‘I was a bit in shock’ – Ex-Red Murphy reveals ‘reward’ he received from Houllier in a Tesco bag
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has discussed the time he was handed a gift in a ‘Tesco bag’ from then Reds’ manager Gerard Houllier. The 44-year-old, who was at Anfield between 1997 and 2004 before joining Charlton Athletic, explained that the then head coach passed him the ‘reward’ after being selected for the England squad. […]
The post ‘I was a bit in shock’ – Ex-Red Murphy reveals ‘reward’ he received from Houllier in a Tesco bag appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has discussed the time he was handed a gift in a ‘Tesco bag’ from then Reds’ manager Gerard Houllier.
The 44-year-old, who was at Anfield between 1997 and 2004 before joining Charlton Athletic, explained that the then head coach passed him the ‘reward’ after being selected for the England squad.
“Gerard Houllier was my manager at Liverpool, as you know, and he had a major influence and friendship with Zidane from his days in France and kept in touch with him over the years,” the Match of the Day pundit said on talkSPORT (via the Daily Star).
“It was after I’d been called to the England squad. He called me into the office one day and he had a plastic bag, like a Co-op or Tesco bag or something, and he just threw it on the desk and said, ‘that’s for you’.
“I pulled out the shirt and it said ‘Zidane’ on it, it’s got the World Cup final badge on it. He said, ‘Zinedine gave me this after the final, but I want to give it to you’.”
The shirt was from the 1998 World Cup final that saw France defeat Brazil 3-0, with the former Real Madrid coach scoring twice.
Everybody knows how good Zizou was during his playing days and the Frenchman continued his impressive career when he entered management with Real Madrid’s first-team in 2016.
He was in charge of Los Blancos when they beat us in the Champions League final in Kiev but is now out of a job after Carlo Ancelotti replaced him at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this year.
The gift handed to Murphy stresses the generous nature of our former manager who sadly passed in December last year.
During his time on Merseyside, he led the club to a famous treble in the 2000-01 season, winning the League cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup.
The post ‘I was a bit in shock’ – Ex-Red Murphy reveals ‘reward’ he received from Houllier in a Tesco bag appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.