The manager clearly had expected far more from his troops than the abject surrender they offered to a Liverpool team which must have wondered what had happened to Coventry's famed home performances.

Strachan was almost as shell shocked as his team when they all trooped to the changing rooms to leave Liverpool celebrating in front of their own fans.

The manager said:

"There was no rage. I quietly and calmly told the players where I wanted to take this football club and they must have the picture now.

"I left it alone after the Arsenal game to see if I would get a response but the Liverpool game went along in a similar vein to what went on at Highbury.

"We have played better teams in this division and either beaten them or given them a good game, but now we have a lot to sort out.

"We all talked about where the club has got to go. I told them that if they were with us then smashing, if not then to tell me.

"The training has got to get harder, the training has got to be more intense because obviously it needs to be.

"The fact that we did not make a game of it annoys me and it annoys the fans. I can understand that. We are all in the same boat, but now I have a clear picture of what I want to do in the future.

"Liverpool ran themselves into the ground. We might have had individuals who could say they played well, but that does not count. It is the team that counts and we came out of this as a side which when it concedes the first goal of the game hasn't the mental strength to come back from it."
  

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