RECOLLECTIONS of Exeter City's last attempt to slay a Premier League giant come flooding back for Alex Inglethorpe though, to his eternal regret, souvenirs are in short supply.
 |
| Inglethorpe, now Liverpool's Academy Director, managed Exeter as they drew 0-0 at Old Trafford |
It is 11 years to the day since he took the club to Old Trafford, a 0-0 stalemate with Manchester United followed and 9,000 travelling supporters rejoiced at the prospect of taking the FA Cup holders back to St James Park and the financial rewards that safeguarded their club's future.
Inglethorpe, now the academy director at Liverpool, who face his former side tonight, can remember blowing most of his budget on a bottle of red wine for Sir Alex Ferguson and how it took goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in a muddy replay to snap their stubborn resolve.
However, memories are all he has. "I didn't want any silly headlines in the press going into the game of what we were going to do and as part of that all the players agreed not to make a beeline at the final whistle and try and swap shirts. We didn't want to be seen as tourists," he said.
"United were brilliant. They gave us all the shirts and I put them in the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet. One by one the lads came in, held a shirt up and were like, 'I'll have that one'.
"There was this one shirt I could not get rid of. Honestly, it was like the Jonah. Eagles went, Liam Miller's shirt went, Djemba-Djemba went and I had this shirt for months until somebody eventually said, 'I will take it'.
"And you know it was one with 'Pique' across the back!"
He chuckles before poking fun at himself over the defender, now at Barcelona and a World Cup winner. "I didn't even want it. I was no better judge than them. Someone got lucky."
 |
| A 17-year-old Pique in action for Man United against Exeter at Old Trafford in 2005 |
Exeter's mindset for the original tie back in 2005 was to keep the scoreline "to single figures", though with home advantage in tonight's third-round tie, and Liverpool in the midst of a punishing schedule, the League Two club can dare to raise their ambition.
Inglethorpe's focus will be drawn not simply to the outcome but how many youngsters from his academy Jurgen Klopp turns to in the midst of a crippling injury crisis.
Connor Randall, Cameron Brannagan and Brad Smith have featured so far under the German and Ryan Kent and Sheyi Ojo have been recalled from loan spells at Coventry and Wolves respectively.
 |
| Rooney and Ronaldo were required to beat Exeter 2-0 in a replay at St James Park |
If Friday night is largely about a solution to pressing problems, overall Klopp's interest in youth sets a challenge. It cannot be about a teenager coming in for one game and then fading into the background.
Liverpool's graduates are forever measured against the exacting standard that saw Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard to name but a few not only emerge, but shape the club's history.
"The most important thing for any academy is that the person at the top of the club, the manager, has a genuine appetite to play the youngsters and believe in them," said Inglethorpe, who worked at Tottenham previously nurturing the likes of Ryan Mason and Harry Kane.
"Then, for our part, we have to produce players who can improve the team. Not just survive in the team but go on and improve it.
"You are right to judge people harshly because Stevie is the standard and Jamie and before that Robbie and Steve McManaman."
In recent years Liverpool reacted to a potential shortfall from within their own system by recruiting the best youngsters from elsewhere. Raheem Sterling, Jordon Ibe, Joao Teixeira, Jerome Sinclair and Ojo are examples of a policy that has been successful.
"I don't think there has been a move away from it," said Inglethorpe. "If you are Liverpool Football Club you need to be aware of the best talent and you should be actively in the market and attracting the best talent if you can.
"But not at the expense of someone already in the system that we believe in. I wouldn't be doing the job if I didn't believe there was a chance these boys will come through. It makes no sense to me to stockpile players.
"Ajax have a wonderful expression about keeping the pipelines clean. A player has always got to feel there is a chance in the next group and that he can see that pathway to the first team. Then they stay motivated, they stay engaged with the game and they are hungry."
Back to Exeter. Inglethorpe came close to experiencing the thrill of the underdog excelling and added: "I speak to the manager Paul Tisdale every so often and the director of football Steve Perryman on a regular basis.
"They will approach it in a really confident way. The magic of the FA Cup means you genuinely believe you have a chance.
"Jurgen will have been made well aware of the history and tradition of the competition and that the smaller teams will cause upsets probably more than in any other country."
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus