Gerrard: My Autobiography by Steven Gerrard

Author:Steven Gerrard [Gerrard, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2007-07-15T12:00:00+00:00

11

Good Guys and Bad Buys

FOR ALL MY frustration over missing the World Cup, my admiration for Gérard remained immense. He cared passionately about Liverpool. People forget he almost lost his life working for the club. I will never forget when he was almost taken from us.

The boss seemed fine and healthy as he gave us some last-minute advice on 13 October 2001, talking us through what we should expect from Leeds United, the visitors to Anfield that Saturday afternoon. We returned to the dressing-room at half-time 1–0 down, expecting Gérard to be waiting to have a go at us. Instead it was Thommo, who’s a bit noisier. ‘Gérard’s not well,’ Thommo explained as we looked around for the boss. ‘He’s gone to hospital for a check-up.’ The staff were outwardly very calm. Thommo didn’t want to distract us from the task of turning the game around. Points were at stake. But we couldn’t help but worry about our manager. We knew it must be serious for Gérard to be rushed off to hospital. We managed to focus enough on the game to equalize, through Danny Murphy, but everyone was down afterwards. Being without Gérard hit us hard. Imagine Manchester United coping without Sir Alex Ferguson. I drove home feeling worried. When I got in, I sent the boss a text: ‘Hope you are all right’. No reply. My concern deepened. Gérard is usually sharp back on the text, or he calls. But nothing. Not a word.

At Melwood the next day, Doc Waller gathered all the players in the meeting room. ‘Gérard has undergone emergency heart surgery,’ he told us. ‘It took eleven hours and it was a dissection of the aorta.’ Such medical terms meant little to me, but the serious look on Doc Waller’s face told me everything I needed to know about the manager’s plight. ‘He will be away for some time,’ Doc Waller continued. ‘He sends his regards and asks you to focus on the next games, not on him.’

Typical Gérard. Always thinking of Liverpool, never himself. I feared his 24/7 commitment to leading Liverpool had damaged his health. Constant pressure takes a toll. Gérard would never have listened to any signs from his body to slow down. Now he had been at death’s door, saved only by a surgeon’s skill.

‘Gérard will be back,’ insisted Thommo, ‘and until he does, I’ll be taking over. We must stick together to make sure we are in a good position for when the boss gets back. He has all your interests at heart. He fights for you. We must show that fight for him.’

We flew out to Kiev later that day for a Champions League game, and the long trip was desperately gloomy. When we got to Dinamo’s stadium, Thommo put a sign up on the dressing-room wall: ‘Do It For The Boss’. We did. I poured all my concern for our missing manager into that tie, even scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory.

Gérard Houllier was a well-liked manager, a player’s manager, and very human.

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