John Doolan on Accrington's FA cup exit at Liverpool and coaching Trent at the academy

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John Doolan on Accrington's FA cup exit at Liverpool and coaching Trent at the academy  11/01/2025  Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK

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00:00John, how was that for you?

00:02Brilliant. I know the scoreline was 4-0,

00:05but I wanted us to come here and give a good count of ourselves as individuals and as a team,

00:09as a club, and the fans and the supporters,

00:12and I just thought, we didn't get wrapped up in the occasion,

00:14we didn't get wrapped up in the emotion,

00:16we had the game plan, I think everyone's seen that at work for 29 and a half hours,

00:20frustrated Liverpool.

00:22I think a bit more quality is going forward at times,

00:25and that lady luck or the magic that you get in the cup,

00:29we just didn't have it to start off with.

00:32To concede from a half-free kick was a little bit disappointing,

00:36but at the same time, we're playing against world-class players,

00:39and from one box to another box, they're there in a flash,

00:42and then you're getting jotted on the end of things,

00:44so that was disappointing, I wanted to see a reaction,

00:47I got the reaction that I wanted to see,

00:50and then again another world-class player just pops up,

00:53Trent Alexander, and puts one in the top corner,

00:55so you've just got to take your medicine and regroup at half-time.

00:58That first goal was probably the first time you got out of shape in the first half,

01:02and then the second half, Josh Oxley hits the bar,

01:04Donald Love has a great chance with a header as well,

01:07I sense then there's a bit of a feeling of what could have been.

01:11Yeah, exactly that, and that's what we wanted,

01:14we wanted moments in the game where maybe we could just exploit or capitalise on,

01:18and in the moments that we had, as you said, we didn't.

01:23But they were nearly moments that got the fans off their seats,

01:26they got us jumping in the dugout, so we just had to go again,

01:30we got into half-time just to regroup and make a couple of changes,

01:33and I thought we started the second half a bit positive.

01:36After the game as well, so you had a word with Arna,

01:38so you had a word on Trent as well?

01:40Well, the Arna, honestly, I can't speak highly of the man,

01:43he's a Liverpool manager and he's all well known that I'm an Everton fan,

01:47so he conducts himself, he's a world-class manager,

01:50he's got a world-class team, and he's invited us in for a drink,

01:53he doesn't have to, and he's done that,

01:55and I thought, wow, I'm definitely going to take him up on the offer.

01:58And Trent, I did say about a coach when he was six and seven,

02:02I don't know whether he remembers, Dianne's mum will probably remember,

02:06because she used to bring him to the training sessions.

02:09But in terms of the pitch at the end of the game, I didn't see Trent,

02:13so I've walked across to our fans and he's literally just turned up in flip-flops,

02:18and I've gone, wow, and he goes, I remember,

02:20and we just started chatting as if I was only talking to him last week,

02:23he's such a wonderful and humble guy, he's a top, top player,

02:28but to do that and show the class that he is...

02:31The lads were a bit quicker than you to get your shirt in...

02:34No, Vin, to be honest, mate, I was never going to ask for anyone's shirt,

02:38because I haven't played the game, so that's on them,

02:41and they've got memories of our players now for the rest of their lives,

02:44and I've just said to them in the dressing room,

02:46this is what you want, this is where you want to be,

02:48this is the younger players to aspire to get to this level if you can,

02:51but it takes a lot of hard work.

02:53Thanks, appreciate that.

02:56Is there any other examples of Liverpool looking after you today as a club?

03:02Yeah, so we trained at Liverpool Academy yesterday,

03:05so we had a difficult week this week in terms of the weather,

03:08like everyone has, we've done different things,

03:11we've been indoor, done yoga, we've got a soccer dome that we rented out,

03:15and Liverpool offered us their indoor facility yesterday in Kirby,

03:19which ironically enough, I obviously grew up in Kirby,

03:22so I moved from Liverpool when I was four or five,

03:25and to work at the academy and to go back and see how much advance that's kicked on,

03:29and now the first team are based in there,

03:31it was a brilliant gesture from them, to be honest.

03:34Can I just ask what Billy Carroll has done?

03:37Yeah.

03:38How's he been doing?

03:41Fantastic.

03:42Disappointing, but he's made a great save,

03:45and I think Dan's got the rebounds and knocked the rebounds in,

03:48and then Chiesa, these names that I mentioned, Chiesa,

03:52putting one in the bottom corner, Billy's nearly got there,

03:55but Billy's done great for us since he's come in,

03:58he's a fantastic player and he's got a fantastic attitude,

04:02and he's had a couple of clean sheets in the league for us,

04:06and he's doing really well for us.

04:08Jon, just a word on the support, it was great to see.

04:11The support was fantastic, I got asked about the atmosphere,

04:15and Anfield is a fantastic atmosphere,

04:18but I thought both sets of fans, our fans from minute one to 95, 96 minutes,

04:23were outstanding, and I wanted them to give the best version of themselves today,

04:27and I think they've done that, and I think the Liverpool fans giving us a standing ovation,

04:31a clap coming off the pitch, summed it up,

04:34summed up the efforts that we all put in, the way we went about it,

04:37and yes, it was 4-0, but it doesn't feel like a 4-0.

04:40So I couldn't thank the fans highly.

04:48Jon, thanks lads, thank you.

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