Brendan Rodgers recently extended his dominant record north of the border, adding another league title with Celtic in his second spell at the club. But he is still keeping an eye on old side Liverpool, and has tipped incoming coach Arne Slot to be a success.
Rodgers was dismissed by Liverpool in October 2015, with Jürgen Klopp taking his place. The next eight-and-a-half years have seen the Reds win every major trophy on offer, with silverware having eluded the Northern Irishman during his Anfield stint.
But Rodgers has no problem acknowledging the massive legacy Klopp has carved out at Liverpool. And while he acknowledges that it leaves a daunting task for Slot, he believes the Dutchman is up to the challenge.
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“I think it is a transition,” Rodgers told talkSPORT. “When someone has been at a club for so long like Jürgen, he has his stamp all over the club, the staff, the players.
“He and his staff will move on, one or two players will move on. There will be that transitional period, but Arne’s a good guy. I came across him when we played Feyenoord in the Champions League this season.
“His teams play good football and I am sure it will be a really good fit for him. Liverpool, another of those clubs, iconic club, big history, and I am sure he will go in and do really well.”
Feyenoord got its Champions League campaign off to a perfect start with a 2-0 win over Celtic. But by the time game six came around, it was a dead rubber, with both sides exiting the competition — Rodgers’ side won that home encounter 2-1.
It’s fair to say that Slot was unlucky in Europe’s elite competition, where performances did not quite match results. But he boasts a respectable record in Europe on the whole, having reached the inaugural Conference League final.
Liverpool.com says: There’s no denying that Klopp’s departure will be a huge change at the club. Rodgers would once have hoped to leave a similar ‘stamp’ on Liverpool, and he was nearly the man to end the Premier League title drought, but ultimately his dismissal proved to be one of the most significant positives of the FSG tenure.
His replacement leaves nine years later of his own volition, and it’s true that Slot will have a period of transition to navigate. The new recruitment structure in which he is operating has shades of the tension between Rodgers and the infamous ‘transfer committee’, although the Feyenoord boss has happily signed on in a ‘head coach’ rather than manager role, which should forestall any disagreements.