Hurt me more than anything’ – Liverpool star was dropped for Community Shield after bust-up with assistant manager

alright so back in the summer of 2001 liverpool had just come off an incredible season under gerard houllier winning the fa cup the league cup and the uefa cup in what became known as the treble season expectations were high for the new campaign and the curtain raiser the charity shield which would be played in cardiff rather than the old wembley for the first time was supposed to be a celebration of the clubs success but instead it became the stage for one of the more bizarre and infamous

internal bust ups in modern liverpool history the main characters in this drama were robbie fowler one of the most prolific and beloved strikers in the clubs history and phil thompson a liverpool legend from his playing days and now the assistant manager to houllier fowler was nicknamed god by the kop because of his uncanny knack for scoring and his status as a homegrown hero thompson meanwhile was a no nonsense figure fiercely loyal to houllier and deeply invested in maintaining discipline and respect within the squad what happened

was a clash of personalities timing and perhaps a lingering sense from fowler that houllier no longer truly wanted him at the club the trigger came in a training session at melwood just before the charity shield match against manchester united the team were going through their warmup routines and as

thompson later explained there was a rule in place about when balls could be taken out of the bags and used for shooting practice this was because in previous sessions players had been blasting balls into distant nets before warmups were complete which left the coaching and medical staff to collect them thompson and houllier saw this as a sign of a lack of respect for the session plan and the support staff so the rule was clear no balls out until the warmup was done on this particular day fowler was practising shooting at an empty net thompson

happened to be walking behind the goal at the time fowler hit a shot the net billowed and the ball flew close to thompson it didnt hit him there was a net in between and as fowler later joked it would have taken a radioactive shot to burn through the net but for thompson it was too close for comfort he saw it as a violation of the rule and a moment of disrespect he asked who had done it fowler admitted it was him and rather than backing down fowler fired back with a comment that would become infamous he called thompson big nose it was said half in jest but it carried an edge given the tensions and it was enough to make the situation escalate the two squared up in front of teammates and while it didnt become

physical it was heated houllier wasnt even present at the session but he was quickly informed and rather than letting it slide he decided this was a matter of principle he met with both men separately and gave fowler the chance to apologise immediately after training and again the next day fowler refused believing the whole thing was being blown out of proportion and perhaps seeing it as part of a bigger picture in which houllier was looking for reasons to phase him out in his autobiography fowler wrote that this incident confirmed his fear that houllier had already decided to sell him in any case the manager made his decision he would not select fowler for the charity shield unless he apologised to thompson by sunday lunchtime the day of the match no apology came so fowler was told just hours before kickoff that not only would he not start he

wouldnt even be on the bench liverpool went on to win the match 2 1 over manchester united but for fowler the day was hollow he missed the chance to add another medal to his collection and it stung deeply more than the actual row with thompson in his mind this was a petty and unnecessary exclusion for something that happened countless times on training grounds up and down the country fowler later said that he was the captain and a senior player and that to be dropped for kicking a ball into a net while someone was standing nearby was ridiculous houllier however was unmoved insisting that until fowler apologised he would not be considered for selection the

standoff continued into the opening league game of the season a 2 1 win over west ham which fowler had to watch from the stands it was only about two weeks later that fowler finally relented though even then he described it as an apology of sorts he told them he was sorry but also made it clear he thought they were being ridiculous thompson accepted the apology with what fowler described as a grin like hed won the lottery despite the thaw in relations the damage to fowlers place in the team was done he scored on his return in a champions league match against fc haka but by november he was sold to leeds united for 11 million pounds a move he saw as inevitable after that summer years later both men spoke openly about the incident thompson

explained that from his point of view it was about maintaining discipline and respect for the session plan and for the staff who had to fetch balls he admitted that the ball flew close enough to make him feel it could have been dangerous and when fowler openly admitted it was him combined with the big nose comment it became a matter of standing his ground he insisted though that there was no lasting animosity and that once the apology came they carried on without issues fowler for his part eventually came to see it differently as well in later interviews he admitted that at the time he was only thinking about himself and his own frustration and not about the team environment or the coaching staff he acknowledged that as a coach himself in later years he could see why such moments could be flashpoints especially when they seemed to undermine authority they even reunited publicly in a light hearted way at an event in liverpool with jamie carragher

present laughing about the whole thing still fowler remained convinced that it cost him a medal and accelerated his departure from the club which for a boyhood red was a deep wound the incident became one of those stories that circulates whenever people talk about dressing room discipline and how small moments can snowball into career changing events it also reflected houlliers management style he was known for his meticulousness and his insistence on respect and unity even if it meant sacrificing a big name in the short term to uphold those principles fowler was not the first or last player to fall foul of that approach but

because he was so loved by the fans and so closely associated with the club it left a lasting impression supporters were divided at the time some felt houllier was right to back his assistant and set a standard others thought it was an overreaction and symptomatic of a manager who was perhaps losing touch with the human side of his squad either way it is remembered now as one of those classic football stories where egos timing and stubbornness collide in a way that seems almost absurd in hindsight both fowler and thompson went on to have further success in the game and both now talk about it with a mixture of humour and perspective but for a few weeks in the summer of 2001 it was deadly serious and for robbie fowler it hurt more than anything not because of the insult or the argument but because of the medal that slipped away and the signal it sent about his future at liverpool even in later reflections he would say that the amount of publicity the spat generated was frightening and that training ground disagreements like that happened every day elsewhere without ever making headlines but this one was different it involved a legendary player a legendary coach a legendary club and it happened right on the eve of a match against their fiercest rivals which made it irresistible for the media and unforgettable for those who lived through it in the end it became part of the folklore of that era a reminder that football is as much about personalities as it is about tactics and that sometimes the smallest spark can light a fire that changes the course of careers and seasons