hotseat -- but he would consider tempting offers.

Evans, speaking after playing a round at Riddell's Bay in the British Airways Celebrity Golf Challenge, said he had missed involvement with the game since resigning as the Reds boss just over a year ago.

The mild-mannered Liverpudlian's association with his home city club as a player, coach and manager spanned four decades.

He was a member of the coaching staff of the famed Liverpool "boot room'', where, according to soccer folklore, the likes of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley masterminded an unsurpassed period of dominance in English football, which brought numerous domestic trophies as well as four European Cup victories in the late 70s and early 80s.

Evans took over from Graeme Souness as manager at Anfield in 1994 and won one League Cup in a four-year reign, before the Liverpool board appointed Frenchman Gerard Houllier as joint manager in 1998. But Evans felt the arrangement could not work and quit in November last year.

Evans said yesterday: "It just did not work for me or Gerard. Something had to be done and I told the club that. It was a difficult thing to do. I had 35 great years there.'' Evans still keeps a close eye on the game which has dominated his life -- so as to be able to make the most of future opportunities.

"I think I have a lot of experience to offer,'' said Evans. With players' wages spiralling to unprecedented heights as TV money fills the coffers of Premier League clubs, the game has changed drastically from when Evans started out in the 60s.

"It's a big-money business now and the players are the most important thing, so they should get their share,'' said Evans.

Golf has helped Evans come to terms with life without Liverpool FC, and through playing in the series of British Airways events leading up to yesterday's tournament, his handicap has come down from 24 to 18.

"I miss the day-to-day crack with the lads, but going down to the golf course a couple of times a week has helped to replace that,'' he said.

Evans above: The former Liverpool manager misses `the crack'