Liverpool's chief executive Ricky Parry has spoken out to praise Phil Thompson for managing the Reds so well in Gerard Houllier's absence.
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"Phil Thompson has done an absolutely phenomenal job with the minimum of fuss and drama," said Parry.
"There has been a huge extra workload and extra responsibility on him but the Premiership table and the fact that we are now through to the Champions League quarter-finals shows how well he has handled everything.
"It wasn't a gamble when we asked him to take over. Of course there were no guarantees when we chose that course of action but it was the Liverpool way. This is how the club does things."
Parry has also taken the time to explain that Gerard Houllier's role at the club will not change now that he has returned and that he will be taking things easy.
He added: "Gerard is fine and he knows what he is doing but, whereas before he took everything on board himself, we will try to get him to focus on things that really matter. There is no question of his role changing.
"He is the manager of this football club and we are very pleased about that. It is just a case of deciding what is important and trying to eliminate the things that he doesn't have to do from his schedule.
"Everyone wants a piece of Gerard's time. He is bombarded with phone calls and other requests so we will have to find out what he wants to do.
"It will take some careful handling because he does throw himself into the job 110 per cent. We will take it one step at a time."