Boss recalls his days as Curle's boot boy.
Morecambe boss Jim Bentley says it will be strange coming up against Keith Curle on Saturday - as he spent some of his teenage years cleaning his boots when the two were at Manchester City.
Bentley said: “Seeing him as a youngster of 16 or 17 when I was his boot boy and had to look after his kit and everything you could see he was destined to go into coaching and management.
“He was organised, he was a leader and I saw myself like that as well.
“I wanted to go into coaching and management and now we’re sharing the same touchline in League 2.
“It’s funny how the game goes.
“He’s a fella I’ve got a lot of respect for. He had a good career playing wise and now he’s having a good career coaching wise.
“He went in during a sticky period last season, stamped his own authority on it and upset one or two along the way by the looks of it.
But with what he’s brought in during the close season it doesn’t surprise me that they’re doing well.
“They’ve got good players, including the leading goal scorer (Jabo Ibehre) in the division.
”They’ve won four out of the last six so it’s no surprise they can have a decent cup run and win away at QPR to set up a tie at Liverpool.
“It’ll be a tough challenge for us but we’re coming off the back of a good 1-0 win (at Bury in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy) on Tuesday.
“I’m sure Keith Curle, who was at the game, will be telling his players to expect a difficult game also.”