“We need to stop blaming the players,” Rodgers said at the time. “The players get the blame in this country. No, it is the coaching. The problem is that the guys who are ’that type’ of coach you never hear of them really. Look at Sean O’Driscoll. He is one of the best coaches I have ever come across. He is working at Bristol City. He has never had a chance in the top flight. His teams were expressive, had movement, they were technical, but he will probably never get a chance at a higher level.”
Liverpool now look set to give O’Driscoll that chance, only nine months after he replaced Noel Blake as head coach of England’s Under-19s side.
O’Driscoll, who was capped by the Republic of Ireland as a player but was born in Wolverhampton, spent six years in charge of Bournemouth, five at Doncaster and also had brief spells at Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City before his move to the FA.