Arne Slot

[Kenneth]

Tonight would be a good time to sack him.

[baitman]

Tonight would be a good time to sack him.

It won't be a sacking.
It will be a "mutual"
should be waterboarded and burned.

Probably a few days after dust settles, and a week later announcement for Iraola.

[Cerbie]

Tonight would be a good time to sack him.

It would be great if they do, but I suspect FSG would see that as giving into fan pressure. I can see why they would leave any announcement until the week after the last game.

[SB]

Unless we somehow manage not to get Champions League next season, then I haven't seen any indication that the club wants to shift Slot. It looks like he's staying.

Do I agree with that approach? Sadly not, but it does look like he's lost the dressing room.

I totally expected this to be a transitional season. There were so many signings to integrate, and the loss of Jota has had a massive impact. But that said, I thought we'd improve as the season went on and everyone adjusted. That just hasn't happened though for whatever reason and I'd say we're actually regressing.

There's no feel good factor, no optimism, nothing.

It feels like we've gone from the most functional club to one of the basket cases in a season. It's not all Slot's fault, but it's a results business and ultimately he's not delivering (present tense).

How do we solve the problem? I have no idea? Does Hughes need to shoulder the blame? Yes I think so, but you can't fire both the manager and sporting director going into the transfer window. All the work that has gone into negotiating with incoming players would go out of the window.

We're in a right old pickle.

Agree with all that Dom. Hopefully there’s a carnival type atmosphere on Sunday & we send the outgoing players out on a high.

[kemm1]

It's been a while since I posted on this thread. That was just before the Spurs game when I was fully supportive of Arne Slot, with the odd proviso here and there, but Slot-in nonetheless. Since then things have been interesting in an unpleasant and traumatic sort of way. Barring my lamentations on this place closing down, I haven't really posted at all since then. Let me explain why.

Firstly, I found the draw with Spurs sickening in a way I hadn't expected. This was partly due to my absolute expectation that we would beat them soundly but also, to some extent, due to the limp nature of the performance. My immediate and instinctive reaction was to conclude that Slot's time was up. That may seem somewhat reactionary from someone who had defended Slot, literally up until that day, but a realisation was dawning and I couldn't deny it.

Still, I thought I'd let the dust settle on that result, in order to properly reflect, before expressing my thoughts.

Then came the thrashing of Galatasaray, an uplifting performance and emphatic result. Mood lifted but, again, the need to reflect in order to truly grasp what it actually means in the grand scheme of things.

Since then things have gone from bad to worse, pockmarked with the occasional win, here and there, but no evidence that the underlying issues have been or indeed can be addressed by the current staff. Perks called it 100% right when he said it won't be complete capitulation rather, it would be mixed and unsatisfying in terms of results and performances. That's exactly what is unfolding before us.

More consequentially than that we are now seeing, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Slot is a considerable factor in our travails. He is not doing the best he can with an imbalanced squad. He is no longer juggling availability and making the correct, although suboptimal, calls in games. He has demonstrated that, far from adding to the sum of the squad's parts, he is a detraction and we are now worse for him being in situ. The playing staff seem to have settled on this understanding as well, which means he is toast. Ignore whatever noises of support are coming out of the club. IMHO he will be gone before the first game of next season. This seems inevitable to me.

I didn't enjoy writing any of the above. It was hard and unpleasant. Not because I've had to reassess my position, which is a healthy and positive thing to do. I base my position on the facts at hand so when they change I adapt. My support for Slot was always conditional and never absolute. That he failed to meet the conditions is not in doubt. No, it's due to the sense of impending turmoil that we are about to enter into. While I acknowledge a new manager "bounce" can be a thing, I do not share the unqualified optimism that some have about this change. We really must get this right and, at the same time, really must address problems in the squad. By sacking the coach we will add, to the existing lack of balance, the potential problem of divorced accountability within the squad. This can destroy a team's chances of success, and is very, very difficult to fix. Let's hope the characters we have in the team are such that we avoid that. We also have to pick and land exactly the right man which is a huge challenge and risk. The risk of doing nothing and sticking with Slot however, is now higher than the risk of making a change, so I'm certain the club will act.

This brings us to the question of who? This is all speculative and driven by personal biases/preferences, so take it as you will.

I've previously stated my preference for Nagelsmann who I still think fits the bill better than any realistic alternative. That he won't be able to join until after the World Cup is a consideration though, and that might be enough to sink him. We should not understate how important a strong start to 26/27 is for us. I think a new manager will need maximum time in pre-season with the squad to get a good start. I'm not sure whether his other commitments make that realistic. I just don't know on that one but I'd be delighted with him as the appointee.

Inzaghi has a lot going for him, including proven title winning ability with Inter and a style of play that would likely translate well to our league. He's at a good age with good experience and is someone I could get on board with. He will need to speak better English though but I suspect he will pick that up.

I also like Seb Hoeness who seems a good prospect. It would be a very Slot-like appointment in a way, or perhaps Brendog-like if things go South. He seems a good cultural and footballing fit for us and has had relative success at his level. I don't know how well he will adapt to managing a mega-club like LFC though, or whether he has what it takes to be the boss of so many big name players. I do like the cut of his jib which, I suppose, counts for something.

The same can also be said about Andoni Iraola although I'm even less convinced that he will succeed at our club. I could be way out of bounds on this but I don't think he will hit that level in the EPL. He may well do so in Spain however. We will see I suppose.

Luis Enrique's name was seen as a bit of a fantasy by many up until a week or so ago but now seems to be increasingly possible. Right up there with Nagelsmann to my mind, perhaps higher in fact. A top human being and world class coach. There will be no complaints from me if that appointment is made, none whatsoever. This still seems the least likely appointment to me, although Pep leaving City might shake things up a bit to make it more possible (assuming Enrique doesn't go there).

As an aside, I also want to say that I am glad we didn't get Xabi. I'm certain he isn't the right fit for us. The fact that he took the job at Chelsea feels like a vindication of that although some might see it differently. I do not want to see turgid 5 at the back football at Liverpool and I don't apologise for that.

The other really big question is what, if anything, we should do at director level. A year ago I thought we were the best run club in the world with the right people in the right positions all the way up the pyramid. I am less convinced of this now and would support a fresh look at at the DoF position at least. I have no idea who could come in and do better but Hughes doesn't seem to have covered himself in glory to put it mildly. Any suggestions on who should come in would be received warmly.

Ok, that's it for this brain dump from me. Apologies to all that read through this wall of text! I hope we come out the other side of this in good shape.

[Slinky Skills]

Interesting piece about Iraola here, really starting to warm to him and I think his ethos of hard work and high press would really suit us.

Andoni Iraola has lifted Bournemouth to unimaginable heights. It makes you wonder why he’s leaving.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7293337/2026/05/20/andoni-iraola-bournemouth-farewell/

[Doc_Piptorious]

Interesting piece about Iraola here, really starting to warm to him and I think his ethos of hard work and high press would really suit us.

Andoni Iraola has lifted Bournemouth to unimaginable heights. It makes you wonder why he’s leaving.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/729...outh-farewell/

He is probably ambitious and may feel that he has gone almost as far as he can with Bournemouth. As they showed last season, they have a good season and developed solid players, then bigger clubs come looking for those players so it becomes a job of constantly trying to find replacements and constantly trying to "do well" rather than staying near the top and being a geuine threat for major silverware.

[Catrin]

He is probably ambitious and may feel that he has gone almost as far as he can with Bournemouth. As they showed last season, they have a good season and developed solid players, then bigger clubs come looking for those players so it becomes a job of constantly trying to find replacements and constantly trying to "do well" rather than staying near the top and being a geuine threat for major silverware.

You can build a club through buying well, developing the player, selling well then reinvesting the profits. But you can only go so far with that unless you also have a massive fanbase, which Bournemouth just do not have. I suppose Brighton are in the same situation.

You have to wonder if getting a smaller club to overachieve is good preparation for getting a big club to compete for trophies. Thomas Frank, Graham Potter, Brendan Rogers, Roy Hodgson, all failed at big clubs. Even Moyes at United. I like Iraola but he’d be quite a risk.

[Doc_Piptorious]

You can build a club through buying well, developing the player, selling well then reinvesting the profits. But you can only go so far with that unless you also have a massive fanbase, which Bournemouth just do not have. I suppose Brighton are in the same situation.

You have to wonder if getting a smaller club to overachieve is good preparation for getting a big club to compete for trophies. Thomas Frank, Graham Potter, Brendan Rogers, Roy Hodgson, all failed at big clubs. Even Moyes at United. I like Iraola but he’d be quite a risk.

I don't think it is tbh. Well not is all your experience is at smaller clubs and constantly only looking to reach a certain level with any good seasons then falling under overachievement.


Think a lot of the best "pure" managers might start at a smaller club for their first club or two, then take on a job at one of the "smaller" big clubs so that expectations go up and there is no over achieving just achieving at the top end of a good league.

Then make the jump to a giant club with that experience of seeing doing well as achieving the level you are meant to get to.

Is like Klopps with Mainz as the smaller club, then onto Dortmund as the big club with genuine expectations and then onto a giant club. There is a steady increase in expectations and what was seen as acceptable at each club is below par for teh next one.


Is why I like Inzaghi. He worked his way up to Inter and achieved at a high level when there. Then took his ME break to learn english and is ready to come back to a giant

[memzey]

The other route might be to take a big-ish club in another league and prove you can handle that pressure before taking a big club in the prem. Mourinho would be a good example of that.

[Doc_Piptorious]

The other route might be to take a big-ish club in another league and prove you can handle that pressure before taking a big club in the prem. Mourinho would be a good example of that.

So we are all agreeing on Inzaghi then

[Slinky Skills]

[ame]https://twitter.com/i/status/2057355629463843157[/ame]

[kingfunk]

Who da fook is that guy?

[Fierce]

Who da fook is that guy?

Don't know, but I like the cut of his jib

[Yozza]

Who da fook is that guy?

Fook knows

What senior players? Won't be any left next season...