Pep Lijnders - a familiar name at Anfield - has been sacked by Austrian side RB Salzburg with former Liverpool midfielder Bobby Clark sending the coach a heartfelt message.
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Ex-Liverpool coach Pep Lijnders has been sacked by Red Bull Salzburg.
Ex-Liverpool coach Pep Lijnders has been sacked by Red Bull Salzburg.
Former Liverpool midfielder Bobby Clark has issued a heartfelt message to Pep Lijnders after Red Bull Salzburg sacked the Dutchman. Lijnders was named manager of the Austrian Bundesliga outfit in May - following his exit from Anfield - but has now been dismissed just seven months later with his side fifth in the table and ten points behind reigning champions Strum Graz.
Explaining the decision to sack Lijnders, the club's CEO, Stephan Reiter, alongside the managing director, Rouven Schroder, 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.
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"He put a lot of effort and passion into this 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 January 3, 2025, with our new coach in place." Clark, meanwhile - who swapped Anfield for the Red Bull Arena in a £10million switch in August - paid tribute to Lijnders and the chances he afforded him so early in his professional career.
Writing on Instagram on Monday night, he said: "Good luck in the future. Thank you for your trust in me."
Clark scored his first goal for Salzburg in Lijnders' final game in charge on Saturday. That was a 3-1 victory over SK Austria Klagenfurt, but the Dutchman was still sacked in the aftermath.
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