There was no small talk or cosy chats about the family when Rafa Benitez arrived at Liverpool.
It was straight down to business. At an early training session, he indicated he wished I was more athletic like Steven Gerrard, and then suggested to Stevie he should be more positionally disciplined like me.
His tactical messages were concise and decided without discussion who would be on free-kicks and penalties, even in pre-season friendlies. I protested that I'd been taking them the previous season, 'not any more' was the message back.
It's fair to say Rafa was single-minded and ruthless and I can't imagine he'll have changed too much when Everton players meet him for the first time.