'I'll implement the Liverpool Way'
Former Liverpool striker Alan Waddle has explained how he hopes drawing on his own personal experiences of life at Anfield will help him make a positive impact in his new role as head coach of amateur Australian side Demon Knights FC.
The 57-year-old was signed for the Reds by Bill Shankly as a deputy for John Toshack in 1973, joining from Halifax for £4,000.
Waddle scored just one goal during his four and a half years at Anfield, but it was a memorable one - the winner in a Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park just a few months after the then 19-year-old had moved to the club.
In total, he played 22 times for the Reds, and despite being part of the travelling party for the 1974 FA Cup final against his hometown team Newcastle United, and being an unused substitute in the 1977 European Cup final, Waddle does wonder what might have been.
"I 'scored' on my debut in front of The Kop but the goal was disallowed - that's the way it goes," he recalls.
"I remember a midweek afternoon match against Coventry during the three-day week when I could've had a hat-trick but I hit the post and the crossbar and the ball just wouldn't go in. I sometimes think what would have happened if some of those chances had fallen for me."
After leaving Liverpool, the much-travelled Englishman enjoyed his most productive spell for John Toshack's successful Swansea City side in the late 1970s, scoring 34 goals in 90 appearances and lining up alongside other former Reds such as Ian Callaghan, Tommy Smith and Phil Boersma.
When his fruitful three-year stay ended in 1980, Waddle signed for Newport County before going on to play in Qatar and Hong Kong, as well for several teams in Wales. He eventually retired in 1993.
After moving to Australia in 2009 to be closer to his daughter, Waddle joined the Demon Knights last year as a technical advisor before being approached to take over as head coach earlier this season.
Having played alongside the likes of Keegan and Toshack, and worked under Shankly and Paisley, Waddle has a wealth of experience to call upon for his new role.
"Though I only played four-and-a-half years of my life at Liverpool in 16 years, it had the most profound effect on my football career," he said.
"I went from being a supporter in the north-east of England supporting Newcastle United when I was 15 to about three-and-a-half years later being in the dressing room with all these Liverpool stars.
"It was obviously the realisation of a dream to be able to not only play professional football but also to be at Liverpool."
After a slow start to the season, the Demon Knights' fortunes have turned around since Waddle took over. He'll be hoping to keep up that sort of form as he looks to implement the Anfield pass and move philosophy Down Under.
"I'm not trying to make it complicated for them, simply because I always believed in the Liverpool way, and it is a simple methodology of playing," he said. "It's just a matter of trying to correct the thought processes, to play things simpler.
"That being said, I say to them 25-30 yards from goal, take a chance and do something.
"But do it there and then; the other two-thirds of the field I preach safety and being precise with your passing, so that's my philosophy."