In the eyes of Liverpool supporters, the late Bob Paisley could understandably do no wrong.
After all, this was a man that guided the Merseyside club to six First Division titles, three League Cups and a further three European Cups during his nine years at the Anfield helm.
However, as far as David Fairclough is concerned, he cannot help but feel let down by one of the club's greatest ever managers.
Despite the fact that he scored some crucial goals for the Reds, Fairclough was often overlooked by Paisley, even after the promise had been made that he would feature in the League and European Cup finals of 1977.
In total, Fairclough - dubbed 'Supersub' - played 154 times for the five-time European champions, 62 of which were as a substitute. On a further 76 occasions, Liverpool's most famous No.12 spent the entire 90 minutes on the bench.
Sports Mole spoke with the now 58-year-old to discuss his new autobiography, as well as his relationship with Paisley and whether he regrets not leaving his boyhood club sooner.
Players tend to release books before they retire in this day and age, but you've waited some time after your retirement. Why now?
"I always wanted to go through the exercise [of writing a book], but I started and then stopped a couple of times. I've always felt that there was a good story to tell and perhaps some stories people hadn't heard. I wanted to be a little bit different with it. Hopefully there was one or two interesting aspects, like when I left Liverpool and went abroad.
"I got to a point where I thought that it wasn't going to happen and I'd have to put the idea away, but then I got talking to a good friend - Mark Platt. He had recently helped to write a couple of other biographies and he said if I can get it on course, there will be an interesting tale."
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What were the main motivations behind writing and releasing the book?
"It was all about my varied experiences. You hear about modern footballers and the lives that they have. I look back at what we had and it was far different. It wasn't all glamorous and put on a plate for us - we had to work hard. There was a real battle to be a footballer in days gone by. I wanted to share the battle that I had to forge the reputation of being a 'Supersub'."
Have you received some good feedback?
"Those that have read the book have given good feedback. I'm not aware of the numbers and how many have been sold, but both myself and the publishers have been really happy with everything that's been said."
The title - 'Supersub' - is an interesting one. It's a tag that no player really wants, but since you've retired, is it something that you've started to embrace?
"I've started to embrace it. It wasn't said in a negative way, but it could have been seen that way at the time. The fact that it's lived so long in the memory shows people do remember me. It's a good thing. There have been plenty of footballers that have done great things but the fact that people remember my substitute exploits so vividly is great for me.
Another player that was branded with that tag was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. He's previously revealed that he studied the opposition to find their weak points while he was sat on the bench. Is that something that you did as well?
"I couldn't own up to doing that. For the first year it was okay, but it wasn't somewhere I wanted to be. I'm not sure who or what Ole would have studied, but it's difficult to put the best laid plans into action, especially if you come into the game late on. I was just itching to get an opportunity and then tried to make the most of the ability that I had."
You're understandably critical of Bob Paisley in the book, particularly where the broken promises of 1977 are concerned. However, as he's such a club legend, was there any worry that you'd receive a backlash?
"I think I have played it down, to be honest. I wasn't fearful of any backlash because there's always two sides to a story. No-one can claim to be the perfect person and certainly Bob Paisley couldn't. Everybody deserves criticism and everyone has downsides in their performances. Paisley is not above all that stuff.
"As the song goes 'players only love you when their playing'. The criticism is fair because it's my tale. Sadly he's not here to say otherwise, but they are records of conversations that we had between each other."
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You went to the European Cup final in 1978 with a transfer request in your pocket, but ended up playing against Club Brugge and stayed. In hindsight, was that the right time to leave?
"It wasn't easy to move on. At that point, you feel as though you've established yourself - you're first choice for a European Cup final. It's a fantastic thing to be given. Then, I felt next season was going to be better and that I could build on things and be more involved.
"It wasn't as easy to leave a club in those days as it is now. In '77 my dad always felt that I was going to get the rough end of the stick because of Bob Paisley's attitude and the broken promises - that was the time to leave perhaps.
"It wasn't easy to get away. My circumstances had changed as well because my dad passed away and my mum was living with my sister. It was a completely different situation and it wasn't easy. When was the right time to go? Right then it wasn't the time to leave."
With your knack of scoring goals, there must have been plenty of interest?
"Things got mentioned and there was always speculation, but Bob Paisley never told me that somebody had come in and put an offer on the table. The newspapers rumoured that the likes of Aston Villa, Manchester City and Anderlecht were interested, but the club never informed me. In some ways that was a compliment because they didn't want to get rid of me."
Had you have moved on sooner, do you think that you would have represented England at senior international level?
"I think so. That was an ambition to play for England and I felt I was capable of doing that. It wasn't a case of being scared to leave Liverpool and if I had done and then got a regular opportunity elsewhere, you never know. I was in the Under-21s and B squads, so I'd been recognised as a potential international. If I'd played more and scored goals, it would certainly have enhanced my chances."
You stayed at Liverpool for a while, though, and maybe it's that loyalty that saw you voted the club's 18th best player by fans in 2006. Being a boyhood supporter yourself, that must fill you with pride?
"It was amazing to feature so high. I never thought when they were conducting that poll that I would end up anywhere near 18th. I would have been pleased to be in the 40s or 50s, so I was very flattered with that."
Why do you think it is that you feature so high on the list?
"Being born local and having come through the ranks may have helped. I was involved in a few key moments that have stuck in the memory. Saint-Etienne was probably a major memory prod and the goal against Everton as well."
You mentioned the Saint-Etienne goal there - that must get brought up a lot?
"It does, very much so. It always gets brought up. The fact that it was such a great memory for people - it's fantastic to be associated with it. People love to recall it and that's great. People sometimes just remember the bad stuff, but the fact that this is so positive is brilliant."
Ultimately, when you look back on your career, do you have any regrets? You scored goals and won trophies with the club that you've supported all of your life, but does the lack of starts leave you with a feeling of unfulfilment?
"There are a few little regrets. I'd like to have played more because I don't think that I truly fulfilled my potential. I had a certain ability that I was keen to show, but unfortunately I didn't get enough opportunities to reach the levels that I could have."
Just how good was that Liverpool squad you were part of? And where would it rank alongside the great teams of today like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich?
"We had great characters, but you cannot compare generations - that's an impossible thing to do. We can only surmise and you have to give all of those Liverpool players tremendous credit. There was a certain determination and a real togetherness that was something that could outfox the best teams around at the time.
"We were properly the most feared team in the world at the time because we could go anywhere in Europe and get a result. There was a little bit of a glitch when we went out [of the European Cup] to Nottingham Forest, but mostly that team could go anywhere and achieve. There was no fear factor, just a healthy respect."
Although that team could play good football, it was also capable of battling out a less than glamorous 1-0 win - would that be fair to say?
"A team is a compilation of highly-driven individuals that is only as strong as its weakest link. Everybody rose to a level because they strove to keep up with everybody else. It was self-policed. We didn't need Bob Paisley or anybody else to tell us that we'd underperformed because we wanted to match up to the people next to us. It was an amazing group of individuals and Liverpool were very clever bringing that group together. It was all about putting round pegs in round holes."
David Fairclough's autobiography, Supersub, is published by deCoubertin Books. It can be purchased here.
Liam Apicella
