On Saturday, it was confirmed that Everton managerial great Howard Kendall had passed away.
The 69-year-old, who also played for the Toffees during two spells as a player, won two league titles, an FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup during a high point for the Merseyside club during the 1980s.
Pat Nevin did not play in that team but he was in Kendall's Everton side when the manager returned to the club between 1990 and 1993 after spells at Athletic Bilbao and Manchester City.
However, famously the two did not see eye to eye while together at Goodison Park - although that would change for the better - as Pat reminisced tonight on Off The Ball.
"But time changes things and you look back at it in a different way and oddly enough, we were right at the confluence of a change in football," said Pat.
"My attitude was utterly professional was utterly professional. I wasn't a big drinker, I was a really hard trainer and made sure I worked on my technical stuff. Howard was old school, 'get the lads out for a right few bevvies, let's have a good time together and make sure that camaraderie pulls us through'. I didn't go for that at all but in retrospect, you think the [Everton] team before mine was incredibly successful using that methods. But I think that time had gone and we didn't see eye to eye on that."
Pat then left Everton for Tranmere Rovers in 1992 and as fate would have it, his first match was against Kendall's Everton where he got shoved off the pitch and "went careering towards the dugout and the only way to stop myself was to stick my boot up. And the only place was roundabout Howard's head", although fate meant a collision was just about avoided.
But one quip from Nevin right after that near-miss saw both men burst out laughing, ending any antagonism. He also remembered the time when Kendall fined him £100 on a team bonding trip to Dublin because he was the only player who was not drunk.
Pat also turned his attention to the Premier League, firstly sharing his thoughts on Jurgen Klopp's first match in charge of Liverpool, pointing out that "the personnel aren't absolutely made for" the high pressing tactics employed against Tottenham, while he was also impressed with Manchester United's tactics in their 3-0 win over Everton on Saturday.
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