Andy Lonergan has opened up about how his move to Liverpool came about and life at the club
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Andy Lonergan among the one-time Liverpool goalkeeping unit.
Andy Lonergan among the one-time Liverpool goalkeeping unit.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Andy Lonergan has revealed how his surprise transfer to the club came about. Eyebrows were raised when the now 41-year-old linked up with the Reds just days after they had started their 2019/20 campaign.
The former Leeds United man had initially joined the club on their tour of the US that summer, and even started in the friendly against Sevilla. But no deal looked to be forthcoming - especially after the Reds completed the signing of Adrian.
However, that all changed on the opening night of the season when Alisson Becker picked up a calf injury during the first-half of his side's 4-1 win over Norwich City. And, in the blink of an eye, Lonergan found himself signing a deal until the end of the campaign and then on the bench for the UEFA Super Cup tie with Chelsea in Istanbul just days later.
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And now recalling how he came to be offered a deal by the Reds, Lonergan revealed that he received a call from the club at half-time during the Norwich game before being contracted after that match by John Achterberg, who asked him to come and sign the next day.
"Someone from Liverpool got in touch and said, Do you want to come on pre-season with us?" the now Wigan Athletic player-coach told the I Had Trials Once podcast.
"[Simon] Mignolet was there, but no other goalkeepers. Alisson was away and Kelleher was injured. I went, and I trained on the Monday with the goalkeeper coach like a 1vs1 session.
"I had watched Liverpool's training on YouTube, and I thought this is a jolly up. I only realised now that they only show the warm-ups. So I trained with him 1vs1, and I was b******d. But I'm thinking it is 1vs1. It is hard. That was the easiest session I did.
"The next day we fly to America, and we went around loads of places, and we ended up playing against Sevilla at Boston Red Sox Stadium. Van Dijk is captain, and I am standing behind him, thinking what a trial match this is. I did alright."
Pushed on the terms and conditions, Lonergan revealed: "There were none. I was just a trialist. I don't even think I was a trialist because I don't think they were going to sign me.
"I was just helping them out. To be fair, at the end, they did say; 'We are going to pay you for this, and I signed'.
"I come back from there and then Alisson come to Switzerland training, and I'm like; 'I can't wait to see this guy. He will be class, but he had a good off season, do you know what I mean'? So the first few sessions he was just getting up to speed.
"Then Mignolet left at the Charity Shield, Adrian signed and I was like; 'I'm definitely going to get pushed out', but then Alisson got injured on the first game of the season, and at half-time my phone rang someone from Liverpool, and then after the game the goalkeeper coach rang me [and said]; 'Come tomorrow, you are signing'.
"And then on the Tuesday we played in Istanbul in the Super Cup, and I was on the bench. And we won it."
Lonergan went on to be a member of the squad that won the Premier League title and picked up winner's medals in both the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, and he admits that he saw first-hand why that side were so successful.
"It was weird because that season there, I felt like I wasn't myself for the majority of the season because it was so intense and serious," he said.
"They would come in, everybody does their work, train, eat and then goes home. Whereas at other clubs you are just f*****g around all the time.
"I saw a different side to it, and that is why it is so good. But they are all great lads, and there is not one bad thing to say about any of them."