Liverpool stars used to trick Dalglish by jumping into strangers’ cars on runs
Don’t wait 30 years – sign up for our daily football email newsletter today!
Liverpool stars tricked former manager Kenny Dalglish by jumping into strangers’ cars while on training runs.
Kop legend John Barnes said some players used to cheat by flagging down motorists to hitch a lift back to the club in Anfield from the training ground.
They were supposed to be jogging three miles from their Melwood training camp, while Dalglish and coach Ronnie Moran would be waiting by the Arkles pub next to the ground to greet them.
TV pundit Barnes, 57, said: “We used to go to the ground and then get on a coach and go to the training ground.
“And then they said pre-season ‘run back’. So me and Peter Beardsley are running up the Queens Drive to go back to the ground and Ronnie Whelan and some of the players have hitched a lift. They’ve jumped in a car to get a lift.
“When they get to the Arkles, Kenny and Ronnie are waiting at the big gates and the players are ducking down in the car saying: ‘Let us out here’.”
Barnes, who joined Liverpool from Watford in 1987, added: “So I’m thinking: ‘How can these be the best team in the country when everybody is messing around’. I just thought this is ridiculous.”
Barnes said the approach was a far cry from his previous club under manager Graham Taylor, who became England manager.
He said: “At Watford we trained so hard. Graham Taylor had a stopwatch.
“And if you did a time which wasn’t close to your best time he’d be screaming and shouting at you.”
READ MORE: Sports anchor cheats death after giant screen crushes him during broadcast
READ MORE: Two baseball players wanted each other's wives – so officially traded
- Liverpool FC
- Premier League
Source: Read Full Article