Alex Cleland watched from the Everton bench as Steven Gerrard was sent down the Anfield tunnel for an early bath in a Merseyside derby.
And he joked that the man who will be in the opposite dugout to him at Ibrox on Sunday didn’t have too shabby a career after it.
The St Johnstone assistant manager was a substitute in 1999 on the last occasion Everton won the Merseyside derby.
And Gerrard’s waist-high tackle that got him a straight red card wasn’t one you would forget.
“I remember being at Anfield once when Stevie got sent off in the derby,” Cleland recalled.
“He was just a young boy then. He came off the bench and took out Kevin Campbell.
“He had just come through at Liverpool, but he learned his lesson from that and was sent packing.
“When you look at the career he’s had he bounced back from it pretty well!”
Cleland is enjoying the extra responsibility he’s now got at McDiarmid Park, which will include helping construct a game-plan to get the better of Gerrard’s Rangers.
“It is great working with Tommy in another capacity,” said Wright’s number two.
“As soon as I was offered it I was desperate to take it.
“I was sad to see Callum (Davidson) go but moving to Stoke was a great move for him.
“I am still learning and trying to put my own mark on it because I’m different to Callum.
“There has been a change in the staff and sometimes that’s a good thing, you need new voices sometimes.
“There is more to do being assistant manager.
“We were always a three when Callum was here, the manager made the decisions but he liked to get the input from Callum and myself.
“Now Alan Maybury is here and he’s got the role I used to have, so it’s another strong three.”
