Smith: Shanks was the greatest

I got a call yesterday from someone reminding me it was the 28th anniversary of Bill Shankly's death, writes Anfield Iron Tommy Smith.

It's hard to believe so many years have passed since that time.
 
Of course, it is 50 years ago this December that Shanks first took over as manager of Liverpool. And the rest, as they say, is history.
 
The game has changed so much, with money now so important, that Shanks would never have imagined it. He would not have liked it either, of that I'm sure.
 
These days, you get players who are happy to sit on the bench because they are earning so much But in his day, players hated being left out - and Bill hated it if they weren't deeply unhappy and desperate to get off it and into the team as soon as possible.
 
One thing he would have enjoyed, though, was seeing Liverpool bombard Hull City at Anfield and hit six.
 
Liverpool played the way Shanks wanted his teams to play - pummelling the opposition with big hearts and good football until they all but submitted, which Hull did after what Torres and company put them through.

He may not have been the most successful manager ever - though he did win pretty much everything. But for me, Shanks will always be the greatest boss of all.

The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of Liverpool Football Club or Liverpoolfc.tv.