Our resident Liverpool fans drinking in the Football Transfer Tavern this evening are wondering whether the end of the Reds’ season could have gone any worse.
Bidding an emotional goodbye to one of their greatest ever players in Steven Gerrard while not even being able to register a win in both his penultimate and final games for the Reds, not to mention Raheem Sterling gate has meant that Liverpool fans are going into the summer with frowns as wide as the Mersey Tunnels.
The thumping 6-1 defeat away to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on the final day was a game too far for the Reds whose away support started to turn on the current manager Brendan Rodgers.
Earlier in the season, some Reds supporters urged fellow Kopites to keep faith in Rodgers, reminding them that he had driven Liverpool to an unlikely tilt at the title last season only to finish second.
However, fast forward to the end of this season however and when taking into account that lacklustre FA Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa, it seems like Rodgers’ star is falling dramatically.
With rumours circulating that the Northern Irishman may not be keeping his job for the start of next season, we have taken a look at five potential successors who can turnaround the mess at Anfield and get the famous Merseyside club back into the top four.
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Click on the under-fire Northern Irishman below to reveal the 5 potential successors to the Reds boss next season.
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Ronald Koeman
Currently the sixth favourite to take the hotseat at Anfield is Southampton’s impressive Dutch manager Ronald Koeman.
Losing out to AFC Bournemouth’s outstanding Eddie Howe who was named LMA Manager of the Season this week, this shouldn’t distort from the fact that Koeman enjoyed a simply incredible debut season in England.
Tasked with a rebuilding job at St Mary’s following the fire sale of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert, Calum Chambers and Luke Shaw at the start of the season, nobody could have guessed that the Saints would end up finishing in seventh place and potentially in Europe if Arsenal win the FA Cup tomorrow afternoon.
The expectations have rose massively at the south coast club now following a fine debut season and at present, he’d seem like a good fit for Liverpool given he plays an expansive brand of football, not to mention his successes in the transfer market with Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Ryan Bertrand representing superb additions.
The same can’t be said of Rodgers and his spending but would Koeman want to give up on his Saints project so soon? This is probably why he is only sixth favourite at present.
Carlo Ancelotti
The outstanding candidate for the Liverpool job on our shortlist?
In the eyes of pretty much everybody in the footballing fraternity outside Real Madrid, it has been seen as a ludicrous decision for the La Liga giants to part company with the decorated Italian boss this week.
Fully expected to be replaced by former Reds boss Rafael Benitez, Ancelotti paid the price for uncharacteristically failing to bring any silverware to the Bernabeu this season.
Of course, everybody is familiar with Los Blancos’ hire and fire mentality but this time, you felt Ancelotti held a true bond of trust with his players, despite losing out to Barcelona who claimed the La Liga title.
What’s Real Madrid’s loss could be Liverpool’s gain however with reports from the International Business Times this week referencing reports from Spain that claim Ancelotti may abandon plans of a sabbatical to succeed Rodgers at Anfield.
Ancelotti has won trophies wherever he has been and you’d fancy Liverpool would stand a far better chance of breaking back into the top four under the guidance of such an experienced manager who has done it in Italy, France, Spain and England during his spell with Chelsea.
Frank de Boer
An illustrious name in Dutch sporting heritage, Frank de Boer has still only managed one team in his professional career to date, Ajax.
Having previously worked as an assistant manager with the Netherlands, de Boer continues to find himself on managerial shortlists such as this one given the fact he managed to win the Dutch Eredivisie four times and all back-to-back between 2010/11 and 2013/14.
Losing out to PSV Eindhoven this time round, perhaps de Boer could see this period as an opportunity to spread his wings while working for one of the most famous names of the game in Liverpool overseas.
de Boer is the type of character who commands respect and the fact he boasts title winning experience – albeit in the Netherlands – would allow him to prove ruthless in the Liverpool dressing room.
Ajax are a club who are more than used to losing their top talents while recruiting from the academy ranks to succeed them and perhaps it is not the players but de Boer’s time to move on from the Amsterdam ArenA?
Jurgen Klopp
Who wouldn’t love the colourful German manager to come in and take the reigns at their club?
Well, probably Chelsea given they boast the outstanding Jose Mourinho but seriously, Jurgen Klopp is a man in demand this summer following his decision to end his eight-year association with the Bundesliga giants.
Being replaced by Thomas Tuchel, Klopp is now free to speak to other clubs and despite enduring a difficult season in charge of the Signal Iduna Park outfit this term, he still retains an allure and prestige within the footballing fraternity.
One of the appealing aspects of Klopp’s management is the fact that he has proven shrewd in the transfer market, signing the likes of Shinji Kagawa, Mats Hummels, Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan for modest fees down the years while transforming them into world class superstars.
With the jury very much out on Brendan Rodgers’ investments in recent seasons, some Reds fans are claiming that Philippe Coutinho has been his only success story with Daniel Sturridge’s injury troubles now bordering on the unbearable.
If Klopp did indeed rock up at Anfield, some of his most loyal disciples may even consider joining him on Merseyside adding a different dimension to this potential coup.
Marcelo Bielsa
An outside bet but given the current managerial uncertainty at Marseille, their boss from the past season Marcelo Bielsa may yet become a manager in the Premier League for next season.
The Argentine tactician has been offered a new two-year deal by the Ligue 1 giants to continue in the hotseat at the Stade Velodrome next season after finishing fourth this but the former Athletic Bilbao boss is currently assessing his options.
Also among the favourites to succeed Sam Allardyce at West Ham United, if it was toss up between managing at Upton Park or Anfield, you’d imagine that the vastly experienced manager would fancy taking the reigns at Liverpool.
A move for Bielsa would prove a gamble with the manager having yet to experience life in England but the 59-year-old is a respected figure in the game and having managed at both domestic and international level, this makes him a worthy candidate on our shortlist.
