Colin Pascoe has revealed details of the illnesses which hit the Liverpool camp ahead of its 3-0 win at Queens Park Rangers.
Pascoe deputized for Brendan Rodgers in the dugout for Liverpool’s final game of 2012, with the boss returning to Merseyside on Sunday morning on doctor’s orders.
The Northern Irishman was too ill to make contact during the game, though he did pick the team.
His assistant Pascoe was also ill with a different ailment, and revealed afterwards that he too had been barred from the dressing room to prevent the players being struck down.
“This morning, he [Rodgers] phoned me,” Pascoe said. “I wasn’t feeling very well myself, but he was worse than me! He didn’t look so good, he was very, very white. We were in the hotel.
“All the preparation had been done for the match. Brendan picked the team. The presentations to the players were all set, I just did the presentations today. The driver had to take him [Brendan] back home.
“He wasn’t in touch during the game – he’s that bad!
“The way the medical team and the doctors isolated the players and the staff, they’ve been fantastic. Hopefully it’s nipped in the bud and not too many players or staff will be affected by it.”
“I made notes before, during and after and I gave them to Mike Marsh, who went in and gave instructions,” Pascoe said about his own sickness. “I wasn’t allowed in the dressing room!”
Two goals from Luis Suarez and a header from Daniel Agger ensured QPR remained rooted to the bottom of the Barclays Premier League heading into the New Year.
Liverpool stays eight points adrift of the top four, but a win at home to Sunderland on Wednesday will make it a decent return of nine points from a possible 12 over the Christmas period.
“They were awesome today,” Pascoe said. “The way they played, conducted themselves and controlled the game.
“The way Luis and Stevie and the boys played — you could go through the whole team. It was just a great team performance.”
Asked whether the display gave him hope that 2013 would be a more fruitful year than 2012 on the pitch for Liverpool, Pascoe replied: “Yes, definitely.
“We were all disappointed after Stoke but the performances in a lot of the games have been terrific. Again today, coming to QPR, which is a tough place to come, the lads were superb.”
Photo via LiverpoolFC.com
