Saw this on another site, made for a very interesting read
http://www.thisisanfield.com/forums/...ad.php?t=18214
What a day, days like this don't come along very often for me and im absolutely buzzing about it so i'd thought i'd share it with you and hope you like it....
Was at work this morning in Edinburgh, a colleague says to me that he has just seen a guy that used to play for Hibs, i look over and see the guy who he is pointing to, he has his back to us and after a while turns around, i see that its Alex Milller, i get a bit over excited and tell my colleague that he will go down in history as being part of Istanbul, After about half a seconds thought i decided that i was going over to speak to him. As i approach i say good morining, he replies and looks a bit confused as to why i was speaking to him, I explained that i was a Liverpool fanatic and had to speak to him. He broke into a huge smile and said that he was happy to speak to a Liverpool fan.
I told him in my opinion we have noticed a downturn in fortunes since the departure of he and Paco Ayesteran, he thanked me and said that Paco was the best fitness coach he has ever worked with, we strated talking about the injuries that we have and how since their departure the soft tissue injuries have increased, without saying too much he said that was no coincidence.
He then told me what a great man Rafa was, how they are still in regular contact, i asked if he regretted leaving, he said at 60 he couldnt turn down the move to Japan as he was getting 4 x his liverpool salary so it was a no brainer but did have mixed emotions. He also said he was lined up for a big job in the middle east in the next couple of months so watch this space!! I asked if he would come back to Liverpool, he said that he probably wouldn't be asked back but although he would love to he thinks its best not to revisit the same place, particularily if they hold such special memories.He then said if he ever did coach again in England, which is unlikely he would have Didi Hamman as his assistant "a better pro and person you'll never meet"
We started talking about players and those a success, others not so, he says although Rafa is a great man, the scouting system should be miles better than it is, citing many disagreements they had over players, one of many was Gabriel Palletta, Alex was dead against it, sinced proved right. He said they had many discussions about dud importants that he told Rafa could cost him his job. I laughed and said i though that Voronin would cost me my sanity, he said that on the training ground Voronin was immense, great touch,vision and finish but was a jack the lad who like too much drink and had a fair few fist fights with Carra, this alienated him from the squad. At this point i said to him that he'll think im daft but i think Carra would be the best choice of captain as opposed to Stevie, he asked why i thought that and i explained that it seems to me that Stevie needs it more, needs the arm around the shoulder and to be told how loved and important he is, he took off his glasses and said words i wont forget "You're perception of knowledge and Liverpool players is spot on" (i must say at this point i was a kid at christmas, big grin on my face ) he then said that it was Carra,Stevie and Owen who told Rafa to make sure he kept a hold of Alex and promote him when he came to the club, he said he was humbled by this.
Unfortunately he told me how he is great friends with Fungus (my words not his ) and its thanks to him he got his chance in coaching.I told him that conversation had just turned sour and he laughed.
I asked him about Rick Parry and he said he was a nice man, a genuine fan who just couldnt say yes, i'll list some examples, some you may already know,
He had a deal to sign Ronaldo for 5m 2 years before he went to the mancs, Parry refused, He saw Dani Alves in a tournament in Dubai, agreed a deal, Parry buckled, He had a deal for Robin Van Persie, Parry refused, 2 years later he went to Arsenal. Alex had a deal for a 16 year old kid called Fernando Torres, he was going to pay a 60k retainer for him, Parry didnt want to spend that kind of money on him, Parry apparently fancied himself as a goalie, Alex had a deal to sign a young Petr Cech from a Czech club, sum of 20k, Parry said he didnt rate him and wanted English, so went out and bought Chris Kirkland for millions " A Robbie keane signing" apparently, he did arrive same time as Dudek. There were a couple more of these aswell.(also an absolute corker with Gordon Strachan!!)
He went into detail about Istanbul,and Houllier days if anyone wants to know more about that i will add it.
The conversation finished after almost 30mins, The thing that stood out to me was the fact he missed 2 trains to Glasgow to stand and speak to me, getting a later connection, that showed the mark of the man.
I hope some of you found this an interesting read, and as i said i will add the rest if you so wish.
Was at work this morning in Edinburgh, a colleague says to me that he has just seen a guy that used to play for Hibs, i look over and see the guy who he is pointing to, he has his back to us and after a while turns around, i see that its Alex Milller, i get a bit over excited and tell my colleague that he will go down in history as being part of Istanbul, After about half a seconds thought i decided that i was going over to speak to him. As i approach i say good morining, he replies and looks a bit confused as to why i was speaking to him, I explained that i was a Liverpool fanatic and had to speak to him. He broke into a huge smile and said that he was happy to speak to a Liverpool fan.
I told him in my opinion we have noticed a downturn in fortunes since the departure of he and Paco Ayesteran, he thanked me and said that Paco was the best fitness coach he has ever worked with, we strated talking about the injuries that we have and how since their departure the soft tissue injuries have increased, without saying too much he said that was no coincidence.
He then told me what a great man Rafa was, how they are still in regular contact, i asked if he regretted leaving, he said at 60 he couldnt turn down the move to Japan as he was getting 4 x his liverpool salary so it was a no brainer but did have mixed emotions. He also said he was lined up for a big job in the middle east in the next couple of months so watch this space!! I asked if he would come back to Liverpool, he said that he probably wouldn't be asked back but although he would love to he thinks its best not to revisit the same place, particularily if they hold such special memories.He then said if he ever did coach again in England, which is unlikely he would have Didi Hamman as his assistant "a better pro and person you'll never meet"
We started talking about players and those a success, others not so, he says although Rafa is a great man, the scouting system should be miles better than it is, citing many disagreements they had over players, one of many was Gabriel Palletta, Alex was dead against it, sinced proved right. He said they had many discussions about dud importants that he told Rafa could cost him his job. I laughed and said i though that Voronin would cost me my sanity, he said that on the training ground Voronin was immense, great touch,vision and finish but was a jack the lad who like too much drink and had a fair few fist fights with Carra, this alienated him from the squad. At this point i said to him that he'll think im daft but i think Carra would be the best choice of captain as opposed to Stevie, he asked why i thought that and i explained that it seems to me that Stevie needs it more, needs the arm around the shoulder and to be told how loved and important he is, he took off his glasses and said words i wont forget "You're perception of knowledge and Liverpool players is spot on" (i must say at this point i was a kid at christmas, big grin on my face ) he then said that it was Carra,Stevie and Owen who told Rafa to make sure he kept a hold of Alex and promote him when he came to the club, he said he was humbled by this.
Unfortunately he told me how he is great friends with Fungus (my words not his ) and its thanks to him he got his chance in coaching.I told him that conversation had just turned sour and he laughed.
I asked him about Rick Parry and he said he was a nice man, a genuine fan who just couldnt say yes, i'll list some examples, some you may already know,
He had a deal to sign Ronaldo for 5m 2 years before he went to the mancs, Parry refused, He saw Dani Alves in a tournament in Dubai, agreed a deal, Parry buckled, He had a deal for Robin Van Persie, Parry refused, 2 years later he went to Arsenal. Alex had a deal for a 16 year old kid called Fernando Torres, he was going to pay a 60k retainer for him, Parry didnt want to spend that kind of money on him, Parry apparently fancied himself as a goalie, Alex had a deal to sign a young Petr Cech from a Czech club, sum of 20k, Parry said he didnt rate him and wanted English, so went out and bought Chris Kirkland for millions " A Robbie keane signing" apparently, he did arrive same time as Dudek. There were a couple more of these aswell.(also an absolute corker with Gordon Strachan!!)
He went into detail about Istanbul,and Houllier days if anyone wants to know more about that i will add it.
The conversation finished after almost 30mins, The thing that stood out to me was the fact he missed 2 trains to Glasgow to stand and speak to me, getting a later connection, that showed the mark of the man.
I hope some of you found this an interesting read, and as i said i will add the rest if you so wish.
Well by seemingly popular demand here comes most of the rest,
Apparently Rafa rates Dani Pacheco, Martin Kelly and Steve Irwin as future first team prospects, particularily excited by Pacheco (aint we all?! )
Alex says that one of the reasons he wouldnt be keen on going back to the club is that "he wouldn't want to work for people like them in charge" I didnt mention Hicks and Gillette more as i wanted to keep the conversation polite! We did agree that it was a shame that the previous owner didn't take more care when selecting new owners.
When under Houllier he was asked to move from Scout to Coach but refused because Houllier wanted to have 3 1st Team coaches, and Miller refused. Apparently it went downhill under the Houlliers tenure when Patrice Bergues went back to France. The signings of Diouf,Diao,Luzi were all against Alex's wishes.
I was really aware of the time but he was more than happy to stand and chat, I asked him as he was still in regular contact with Rafa does he think that he will be here for the forseeable, reports linking him with Juve and Real and the ownership problem and lack of funds are making me concerned, he said he really does love the club and fans and feels like one of us, he is a proud man and wont let that kind of emotion show but is here for the long term.
The gem about Strachan is good, When they were both at Coventry Alex had set a deal up to sell Marcus Hall to Sheffield Wed for 2m and with that 2m use it to buy Ruud Van Niisterooy, Strachan point blank refused as he thought so highly of hall and didnt rate Ruud! Alex says that the only person he scouted that had better movement and finishing than him is our very own Nando.
He is staying in Spain at the moment but i for one wish him well, I have probably forgot some stuff and will post it if i remember but hope you enjoyed it .... I sure did!
Apparently Rafa rates Dani Pacheco, Martin Kelly and Steve Irwin as future first team prospects, particularily excited by Pacheco (aint we all?! )
Alex says that one of the reasons he wouldnt be keen on going back to the club is that "he wouldn't want to work for people like them in charge" I didnt mention Hicks and Gillette more as i wanted to keep the conversation polite! We did agree that it was a shame that the previous owner didn't take more care when selecting new owners.
When under Houllier he was asked to move from Scout to Coach but refused because Houllier wanted to have 3 1st Team coaches, and Miller refused. Apparently it went downhill under the Houlliers tenure when Patrice Bergues went back to France. The signings of Diouf,Diao,Luzi were all against Alex's wishes.
I was really aware of the time but he was more than happy to stand and chat, I asked him as he was still in regular contact with Rafa does he think that he will be here for the forseeable, reports linking him with Juve and Real and the ownership problem and lack of funds are making me concerned, he said he really does love the club and fans and feels like one of us, he is a proud man and wont let that kind of emotion show but is here for the long term.
The gem about Strachan is good, When they were both at Coventry Alex had set a deal up to sell Marcus Hall to Sheffield Wed for 2m and with that 2m use it to buy Ruud Van Niisterooy, Strachan point blank refused as he thought so highly of hall and didnt rate Ruud! Alex says that the only person he scouted that had better movement and finishing than him is our very own Nando.
He is staying in Spain at the moment but i for one wish him well, I have probably forgot some stuff and will post it if i remember but hope you enjoyed it .... I sure did!
doesn't make ****in sense either...they hire the correct people...then don't listen to the advice....idiots, and more than a little annoying to hear those players we missed out on listed like that, Ronaldo alone ffs, some shocking decisions. 
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