Pep Lijnders has been sacked as RB Salzburg head coach, just months after leaving Liverpool
Pep Lijnders during his time at RB Salzburg.
Former Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has been sacked by RB Salzburg after seven months in charge. The Dutchman, accompanied by former Reds coach Vitor Matos, made the move to Austria following Jurgen Klopp's departure but they have been axed from their roles as they sit 10 points adrift in the league.
Despite beating lowly SK Austria Klagenfurt 3-0 on Saturday, Lijnders has been relieved of his duties with the club citing 'unsatisfactory performances' as one of the reasons for the decision. After arriving in Salzburg, the 41-year-old utilised his ties with Liverpool and signed Bobby Clark on a permanent deal, as well as a loan move for Stefan Bajcetic.
Klopp is due to become the head of global soccer at Red Bull in January but a matter of weeks before the German is due to return to football for the first time since leaving Anfield, his former right-hand man has been dismissed.
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As the Austrian Bundesliga heads into the winter break, Salzburg have made the bold decision to sack Lijnders and Matos after just 16 league matches. In a joint statement, CEO Stephan Reiter and Managing Director of Sport, Rouven Shroder said: "We began recently to analyse, as planned, what has unfortunately not been a satisfactory season so far.
"It was clear to see that in many of our matches we have been far short of our own requirements and aims. We have therefore become convinced that our team needs a new impulse under new management, even if we continued to hope for a turnaround until the end.
"We would like to thank Pep for his work. He put a lot of effort and passion into it and has provided important momentum for our further development.
"We are now very intensively looking for a new coach and will communicate as soon as a decision is made. We clearly want to start training again on 3 January 2025 with our new coach in place."