Rafael Benitez marked the 50th anniversary of Bill Shankly's appointment as Liverpool manager by insisting the club must always aspire to the levels of pride and passion the great Scot achieved at Anfield.
Tuesday marks the day in December 1959 when Shankly was officially appointed manager of the club.
Benitez, the current incumbent, admits he knew little of Shankly when he took over the hot seat himself four and a half years ago.
But he soon learned exactly how important Shankly was to the history of the club.
And he admits the appointment of playing legend Sammy Lee as assistant manager was partly designed to rediscover the spirit of Shankly.
Benitez said: "When we decided to bring in Sammy we had someone who knew the philosophy and the ideas of the club.
"Everything has changed in football and everything is different in society nowadays.
"Life is different. Everyone has iPods or Wiis and in a hurry to do things. But still we try to have the same ideas as Shankly.
"When people talk about the 'Liverpool Way', it was always to win. We try to do this and that is our priority if possible. We try to do things properly, like Shankly did."
Half a century has passed since then chairman T.V. Williams changed Liverpool forever by making Shankly manager but, as far as Benitez is concerned, the Shankly way will never die and will forever provide motivation for future generations.
He said: "One of the things we did after Sammy came was to change a little bit of decoration at Melwood. We now have a lot of photographs of former players, the legends and the managers and quotes from different people.
"We have been trying to bring this spirit. It is much better now. When people come to training now, they can look around and it is an inspiration to them. It would have been an honour to have met him, 100 per cent.
"Now all we can do is our best to make sure the mentality and the passion is always the same. That is the key to making sure the club stays at a good level, the level Bill Shankly wanted it to be at."
Benitez adds: "I didn't really know much about him before I came but I started reading books about him and made sure that I spoke with a lot of people. I kept reading all those little phrases and sentences.
"But I also listened to an old radio interview he did, over and over again when I was at home or when I was in my car. I struggled at first with the accent but once it all became clear, I was really impressed with his ideas.
"He was so ahead of his time. He was talking about training sessions and if it had been raining and the players were wet, he would tell them to careful and he would look after them, make sure they recovered properly and ate the right food."
Liverpool are still formulating their plans to mark the half-century since Shankly took over.
It is likely they will honour his legacy during the home game with Wigan on December 16, the nearest match to the 50th anniversary of Shankly's first game in control - a 4-0 home defeat by Cardiff on December 19, 1959.
It is expected members of Shankly's family and former players will be invited to the Wigan match, with a ceremony on the pitch before the game.
One of those former players was Ronnie Moran, who figured in that Cardiff defeat before eventually joining Shankly's backroom staff.
His recalls: "When I came to the end of my playing days I was in the reserves and he called me into his office one day at the end of the season. I thought he was going to tell me my days at Liverpool were over.
"But he said 'Sit down son! How would you like a job on my staff working with the youngsters?'
"I was working with the kids for three years and Joe Fagan was in charge of the reserves. He asked me to help him with that. Joe moved onto the first team staff in 1971 and I took the reserve.
"In 1974 I joined the first team set-up when Bill retired to work with Bob and Joe.
"One of the reasons he was so popular with our supporters was because he told the truth all of the time."
Tuesday marks the day in December 1959 when Shankly was officially appointed manager of the club.
Benitez, the current incumbent, admits he knew little of Shankly when he took over the hot seat himself four and a half years ago.
But he soon learned exactly how important Shankly was to the history of the club.
And he admits the appointment of playing legend Sammy Lee as assistant manager was partly designed to rediscover the spirit of Shankly.
Benitez said: "When we decided to bring in Sammy we had someone who knew the philosophy and the ideas of the club.
"Everything has changed in football and everything is different in society nowadays.
"Life is different. Everyone has iPods or Wiis and in a hurry to do things. But still we try to have the same ideas as Shankly.
"When people talk about the 'Liverpool Way', it was always to win. We try to do this and that is our priority if possible. We try to do things properly, like Shankly did."
Half a century has passed since then chairman T.V. Williams changed Liverpool forever by making Shankly manager but, as far as Benitez is concerned, the Shankly way will never die and will forever provide motivation for future generations.
He said: "One of the things we did after Sammy came was to change a little bit of decoration at Melwood. We now have a lot of photographs of former players, the legends and the managers and quotes from different people.
"We have been trying to bring this spirit. It is much better now. When people come to training now, they can look around and it is an inspiration to them. It would have been an honour to have met him, 100 per cent.
"Now all we can do is our best to make sure the mentality and the passion is always the same. That is the key to making sure the club stays at a good level, the level Bill Shankly wanted it to be at."
Benitez adds: "I didn't really know much about him before I came but I started reading books about him and made sure that I spoke with a lot of people. I kept reading all those little phrases and sentences.
"But I also listened to an old radio interview he did, over and over again when I was at home or when I was in my car. I struggled at first with the accent but once it all became clear, I was really impressed with his ideas.
"He was so ahead of his time. He was talking about training sessions and if it had been raining and the players were wet, he would tell them to careful and he would look after them, make sure they recovered properly and ate the right food."
Liverpool are still formulating their plans to mark the half-century since Shankly took over.
It is likely they will honour his legacy during the home game with Wigan on December 16, the nearest match to the 50th anniversary of Shankly's first game in control - a 4-0 home defeat by Cardiff on December 19, 1959.
It is expected members of Shankly's family and former players will be invited to the Wigan match, with a ceremony on the pitch before the game.
One of those former players was Ronnie Moran, who figured in that Cardiff defeat before eventually joining Shankly's backroom staff.
His recalls: "When I came to the end of my playing days I was in the reserves and he called me into his office one day at the end of the season. I thought he was going to tell me my days at Liverpool were over.
"But he said 'Sit down son! How would you like a job on my staff working with the youngsters?'
"I was working with the kids for three years and Joe Fagan was in charge of the reserves. He asked me to help him with that. Joe moved onto the first team staff in 1971 and I took the reserve.
"In 1974 I joined the first team set-up when Bill retired to work with Bob and Joe.
"One of the reasons he was so popular with our supporters was because he told the truth all of the time."
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