Fans on Merseyside are still digesting the bombshell news - Liverpool have several months to find and hire a replacement manager.
In July 1974, Bill Shankly announced that he would be stepping down as Liverpool manager - weeks after watching his side lift the FA Cup at Wembley. A young Granada Reports journalist Tony Wilson had the task of breaking the shock news to a group of teenage kids on Lime Street - they stood their ashen-faced in belief. Half a century on, there are some parallels to be drawn with Jürgen Klopp’s decision to move on at the end of this season. Like Shankly’s resignation, it came as a bolt from the blue - no one saw it coming. The 56-year-old signed a two-year contract extension in April 2022, committing until 2026 and guaranteeing continuity to the project he started with his appointment in October 2015.
The news that Klopp will leave Anfield at the end of the season came as a bombshell to fans on Merseyside - Friday’s announcement just a couple of days after Liverpool booked their place in the EFL Carabao Cup final, with the team in a commanding position atop the Premier League table and alive in both the Europa League and FA Cup (it will be interesting to see/hear the reaction from the home fans when Norwich visit Anfield on Sunday…)
But in another sense, by closely listening to what Klopp had said during his seven years on Merseyside, it’s surprising that he has lasted this long. He has always been open about his future. He is not a careerist in the same way as some other coaches, who will happily flit from club to club and it’s unlikely we would ever see him coaching in a country where he doesn’t have the language skills to get his message across - his command of the English language is
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