Henderson and Gerrard lead Moran tributes
Jamie Carragher has led the tributes to former Liverpool captain and coach Ronnie Moran, after the club icon died at the age of 83 on Wednesday.
Moran made 379 appearances for Liverpool during a 16-year professional career, and joined Bill Shankly’s coaching team towards that final years of his playing spell where he went on to feature as a coach and assistant manager under the likes of Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness.
Liverpool paid their respects to club favourite Moran, with two tributes being posted on Twitter when the news was broken by his son, Paul.
They read: “Liverpool Football Club is deeply saddened by the passing of Ronnie Moran.
“Rest in peace, Ronnie.”
Posting on his Instagram page, former club captain and current academy coach Gerrard said: “RIP Ronnie Moran . Gave me some great advice over the years . The reason our club has a fantastic history is because of people like him. My thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”
Henderson also took to social media to pay tribute to the former captain, and the current Liverpool skipper admitted that it was past club icons like Moran who have inspired him and made wearing the armband such an achievement.
“The reason being captain of Liverpool Football Club is such a huge honour is because legendary figures like Ronnie Moran held it before I did,” Henderson said.
“I wasn't lucky enough to work with Ronnie but I had the great fortune of being in his company on the occasions when he came to Melwood to walk around the training pitch and although we all regarded him as a true great, he was as humble and down to earth as anyone you could ever come across.
“I know I speak for all of the current players when I say that we are all deeply saddened by Ronnie's passing and the greatest tribute we can pay to him is to give everything we've got for Liverpool Football Club just as he did each and every single day during the 49 years he spent here. YNWA.”
Former Liverpool defender Carragher was one of the first to take to Twitter to express his sadness after hearing of Moran’s passing, and credited him with teaching many of Liverpool’s past players “an awful lot” that has helped them forge successful careers on the pitch.
Very sad news with the passing of Ronnie Moran this morning, a legendary figure @LFC & learnt me & others an awful lot. R.I.P,” Carragher wrote.
The Liverpool squad, minus those away on international duty, held a minute’s silence at the club’s training base in Tenerife in memory of Moran, and manager Jurgen Klopp described him as a “role model” for the current players to aspire to.
"You will not have this a lot of times. It's nice and it shows what a big value this is because it's so rare," Klopp told liverpoolfc.com.
"Maybe more of us should try to be like him - and in him we had the perfect role model.
"I am sure nobody can, or will, forget him. It's a sad day, but on the other hand it is a day where everybody thinks about him and thinks about his very, very special story. I had the honour of meeting him last year around the League Cup final.
"Obviously I am not from Liverpool, I am not from England, and so I needed a little bit of help but when I heard about this very special story then it was really nice to meet him. It was a big honour for me."
Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals, Everton, also took time to pay tribute to Moran, with their Twitter account posting a message of condolence. Liverpool play Everton in their next Premier League fixture on 1 April in the Merseyside derby, where the clubs are likely to pay tribute to the former left-back.
“We are deeply saddened at the passing of a Merseyside football great, Ronnie Moran. Our thoughts are with his family and friends,” the Everton Twitter post read.
The Merseyside derby will be a particularly poignant moment for the friends and family of Moran, given that he was involved in nearly 100 matches with Everton during his time on the pitch and in the dugout.
The former Liverpool striker, Ian Rush, added: “It's a sad day in Football! RIP Mr. Liverpool #RonnieMoran you will be greatly missed! @LFC.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia also took a moment to pay tribute to the man that he admitted “couldn’t be far from the pitch where he belonged”, while current defender Jon Flanagan, currently on loan at Burnley, added: “Gutted to hear that Ronnie Moran has passed away. A true footballing man who gave me great advice. RIP #YNWA.”
Moran’s son, Paul, confirmed that the Liverpool great had died after a short illness.