Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon on Jorg Schmadtke:
“Firstly, I would like to welcome Jorg to Liverpool in the knowledge that he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into a role in which such qualities can only be beneficial both to him and us." #lfc [lfc]
Gordon: "Jorg will work with our football operations department as it continues to provide support for Jürgen Klopp, in keeping with our ongoing endeavour to keep growing and developing the club in all areas."
Gordon: "At the same time as we welcome Jorg, we must also bid a fond farewell to Julian Ward, who has served us with unstinting diligence, fortitude and energy in a number of roles, the most recent one being sporting director."
Gordon: "We wish Julian and his young family the very best for the future and thank him for everything he has done for Liverpool FC during the past 11 years.”
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James Milner on being a role model for Liverpool's youngsters:
"I came in about 15 minutes later than I normally do today and Trent was in before me and said, ‘Have I beat you in?!’" #lfc [lfc]
Milner: "For him to comment and actually be in that early – I know he hasn’t done the school run or anything – it’s great. They’re the special things, you see the younger guys and Trent, I’ve seen him grow up and you see the pictures when he first came into the team as a boy."
Milner: "And you see what a player he is now and the man he is becoming, hopefully we have helped him learn a few positive things on the way and the things he needs to do to look after himself. It’s easier when you’re young, you never feel stiff, you never feel tired."
“It’s the fans’ club. We are lucky enough to rent a shirt for a few years and do what we can in that shirt, but it’s their club and everything we do is for them." #lfc [lfc]
Milner: "So when we go around the city and you see people hanging off scaffolding and ladders and you make eye contact with someone… those are the special moments and the special moments we work so hard for to earn and it’s amazing to share."
Milner: "Because the following they have given the team over the years, all around the world, the amount of money they must have spent – we played every single game possible last year, the following we have all the time, when you need them they are there."
"It has to be Barcelona I think. The whole thing around it, the build-up to it in terms of the first-leg result, beating Newcastle, losing players, what happened the night before with Vincent Kompany." #lfc [lfc]
Milner: "The reaction to do that against a world-class team full of experienced players, with players missing, it was just a great night for the team and the club, but showed all of the hard work in terms of the whole squad. We had players missing, players who got us there."
Milner: "And the players who came in were ready to play, well coached, knew what their job was, up against it, didn’t panic. You look at that, winning the first trophy as a group is always really important and doing it together."
"I think the attitude I’ve had through it all is to try to enjoy it. It is business as usual, that’s the mindset I’ve always tried to have, and you try to take it on board and enjoy it and things like that." #lfc [lfc]
Milner: "But I think if you overthink it too much that’s probably when you get quite emotional and stuff. So yeah, I just tried to enjoy the occasion. Obviously it would have been nice to win, that was the biggest disappointment."
Milner: "But I just feel content in the journey I’ve had here and proud and happy to have been part of it. So, I think there’s not a lot of sadness, it’s just happiness that I’ve been at the club, that I’ve played at Anfield for that long and the moments we shared there."
Jurgen Klopp on his favourite James Milner moments:
"There's not one James Milner moment; it's a James Milner seven-and-a-half years. That's really how it is. From the first moment for me, he was a super-important player reference point." #lfc [lfc]
Klopp: "When you have a meeting and you look at Millie's eyes and he's not shaking his head, you know you're on the right way. Nothing would have happened here, of all the good things, would not have happened without Millie."
Klopp: "Because he kept it always going until now. From the player who was super-angry when he didn't play, to the player when he did play, the way he pushed the whole dressing room before a game is absolutely second to none. Absolutely."
Jurgen Klopp on James Milner's dressing room influence:
"I think Millie wants to be, [in the] first place, he wants to be seen as a football player and that's rightly so, because he played 9,000 games or so, that's how it feels!" #lfc [lfc]
Klopp: "That was the biggest impact he had; on the pitch. But around, and some of these things I obviously never saw, but I think a lot of things didn't even come up to my office just because Millie sorted it beforehand, which is really good."
Klopp: "It's easy for the other players to look up to him because of the way he is. Because of the way he behaves and treats everybody. He speaks nearly fluently Spanish which means he was always an important fixed point for the Spanish-speaking players when they came in."