From ending their long wait to become Premier League champions, winning a world title for the first time and, as on Wednesday, 200 wins as Liverpool manager in record time, much of Jurgen Klopp’s reign has been unprecedented.
Even if the German were to leave Anfield at the end of the season, it would open up new horizons for the club. This leaves Fenway Sports Group in the unusual and somewhat difficult position of finding a replacement for Klopp after being informed of his intention to leave in November.
Of course, managers have left Liverpool before, three of them at FSG alone. However, this situation is significantly different from the previous situation. Please be aware of early departure. Brendan Rodgers, Kenny Dalglish and Roy Hodgson were all sacked by the current hosts, while Rafael Benitez and Gerard Houllier were called up at the start of the Premier League spell, as was Roy Evans, who replaced the sacked Graham Souness 30 years ago .
The Scot becomes Liverpool’s first manager since Phil Taylor in 1959.There was a clear succession process between these two layoffs. Bill Shankly was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley, who handed over the job to another shoemaker, Joe Fagan. When Fagan resigned two years later, he handed the reins to Kenny Dalglish, the club’s first and still only player-manager.
The shock of Klopp’s announcement last week was likened by many Liverpool supporters to the shock that greeted Dalglish’s resignation in February 1991. But the similarities probably end there. Although both men sought to continue as Liverpool managers for diametrically opposed reasons, the Reds were in a very different state as a club under Dalglish and were still struggling with the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster less than two years later.
They weren’t ready yet. For the upcoming new look of the Premier League. The team that season was fighting for honours, but was getting old together and needed an overhaul. Today’s Liverpool, on the other hand, are confident of their future thanks to a flurry of signings over the last 18 months and the emergence of a number of academy graduates. Most of the old players left last summer.
Regardless of what happens between now and the end of the campaign, everyone has a platform to compete for glory.In this context, it reflects the legacy of Shankly Paisley and the later legacies of Fagan and Dalglish. Paisley won the title and the UEFA Cup in his second season, Fagan won a treble in his first season and Dalglish achieved the double in 12 months.This time there will be no domestic successor, which shows how FSG, previously without a successor, found themselves at Anfield. What are the demands of Liverpool’s future manager?Success under Klopp is reminiscent of a man with the considerable experience required to work at a big club, winning trophies, committed to long-term plans and confident in providing youth for the academy.
Give the first team a chance, understand the financial model FSG follows and don’t question your position, at least publicly. No true candidate meets all of these requirements, and the pool of opportunities that meet four of these five options is very small. But the foundation Klopp and his coaching staff have built over the years means there will be little or no fuss from the new manager.
