No sooner had it emerged that Liverpool were in talks with veteran Jorg Schmadtke, and that the German had emerged as a surprise front-runner to become the Reds’ next sporting director, Kopites took to their respective online search engines of choice.
First on the Google search history - ‘Who is Jorg Schmadtke?’ But after that initial dive, there was something else supporters quickly wanted to know - ‘Jorg Schmadtke’s best signings’.
With the 59-year-old previously serving as sporting director at Alemannia Aachen, Hannover 96, FC Koln, and VfL Wolfsburg, the results were perhaps a little uninspiring. Sure there would be recognisable names, like Manchester United strikers past and present, but no-one that really jumped off the page as an elite success story, who would prompt excitement amongst supporters regarding Schmadtke’s potential Anfield arrival.
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Schmadtke has now checked in and been confirmed at Anfield. He will officially begin his new role on Thursday.
But with Liverpool’s outgoing sporting director Julian Ward responsible for teeing up some of their existing summer transfer business, it will be a number of months before we’ll really be able to judge the fruits of Schmadtke's labour.
Still, there was one name on the list of the German’s former signings that could have caught the eye of Reds supporters - former Liverpool striker Erik Meijer.
The Dutchman was one of seven players signed by Gerard Houllier at the start of his first full season in charge, joining on a free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen in July 1999.
Handed his Premier League debut off the bench against Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the season, he actually marked his first start for the club with a brace against Hull City in the League Cup. Yet they would remain his only goals during a brief stint with the Reds.
With Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Titi Camara, and Karl-Heinz Riedle also all on the books at Anfield for the start of the 1999/00 season, and Emile Heskey brought in for a then club-record £11m the following March, the one-time Netherlands international was ultimately only ever a bit-part player under Houllier.
Making 27 appearances, of which 10 were starts, he enjoyed a brief stint on loan with Preston North End in the first half of the 2000/01 season, before signing for Hamburg on a free transfer in 2000.
In truth, the towering target man was limited, especially compared to some of his team-mates. He would even admit as much himself, telling LFC History a few years after his exit: “I was there for one and a half year and liked it from the first moment I stepped in.
“I was a Liverpool fan when I was a kid and when the club asked me to play for Liverpool I didn't need much time to put my signature on that contract. It was done in one week and I was very proud to be there.
“I hope (fans took to me) because I give the impression that I always wanted to work as hard as possible when I was wearing that red shirt.
“I was proud to play for Liverpool. I had to compete with three other strikers, Owen, Heskey and Fowler. They were all better than me, so I had to make the decision to either sit and watch football or go somewhere else and play football.
“That (Heskey signing) killed me, because he is more or less the same structure, the same kind of player. A big guy up front. That's always in football, one comes, another one has to leave. Unfortunately that was me, but the show must go on.”
Boasting a never-say-die attitude that inspired better performances from those around him, his willingness to chase lost causes on the pitch was particularly endearing as he established himself as a firm favourite on and off the pitch with fans and players alike. Meanwhile, the boyhood Red’s enthusiasm and passion for the club also helped cement his ‘cult hero’ status quickly.
"He was just a great fella to have around the place and a great fella to have on the pitch when he did play – a real team player who'd really put himself about,” Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher would say of his former team-mate. “He was just unfortunate at the time that we had so many good strikers and he was probably number four choice before he got the chance to move on. Mad Erik, I think he's definitely a cult-hero."
Of course, famously spotted partying, drinking, and singing with Liverpool fans in Dortmund’s Altermarket prior to the UEFA Cup final in 2001, having left for Hamburg the previous December, only added to the Anfield legacy of the ‘mad Dutchman'.
“(I had a few too many (drinks with fans), yeah!” he joked to LFC History about the experience. “I went over with some friends and they were all wearing a Liverpool shirt with my name and number on it.
“Some Liverpool fans were asking where they got that shirt. I had my jacket over my shirt. They answered: "Well, because Erik is here" and then the catastrophe started.
“I had to sing some songs for the boys. It was a great afternoon. One of my best times as a supporter, being on the big square and singing songs.”
Despite his limited impact on the pitch, his presence was felt firmly enough to be voted 99th in the club's fan-based poll, '100 Players Who Shook The Kop', in 2006.
“Correct, that's one goal every ten games!” he would joke about his limited goal return at Anfield. “It was a great start. The Hull game was the first game I started and I scored two goals and Liverpool won. It was a very good start, but it was just a start.
“I am a player who can make a team play better. I am not going to score 20-25 goals a season. That is not me. But I am a player who makes other players feel more comfortable and use me to get better.”
Meijer’s impact was perhaps felt most at his final club, Alemannia Aachen, having been signed by Jorg Schmadtke in the summer of 2003. With Aachen a 2. Bundesliga side, ‘Mad Erik’ was seen as a marquee signing.
Of the transfer, Schmadtke said: "Our Vice President Tim Hammer said to me: Get me a player with whom I can go around town and do marketing."
The popular striker became the face of the new Alemannia under sporting director Schmadtke, who had been in the post since December 2001, which developed a new self-confidence under the motto ‘poor but sexy’.
Meijer would score 10 goals in his first season, including four in Aachen's sensational run to the DFB-Pokal final. The Dutchman would even score in the final as they lost 3-2 to Bundesliga champions Werder Bremen, with Aachen qualifying for the UEFA Cup despite the defeat courtesy of Bremen having already qualified for the Champions League.
Appointed Aachen captain ahead of 2004/05, he would score a further 14 goals that season, including five in eight UEFA Cup appearances as the second-tier outfit reached the round-of-32 only to suffer defeat against AZ Alkmaar. Meijer would actually score Aachen's only goal in their 2-1 aggregate loss to the Dutch side though, while also netting against Lille, Zenit Saint-Petersburg, and AEK Athens in the group-stages.
Meanwhile, while the goals dried up in 2005/06 as he netted five times in all competitions, Meijer still played a vital role as he captained Aachen to promotion to the Bundesliga. Finishing as runners-up in 2. Bundesliga, the then 37-year-old helped end their 36-year absence from the German top-flight.
Meijer ended his career that summer, stating he wanted to finish in style after this last big success. Yet he was appointed Aachen assistant manager to Michael Frontzeck in September 2006, staying in the post for one season before joining Schmadtke on the club’s management team.
Meanwhile, he would later serve two and a half years as the club's director of football from January 2010 to June 2012, with Schmadtke having left the club in October 2008.
Having been signed by Schmadtke, and worked with him closely, Meijer knows the no-nonsense German better than most.
"I know Jorg as someone who only has black or white," the former Liverpool man told Sky Sports Germany following Schmadtke’s exit from Koln in 2017. "With him there are no 50 shades of grey in between. You go with us or you don't."
Yet, as Meijer’s success as unfancied Aachen proved, Schmadtke is a sporting director who knows what he’s doing. Throughout his working life he has forged a track-record of helping lesser sides with meagre budgets punch above their weight.
Now appointed at Liverpool, it will be the biggest challenge of the German’s career. But boasting a number of shrewd transfers throughout his sporting director tenures, including Meijer, it will certainly be interesting to see what Schmadtke can achieve working alongside Jurgen Klopp and FSG at Anfield.
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