Inevitable and necessary. Despite the continual briefings coming out of the UK side of the club\u2019s operation, the silence from Liverpool\u2019s American ownership was deafening. No vote of confidence, no contract extension talks and \u2013 most significant \u2013 no official appointment of Eti\u00ebnne Reijnen to Arne Slot\u2019s coaching staff. According to multiple reports last week, Slot was bringing in his old mucker to help turn the ship around, but the longer that remained unconfirmed it began to feel as if something was afoot.<\/p>\n
Eventually, on Saturday lunchtime, six days after the final game of a season in which the Reds lost 19 games, Slot was gone<\/a>. Regardless of what happens next, it was the correct decision. If the next guy does not do well, that does not mean sacking Slot was a mistake. It made no sense for Liverpool\u2019s ownership to allow this to continue, regardless of how much Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes reportedly wanted to stick with the status quo.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t remember Liverpool<\/a> fans being more united in wanting a trophy-winning manager removed. Usually there\u2019s a split in the fanbase and it can get quite ugly \u2013 the Rafa wars were particularly harrowing \u2013 but this time it was pretty unanimous. We all knew. Some may have halfheartedly railed against the idea of \u201csacking a league-winning manager\u201d but when it happened there was very little condemnation. Mostly it was relief.<\/p>\n Anfield had started to become toxic with open revolt against Slot on display in the recent draw with Chelsea. It had threatened to get that way a few times previously (there were some boos after Burnley) but for the most part the crowd had shown great patience given the sterile football and disappointing results being served up. There\u2019s no coming back from the position Slot found himself in. It was over, and virtually everyone knew it.<\/p>\n That makes the constant briefings coming out of the club that his job was safe very worrying. This wasn\u2019t some clever bluff by the smartest guys in the room to keep Slot focused until Champions League football was secured. By all accounts, Edwards and\/or Hughes were prepared to let him carry on. That is until John Henry stepped in. That\u2019s alarming to me, but then as much as I wanted Slot gone, I\u2019d rather Edwards had gone first as I think he\u2019s a bigger problem. Hughes too, although it\u2019s hard to judge him when he\u2019s no doubt being micromanaged by Edwards, FSG\u2019s big boss man of football.<\/p>\n Arne Slot cut a frustrated figure in the 1-1 home draw with Chelsea, and the fans gave their verdict. Photograph: Gareth Copley\/Getty Images<\/p>\n A lot of outsiders think Slot has been treated harshly as it was only 12 months ago he was leading us to our 20th title<\/a>. I get that to some extent, but he won the title with another man\u2019s squad, and that squad has since been completely dismantled by Slot and those above him. Some fans get prickly and defensive when you say he won the league with J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s squad, but it\u2019s a fact. I don\u2019t know why saying so is seen as somehow denigrating his achievement, because to me it\u2019s the opposite. Taking over somebody else\u2019s team and delivering a title in your first season in a new league is an incredible accomplishment.<\/p>\n If that same squad were still in place then maybe you could roll the dice on Slot in the hope that he could rediscover past glories. That isn\u2019t the case, though. Much of that squad is gone or going and, despite a huge amount of money being spent to supposedly take the club to even greater heights, it\u2019s gone backwards at an alarming rate. Alexander\u00a0Isak and Florian Wirtz flopped, there were no signs of any plan or identity and nobody really knows what Slot\u2019s preferred style is. Then you get Mohamed Salah telling the world how bad it is<\/a> and most of the squad agreeing with him. It looked like mutiny.<\/p>\n The dream is that our real dad (Klopp) comes home but it\u2019s probably going to be another stepdad \u2013 this time a fun Spanish one. Andoni Iraola ticks plenty of boxes, but not all of them. He hasn\u2019t experienced the goldfish bowl of a big club like Liverpool, he hasn\u2019t had to navigate the demands of playing twice, or three times, a week and teams don\u2019t set up against Bournemouth in the same way they do Liverpool.<\/p>\n It would be a risk, but the upside is huge as Bournemouth play the most exciting football in the league. The Premier League has become boring but I enjoy watching the Cherries because they always have a go. They run, they press, they play on the front foot. Dare I say they play the \u201cheavy\u2011metal football\u201d Salah called for a return to? Leading Bournemouth to sixth after losing his four or five best players is remarkable so, if it\u2019s Iraola, sound.<\/p>\n