As inchoate a concept and role though it seems, do you think there's a reliable way to evaluate how particular ones are doing,or is it all based on blind faith? We only tend to rate them after they've gone, when, a la Patrice Bergues and Pako, their absence seems to trigger a decline, but otherwise does it remain a mystery? Sammy Lee had a good reputation as a coach but no one was sure what his contribution was once he'd assumed that role. Steve Clarke also had a great reputation as a coach but tended to be ignored when things went wrong but praised when things went right under Dalglish, with only speculation to justify either response. Hodgson, in stark contrast, had an assistant in Mike Kelly who took a month or so to turn up at the club and even then made the Invisible Man seem ostentatious. Now Colin Pascoe is here and, with Rodgers known as someone who takes control on the training pitch, I'm none the wiser what his assistant actually does. A sounding board? A friendly face? I just wonder, that's all, because everyone else seems to be under the spotlight these days but this position appears more mysterious than ever.
