.  The imminent appointment of Sean O’Driscoll as Liverpool FC assistant manager has, unsurprisingly, divided opinion. For some, it is a smart appointment; for others, his name is nowhere near big enough, his status not strong enough, to take the role.

A brief look at his Wikipedia page - an enriching source of knowledge, if ever there was one - gives the bare facts. Trophies won, win percentages, ups and downs at Bournemouth, Doncaster, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.

A lot has been assumed from those facts alone. What’s more, his time at Bournemouth and Doncaster - two long spells, totalling 11 years - are the periods he is being judged on.

But his final game at Doncaster was in 2011. Since then, he’s managed both Nottingham Forest and Bristol City at club level.

Perhaps, then, his spells at those two clubs would give a fairer reflection of what Liverpool can expect from O’Driscoll.

Perhaps, then, the best-placed to comment are the supporters of those clubs.

We spoke to a Forest fan and two Bristol City fans. Here is their take on the 58-year-old.

IN PICS: Liverpool assistant boss Sean O'Driscoll



TOM EVANS, NOTTINGHAM FOREST FAN, JOURNALIST

Sometimes, nice guys don’t lose. In the end.

When Nottingham Forest were bought by Kuwaiti fridge magnate Fawaz Al-Hasawi in the summer of 2012 – after a season of struggle, strife and uncertainty – he promised to hire an “iconic” manager to replace Steve Cotterill.

When he eventually appointed the guy who’d been Cotterill’s assistant for half a season before leaving to manage Crawley Town, everyone laughed.

Everyone, that is, except Forest fans.

Sean O’Driscoll had a reputation for plain speaking and for football that was both pragmatic and pleasing to the eye – characteristics that will always sit well on the red sides of both the Trent and Stanley Park.

His Doncaster teams had always punched above their weight, often at the City Ground.

And best of all, his arrival as first team coach that January – at a time when we’d been playing our worst football for several generations – had been the catalyst that turned our season around and spared us another relegation to League One.

It was a forward-thinking appointment from an owner who had promised to rebuild the club properly rather than simply throwing money at it until it got promoted.

The early signs were good. Results ranged from good to patchy but the progress from the previous season was immense.

Then came Boxing Day 2012. O’Driscoll was viewing the video analysis of a stirring win over Leeds United when he was told he needn’t bother. Sacked after 24 league games. “Oh, so we’ve got THAT kind of wealthy foreign owner,” came the response. We were seventh, a point off the play-offs.

“He can count himself unlucky,” said Al-Hasawi. “You can say that again,” replied the fans.

So it’s difficult to judge him as a manager. Given the lack of progress since that fateful Boxing Day, hindsight has him leading us to a third European Cup win.

Back in reality, O’Driscoll failed to plug the holes in a sinking Bristol City and hasn’t managed at club level since November 2013.

But what we do know – and what Brendan Rodgers also knows – is that he’s a positive, progressive and popular coach.

His former players – such as second-tier goal machine Billy Sharp, who followed him from Doncaster to Forest – have only kind things to say about him.

And YouTube-friendly meltdowns aside, he’s earned a reputation for being honest and approachable.

Just don’t expect Mourinho-style attention-seeking, Allardyce-esque fireworks or Redknapp-along cliches.

Maybe Sean O’Driscoll wasn’t cut out for the spotlight but behind the scenes, Liverpool have got themselves a good ‘un.

Football - Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion Pre Season Friendly - The City Ground - 10/8/12 Nottingham Forest manager Sean O'Driscoll Credit: Action Images / Carl Recine
SARAH-JANE HONEYWELL, BRISTOL CITY FAN, FORMER PROGRAMME WRITER

He really wasn’t that popular at City, as we were bottom of the league - and points mean everything to fans. I think he did have the respect of the players there - in fact I know he did - and I’m sure his tactics will be perfect technically. I’m sure his gameplan will be well researched for each team the Reds face, but as for actual tactics, I really don’t know.

I think he’s much better suited as a coach as that’s where he’s better regarded, but I honestly don’t know what Liverpool fans can expect from him next season.

The season he was at Bristol City was a bit lacklustre and I’ve even chatted to a few fans to double check - and most checked out mid-season and can’t remember much apart from a lack of points!

However, the Premier League is a completely different arena and if the players respect you and want to work hard for you that can be a season changer. I’m an optimist and say support is needed for him from the first game of the season. I truly believe the fans are the 12th player!

Sean O'Driscoll at Bristol City
PAUL BINNING, BRISTOL CITY FAN, OWNER OF EXILED ROBIN

Initially, he was perceived very well by our fans. He had a reputation for playing neat, possession-based football and had done well at Bournemouth and Doncaster previously. He came in when we were all but down from the Championship, having attempted a hugely flawed big spending strategy which failed and had declined for thee straight years. His remit following relegation was to stabilise us in League One whilst cutting the budget significantly. He bought into that, the fans bought into the new world and all was dandy. Then the season started.

A combination of some poor luck, players seriously lacking confidence and the lack of balance in certain areas of the side combined to leave us without a win until October, and despite a little pick up, when we were still second-bottom in late November, the Board had enough.

By this point fans were split, some feeling sorry for him and saying he hadn’t had time and had been hung out to dry for implanting the Board’s plans, but many others saying he was a bit of a joke and one of our worst managers ever.

The truth, as ever, is probably somewhere in between, but ultimately the young, untried players he had to bring in on the new budgets just didn’t quite click initially and without the confidence of a couple of early wins, just appeared to be in free fall.

Incidentally, four or five of that poor-looking, relegation threatened side have just starred in our League One title winning season, alongside 5/6 additions Sean would never have been allowed to spend the money on.

He generally went 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 but isn’t a big one for formations. He just wants players to think about where the game is going and make sure they’re in the right position.

Bristol City manager Sean O'Driscoll
Generally the style was possession-based, passing football, which at times was fantastic, but without the quality of defenders to bring the ball out, or enough pace and creativity in the midfield, too often we just passed it around the back for ages, then eventually hoofed it up to their centre-halves once the players ran out of patience.

He absolutely looks more of a coach rather than a manager. If you look at his win percentage (today’s gospel in the Sky Sports News driven media!) and media/fan persona at City they were both way off the required mark but he needs neither as a coach.

He’s not one for sound bytes and saying what fans want to hear, he just wants to be honest but that doesn’t always come across well. Away from the spotlight, not needing to face up to the camera, he can concentrate on what he’s good at - coaching, giving players a football education and encouraging them to think about their game. Developing players minds, getting them to think about their options and make the right decisions on the pitch is more important to him than developing their skills and he seems to be aligned with Brendan Rodgers on that philosophy.

Liverpool fans shouldn’t expect much from him in the dugout. He’s a thoughtful, principled and philosophical manager, not a ranter and raver.

As manager he was never animated - probably a big part of the reason many fans turned off him quickly once results didn’t arrive. It’s an area he let himself down a bit on in my view and in over thirty years watching City I’ve never known the fans not applaud the manager on his walk to the dugout prior to a game. We just stopped bothering because he never bothered acknowledging, but then he never saw that as the job. He was just interesting in developing the players.

Many saw that as a lack of passion and it counted against him big time.