Robbie Fowler has opened up on his footballing profession and departure from Liverpool but insisted there’s one thing that also bugs him to this present day.
Despite growing up as an Everton fan, Fowler joined the Reds’ academy on the age of 11 and went on to make his debut for the club seven years later in a League Cup win against Fulham.
And the striker soon made headlines within the second leg of the cup tie a fortnight later, scoring all five goals in his side’s 5-0 win at Anfield.
From there, Fowler blossomed into considered one of England’s most natural finishers of the mid-to-late Nineteen Nineties, setting records as he scored 30-plus goals in his first three full seasons in England.
But despite his proficiency in front of goal, Fowler saw his influence at Liverpool wane when Gerard Houllier joined Liverpool as joint manager in July 1998.
By the 2000-01 season, the Englishman had been relegated to 3rd selection, with Houllier preferring the partnership of Emile Heskey and Michael Owen to steer the road for the Reds.
Despite his status with the fans, the dearth of game time ultimately led Fowler to hunt the exit, with the striker joining Leeds United in December of the next campaign.
Reflecting back on his initial departure from Liverpool, Fowler said he would continually argue with Houlier about his lack of game time but doesn’t resent the Frenchman for his decisions.
‘It wasn’t difficult but once I’m not playing, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t the nicest man on this planet,’ he told BetMGM’s The LineUp.
‘I used to think I ought to be playing. If you’re not playing, I don’t need to be sitting there with an enormous smile on my face – I’m upset and distraught that I’m not playing.
‘I desired to train each day but with that carrot that at the top of the week, I get to play and rating goals and I never got the chance to do this as much as I’d have liked under Gerad Houllier.
‘He wanted to herald his own methods and way of playing. I fell out with him each day and I won’t ever ever apologise for that because I desired to play. That doesn’t me I disliked Houllier.’
Two seasons at Elland Road and 4 years with Manchester City followed before Fowler returned to Anfield for 2 further seasons towards the top of his profession.
But injuries and a scarcity of form meant Fowler did not hit the heights of his early-career exploits, only twice scoring greater than 10 league goals in a single season following his initial exit from Liverpool in 2001.
Despite that, Fowler’s record of 163 goals in 379 appearances means only eight players have scored greater than him in Premier League history.
But having burned so shiny within the early portion of his profession, Fowler remains to be left resenting the injuries and form which cost him a better spot within the record books.
‘I’m ninth on the all-time list and that’s what I actually regret because I ought to be higher,’ he added.
‘When I believe of my profession, I scored a number of goals at first – 30 goals in each of my first three full seasons – but I never realised until after I finished how much injuries played an enormous part.
‘I had hip, knee, and ankle operations, I suffered with my back, and it properly pains me to think that I wasn’t the identical player as I used to be at first of my profession.
‘I still desired to play and rating goals, I believed I still would have scored goals if I played as many games. That probably hurts me greater than anything that I’m not higher on that list because I ought to be.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: ‘I don’t care’ – Ange Postecoglou dismisses ‘irrelevant’ Jamie Redknapp criticism after Tottenham’s defeat to Liverpool
MORE: Ruben Amorim lifts lid on why Marcus Rashford had to go away Manchester United
MORE: Jamie Carragher labels three Tottenham players a disgrace in Liverpool mauling
