I think FSG were (and probably still are) all about process not just results. Jurgen was always their ideal candidate so I think it likely that when they made contact with him/ his agent their mind was made up.
I don’t follow baseball closely but I think they have fired managers before who weren’t doing badly. I don’t know whether that situation is translateable to football though.
With Arne, It is difficult to say because we have limited info to work on. FSG get to see the underbelly of the club’s workings. With Rodgers there were red flags all over the place.
Also, Alonso may be well liked by the club but they don’t have the attachment we as fans nor is his record as strong as Jurgen’s so I don’t know how highly they rate him nor how much they blame Arne for this season’s performances.
I think in the case of Rodgers they would have. Klopp was their number one target for years. They wanted him when they appointed Kenny and when the appointed Rodgers.
Brendan had also proved difficult to work with, around transfers and structure, so I don’t think FSG saw his as worth persevering with.
Absolutely. That’s my point. Rodgers made the decision and easy one.
It’s a fair shout but he didn’t make the decision a difficult one.
With regards to Slot Vs Alonso I think we’re miles away from anything similar to Klopp Vs Rodgers. I would have loved for Alonso to join us post Leverkusen but it wasn’t to be. I’m not about to chase a nostalgia hit without a very good reason. So far this season I’ve not been given that reason. I appreciate others see it differently.
Can’t say I’m surprised at shouts for Alonso to come here in place of Slot. My view, it’s short sited, massively unfair on Arne, and the grass isn’t always greener.
My preference remains as before - provided we finish in the Top 4 and make it deep into the remaining cup comps, I want to see Arne at the helm at the beginning of 2026/27 season.
The club also need to stop fucking about with signings (or lack of).
I think they focus on what is likely to happen in the future rather than the past. It’s why we have let some players wind their contracts down rather than offer long new contracts that will see them slowly deteriorate on the bench. It’s just saying thank you for your service and moving on.
When they brought Rodgers in, Dalglish hadn’t been doing too badly. But they obviously thought that they needed someone who would work for the future.
If we’re talking about 2011/12, the second half of the season, starting with our defeat at home to Arsenal, has to be one of the worst periods of football I’ve witnessed at Liverpool since I remember. at least when it comes to the league. I love Kenny to bits but no other manager would have made it to the end of the season at that time - and he probably made it because of two cup runs.
I don’t think FSG are going to sack Slot - they need to keep some semblance of stability this season. The goal is clear, he has to qualify for CL. I’d take it even with the boring football the team is currently playing. What bothers me is that both Man United and Chelsea have changed coaches and will experience new manager bounce while our team is toiling and dropping points against the likes of Sunderland and Leeds at home.
I think we’ll see a decision made on him at the end of the season. I’d be surprised if club weren’t doing due dilligence on new head coach, be it Alonso, Fabregas, Iraola or someone else entirely - but they should always be prepared, not just when the going is tough.
So, I don’t want to upset anyone, but I think it’s a fair question; If we scrape into the top four playing dull and uninspiring football, would that be enough for the club to stand by Slot, given his previous success, and plan for the following season with him in charge, or, would the owners be justified in saying; ‘We invested heavily in this squad, and this isn’t good enough, we don’t see any sign that this is the way forward’?
Do the owners watch the football, or watch the table?
That really is what it boils down to. Success is measured by achievement, not how its achieved.
That’s the property of supporters, determining what is acceptable on the pitch.
I recall being quite shocked at how rapidly and decisively that team downed tools after winning the League Cup. It was almost as if the entire squad went ‘Right! Job done! That’s us for the season!’
I don’t think it is solely the level of investment but the whole picture. A lot of concern by knowledgeble folks on this board about the coaching and its role in the performances we are seeeing - that has to be something that will feature in any review.
The worst thing that can happen to disrupt LFC entirely, is if Slot loses the entire fanbase due to poor performances on the pitch.
A disgruntled fanbase is like a baying mob crying out for blood.
I think this is a good question, and it might be the situation we are facing at the end of the season.
If the football isn’t very good, the owners might take that as an indicator that we are unlikely to go higher and challenge for the league title on a regular basis, for the foreseeable future.
So for me, if that’s how it pans out, top four but poor football, Slot might be vulnerable, especially if another desirable candidate is available.
At that point Slot would justifiably see himself as hard done by. Two seasons, one league title and a CL finish in the second season, which in itself turned out to be more of a transition season that came with numerous difficult circumstances. So maybe the owners would extend the benefit of the doubt and keep him in post? Tough call.
Someone called us Moments FC. I wish I knew who, so I could credit them! But it seems apposite right now. We have quality, and we will have moments, probably/hopefully enough of them to finish in the CL spots.
But are the owners looking for more? An identity? A pattern of play to emerge?
I have been on the Slot bus and argued his case longer than many others. I am still on the Slot bus, but I do recognize that if things don’t improve he is vulnerable. Things have been improving, and that has been welcome, but I would imagine we need to improve further to fully convince the owners.
Edit
And when I say ‘convince the owners’ they will almost certainly take the recommendation of Hughes and Edwards. They won’t be fully hands on with it, even if an end of season review will surely go all the way up to them in a reporting sense.
Think most of us would have been ok with 2 years of shit football and no trophies but reaching the CL after Klopps departure.
The title and the money we’ve spent on new players increased the expectations massively. From the fanbase of course. Doubt much changed for the higher hierarchy of the club.
I was on the Alonso bus and driving it when Jurgen announced he was leaving.
However, there is no gurantee if he came in we would revert to swashbuckling team, Xabi’s teams have been a more of a possession based team, but I/we wouldn’t have a major issue if he sorted the defensive side of our game whilst slowly strangling teams with the ball and forcing them into submission, which is what you have to do against low block teams.
We just need to see a more penetrating style rather than the horseshoe style when we have possession,
Yeah… me thinks fans will forever support the club, it is in our DNA. As for spreading that support to the manager of the club, and Bodgers before anyone else comes to mind, note how he was losing more and more of the fanbase on a weekly quota.
Can’t ever remember anyone shedding a tear for him when he was eventually moved on, which made it easy for hierarchy to act as they did.
We only have to think back 5/6 weeks and the tsunami against Slot was beginning to swell… If we get to the end of this season, and probably most of next playing crap tactics, more and more fans will be bailing from the Slot express…
When a new player comes in we are told we need to be patient and await the player to learn what is needed to dovetail into our playing system… yet when a young manager can’t tick every box in the eyes of some supporters, because he doesn’t have the experienced managerial years on his clock, they are not given the same luxury and patience afforded to a new player.
If Slot is a quick learner and prepared to put the 200mph effort into a new job, he will survive this sticky period… If he ends up being his own worst enemy through stubbornness, or laziness, then his time will be up at the 3yr mark… and we then go again with a new face at the helm.
On principle, it’s wrong to judge a manager’s success by achievements and not the process. Football is a fluky game, a lot of things that can determinate success and often do are not within the manager’s control. Klopp, for instance, should have won more based on how good his teams were, but on an alternate universe it wouldn’t be unthinkable to end up with fewer trophies or even none. And yet no one sane would be claiming that he wasn’t doing a phenomenal job.
In any case, the club has its own internal metrics that provide far greater insight and context that we are privy to. Slot’s fate will be determined on how well he scores on them.
We’ve no crystal ball, so don’t know how things will unfold. But Slot will most probably get further time if he takes us into top four, even if we only scrape into it. There will be a season review, and all the difficult aspects of this season will be listed up, and there are quite many (massive upheaval in terms of incomings and departures, both at player and coaching level, injuries heaping up like seldom before, Jota).
Then, I think we can agree that Slot isn’t the lone culprit for last summer’s bizarre transfer dealings and failures. His bosses, who will ultimately decide whether he stays or not, know perfectly well that they have some responsibility as well. If they are honest, they’ll try to right the course with the man they chose in the first place. It would be good if they can assess how to help Slot with the aspects which have gone wrong since we won the league.
Again, no crystal ball, but my take is that Slot will stay at LFC if we don’t witness a full-size implosion again in terms of results. Getting a place in the top four should be largely enough for him to keep his job for a further season.