ColumnWhy Liverpool FC has so much to thank Bob Paisley for

Bob Paisley for quite a while was the unsung hero of Shanks' reign and personally I have a lot to thank him for as he made me Liverpool captain, which was my dream.

It was like good cop, bad cop because Bob was always the moaner, always the angry one, while Shanks was the motivator, the one that we always hung our hat on for motivation and inspiration.

When the job offer came, Bob had to have a long think about it and I could understand that because he wasn't Bill Shankly. But Bob had his own traits. We all knew as players his knowledge of the game was second to none.

I can still remember the day when Shanks announced he was to resign. I was devastated. I was 20 years of age, I had just won the FA Cup when we beat Newcastle United 3-0 at Wembley and I loved and idolised the man.

Shanks was part of my upbringing of being a Kopite, from Liverpool supporter to Liverpool player. Shankly was everything to us all. He had been there from 1959 to 1974 and for a lot of us that's all we really knew. It was a massive shock.

Shanks set the foundations for our success and Bob led it to even greater heights by winning three European Cups.

There was nothing wrong with our team that Shanks was handing over to Bob. There was a lot there for Bob to work with and we were just starting this Liverpool way – which is still talked about now – with Emlyn Hughes and myself at the back playing out from the back, Ray Clemence the sweeper 'keeper and playing a high line, pressing and pushing up to the halfway line.

Winning the European Cup was just magical and for me to lift it in Paris when we beat Real Madrid in 1981 was a fairy tale. It's what dreams are made of and you just don't think it happens to you.

Bob leading us to our first European Cup final win in 1977 and then again a year later against Club Brugge followed by Real in 1981, it doesn't get much better.

Bob made some unbelievable signings – for example, Kevin Keegan left and he signed a certain Kenny Dalglish from Celtic! We had the great Geoff Twentyman scouting for us and looking for players.

Look at some of the other signings under Bob – Alan Hansen, Phil Neal, Terry McDermott, Graeme Souness, Ian Rush – those sort of transfers were just inspirational and they all went on to become proper legends.

Bob had his own ways in the dressing room. He didn't go in for grand speeches and motivation. We had our way of doing things and with Joe Fagan and Ronnie Moran we all knew our part and what we had to do. But if we weren't doing our job and Bob didn't know how to communicate it, certainly Ronnie and Joe knew because of the Boot Room clique – they knew exactly how to portray it with us.

I have to say, Bob's knowledge was quite astonishing in what he knew about the game. Bob was also not afraid to make big decisions – no matter what the reputation, as I know only too well.

Bob took the captaincy off me and gave it to Graeme Souness. I was hurt as it was a prize thing for me to be captain of Liverpool.

Taking the captaincy off me, I was angry and furious at the time, bursting into Bob's office. But the decision had the desired effect. Bob told me I was taking too much responsibility for goals that were being conceded and he wanted to take that onus off me, and it worked.

My performance levels went up. He didn't take me out of the team, he valued my presence and it was a massive change for me personally and for the team.

When you talk about Bob's achievements – I mean, six league titles in nine years, three European Cups, that's phenomenal! – they tell their own story.

What will be forever one of those strange things is the fact that Bob never got knighted as we all believe he should have done. But he is Sir Bob in all Liverpool fans' eyes.

We owe Bob Paisley a great deal. Yes, Shanks laid the foundations, but we owe Bob a level of greatness that should and rightly be bestowed upon that guy. He did it in the most humble manner.

We thank Bob for everything he did for our beloved football club.