There can be little doubt that Jürgen Klopp and his methods would have interested Bob Paisley, not least because Continental innovations always fascinated him. The legendary Liverpool manager’s pursuit of knowledge about what we might today call medical science led him to have a machine shipped in from Germany, which by all accounts had electrode pads designed to relieve muscular pain. The machine was having no material effect on Jimmy Melia one day, despite Paisley, then the Liverpool physiotherapist, turning the dial as far as it would go. Someone spotted it wasn’t plugged in and did the necessary. Up went Melia.

Some aspects of the Klopp gegenpressing football would not be alien to Paisley either, though he might wonder why it has taken the arrival of a Continental to restore some of the very fundamental aspects of good football management which were once a byword at Liverpool. Qualities which include spotting where a player is best deployed – for Alberto Moreno, now profitably restored to left-back, read Chris Lawler, a left-half before Paisley established his true calling, or Ray Kennedy, recast as a marauding left-sided midfielder – and a wish that the ball be shipped around the field very quickly indeed.

“It was a part of the philosophy then – and it’s coming back now – that goals were easier to score on the counter-attack,” Ray Clemence reflected years after Paisley had brought 19 trophies in nine seasons – a ratio comfortably better than Alex Ferguson’s or Brian Clough’s. “So if we got the ball quickly and attacked the opposition as quickly as we could, we’d have a better chance than if we took 90 seconds or so to move the ball upfield.” So there you have it: 90 seconds was a lifetime to Paisley’s Liverpool. That thought came back to mind on Saturday evening as Klopp’s new Liverpool eviscerated Manchester City at pace.

Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings MANCHESTER CITY: Joe Hart - 6 out of 10 Let down badly by his defence, made some smart saves to prevent the scoreline from being even worse Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Bacary Sagna - 5 out of 10 Caught out for the first goal, largely anonymous for the remainder of the game Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Eliaquim Mangala - 4 out of 10 A woeful performance. Powerless to stop Liverpool running riot. - Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Martin Demichelis - 3 out of 10 Even worse than Demichelis, lucky not to be subbed Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Aleksandar Kolarov - 5 out of 10 Set up Aguero’s goal, otherwise had little impact - Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Fernando - 5 out of 10 Offered little. Another of City’s expensive acquisitions who has yet to really justify his pricetag - Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Yaya Toure - 4 out of 10 Subbed at half time after a first half where he was barely noticeable - Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Jesus Navas - 4 out of 10 The first and only indication he was playing was when he was subbed at half time 2015 Getty Images Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Raheem Sterling - 5 out of 10 Not the match he would have hoped for against his former club. Failed to have much influence on the game PA Wire Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Kevin De Bruyne - 6 out of 10 Whipped a couple of excellent balls into the box, but was largely fairly quiet 2015 Getty Images Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Sergio Aguero - 7 out of 10 City’s best player once again. Great finish for his goal. His side need him injury free for the rest of the season AFP Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings LIVERPOOL: Simon Mignolet - 6 out of 10 Looked a better keeper than he has in the past and made a couple of decent saves - Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Nathaniel Clyne - 6 out of 10 Rarely tested but performed adequately PA Wire Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Martin Skrtel - 7 out of 10 Not his hardest day of work, great strike for his goal PA Wire Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Dejan Lovren - 6 out of 10 Hardly tested although flapped a little when put under pressure 2015 Liverpool FC Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Alberto Moreno - 6 out of 10 A solid enough performance, but never really tested 2015 Getty Images Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Lucas - 6 out of 10 Part of a midfield that bossed Man City on the counter 2015 Getty Images Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Emre Can - 7 out of 10 : Lovely back heel to set up Firmino goal Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings James Milner - 7 out of 10 A happy return to his former club, was integral to Liverpool’s success - Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Adam Lallana - 6 out of 10 Probably the quietest facet of Liverpool’s attack but still played his part 2015 Getty Images Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Philippe Coutinho - 8 out of 10 Another fantastic performance from the Brazilian Manchester City vs Liverpool - player ratings Roberto Firmino - 8 out of 10 Combined brilliantly with Coutinho to tear City apart in first half and record his first Liverpool goal

The appreciation of Paisley grows as the shadows lengthen on the memory of the success he delivered. It was the deeply flawed impression that he simply basked in the inheritance Bill Shankly bequeathed which created complacency about the size of the man’s accomplishment. But gradually, that is changing. The Anfield banners bearing Paisley’s name and face grow more ubiquitous and the memory is soon to be rekindled with an event marking 20 years since his death which will seek to investigate anew the great man’s secret.

The journalist and broadcaster John Keith, who has done more than anyone to champion Paisley’s achievements, will stage the evening show next February, joined by Ian Callaghan, Jimmy Case, Alan Kennedy and Phil Neal at the Atkinson Theatre in Southport, the seaside town north of Liverpool. Similar such events Keith has hosted have elicited many insights.

Philosophies we are now justifiably celebrating in Klopp – whose vast personality and self-confidence are a far cry from Paisley’s frequently uncompleted sentences – are familiar to Keith from those extraordinary nine seasons between 1974 and 1983. “A reluctant genius is what I have always called him,” Keith tells me. “Because genius is what he was, with a fantastic ability to assess players and build teams.”

At times, it was a bumpier story than you might imagine. A winter victory over Manchester City like Saturday’s might have given Paisley cause to smile, given the terrace doom-mongers he faced up to after the bad home defeat to that opposition on Boxing Day 1981.

It was Liverpool’s sixth home defeat of that calendar year – an indignity they had suffered a mere nine times across the previous 10 years – which left the side 12th in the First Division. The letters pages of the Liverpool Echo were filled with proclamations of how Paisley was sending Liverpool – the reigning European champions for the third time under his guidance – into terminal decline. “I never thought this would happen,” states one. “Liverpool built their reputation by careful planning, wise spending and total dedication at all levels. A new word has crept up: ‘apathy’.”

“Have faith in me,” Paisley said in no uncertain terms after John Bond’s City had left town. “We know our ways. We know the changes we will have to make. The people have to trust us.” His players embarked on a 14-game unbeaten run and surged to the title.

“He could say those things to the fans with confidence because he had worked for so long at Liverpool, knew it top to bottom,” says Keith, who chronicled Paisley’s managerial reign for the Daily Express and knew him as well as any. “The doubts of the fans actually worried him less than they did Bill [Shankly].”

Paisley in fact seemed to enjoy the criticism. “I’m glad when someone – the press, another player or manager – has a go at us,” he once said. “I can use that. I’m always picking my brains at home to find something new, searching for the little straws.”

He knew the rewards of supreme endeavour and beautiful simplicity. As every Liverpool manager to have followed him will attest, that’s a lot more difficult than it sounds.

“The Bob Paisley Anniversary Show” is for one night only on Thursday, 11 February 2016. Tickets (£18, with £15 concessions) from the box office or by calling 01704 533333. www.theatkinson.co.uk

Trust Wenger to provide the wise and intelligent view

There were so many words about the dignity with which football and the Football Association attended to the issue of Paris last Tuesday night, for an occasion which revealed the modernity and intelligence of the governing body. But the search for someone from within football with French insight to talk about how wounds and society might heal was less fruitful. “Doesn’t feel he can...” “other media commitments…” etc. It made Arsène Wenger’s insight all the more invaluable.

“I’m worried that it could divide society and create some tensions in some parts of the country. That could be damaging for the multicultural society. You also wonder what can change inside the country and you have to trust politicians to make the right decisions,” he said.

We will only fully appreciate Wenger and his intelligence when he is gone.

Commando Robertson takes up the challenge in Sligo

A sign that time can be a healer came in last week’s appointment of a former Royal Marine commando, Dave Robertson, as manager of Sligo Rovers, in the border county which – from the perspective of the Troubles – is remembered for the death of Lord Mountbatten at Mullaghmore.