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Aside from Colin Pascoe's shorts, Sammy Lee's leaping, and the exit of Pako Ayestaran, there hasn't typically been much focus on the supporting staff at Liverpool. The managers have rightly taken most of the headlines over the course of the last decade, but this summer has seen an unusual amount of attention paid to the backroom personnel at Melwood. Much of that is due to the dismissal of Pascoe and Mike Marsh, of course, which came in the midst of serious questions as to whether or not Brendan Rodgers would keep his job as manager.
With Rodgers sticking around and the club intent on bringing in someone with a Liverpool connection to provide support, there were a handful of names apparently kicked around with any sort of sincerity, and Gary McAllister emerged as the best choice for the job.
If the hiring came as a surprise to anyone, it's all the better for McAllister, who's hopeful that he can replicate his unexpected success as a player at Liverpool in his new role:
"I'm delighted. I'm really excited about the prospect of coming back. It's fantastic and I'm really looking forward to it. I feel as if I owe Liverpool, getting that opportunity at the last stage of my career, at 35 and getting that opportunity. This is similar, I feel the same as I did with that - that was a surprise phone call back then when I was given a chance to come and play at Liverpool as a 35-year-old. Right place at the right time, and I just hope it repeats itself. A lot of hard work and dedication... everything is there, Liverpool is a club where you can win things - that's a fact."
McAllister is certainly one of the more visible first-team coaches in recent memory at Liverpool, especially in terms of his status at the club as a player. Whether or not that translates into success on the other side of things remains to be seen--and likely won't be seen by anyone on the outside anyway--but it already appears as though the club got what they were looking for to round out Brendan Rodgers' staff, and hopefully that leads to results for a squad that needs a strong start to the season.
