Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant manager at Liverpool, Pep Lijnders, has been sacked by Austrian Bundesliga side Red Bull Salzburg after an underwhelming start to the season.
Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp‘s former assistant at Liverpool, has been sacked from his role as manager of Austrian Bundesliga side Red Bull Salzburg following a string of poor results, both domestically and in Europe.
Lijnders joined the 17-time Austrian champions on a three-year deal after departing the Reds alongside Klopp at the end of last season, but after managing just 13 wins across his opening 29 games, he has been released from his contract.
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
Of course, Klopp himself controversially joined the Red Bull team back in October as their new Head of Global Football, set to start in his new role on 1 January, 2025, however he won’t be working alongside his former right-hand man.
His exit comes as Salzburg head into the winter break in fifth place in the league table, 10 points adrift of leaders Sturm Graz, while they are 32nd of 36 in the Champions League league phase table after registering one win and five losses.
Their sole victory in the league phase came against Feyenoord in Rotterdam last month, and they return to continental action for their final two games against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid next month.
Ex-Liverpool Assistant Pep Lijnders Sacked By RB Salzburg
RB Salzburg confirmed Lijnders’ departure in a club statement on Monday afternoon.
“FC Red Bull Salzburg are parting ways with Pepijn Lijnders, as he has been released by the club today. Assistant coach Vitor Matos is also leaving our Red Bulls,” the statement read.
“During the six months under Pepijn Lijnders, our qualification for the UEFA Champions League was a plus. After the successful start to the season, there have been many unsatisfactory performances, however, which have led to FC Red Bull Salzburg being ten points off the top of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga.”
Salzburg’s CEO Stephan Reiter and their Managing Director of Sport also waded in on the Dutchman’s departure.
“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,” they said in a joint statement.
“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.”
The UK’s best football betting sites have Salzburg at around 4/1 to turn their season around and lift the Austrian Bundesliga title at the end of the campaign, with Sturm Graz and Rapid Vienna favoured ahead of them in the market.