03 Jan 2026 11:54:31
Hughes/ Edwards hired Slot (as head coach) to replace Klopp (as manager) .
To all those wanting a change of head coach:
Do you want a manager - like Klopp was?
Or do you want another head coach (not responsible for signings) .
If Slot goes but the Hughes/ Edwards set up remains (after their failure) then I think that will exclude a lot of good "managers" and it rewards failure (Hughes/ Edwards) . It weakens a "head coaches" position from the off as players know his input is limited.
In my opinion if Slot goes then Hughes/ Edwards need to go otherwise the men who chose Slot - and failed with him - are the men choosing their next "head coach" to fail with.
{Ed001's Note - I 100% agree with you. They should never have been appointed in the first place.}
03 Jan 2026 12:29:11
how do we determine failure or success?
it seems like a lot of the discourse is on the assumption we are at the end of the journey.
03 Jan 2026 12:32:43
Id want something in between . you can't pick players if the manager doesn't rate them . n a manger can't pick anyone if there data merchants don't see anything in his locker . but for me the manager (not head coach ) must have the final say on signings.
03 Jan 2026 12:42:09
For me all of the problems stem from the back.
Slot always played 4 at the back, all who had experience of playing centre half. His fullbacks inverted and were defensively minded.
We now have 4 fullbacks who are more of the mind to play like wingbacks.
The whole system of who signs the players is not aligned.
We don't have enough defensively minded players in the squad. They don't sense or see danger early enough.
To get the best out of our attack minded players we need more physical and mobile player to complement them.
03 Jan 2026 13:14:19
molby - the team as a whole definitely play with a lot less bite. minus Diaz, Nunez and Jota (RIL), those are three aggressive pressing machines. And we replaced them with finesse-type players.
03 Jan 2026 13:30:24
We played against Leeds without any proper wingers. Frimpong and Wirtz are not wingers. Why not give Chiesa a chance on the left wing instead of Gapko? Slot's indifference towards him is so apparent.
To be honest we played well against a shambolic side in wolves. Leeds were a step above and we struggled. I for one am dreading what Arsenal would do to us when we visit them.
03 Jan 2026 13:33:17
If failure is winning the Premier League, give me failure any day.
03 Jan 2026 13:38:33
They were all good pressers and hard workers, so if you are going to replace that with players who do not work so hard off the ball you need more legs and physicality in midfield.
Look at our prime midfield under Klopp,
Milner, Henderson and Wijnaldum then Fabiniho. Legs, physicality and energy!
Let the fullbacks get forwards and the front 3 do their thing.
We need the same now. Let the fullbacks fly and give the ball to Wirtz, then when it does breakdown win it back.
We would never have teams walk straight through us or out fight us with that prime midfield.
We are just to soft.
03 Jan 2026 13:43:11
Ron - if you are going to sack Arne you need to remove Hughes and Edward's as well. I have been saying this for a while. This is more than likely the reason Arne is still in his role, imagine explaining removing Arne to FSG when he was your man, that is admitting that you got it wrong and putting yourself in the firing line. Like I have said previously they are not going to remove him, no matter how poor our play is.
My guess is he will get until the summer and then be gone, unless he stops playing this turd ball style that he is persistent with. Flick or Enrique are the only two I would go for right now. Pulling them away from Paris and Barcelona will not be easy though. Fingers crossed Arne starts to listen to the silence at Anfield and changes things, or at least come out and explain why he is playing such negative football.
03 Jan 2026 13:54:55
It's a tough question, Ron Keague. In my view, Klopp's success in building a competitive team comes from the fact that many decisions were made collaboratively, even though he was hired as the manager.
One example: Klopp wanted to sign Julian Brandt but was open to the arguments of Michael Edwards, Ian Graham, and the analytics team, who preferred Salah. Coming from German football, where sporting directors and coaches work hand in hand, collaboration was natural for him—which was not the case in England, where managers traditionally had full control.
Over time, however, as his success grew, Klopp gained more decision-making power: this led to the Darwin transfer (Klopp and Lijnders wanted him, but no one else was convinced) and eventually to Michael Edwards leaving.
My opinion is that there needs to be a balance between manager and head coach; otherwise, what's the point of working with a recruitment team? We can see the consequences today: Hughes went on a spending spree, and Slot clearly wasn't consulted….
03 Jan 2026 14:05:01
Hughes and Edwards will not be removed.
03 Jan 2026 14:35:16
Bit harsh on Hughes and Edwards I feel like. All opinion of course. But it was probably the best damn transfer window any club ever had. Missing Guehi was costly. It seems Palace were a pain to deal with though (as Carra said) some blame still lies with Hughes though as he should have went and got another one.
But the players that were brought in obviously suit an attacking fast paced diamond formation. Slot is to stubborn or stupid to see that or change that.
Thats on him. Everything we're seeing is on his door and partly the players who need to try harder and take some initiative.
They brought Slot in last season. He won the league. I wouldn't say they got it wrong.
We also have no idea what happened over the summer and what dialogue took place between them all. I think personally that they have left Slot with an incredible team, and he is under using it.
03 Jan 2026 14:39:22
If we're being honest, most of us have no idea what is going on behind the scenes.
We can see for ourselves what is happening on the pitch and that's enough to keep us occupied, unfortunately.
I just don't see the point in getting angry, looking for reasons why we aren't playing well and ripping everything up and starting again after a relatively brief period of mediocrity.
Overall, we are a well run club and have had years of relative success.
People are upset about Semenyo but in the summer we were beating to City to targets and broke the British transfer record to sign a player that his club were desperate to keep.
Slot might not be up to the job but the club is still in a great position. That wouldn't be the case if it was full of "clueless" transient employees.
Chill.
03 Jan 2026 14:46:28
Hughes and Edwards have been repeatedly linked with Saudi. If Edwards doesn't get the second club he was promised, he might just accept one of those offers.
03 Jan 2026 15:34:33
Good post, Rigsby. Agree with what you say.
03 Jan 2026 16:04:35
I think that's harsh on hughes and Edwards ron. They appointed a man who proved he could do the job and done it extremely well.
The problem as I see it this season is slot himself. As I said he's proved he can be top notch but he's got something or somethings catastrophicly wrong this season.
We press v poorly, set pieces a mess both offensively and defensively, we don't look anywhere near fit compared to our opponents in prem and we don't play with any desire or determination. I don't believe we've won a 50-50 tackle all season.
Them to me is all the fault of the coach and his staff, that's the basics of football which should be a given they right at a club of our stature.
I'm not anti slot and I really thought we had hit jackpot with him but I've been so disappointed in him this season with not getting the basics right. I do wonder with slots family not moving over to england has it took the edge/ motivation off him, he doesn't look a shadow of the manager he was 12months ago.
03 Jan 2026 20:15:07
Ed, I disagree. If this season happened last season in Slot's first season even then, there would be no cause to remove them nor sack the manager cos that would be premature and way too harsh, IMO.
Secondly, Slot won the title at a canter hence, Hughes and Edwards were vindicated in hiring Slot on paper. Now Slot being incompetent now and still keeping him in a job is debateable BUT I understand it.
My point? They brought him in and are giving him a chance to finish out the season and see where we land. However, I don't think we will keep Slot beyond this season. I would be shocked if it happened. Now if Slot wins the CL then, all the above goes out the window.