When did Arne Slot privately discover his fate after Liverpool hierarchy’s abrupt U-turn
· Yahoo Sports
It wasn’t until a few hours before the news was made public that Arne Slot discovered that he was being relieved of his duties as Liverpool head coach.
It was just after midday on Saturday that the Merseyside club confirmed that they had parted company with the 47-year-old ‘with immediate effect’, just six days after the Reds’ final match of an extremely difficult season.
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Despite widespread calls for a change in the dugout, a few days ago it appeared for all the world that FSG would keep faith with the Dutchman amid reports that they were close to appointing his ex-Feyenoord assistant Etienne Reijnen to the backroom staff at Anfield.
Slot was planning ahead for next season as recently as Friday
Two trusted sources have revealed just how quickly Slot went from believing he’d be leading the chareg once again next season to clearing out his desk and contemplating what comes next.
The Telegraph‘s Dominic King reported that, ‘even at 5:30pm on Friday evening’, the Dutchman had ‘no reason to suspect’ that he was into his final 24 hours as Liverpool head coach, with sporting director Richard Hughes informing him of the club’s decision on Saturday morning ‘with enormous reluctance.’
For The Times, Paul Joyce outlined that, less than 48 hours ago, Slot had been ‘actively working towards next season’ and was keen to bring in Reijnen, before being informed yesterday morning that LFC ‘could not delay the inevitable’ and that they’d be making a change in the dugout.
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The wheels may have already been turning behind the scenes
The surprise isn’t that the 47-year-old has been dismissed by Liverpool after such an atrocious season, but that the club went from seemingly backing him to the hilt to abruptly relieving him of his duties just hours before the news was announced.
The proposed appointment of Reijnen to the coaching staff appeared to drop a major clue that Slot would be staying on, especially when the former had informed Feyenoord that he’d be leaving De Kuip.
We can only deduce that FSG had privately been looking towards changing the head coach for some time and were perhaps waiting to nail down a proposed successor before informing the 2025 Premier League-winning boss that his time was up.
Ultimately, the extent of Liverpool’s drop-off over the past few months and the tepid football being served up under the Dutchman prompted the hierarchy to act. Once the fans at Anfield had made their disgruntlement unmistakably clear, it was difficult to see a way back for him in L4.
The time for a change feels right, although the 47-year-old will be forever appreciated for delivering the Reds’ 20th league title a year ago, and the scenes of euphoria that it unleashed on Merseyside.