 IT is tempting to date Liverpool's true creation from the earth-shattering arrival of Bill Shankly, the most charismatic football manager ever to walk God's earth. This is not to belittle what had gone before: including five league crowns and a magnifcent pantheon of famous sons, such as Gordon Hodgson, Elisha Scott, Harry Chambers, Dick Forshaw, Barry Nieuwenhuys, Jack Balmer, Albert Stubbins, Alan A'Court and that fabulous red fire engine, Billy Liddell. But the Liverpool which Shanks inherited had long left the good times behind. Rundown, and in a mess, they drifted along in the second division, never doing particularly badly, but never quite doing enough to indicate they yearned to breathe more rarefied air. Hurricane Shankly changed all that, and so fast that you could almost believe he was sent by the angels, seizing on a favourite Hollywood plot line. The image is an apt one. For Shankly had the strut of a young James Cagney and the iron resolve of a Harry Cohn. Did Bob Paisley realise on that first, fateful day that a whirlwind had blown into town - a whirlwind that would propel them from the depths to the heights almost before they could draw breath? Paisley, the faithful lieutenant until he became Liverpool's most successful manager, survived Shankly's ruthless cull, which hurried 24 players to the exit. Again, you see the hand of providence at work. The emergence of Roger Hunt also helped Shankly in his first season - 1959-60 when Liverpool, with Dave Hickson, Ronnie Moran, Jimmy Melia and Louis Bimpson also aboard, finished a creditable third. Hunt remains Liverpool's leading league goalscorer and his immense contribution as a dashing inside-forward alongside newcomer Ian St John would become the stuff of legend. Shankly's first great signings were young giant Ron Yeats ("my colossus") from Dundee United and the barrel-chested, bustling St John from Motherwell. Those with long memories - like me - will recall that the powerful Scot scored three times on his debut against Everton in a local cup competition - yet still finished on the losing side. It was a rare loss in a glittering career that would see St John give Liverpool a shortlived anthem - When the Saints Go Marching In - and a long lease on fame. Liverpool literally rocketed out of Division Two and quickly established themselves as one of the finest teams in the land. | 
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