Pepijn Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp‘s former assistant at Liverpool, has been sacked by Red Bull Salzburg after just six months in charge as manager.
Lijnders was appointed manager of Salzburg in May, but he has already been dismissed with his team 10 points behind Austrian Bundesliga leaders Sturm Graz just 16 games into the season.
The club have also confirmed that assistant and fellow former Liverpool coach Vitor Matos is leaving too.
This is Lijnders’ second short managerial stint. He left NEC Nijmegen just five months into his tenure after he failed to secure promotion to the Eredivisie.
OFFICIAL: FC Red Bull Salzburg and Pepijn Lijnders are parting ways, the 41-year-old Dutchman was released from his duties today. Thank you for your commitment and all the best for the future, Pep!
— FC Red Bull Salzburg EN (@FCRBS_en) December 16, 2024
A joint statement from Salzburg CEO Stephan Reiter and sporting director Rouven Schroder said:
“We began recently to analyse, as planned, what has unfortunately not been a satisfactory season so far. It was clear to see that in many of our matches we have been far short of our own requirements and aims.
“We have therefore become convinced that our team needs a new impulse under new management, even if we continued to hope for a turnaround until the end.
“We would like to thank Pep for his work. He put a lot of effort and passion into it and has provided important momentum for our further development.
“We are now very intensively looking for a new coach and will communicate as soon as a decision is made. We clearly want to start training again on 3 January 2025 with our new coach in place.”
This season Salzburg have won just seven of their 16 league matches, drawn five matches and lost four.
Their record in the Champions League has been much worse. They have lost five of their six league phase matches by an aggregate score of 17-0.
With matches against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid still to come, their only three points won so far – earned thanks to their 3-1 victory away at Feyenoord – could remain their only points in the competition this campaign.
How could this affect Liverpool?
A key question Liverpool fans will now be asking is of Stefan Bajcetic‘s future.
Lijnders took him to Austria on loan having worked with him on Merseyside, but with a change of manager, Bajcetic’s position in the team could become less certain.
Liverpool will want to ensure their talented 20-year-old is guaranteed sufficient game time to aid his development in the second half of the season.
Bobby Clark‘s future at the club will also be interesting to see play out.
The youngster signed from Liverpool permanently in the summer but, like Bajcetic, he may not be favoured by a new manager.
It is perhaps telling that the sacking has been clearly labelled as a Salzburg decision, rather than one taken by the Red Bull hierarchy, with Klopp set to take on the role of Global Head of Football from January.
Any potentially difficult action for Klopp to dismiss his friend has now been taken out of his hands.
