The Liverpool manager called me and I thought I’d been dropped – then he burst into tears

Jason McAteer claims Roy Evans cried before his departure to Liverpool.

At a training camp in Spain, the Ireland international was about to leave for training before heading to a match when he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

Back-up goalkeeper and roommate Tony Warner picked up the phone and, to his surprise, was greeted by Liverpool joint manager Roy Evans.

“The phone goes off and you think, ‘I’ve been dumped.’ So Tony Warner picks up the phone and says “It’s the gaffer”.

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“He knocked on the door, opened the door. I could see he was stressed. He told me: “I can’t fight anymore – I’m done. I apologize now, I can’t fight your corner. This is his (Gérard Houllier) decision.’

“So I went from being stressed out that I’m not playing, fuming that I’m not playing, to being like, ‘Evo (Roy Evans) are you okay?’ Then he said, “I’m not doing it anymore, I’m going to pack it up.” Now I’m advising the gaffer.” He said to Undr the Cosh.

“I had a day off the next day and then we go to practice and Evo isn’t there. We sit around, then Evo walks in. It still makes me angry now when I talk about it. It breaks my heart. She just starts crying, looks at the boys, bursts into tears and says, “I’m really sorry, but I’ve decided to do it. Gerard is going to take over now, he’s the gaffer, do your best for him.”

“Everyone has their heads down, tears, the players are devastated. It broke my heart. You just see a guy who has given his whole life to Liverpool Football Club. Who just thanks and then left. The club has gone in a completely different direction.”

Evans left the Reds in 1998, paving the way for Houllier to take over at Anfield, winning the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001. However, McAteer left for Blackburn in January 1999 after falling out of favor with the Frenchman .

“He was a school teacher, he was a bit of a bully to be honest. And he could handle children much better.

“He came up to me and said, ‘Are you international?’ I played in the World Cup in ’94. I just thought “How does he not know that?”