Think it was this thread (jumping about a lot) that spoke of Ferguson, Wenger and Klopp and the power they wielded by the end of their time at their respective clubs. But they didn’t start off with that much control. That came about by the success they gave and gradually took on more and more responsibility. When Ferguson and Wenger left (different circumstances as Wenger had already dropped off a bit) you could tell it would be difficult to replace such strong personalities and a drop off felt inevitable.
From the outside, people will be expecting ring the same thing with us once Klopp leaves. As said above, I think changing the structure does probably take some pressure of Slot, while also making him more replaceable if things don’t go well.
If everything goes as well as Edwards and co hope then we have an impressive young coach, a decent squad with room for improvement and can probably hold our own on the mind of level we’re at now. Obviously there’s potential for things to drop off a level too. Everything is a bit uncertain.
The only club who are geared to chopping and changing manager/head coach and not having a drop off have been Chelsea. Although their last few years have been fairly barren. But they could previously change a coach and not seemingly have a proof of rebuilding. For the clubs who have had an all powerful manager it’s not been that easy. It’s a double edged sword. When they’re that successful, why wouldn’t you give them more control. But that just seems to make the drop when they leave more daunting.
That’s a lot of waffle really to say, let’s see what happens. I think I’m generally quite pragmatic. While I always hope for the best I think it’s fair to say Klopp had us over achieving and a failure to keep doing so shouldn’t really pinned on any new manager unless he’s a twat like Hodgson. But at the same time a new man, new ideas, hopefully backed with some new signings, that all feels potentially exciting too.
Agree Nick, this is it in a nutshell. When Wenger and Ferguson left their clubs, they left with it a massive vacuum that a Director of Football structure could and should have mitigated. It's no coincidence that Arsenal's resurgence in recent years is down to a strong DoF structure with Edu at the helm. Man Utd's woes are mainly due to the fact they are still playing catch up in that regards.
FSG have always been ahead of the curve with this, right from the word go when they bought us. There's inevitably teething problems with trial and error but over the last 14 years, I have confidence they have evolved and honed a strong system that is ready to go upon Klopp's departure. Bringing Edwards back is good enough evidence that they faith in the project once more.
Although I hope the period of instability when a lot of personnel like Edwards and Ward left initially, along with FSG wanting to sell, hasn't disrupted this process. That was the time when I feared FSG were neglecting the structure of the club, and I just wonder if it impacted our ability to capitalise on our success after 2020.
Now they seem to have been really lining up their ducks in the last year and seem reinvigorated in Liverpool as a project. I can't see us being a club in the wilderness with such a system in place. Even if Slot doesn't work out, it can be rectified rather than ripping it up and starting again (which is what Man Utd do every time they hire a new manager).