Arne Slot and Liverpool suffered a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday to mark a second consecutive defeat, with the Dutch manager snubbing an awards ceremony the very next day
Aaron Morris Senior Sports Reporter
10:28, 24 Nov 2025Updated 10:40, 24 Nov 2025
Arne Slot looks down
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Arne Slot snubbed an awards ceremony on Sunday(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Gary McAllister was summoned to accept an award on behalf of Arne Slot on Sunday, as he was watching Leeds United's match against Aston Villa.
Despite being named the Northern Football Writers' Association manager of the year for his efforts last season, Slot chose not to attend the ceremony. Instead, McAllister was dispatched to receive the award on behalf of the Dutchman at very short notice.
According to the Daily Mail, Slot confirmed he would not be attending the ceremony at 4pm on the day, with McAllister receiving a call in the middle of Leeds' Premier League match with Villa at Elland Road.
At the event, McAllister – who is a club ambassador for Liverpool – conveyed Slot's apologies for his absence, as well as a brief message from the 47-year-old who was 'extremely proud' to have received the accolade.
It comes after Slot oversaw a 3-0 defeat for Liverpool at the hands of Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Reds returned to Premier League action at Anfield hoping to reverse a poor run of form ahead of the two-week international break.
Gary McAllister looks on
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Gary McAllister collected the award for Arne Slot(Image: Getty Images)
However, what followed was further disappointment for the Premier League-winning manager. Murillo broke the deadlock for the visitors in a tense encounter 33 minutes in, with his effort from the centre of the box scrutinised by VAR due to Dan Ndoye potentially obstructing Alisson Becker's view whilst in an offside position.
Following close examination, match officials concluded that Ndoye had not interfered with the goalkeeper's line of sight, and the goal was awarded. The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: "The referee's call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Ndoye was not in the line of vision of Allison and did not make an action that impacted an opponent."
Igor Jesus appeared to extend the advantage to 2-0 shortly afterwards, though his finish was disallowed following a handball in the build-up. Forest didn't have to wait long to double their cushion, however.
Almost straight after the restart, Nicolo Savona found the net for Sean Dyche's team, before Morgan Gibbs-White put the result beyond doubt just over 10 minutes before the final whistle. During his post-match media briefing, Slot emphasised that Liverpool's failure to convert first-half opportunities proved decisive.
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He said: "How bad is difficult to measure, but it was very bad, of course. Playing at home, losing 3-0, no matter which team you face, is of course a very, very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the game.
"In my opinion, a good start from us. Haven't seen us creating so much in the first half-hour of a game maybe throughout the whole season - I'm not sure because I don't remember every single game now, but we were able to create a lot.
"And the first time they arrived in our box, they scored a goal and it's a very difficult cocktail to drink, or to have. If you miss out on your own chances, then almost every time you concede one the ball goes in."
When questioned about whether he believes he can guide Liverpool through their present difficulties, he responded: "It's my responsibility. Win or lose, it's my responsibility. But what I also I see is that the team, and our fans as well, stay until the end, support until the end, and the players keep on trying until the end.
Nottingham Forest players celebrate
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Nottingham Forest secured a 3-0 win over Liverpool(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
"And what I also see today, and that wasn't at [Manchester] City - but at City we were not the only team that struggled in the first-half - but in every other game we've played, we've been the dominant team and we were able to create chances. Like I said, lately it's almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones go in that we concede, but that will never continue throughout the whole season.
"But we need to have that moment of energy of scoring a goal. If you are playing well and you go 1-0 up then the other team feels like, 'We've played here half and hour now and we're 1-0 down, and we've hardly seen the ball.' But the opposite thing happened, they got a big, big, big energy boost from scoring 1-0.
"I see a lot of things where in a 'normal' situation the result would have been different, but we are now in a difficult situation and then you need to do even more to get your results in than when things are going in your favour."
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After Saturday's match, Liverpool find themselves in 11th place in the Premier League table, trailing league leaders Arsenal by 11 points. The Reds have managed only one victory from their last five matches in the English top flight.