Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp’s former Liverpool assistant manager, was sacked by Red Bull Salzburg less than a month before the German was appointed as global head of football operations.
Lijnders was promoted from Liverpool‘s under-18s to Brendan Rodgers’ first team in the summer of 2015. The energetic coach was initially hired by Klopp, who took over a few months later and remained in situ until he moved to Dutch second division side NEC Nijmengen in January 2018. Like his time in Salzburg, Lijnders’ stay in Holland was short and not very pleasant.
RB Salzburg finished runners-up to Sturm Graz in the 2023/24 campaign, suggesting a sense of decline after ten consecutive titles, but the well-funded Austrian giants have seen their downward spiral accelerate under Lijnders this season.
At the time of Lijnders’ departure, Salzburg were fifth in the top flight, already ten points behind league leaders Sturm Graz.
The former Liverpool manager, who returned to Anfield after his failure at the NEC in 2018 following Klopp out of the door last summerhe had managed to take his team to the league stage of the new team champions league. However, the European elite has proven to be an unforgiving environment. RB has lost five of its six games by an aggregate score of 3-18.
Salzburg won their last game under Lijnders, heading into Austria’s winter break following a 3-0 league victory over Austria Klagenfurt.
However, the club had seen enough. General manager Stephan Reiter and sporting director Rouven Schroder issued a joint statement about a season that “has not been satisfactory.”
“It was clearly seen that in many of our matches we have not lived up to our own demands and objectives,” the statement reads. “We are therefore convinced that our team needs a new impetus under new management, although we continue to hope for a change until the end.
“We want to thank Pep for his work. He put a lot of effort and passion into it and has given us an important boost for our future development.
“We are now looking intensively 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.”
That search for a new manager could be helped by Lijnders’ former boss Jurgen Klopp. The legendary Liverpool manager announced his controversial decision to take over. head of global football operations for Red Bull’s broad group of clubs earlier this year, ahead of its January 1, 2025 start date.
Klopp had considered Lijnders as his potential successor in Liverpool over the summer, but the Merseyside side ultimately opted for Arne Slot. The couple has enjoyed and endured wildly contrasting seasons so far.
