What it’s really like to cover Liverpool FC: James Pearce looks back on his time reporting on the Reds for the ECHO

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll have heard the news by now that our Liverpool FC correspondent James Pearce is leaving the Liverpool ECHO after 14 years - eight-and-a-half of which have seen him report on the Reds, both home and away. It was only right, then, that his regular Blood Red sidekick Joe Rimmer sat down with James to look back on his time as our man in the know at Anfield in this special podcast. It's a superb listen - starting with the last, glorious match report he will write for the ECHO, and then taking him back to when he first walked through the doors at our former Old Hall Street home. At the start of his ECHO career, James reveals he actually spent time covering Everton. But he fell out with the Blue half of Merseyside indefinitely after his infamous 'DVD-gate' article (read it HERE) which wound-up David Moyes and brought a flood of angry letters from Blues. James also looks back on his relationships with the Liverpool managers he has worked with, from Kenny Dalglish to Jurgen Klopp and, most interestingly, Brendan Rodgers in between. James also explains why Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher were such a big help when he was starting out on the Reds reporting beat and picks out some of his funniest stories over the years - including offers to adopt children and Kolo Toure running away from koalas. Another big talking point is the rise of social media - and the role it is has played in James' career so far and how he deals with the harsher side of it. And the podcast rounds off with some quickfire questions, one answer to which takes an unexpected turn, but which also proves we're not only losing an outstanding reporter, but a good guy, too. Enjoy. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy