Steve Heighway, the legendary former Liverpool winger and head of the club’s
highly successful academy, has labelled as “crazy” the decision of Rafael
BenÍtez to take control of the best young players at the club. Heighway is
leaving the academy after 19 years, during which he groomed the talents of a
host of players, including Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen.
“Rafa is a terrific manager, tactically astute with qualities I really
admire,” Heighway said. “In my view, I’m the best coach of 17 and
18-year-old players in this club. But I no longer get the chance to do that.
That’s crazy, that’s mad; it’s to the detriment of the young players at this
club. If they are not working with the best coach of young players, then
what is this football club doing? It’s not an ego thing, but one thing I am
absolutely sure about is that the best thing for the players is to be with
me.
“My influence is being taken away too soon over the best players and I’m not
convinced that what they are going to do is better for them. Last summer
Rafa called me when I was in America and told me he wanted five players to
go to the reserve-team squad, but he never asked me my view. He just told
me, ‘These are the five I want.’ So my whole role has been totally
undermined.
“Maybe because I have a brain and a mind, maybe that counts against you. I
have never been asked by the manager which players I think are the best
players. His staff watch the players and his staff make the decisions.”
Heighway said that he has “tremendous respect” for BenÍtez — but only as the
manager of the first team. He had less time for Gérard Houllier, BenÍtez’s
predecessor. “With Houllier I just got blanked once I stood up to him in a
couple of very high-profile moments,” Heighway said. “So I became persona
non grata.
“Managers are control freaks; they are not used to people disagreeing with
them, standing up to them in general. It became very obvious that was it;
once I had disagreed with him I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him.”
But, unlike now, Heighway stood his ground and did not leave. “Houllier, in a
very public meeting, stood up and demanded control of the academy and was
told he couldn’t have it,” he said. “I got tremendous support from Rick
Parry [the Liverpool chief executive], so I just got on with the work. And
of course Steven Gerrard broke through from the academy five minutes later.
“Houllier ludicrously claimed that he discovered him wallowing in the academy,
which was a very foolish thing to do because he lost credibility with a lot
of people who knew differently. Stevie had been groomed for the top here and
everybody knew it. I’d been telling them since Steven was 14 that
potentially we had a world star.”
Heighway’s academy team won the FA Youth Cup last week, beating Manchester
United on penalties in the final, and he has taken many of those players on
tour to the United States this week.
“There’s nothing going on here for them,” Heighway said. “The reserve team’s
season is finished, but he [BenÍtez] won’t let some of them go.”
Heighway said that he is leaving the club the legacy of a group of players who
could have the impact of the best Anfield has seen.
“Kenny [Dalglish] was the greatest player I ever played with,” he said. “You
felt you could win any game because of him. And I feel that now with these
boys who have just won the Youth Cup. I would take these boys anywhere and
put them up against any team of 18-year-olds in the world, even a squad of
international players, and I would be disappointed if they didn’t come out
on top.”
Heighway was ready to resign last summer, but stayed so as not to create
instability while Parry, his great ally, was in takeover talks. “It’s not
easy to walk away from something,” Heighway said. “It’s common knowledge I
would want to do things differently.
“There’s no bitterness. First-team mangers should have it the way they want
it. All the club has to decide is how far they are able to extend their
influence. Obviously they are not going to control the ticket office. And my
view is the academy is an area the club have to be careful about in letting
the first-team manager’s influence spread too far.
“I would urge any football club to make sure the academy is not one of the
areas the manager controls. I just think it is ludicrous; it doesn’t make
any sense whatsoever.
“My attitude is very simple. If I don’t share the same views as the manager,
then I need to go, not him. It’s obvious we don’t agree. We haven’t fallen
out. I’m not expecting Rick Parry to sack Rafa because I disagree with
things he wants to do and it is important to stress that I don’t have that
kind of ego.”
Heighway has met George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, the club’s new American
owners, and has indicated that he would accept a new part-time role helping
Liverpool to identify young talent overseas.
“I’m not going to suddenly start cleaning the floors or scouting the odd
game,” Heighway said. But any new role would have to be part-time, so that
he can spend time with his children and grandchildren and travel. He still
has a home in Clearwater, Florida.
“The club have a lot of projects in America which will need servicing and I’m
quite fortunate in a sense that I have a unique set of qualifications,
having played, having got a degree, having coached here for 19 years and in
America for eight years,” he said. “So I can go into a club in America and
give talks or seminars or whatever. They [Hicks and Gillett] were certainly
very complimentary about the work we have done here. I’m waiting for them to
come back to me.”
Heighway won four league titles, two European Cups, two Uefa Cups and the FA
Cup during his 11 years at Liverpool from 1970 to 1981 and believes that
success was built on what he terms the Liverpool way.
“I’m very principled,” he said. “I have a view on what it is to play for
Liverpool, what it is to work for Liverpool, what are the values, what are
the standards, and I find that others still share them with me but it is
less and less.” Those values are about “conducting yourself with class,
winning with class, losing with class, not winning at any cost. I think you
would hear Rick Parry saying that.
“And also I believe in a way of playing. We have always believed in pass and
move at Liverpool. Maybe that’s something that only I believe in now. That’s
hit home to me quite hard — maybe the values I share are things from the
past.
“There are going to be changes and I would rather not have to make the
decision on whether I want to be part of them. Those changes won’t
necessarily be for the worse; everyone has their shelf life. I’ve been here
19 years — that’s a long, long time.”
Top of the Kop
Hits of the Heighway academy
Michael Owen Helped Liverpool to win FA Youth Cup in 1996. Scored 118
goals in 216 league appearances for club. European Footballer of the Year in
2001
Robbie Fowler Began training with club at 11. Has become fourth-highest
scorer in Premiership history. Known on Kop as “God”
Steven Gerrard Joined Liverpool aged 9. In his biography, highlighted
role Heighway played in his career by stopping doctors from amputating a toe
Jamie Carragher Also part of 1996 Youth Cup side. Has made 324
Premiership appearances
Steve McManaman Won numerous honours with Real Madrid and man of the
match in Liverpool’s 1995 League Cup victory
Near-misses
Stephen Warnock Full back made 40 league appearances but now at
Blackburn Rovers
Neil Mellor Hit last-minute goal against Arsenal in front of Kop three
years ago. Now at Preston North End
Jon Otsemobor, below Perhaps best known for being shot in buttocks
during pub brawl. Now at Crewe Alexandra
