I think you’d have to evaluate everything else - how are the vibes are in the dressing room, what’s Slot’s relationship like with his bosses, whether our play has meaningfully detracted from our ability to recruit, and, most importantly, had Slot has identified an solution to our problems going forward that will lead to improved performances next season.
But I also think that the benefit to a top 4 finish is that Slot saves face if the club decides to move on. They can shake hands, Slot can can go find his next gig, and the club can bring in someone else without much controversy.
One issue to keep in mind this summer is the implications of the 2026 World Cup. Whoever is managing the club will have an abbreviated summer training camp. That’ll be harder on a new manager trying to implement a new vision.
I think we need to consider the impact of the identity and perspective of the manager on outgoings. I dont think there is anyway Hughes independently pursues exits for Quansah and Elliott without a manager they want to show support to who is saying he just isnt going to play them. There probably isnt much left in the squad - saleable assets the manager doesnt like but there could still be a sense of who we need to sell and thus dictating what areas of the squad we need replacements for that could be driven by whether we keep the manager
Hodgson was the closest I came to that, but it was more that it didn’t hurt anymore, it was coming that he would go. Ultimately it is with Hughes and Edwards to a certain extent. I don’t think being wrong or incorrect will play much into it.
I don’t think any of the signings we made were a bad signing or even a bad fit, even the ones with question marks are starting to perform or have done throughout.
The Guehi decision whatever the situation is to me the only possible black mark.
On spending heavily…
We spent heavily but not net… so not really. Net we spent less than Arsenal even just accounting for this summer… and Arsenal have been spending heavily for years. Same goes for Man City - maybe they didn’t exceed us in that window but in the one before. Plus this doesn’t account for a tragedy like Jota for whom there was no proper preparation or replacement for.
Spending-wise… not sure we should be considered any higher than our current position performance-wise. Yes, we raised expectations with the performance last year - but that squad has been blown up.
Integration of New Signings:
Ekitike hit the ground running
Wirtz did not hit the ground running but is coming along quite nicely
Kerkez did not hit the ground running but is coming along quite nicely
Frimpong has been injured but not doing too badly either
Isak missed pre-season and has been injured
Leoni is injured
I just don’t see the truth in this statement that there is a problem integrating new signings. It is very common, even under the best of managers, that a player can take time to settle. Under Klopp that included Robertson, Fabinho and Wijnaldum who were all big parts of our success but took half a year to a year to settle. Integration time can affect performances.
On the effect of overall squad usage as a result of spending heavily (which I explained… we did not really spend heavily)…
The new signings are used, Chiesa is not. No change here.
Which new signing was supposed to replace Diaz?
On strained internal relationships: other than Mo? I’m not aware of any but please correct me if I’m wrong.
I think Slot was right on Mo btw…, he was droppable and Slot rightfully was backed to make his decision.
Problem with “player power” also played a big part with Alonso’s firing. I would hate to be like RM in this case and Alonso would have faced the same situation benching Mo.
On financial risk: if we do not buy a senior CB this window then this risk has been accepted by Hughes, Edwards and the owners.
This is an area that needs investment and the money was available. If the decision has been made that we stick to the strict transfer policy of only buying the right person, for the right price, at the right time and thus don’t find a solution this transfer window then holding Slot accountable for defensive frailties is a little unfair given he doesn’t have options to turn to.
Having said all that, fan opinion, public opinion, owner’s opinions could all result in a firing. But wholesale changes generally causes disjointed performances. A huge number of injuries generally cause disjointed performances. An unbalanced squad generally causes disjointed performances.
So for me, the expectations we have of challenging for the title this season were perhaps a bit misplaced. I’m not saying he is doing well. I don’t think a draw with Arsenal is proof of righting the ship… but I think expectations are also a bit elevated given the reality of the situation (i.e., what I mentioned above).
Weird that for all your insistence that many of us are missing the (unstated) context you overlook the very critical context of those situations - two clubs who were allowed to become stale right the way through the footballing operation as a result of too much power being held in the hand of one ageing man. We were conscious of building a sustainable model and Klopp very creditably played his part in that, and so those situations and so the situation Slot inherited was very different than those who would try to pick up the pieces at Arsenal and United.
I was reading an analysis a few weeks back that was stats heavy so maybe a bit dubious, but basically positioned us as pretty much all season playing games where the difference between the two teams was small enough for the result to be little more than a coin flip. I think this goes back to the idea from @Redbj that we’ve won as many games as we have this season simply because we had better the players most often, not because they were put in a position to succeed. Football isnt the corporate world, but I think most of us can probably relate to that sort of situation (why the fuck am I spending my time filling out these TPS reports when I could be doing something else that is actually important?)
It is a very apt phrase. We are definitely doing better than we were a few weeks ago, but we are not where we want to be. We have some incredible talent that will always be capable of producing significant moments, and currently that’s what we are relying on, by and large.
Hopefully we take it a step further and implement a clear identity in our play that would indicate better is to come next season and beyond.
If we do that, Slot should be safe. If we stumble along, then it’s possible that even a CL finish might not save him. It would be borderline, but there would be a decision for his bosses to make after review.
I agree with this. If we change manager in the summer it’ll change our business. But if Slot is still manager we’ll conduct our business in the same way, whether he has a new contract or not. That was the point being discussed.
I’m pretty sure the original author of that particular epithet is none other than our old friend Mark Goldbridge , and unsurprisingly he was talking about Utd and not us.
In my reading of the situation I think you have to view the sales of Elliott and Quansah as big shows of faith in Slot. If we get to the beginning of next season and Slot is kept on but without a extension, I think that would have to be seen as a significant reduction in the faith we were putting in him. I think if we find ourselves in that situation then moves that are the equivalent of those I would imagine would be blocked - players who are a reasonable cost on the balance sheet, may continue to increase in value, and would be expected for any other manager to be happy to have the use of
Whether we have any players left who meet that sort of standard who Slot would want out is maybe something that makes the point moot, but I think it would likely apply to Chiesa. More so though is that if our performances go in a way that Slot finds himself in that position, then there is no way of knowing who might fall out of his good graces between now and the end of the season as things go on and fail to improve.
Stale or not, both clubs were transitioning from long term, established managers. And if anything, the fact we were transitioning from a highly successful period, made it even more challenging.
So once again, the context is totally lost on you…
It’s hard to fully know what’s what behind the scenes, as we aren’t there and we are all guessing, but I’ll share the impression I have with that caveat noted.
It looked to me as though Heitinga was a good intermediary between the players and Slot and arguably something has been lost there with the move to Van Bronckhorst.
We have no idea about these things and it’s dependent on media finding out more information for us or, with time, we get more clues. And Heiting was here for 1 season.
People also make decisions due to different on and off the pitch factors or motivations. Them, their families if they have one, etc.
I referred to us as Moments FC a few times at the back end of last year. I still feel that’s what we are unfortunately.