Klopp’s slow death march is a boost for next man in Liverpool hotseat

RARELY can the wearing of a half-and-half scarf be justified.

Particularly on the occasion of a passionate Merseyside derby with so much at stake for Everton and Liverpool.

Yet if Arne Slot wrapped his neck in red and blue, while squirrelled away in his Rotterdam living room this week, it would be just about acceptable, if not advisable.

Replacing outgoing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp at the end of this season must be exhilarating — but slightly more terrifying for anyone being seriously  considered for the job.

Feyenoord chief Slot, 45, has emerged as the No 1 candidate and while it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, it is also one of the toughest gigs going.

Klopp has won seven big trophies in eight years but, moreover, restored a sense of entitlement at Anfield.

The feeling that the club is back where it belongs among football’s top feeders.

Even if the imposing German was only half his 6ft 3in, those would be big shoes to fill.

Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Everton has torpedoed the Reds’ title hopes.

And, with them, romantic Scouse visions of Klopp, 56, being carried shoulder high through the Shankly Gates with a second Premier League winner’s medal hanging off him.

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Overnight, the team looks weary and in need of a makeover similar to the manager’s cosmetic tooth job and laser eye surgery.

But doom for Klopp is delight for Slot.

It is now odds-on that  the man who has come to symbolise the renaissance on red Merseyside will head off into the sunset with only the Carabao Cup to go with his carriage clock.

And how much easier  that makes it for Slot — or whoever takes over — to pick up the baton.

Who wants the job of  trying to lead the Kop giants into an entirely new era when the trophy