SOCCER:DIDIER DESCHAMPS has confirmed he turned down the chance to manage Liverpool in the summer after "a long discussion" with officials from the club.
The Frenchman takes his Marseille team to Stamford Bridge tonight to face his former club Chelsea and Carlo Ancelotti, the manager with whom he briefly overlapped as a player at Juventus in 1999.
However, he suggested that but for the “timing” things could have worked out very differently. Liverpool parted company with Rafael Benitez in June and they included Deschamps on their shortlist of potential successors. But their approach, Deschamps suggested, came too close to pre-season to persuade him to decamp from the south of France.
“Yes, it’s true,” Deschamps said, when asked whether he had been offered the chance to manage Liverpool after Benitez’s departure, “and I was very proud that a club like Liverpool were interested in me. But the timing was not good. I was engaged with Marseille, the players and the fans, and I could not leave them two days before the restart (of pre-season).
“I was extremely pleased and happy (with Liverpool’s approach) but I decided to stay and continue my adventure with Marseille.”
Deschamps was asked whether he had received a “concrete” offer from Liverpool. “But what is a concrete offer?” he replied. It was put to him it was something definite, rather than mere fleeting talks.
“We had a long discussion, yes.”
Deschamps started coaching at Monaco in 2001 after a playing career in which he won the European Cup twice, with Marseille and Juventus, and the World Cup and European Championship as France’s captain. He also collected many domestic honours during a career that took in spells in France, Italy, England and Spain.
He spent a single season at Chelsea, 1999-2000, which culminated in victory over Aston Villa in the last FA Cup final to be played at the old Wembley.
“I have very fond memories of my time at Chelsea. It was a radical change for me both on and off the field after five years playing with Juventus.
“What I remember is that we played every week in front of full stadia, at home and away, and the fans always got behind the team passionately. And it was great to finish with the win at Wembley.
“Chelsea is a totally different club, with the investment from Roman Abramovich. He has allowed the club to buy top players, build a new stand and get fantastic training facilities. They have been able to take their seat at Europe’s top table.”
As Monaco’s manager, Deschamps defeated Chelsea in the 2004 Champions League semi-final before falling to Jose Mourinho’s Porto in the final. Chelsea interviewed Deschamps to become their manager that summer, only to go for Mourinho as Claudio Ranieri’s successor.
Deschamps joined Marseille in May 2009 after a spell in charge at Juventus and he enjoyed an excellent first season, ending the club’s 18-year wait for the Ligue 1 title and winning the League Cup.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool fans’ group Spirit of Shankly-ShareLiverpoolFC has taken its first step towards setting up a financial foundation for supporter-led investment in the club.
The society has teamed up with the Merseyside-based Partners Credit Union to provide a safe house for supporters to save towards the goal of taking up a stake in Liverpool.
The Liverpool Supporters’ Credit Union scheme was launched on Saturday with the aim of making investing in Liverpool more affordable.
Fans will now be able to save towards having a stake in their club, something the current sums involved put out of the reach of all but investment institutions and the super-rich.
“If you have 100,000 people all contributing £500 (€588), you can have £50 million (€59m) ,” said Partners Credit Union chief executive, Tracy Fletcher. “Some credit unions have 15,000 to 20,000 members, this could be much bigger.”
GuardianService
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