(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
It wasn't quite a case of demob happy around the AXA Training Centre on Friday morning. But there was certainly a vibe of the job having almost been done this season for Liverpool.
Now just two tasks remain, and neither will feel anything like a chore. First, on Sunday, comes the moment Virgil van Dijk finally thrusts that Premier League trophy in the Anfield sky following the final game of the season against Crystal Palace.
Then the following day, the Liverpool players and coaching staff will embark on a parade around the city with upwards of a million people expected to be in attendance to salute their team's achievement.
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Van Dijk was being demonstrated an unusual gift in the reception area in Kirkby as Slot strode into the media room to hold court for his final pre-match press conference of the campaign.
And there will be a presence of a different kind when at Anfield at the weekend with the Dutchman's predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, in attendance for the first time since handing over the reins a year ago and bequeathing a squad that has ensured a record-breaking 20th championship for the Reds.
"I have heard he is there, that is nice," says Slot, who then pondered on his overriding emotion at guiding Liverpool to the title. "I think proud sums it up the most because after working here for a year now I know how hard it is.
"The Premier League is the hardest trophy to win because cup trophies, you can win those by a lucky draw or being lucky in two or three games or win a penalty shoot-out and then you arrive in a final.
"But it is always harder to win the league because it is 38 games in a period of time where I think the league has never been as strong as it is and there has never been as much competition for teams to even go to the Champions League.
"And there has not been a season where 16th and 17th play in the final of the Europa League. That is what makes it so hard so it will be a proud moment for me, the players and the fans so let's hope it's going to be special."
Van Dijk will be handed the trophy by Alan Hansen, the Liverpool centre-back legend who three times skippered the club to the title. Hansen won eight league championships overall in 12 seasons, and Slot believes he will learn more in the summer about whether his current squad are capable of enjoying a similar sequence of success.
"We have a lot to compete next season again but what I don’t know yet, and that's going to be the interesting one, is if we have this elite mentality, this serial winner mentality of showing up season after season after season," he says.
"I get the answer on July 8 when we come back (for pre-season training), seeing what shape the players are in. Many teams have won the Premier League once but not many years in a row and that's for a reason. That is because it is so difficult but also the elite mentality.
"When I talk about Mo (Salah), it's not a coincidence that for so many years, he is on a certain level and last season, he was the one who was most fit when we arrived back after the break. That is the mentality you need to have to have to have a chance of becoming a serial winner.
"The first day for me to judge if we can be serial winners if July 8 when I see them back."
That, though, can wait. Now is the time for Liverpool and Slot to celebrate a job very well done in the Premier League this season.