IT was announced today that Ronnie Moran has passed away at the age of 83 after a short illness.
‘Bugsy’ dedicated 49 years of service to Liverpool Football club as a player and a coach at youth, reserve and first team level and was truly an unsung hero during the most successful period in the club’s history.
Here are a selection of quotes from former Reds paying tribute to the man and the mentor:
“In the dressing room they were all congratulating me, telling me how well I’d done, but Ronnie Moran, he was brilliant. I always liked him. He could be quite tough and put you through it in training. But he had the right idea did Ronnie. This was a fella who had played for Liverpool in the ‘50s, then been brought in as a coach under Shanks. He had been part of just about every great Liverpool team there ever was, and he coached the greatest players in the history of the club. So when Ronnie spoke, you listened. He had your respect even before he opened his mouth.”
“He had this uncanny ability of keeping your feet on the ground, because he had seen it all, seen plenty of strikers come in and score goals on their debuts… and then disappear off the face of the earth. I came into the dressing room buzzing barely able to take in what had happened, and he was really pleased, said I had done very, very well, but he said the job was to ensure it didn’t go over my head.”
Robbie Fowler on Ronnie’s reaction to his first game for Liverpool after scoring on his debut, from his autobiography ‘Fowler’
“Even Ronnie Moran was thrilled… but he still managed to point out that I could have had a sixth, because the chance I’d missed at the end was an easy one that I should have taken with my eyes shut! That was Ronnie all over. He knew it was an important moment for me and for the club, and he knew that the first job was to get me back down to earth quickly, because we had another game in four days time. But he was thrilled all the same.”
Fowler on Ronnie’s reaction to his five goals against Fulham
“Some of the kids these days, they could do with Ronnie Moran around to help them understand that. Ronnie once said something that stuck with me. He reckoned that the kids coming through the academies these days, they’re coached from so young all the ball skills, the juggling skills and that, they have all the attributes, especially pace, but they’re not taught how to play football.”
“They’re full of stars, but they have to fit in with the team — there’s no space for the cocky, selfish individual. It’s all about the team, and passing swiftly to the man in the best position. Ronnie Moran taught me that.”
Fowler on the valuable lessons that Ronnie taught him as a youngster
“On the bus heading back from the hotel to the stadium Ronnie Moran used to go round with a bit of paper and a pen and ask each player what they wanted from the chip shop for the return back to Anfield. Always there were three choices: pie and chips, fish and chips or chicken and chips. Healthy eating this was not. Any alternative request was met by a quizzical look from Ronnie and a straight to-the-point reply: ‘That’s all there is. Who the fuck do you think you are?’”
Steve Nicol on Ronnie and his post-match chippy order
“Ronnie Moran pulled me aside once and said ‘Steven, the staff are telling me you are getting injured because you go into stupid tackles. You try to kill people in training. These are your mates, Steven. Relax. Save it for the games’.”
Steven Gerrard on advice he received from Ronnie Moran in his autobiography ‘Gerrard’
“Later, I discovered how success was received at Anfield and I must admit I got a bit of a shock. There was an official presentation of medals on the pitch with the chairman handing them to the players. Then we all passed our medals over to Ronnie Moran, the first team coach, who collected them before the pre-match warm up. Maybe I thought we would get them back at a private club ceremony or something like that. How wrong I was. After the match, Ronnie brought a cardboard box into the dressing room and dumped it on the table. ‘There you go,’ he announced. ‘If you have earned a medal, take one’. And that was as far as ceremonies go at Liverpool. One by one we walked over and picked one out of the box and put it in our pockets before we left. Talk about being brought back down to earth with a bump!”
Peter Beardsley describes the moment Ronnie Moran presented the players with their winners’ medals in his book ‘Peter Beardsley — My Life Story’
“It was a strange time for me, knowing I was going to be replacing Joe. We were training at Melwood one day and I answered back to Ronnie Moran. ‘Oh shut up, Kenny,’ Ronnie replied, ‘you’re not manager yet, are you?’ But nobody knew. It was just a throwaway line. It was funny, too.“
Kenny Dalglish on answering back to Ronnie in his book ‘Dalglish: My Autobiography’
“Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans were the guardians of the Boot Room philosophy and tradition. They were a vast library of information used for the club’s benefit. I had total respect for Ronnie, Roy and their Boot Room, It was important for me to have their support. A manager couldn’t have asked for a better duo than Ronnie and Roy. They were Liverpool; Liverpool was them. Ronnie and Roy had been through everything. My admiration for them was immense.”
Another from Kenny’s book on the Boot Room traditions and his respect for Ronnie and Roy Evans
“The radio match commentary was on as the coach made its way back to Melwood, and naturally I was listening to every word and urging Everton to win. Stockport scored, and Ronnie Moran and Sammy Lee, who were in charge of the reserves at the time, couldn’t hide their delight. ‘One-nil’ shouted Ronnie, the sense of joy inescapable. Sitting at the back of the coach I simmered away inside, praying we’d get back into the game. Then my moment came. Everton equalised. I couldn’t resist. ‘Get in!’ I screamed. ‘Who the fuck was that?’ Shouted Ronnie, who as the first team coach was still in the dark about my youthful loyalties. I wouldn’t say it was the cue for a witch hunt, but Ronnie might as well have been holding a pitchfork as he swooped to find the culprit.”
Jamie Carragher recalls the moment he let his Evertonian side slip on the coach back from a game in his autobiography ‘Carra’
“I’d like to think if I was still working with Ronnie I’d be one of his golden boys now and others would be starting the process of earning his respect. There was a wisdom in his style. If Ronnie had a go at you, you usually deserved it, and you listened. It wasn’t for show, it was for your own good. You were getting advice from someone who’d been part of the most successful coaching staff in English football history. He knew what he was talking about.”
Another from Carra’s book on the weight of Ronnie’s word
“As the third goal went in, Ronnie had been squirting the contents of a Lucozade bottle into his mouth. A screaming woman in a Boro shirt raced arms aloft towards where we were sitting, as though she’d just witnessed a cup final winner. Cool as you like, Ronnie aimed the bottle towards her and squirted her in the face.”
Carra recalls Ronnie’s reaction to a celebrating Middlesbrough fan after a goal against Liverpool
“Then Ronnie Moran went up to big Ron. ‘Ron, been looking for you,’ he said, ‘I’ve just seen another guy walking out with your coat on’. ‘What did he look like?’ asked Ron, ready to make another bolt to the staircase. ‘Bloody ridiculous, it was like a tent on him,’ said Ronnie.”
Tommy Smith remembers a funny conversation between Moran and Ron Yeats in his book ‘Anfield Iron’
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
All good things and times … RIP Ronnie
RIP Ronnie Moran. We were lucky you were ours.
RIP. Ronnie you will always be remembered by Lfc fans world wide
Thank you and RIP.