Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant coach SACKED from first manager job before Liverpool boss takes up new role

JURGEN KLOPP’S former assistant has been sacked from his first job as manager.

Pepijn Lijnders worked at Liverpool under the German until the end of last season.

Lijnders, 41, landed the manager role at Red Bull Salzburg after leaving Anfield earlier this year.

However, after just six months in the role, he has now been sacked by the club.

Salzburg had struggled under Lijnders in the run-up to the winter break in the Austrian season and are ten points behind league leaders SK Sturm Graz.

CEO Stephan Reiter and managing director sport Rouven Schröder released a joint statement confirming Lijnders’ exit.

It read: “We began our announced analysis of an unfortunately unsatisfactory autumn season some time ago.

“It was clear that we were far from our own expectations and goals in far too many games.

“Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that our team needed a new impetus under new leadership, even though we were still hoping for a turnaround right up until the end.

“We would like to thank Pep for his work. He invested a lot of commitment and passion and also gave us important impulses for further development.

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“We are now working very intensively on the search for a coach and will announce it as soon as a decision has been made.

“It is clear that we want to start training with our new coach on January 3, 2025.”

As per the club statement, a new coach is expected to be appointed ahead of the return from the winter break.

Lijnders’ successor will have to work under Klopp as the former Reds boss will start his new role in 2025.

Klopp has signed a £10m-a-year deal with Red Bull to become the global head of soccer.

He will begin his new job on January 1 and will oversee the management of Salzburg, RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls, two clubs in Brazil and a third-tier Japanese side.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk