David Ornstein has outlined how Arne Slot is being viewed by the Liverpool hierarchy after the latest setback in a dismal season for the Reds.
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The outgoing Premier League champions face an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League next term, having lost to Galatasaray in the latter competition on Tuesday and sitting sixth place domestically.
The nature of LFC’s performances has also come in for widespread criticism, with Jermaine Pennant saying that he’s “done with” the Dutchman after the meek display in Istanbul earlier this week.
Ornstein: Slot still retains the backing of Liverpool hierarchy
However, Ornstein has explained that Slot retains the backing of Liverpool chiefs, who would most likely hire someone of the 47-year-old’s profile if hypothetically they were looking for a new head coach.
The journalist said on The Athletic FC Podcast: “Liverpool, from what we hear, are steadfastly behind Arne Slot. He’s under contract until 2027 and they want him to be their coach. The hierarchy are determined that he is the man to get things right.
“If they were looking at a recruitment process for coaches, he’s said to be the exact profile that they would be looking at and that there’s not people on the market that they think better suit what they’re looking for, that they’re happy with him.
“Of course the situation needs to improve and they think he can be the man to do that, and he’s happy there. I’m expecting this to go on and that the club get to the summer in whatever shape, either with a success or a lack of… I don’t think taking out the head coach is on Liverpool’s agenda at all, even though it might be what some fans want to see.”
Slot has plenty to prove between now and end of the season
Slot’s popularity among the LFC fan base at large has plummeted over the past nine months, with the euphoria of last year’s Premier League title triumph giving way to genuine question marks as to whether he’s the right man for the job at Anfield.
It isn’t just the more vocal echo chambers in social media who’ve questioned the Dutchman’s future, either – after a horrific run of nine defeats out of 12 in the autumn, Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle claimed that the head coach had ‘one week’ to save his job.
A wintertime revival followed as hopes of Champions League qualification were restored, but a lengthy unbeaten sequence was populated by several frustrating draws, and the number of genuinely convincing performances this season (even in victory) has been miniscule.
Slot will almost certainly be given until the end of the current campaign, but if the Reds miss out on a top-five finish and don’t win a trophy, the case for him to see out the final year of his contract would become increasingly difficult to make.
Less patient boardrooms may have already jettisoned the 47-year-old by now, but hopefully LFC’s continued faith in their head coach will ultimately be vindicated.