Phil Thompson took his Liverpool players for a mind-clearing stroll in the park yesterday. With positive news to report on Gerard Houllier's condition back on Merseyside, this was a time for reflection.
"As the days have gone on since Gerard fell ill, I can see an improvement in the lads," said the stand-in manager. "They seem to be coming to terms with things. I feel quietly confident about what I have to do."
Talk of serenity does not sit easily with a man whose reputation as a touchline barker is well deserved. The 47-year-old former captain of the team selects his first Liverpool side tonight for the tricky Champions League tie with Dynamo Kiev at the Olympiyski stadium conscious that he may have to curb some of his own instinctive ranting and raving from the sidelines.
"Gerard's illness is not totally related to stress but it does make you take a step back," he said. "The whole episode has shaken me greatly. Apart from being a great manager, the guy is a good friend and a huge help to me.
"Everyone knows I can get quite excitable at times and, hard as it is to believe, he's helped me to calm down. I have reappraised the way I act. It's just that my voice is louder than his, so he uses me to get instructions across."
What the assistant manager lacks in subtlety he more than compensates for in raw passion. Thompson's Anfield career was littered with trophies: seven league titles, two European Cups, a pair of League Cups, a UEFA Cup and an FA Cup. A six-year spell as the club's reserve-team manager ended in 1992 and it took the arrival of the Frenchman, an outsider, to bring him back into the fold in November 1998.
Yet, with a highly-rated backroom staff of Sammy Lee, Jacques Crevoisier - a summer replacement for Patrice Bergues - and Joe Corrigan undertaking most of the coaching duties, Thompson's role has been primarily that of excitable drill instructor, bellowing orders and addressing defensive organisation.
Now he finds himself in charge. "Gerard and I bat off one another," he said. "I'd like to say I'm picking the team on my own but we had discussed it even before the Leeds game. I know how he would like the side to shape up and I'm not going into this completely blind."
While no one at Anfield is considering life without Houllier, it is safe to assume Thompson, who has no direct managerial experience, is not a candidate as a replacement should he opt against a return to management.
"It's different being number one, if only for a while," he admitted. "The players are fine with it. I know I come across as abrasive but we are all here to do a job. I'm not here to be liked, and nor is Gerard. But I'd like to think that I command a bit of respect from the players."
According to club captain Jamie Redknapp it is important that senior players like Sami Hypia, Robbie Fowler and himself keep things positive. "A lot of eyes will be watching us to see whether we stick together or let it slip.
"It was very difficult for us at first because Gerard is such a hands-on manager. He decides everything we do and has such a massive input into the club - more so than any manager I've worked under. For him suddenly not to be around is very strange but we are lucky to have Thommo."
Even with Thompson in the dug-out that may be easier said than done in front of 80,000 Ukrainians here this evening. Dynamo have endured a sluggish start to their European campaign but they are top of their domestic league and must win tonight to maintain their interest in the competition.
LIVERPOOL (4-4-2, probable): Dudek; Carragher, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise; Murphy, Gerrard, McAllister, Barmby; Fowler, Heskey.
DYNAMO KIEV (3-4-1-2): Reva; Khatskevich, Holovko, Vashchuk; Ghioane, Cernat, Serebrennikov, Nesmachny; Belkevich; Melashchenko, Idahor.
