Ex-Liverpool assistant sacked by RB Salzburg before Jurgen Klopp reunion | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp's former assistant Liverpool manager Pep Lijnders was sacked by Red Bull Salzburg less than a month before the German's appointment as global head of football operations.

Lijnders was promoted from Liverpool's U18 side to Brendan Rodgers' first-team staff in the summer of 2015. The energetic coach was initially retained by Klopp who took over a few months later and remained in situ until moving to Dutch second-tier side NEC Nijmengen in January 2018. Much like his stint at Salzburg, Lijnders' spell in the Netherlands was short and not very sweet.

RB Salzburg finished as runners-up to Sturm Graz in the 2023/24 campaign, hinting at a sense of decline after ten consecutive titles, but the well-funded Austrian giants have had their downward spiral accelerated under Lijnders' watch this term.

At the time of Lijnders' departure, Salzburg found themselves fifth in the top flight, already ten points adrift of league-leading Sturm Graz.

The former Liverpool coach, who returned to Anfield after his failure at NEC in 2018 before following Klopp out of the door last summer, had managed to guide his side into the league phase of the new-look Champions League. Yet, Europe's elite has proven to be an unforgiving setting. RB have lost five of their six matches by an aggregate score of 3-18.

Pep Lijnders (left) worked closely alongside Jurgen Klopp / Stu Forster/GettyImages

Salzburg won their final fixture under Lijnders, heading into Austria's winter break on the back of a 3-0 league victory over Austria Klagenfurt.

However, the club had seen enough. CEO Stephan Reiter and director of sport Rouven Schroder released a joint statement about a season which has "not been satisfactory".

"It was clear to see that in many of our matches we have been far short of our own requirements and aims," the statement read. "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."

That search for a new coach could be aided by Lijnders' former boss, Jurgen Klopp. The legendary Liverpool manager announced his controversial decision to take over as head of global football operations for Red Bull's vast stable of clubs earlier this year ahead of his start date on 1 January 2025.

Klopp had considered Lijnders as his potential successor at Liverpool over the summer, but the Merseyside outfit ultimately opted for Arne Slot. The pair have enjoyed and endured wildly contrasting seasons thus far.