One former Liverpool icon has revealed a dressing room bust-up he got involved in after falling to a shock defeat before they lifted the league title
Former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson has revealed the bust-up he had with manager Bob Paisley after a shock defeat to Aston Villa.
Thompson was a Liverpool star for many years, winning seven League titles, three Champions Leagues, one FA Cup, three League Cups, six Charity Shields and two UEFA Cups in his time at Anfield. However, the former defender admitted that there was one game that he didn’t exactly perform at his best.
Speaking on Football’s Greatest podcast, Thompson told Jeff Stelling that he ended up telling boss Paisley to “f*** off” after he jokingly questioned his captaincy. Thompson had scored an own goal past goalkeeper Ray Clemence in a defeat to Aston Villa.
Aston Villa won the game 3-1 thanks to goals from Allan Evans, John Deehan and an own goal from Thompson, with David Johnson grabbing the consolation goal for Liverpool.
The former Soccer Saturday favourite recalled that this glaring mistake at the back was one that gaffer Paisley was pretty ticked off about.
Thompson said: “My greatest rollicking? [It was] off Bob Paisley at Aston Villa. I sliced an own goal past Ray Clemence and he came in the dressing room after the game – we’ve won the league and only conceded 16 goals all season.
“And I sliced one past Ray Clemence at Villa Park and after the game, he’s in the dressing room and he went, ‘is the captaincy too much for you, is it getting to you?’
“And I said ‘you can f-off’ and he went ‘what’d you mean f-off’ and all the players were killing themselves laughing. We’ve been beaten 3-1, oh my god, that was probably the biggest rollicking that I’d ever had.”
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Liverpool didn’t secure the title until the return match against Villa at Anfield the following month. The Reds won 3-0 on that occasion, with Alan Kennedy, Kenny Dalglish and Terry McDermott all on the scoresheet.
Thompson also admitted that he had “no regrets” on his footballing career as a whole, noting that he had lived “the most wonderful life”. He went on to claim that his greatest moment in a Liverpool shirt was lifting the European Cup – now known as the Champions League – in 1981 against Real Madrid. He added said: “Not a great game, but my greatest ever honour.”
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