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Carra: Shanks is our number 1

30th Nov 2009 - Latest News
Author:
Paul Hassall

Throughout Shankly week players and important figures from the past will have their say on one of the greatest managers of all-time. Here the Reds' current vice-captain explains what the name Bill Shankly means to him.

jamie carragher carra


 
Bill Shankly was obviously a long time before me, but I think the thing about him was that he wasn't just a great football manager. He was a very funny one with a reputation for some brilliant one liners.
 
He would have been a real character to have been around and played under, that's for sure.
 
You can read all the famous sayings and quotes in books and magazines, but I always remember the one about football being more important than life or death and that he'd break his wife's leg in a match if he had to!
 
Someone once told me I had to take football seriously because if Bill Shankly had said that, then it must be right. That's how much people valued his opinion.
 
There's a lot of talk about which manager is the best the club has ever seen, whether it's Shanks or Bob Paisley...
 
No matter what you think, it's a fact that if Bill Shankly hadn't come in and done what he did, we certainly wouldn't be the club we are now.
 
For me, Shankly is the number one when you think about Liverpool. There have been a lot of great players and managers, but he was the man who started it all.
 
When you walk around Melwood you can see things with his name on and I think that's right because it's important for people to remember him.
 
It's good that the foreign lads come in and want to learn about our history too. I think Fernando (Torres) is on record as saying that he used to watch DVDs about the club and how things had progressed.
 
It's great that they realise the history of the club and want to know how it all started.
 
The game has changed a lot, but I still think we try to play the same way now. Pass and move is what we are renowned for and I think that's the philosophy we will always be associated with.
 
He started that and had great success. Now we are trying to build on it. Hopefully it will still be the same in 20 or 30 years time and Liverpool will continue to play the Bill Shankly way.

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