What’s Next For Pep Lijnders?
Occasionally, an incoming manager gets exactly what they deserve. Ruben Amorim left Sporting CP in the lurch to chase a check at Manchester United. His reward is to go down in history as one of the worst managers United has ever had. He’s stuck with an ownership and squad who hate his guts and are financially crippled by the cost of paying off his predecessor. Enzo Maresca got poached by Chelsea from a Leicester City side that desperately needed him to survive in the Premier League. Despite being hyped up as a once-in-a-generation genius, his first season in charge seems destined to be trophyless. Chelsea’s spending bonanza has predictably failed, and Maresca’s cynical attitude towards squad development has completely backfired. Just as often, though, a manager with good intentions, a good mind, and the right experience can’t make it work. This was the case with Pep Lijnders.
READ MORE: We Two Kings by Jack Champagne
SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW: YouTube / X (Formerly Twitter) / Instagram / TikTok / Patreon / BlueSky
Pep’s Path
Our long-serving assistant manager is out at RB Salzburg. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time, but the Austrian club finally pulled the trigger in December. Mediocre performances in the Austrian Bundesliga and a catastrophic early exit from the Champions League are a sure-death combination for any manager. This is especially true of the market-driven Red Bull network, which is certain to be in a huff about the lost TV revenue associated with missing the Champions League’s knockout stages.
Lijnders had been with Liverpool for about a decade when he decided to leave alongside Klopp. Having been with the team since the Rodgers years, he was one of the longest-serving coaches upon his departure. Despite this, Pep Lijnders has a clear hunger to be a manager in his own right. He took a brief sabbatical in 2018 to manage the second-tier Dutch club NEC Nijmegen. This ultimately didn’t last, and he returned to Liverpool after having narrowly missed promotion to the Eredivisie.
His return marked his having a key role in one of the most successful periods in the club’s modern history, seeing us through winning the League, conquering Europe, and narrowly missing a historic Quad in 2022. The buzz that Pep would step in to fill Klopp’s shoes, even on a caretaker basis, thankfully came to nothing. For all of Pep’s obvious skill as a coach, the task of Liverpool manager is incredibly daunting. Even a world-class talent like Klopp did not have the luxury of making the job look easy, to say nothing of previous title holders like Graeme Souness or even Kenny Dalglish in his second term. It was a benefit to Pep not to have been given a task that would have destroyed an inexperienced manager.
Enticing Wings
As much as I hate the Red Bull network and everything they stand for, I understand their appeal for a first-time manager. They devote a lot of time and effort to coach development, essentially functioning as a graduate school for a novice coach. They’ve also cultivated a reputation of being progressively modern with their methods of running a club, making them less intimidating than more traditional clubs. Pep himself described it as a perfect fit. But Red Bull Salzburg came with its own pressures.
Red Bull Salzburg has dominated the Austrian Bundesliga since Red Bull took control. They’ve finished in either first or second place since 2006. One can see why fifth place, ten points off the leaders, would be considered unacceptable. News that Jurgen Klopp would be joining the Red Bull hierarchy was perceived as good news for the embattled coach. But even in the unlikely event that Klopp’s influence would have bought Pep more time, there was little chance of a turnaround before the German showed up.
Lijnders’ LinkedIn
Pep is not a bad coach. His book “Intensity” reveals an excellent motivator with a keen tactical mind. In fact, the major criticism of the book was that he revealed a bit too much of that mind. His record as Klopp’s assistant and his philosophy of non-stop peak performance made him a hot ticket. Salzburg believed he was that perfect fit. But the appointment started on the wrong foot. Pep inherited a squad devastated by the club’s least successful season on record and poor judgment in the transfer market.
Without much of a leg to stand on, Pep favored fellow Liverpool alums Stefan Bajcetic and Bobby Clark, a young and unproven duo. The choice makes some sense in light of the disorienting situation Pep found himself in. Conversely, it undermined morale in a squad already in desperate need of experienced and strong on-pitch leadership. If you bring a good coach into a situation that needs a great coach, then it’s hard to expect more than what Pep could deliver. Indeed, Salzburg’s fortunes haven’t improved much since Pep’s departure. They’re still in fifth and about as far away from first as they were before. Maybe Klopp will have better luck.
SHOP THE AMERICAN SCOUSER COLLECTION TODAY
As the manager, Pep has to bear the brunt of the blame for Salzburg’s decline. Fair or not, that’s the job he signed up for. But where does he go from here? This is a rough start to a managerial career that could be difficult to bounce back from. A return to Liverpool is not likely. Arne Slot brought his own staff along for the ride. Given the subtle but substantial philosophical differences, there’s not likely to be a place for Pep.
Pep has certainly earned another chance at senior management. Going back to being an assistant at this point would be indecent. I don’t believe that Pep’s difficulties getting his managerial career started is a sign that he’s not cut out for the job. But finding where he fits in is no easy task. Indeed, the widespread perception that Pep was a “perfect fit” for Salzburg failed to consider the actual material realities of the club. “Perfect fit” is a dangerous phase.
After all, Ruben Amorim was called a perfect fit for Manchester United (though, as someone who hopes Manchester United gets relegated this season, I quite agree with that assessment). Klopp was arguably as perfect as we could get here at Liverpool. Yet it took him two whole seasons to get going. It’s difficult to tell how a manager will work out. Sometimes it’s just a matter of the stars aligning. Hopefully, they’ll align for Pep Lijnders as well, at a club without red bulls on their logo.
