Evans: Fagan was my football father
Former Liverpool manager Roy Evans has today spoken of his admiration for Joe Fagan, explaining just how the treble-winning boss influenced him more than anyone else in his football career.
Throughout this week on Liverpoolfc.com and LFCTV GO, we are celebrating the achievements of the players and staff who guided the Reds to three trophies in 1983-84.
Today, Boot Room legend Evans tells us why Fagan deserves to have his name mentioned in the same sentence as club icons Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
"I don't think Joe gets the credit he deserves, although there is a great deal of respect for him," he told Liverpoolfc.com.
"He certainly has it from the players who played for him, and they will always say that without Joe we might have struggled and might not have won all of those trophies in one season.
"Joe was the guy who kept it all together and he kept it on a level where everyone felt comfortable as well.
"Joe was a really honest and straightforward man. If you got a telling-off from Joe you knew you deserved it. There was no answering back.
"The lads had so much respect for Joe because he had been the glue through the Shankly and Paisley era and then into his own spell as manager, which was fantastic.
"That treble season was phenomenal. For the club to actually win three trophies in one season was absolutely brilliant and a fitting tribute for Joe."
Further revealing his respect for Fagan, Evans added: "My dad was great for me in football. He played until he was over 50 and he was always there for me, but Joe was like my father in football and I have so much respect for the man.
"Sometimes he was very nice to me and other times he would kick me right up the backside, but he did everything for the right reasons. It wasn't just for me, because he helped a lot of the kids and looked after them.
"He was honest and truthful and I think to this day you will rarely find anybody saying a bad thing about Joe."
As to the size of the task he faced when replacing Paisley in the Anfield hot-seat, Evans admits that becoming manager of Liverpool was not something Fagan had even considered previously.
The 65-year-old reflected: "It was a bit like Bob following Shankly because he was one of the most charismatic men you could ever wish to meet in your life.
"Bob was the opposite, but he managed to do the job in his own way and ended up being incredibly successful.
"When Joe got the job himself, he didn't want it. We never thought about who would be the next manager in the Boot Room because we were just happy with the jobs we had.
"Joe could be vocal but quiet words to individual players always worked for him. Ronnie Moran was the sergeant major in many ways and they took me on board with them.
"He wasn't massive on tactics and things like that because he didn't need to be. We just worked on how we would play and we didn't worry about the opposition, as it was a case of let them worry about us."
Treble Week: Click here to learn more about the secrets behind the famous Dalglish-Rush strike partnership.