Dean Saunders shared that Ronnie Moran once ripped into him during training over his choice of car shortly after joining Liverpool.
The former Reds forward revealed that he had bought a Mercedes due to Robert Lee giving him a voucher and that he was too ashamed to drive the car to training.
However, Saunders shared that when he did end up taking it to training due to running late; Moran, who he said was part of the big-time Charlie police, ripped into him for having a flash car.
Moran lecturing Saunders, led to the forward going out the next day and selling the car.
“I’ll tell you what happened to me, I signed for Liverpool right, and I was 26 I think, so I’ve signed for Liverpool and my mate who is a golfer, do you remember Robert Lee who does Sky Sports, Robert Lee has got a voucher for 25% off the trade price of a Mercedes,” said Saunders on talkSPORT (18:12, Sunday June 30th).
“They’ve all got one in the German league, he’s ordered a Mercedes and he has not earned enough money to afford it this season.
“So it was, do you want to buy his voucher off him? So the car was £86,000 in 1992, but it was £56,000 to me, I had to give him £4,000 for the voucher, so the car cost me £60,000.
“So I was thinking I can either buy a £20,000 190 Mercedes or a BMW 3 series or something and lose £5,000 or if I buy this car, I can sell it next year and make a profit.
“The only problem was I was too afraid to drive it into the training ground, so I bought it, bought it with every extra you could think of, I wouldn’t have bought it myself, but at £30,000 cheaper I can sell it.
“But I used to park it two streets away, Graeme Souness had a 500 SL, a black one, and I couldn’t have a better car than him and Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans were the discipline police, the big-time Charlie police, so if they thought you were above your station…and I was 27 and I wouldn’t drive the car into the training ground.
“So I’d hide it down the road which was dangerous as it might not be there when I got back, but anyway one day I was late so I screeched into the training ground and parked the car quick, I’ve gone into the dressing room and Ronnie Moran has walked in.
“Whose got the Mercedes outside? Whose is that flash, Mercedes? Steve Nicol goes it’s Dean’s, while I was keeping my head down, he goes there’s a shock, there’s a shock.
“He goes where do you think you are now sunshine? Where do you think you come from? What do you think you’re playing at, driving cars like that and by the way get your keys out your pocket, you’ve parked too close to the white lines. It’s selfish, the man next to you can’t park next to you, move your car quick.
“Now I run out the next day and sold the car.”
OPINION
Imagine a club having a self-enforce big-time Charlie police now, they’d be busy to say the least. With Premier League footballers earning more and more each year; it has seen more and more big-time Charlies emerge. However, it seems that while some current footballers will happily show off their flash new motors on Instagram, back in the 90s, Saunders had to hide having such an expensive car. It’s actually hilarious that the former Liverpool player ended up quickly selling his car due to Moran ripping into him, as now you’d imagine that a player would simply hand in a transfer request and go elsewhere. Yet that wasn’t the case with Saunders. The 55-year-old, after selling his Mercedes, ended up having a relatively successful stint at Anfield as he scored 23 goals in 56 outings for them. While Saunders didn’t reach the prolific goalscoring exploits that saw him be a success at clubs like Aston Villa, he did help the Reds win the FA Cup in 1992.
