of he’d forced Arse to overachieve for the majority of his tenure which shitty investment and told you so sort of comments when Unai failed to deliver after 1 or 2 years at the helm. All very scathing and unhealthy shit going on at that time, so not a great setup for Unai to succeed or enough time for that matter.
Then look at Villa, was it a crap manager that’s just made Unai look good? He’s doing a good job with Villa in the timeframe he’s been in charge (similar sort of time as he was Arse). They’re still ahead of Spurs in 4th place and Villa has never been seen as a top 6 side (no disrespect to Villa) so that’s got to be a big plus for Unai surely.
How much improvement did Unai make that Arteta took advantage of when he inherited Arsenal? A bit, at least and more so with Unai buffering Arteta from the Wenger fallout. Arteta came in as a fresh manager and could build and had time to do his thing (Dec 2019 to now and came 8th in his first 2 seasons. Unai placed 5th in his only season, which improved on Wenger who got 6th that final year).
Unai’s team just turned over The Arse (much to our chagrin) but a very unexpected 0-2. So I don’t know if FSG has done their due diligence - still not raving about him as a manager - the charisma comment was reinforced by Maria, and I don’t agree with some of the others in that list either, Unai in 14th place reinforces my point though.
Still think he’s a very capable manager and being judged quite harshly.
Gutted we are out, but after tonight’s round of games in Europe… Unai Emery is now the only PL manager with his team still involved in the next round - Say what you want about him, the guy certainly knows how to progress in European competitions… Just saying is all
They were a bit lucky themselves to be frank.
Making it look like a unit again + injecting new energy will be the main tasks for the new manager.
There’s individual quality in the squad but is it what the new gaffer needs?
I hadn’t been aware of what Carra pointed out, that Tuchel has successfully followed Klopp twice in his career already. If he wins the CL with Bayern then maybe he’ll be in the running. He certainly has a much better CV than Amorim.
Hopefully we don’t announce it like this
“Yo bro our fans ready for this” err what fans?
You’ll never guess who it is
Omg!
at one point, I thought the presenter was advertising the vehicle he was in.
I had to google the bloke who was the head coach.
That is so cringy!!p They love being flashy over there.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
Hopefully whoever it is, wasn’t watching that shit show last night.
He’d run a fucking mile if he was.