SHAMAL GEORGE helped St Mirren to pull off a huge upset by beating Celtic in the Scottish League Cup Final on Sunday – but the goalkeeper was used as a STRIKER when he was on Liverpool’s books.
The Buddies stunned the reigning Scottish Premiership champions thanks to a brace from Jonah Ayunga after Reo Hatate had cancelled out Marcus Fraser’s early opener at Hampden Park.
It allowed St Mirren to win the competition for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
But the man between the sticks was handed a completely different role when he was at Liverpool under iconic boss Jurgen Klopp.
George, 27, was sensationally deployed as a striker when he came off the bench during the Merseyside giants’ pre-season friendly against Huddersfield in 2016.
Liverpool had already used all of their outfield substitutes when Lucas Leiva went down with a hamstring injury.
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That led to Klopp turning to his reserve shot-stopper to play off lone striker Danny Ings.
And George nearly got his name on the scoresheet, having lobbed his usual opposite number only to be flagged offside.
When asked whether it was his idea to make the wild positional change, Klopp said: “They told me from the bench after I’d organised the system with ten [men] and they said, ‘Come on, we have Shamal’.”
George failed to make a competitive appearance for Liverpool before his exit in 2020.
But he has been a regular starter since joining St Mirren, under boss Stephen Robinson, on a season-long loan from Wycombe during the summer.
And George struggled to hide his delight after playing a key role in the Buddies taking the Scottish League Cup back to Paisley.
After being asked how it felt to have a winners medal around his neck, he told Premier Sports: “Surreal. We’ve had a tough few weeks in the league, but this makes up for all of it.”
It is George’s second stint in Scotland, having previously shone during a two-year spell with Livingston.
He will face his former employers in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
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