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I think Slot should have been sacked all the way back in November when we were in the midst of that losing streak that saw us effectively lose this season. Or at least shortly after that.
But those like me who felt that way and stated as such were drowned out by the "give him more time" crowd that insisted he'd right the ship and that once he got back some of our key players from the physio bench healthy, we'd make a run that would possibly even see us back in the race (despite the fact that by that point there was just too much ground to make up, and despite the fact that we were jeopardizing our potential Champions League place for next season.)
The Mancs and Chelsea fired their respective managers and both saw an instant improvement with their replacements - and although Chelsea have regressed again allowing us to catch them and pip them for that 5th spot which now matters because the Premier League gets an extra slot next year, the direction of our club relative to our rivals is still not good.
There's now been more than enough time and data points to let anyone with any ounce of footballing knowledge know that we are not going to be challenging for anything - neither the title nor any of the cup competitions - if we still have Slot in charge next season.
It's a challenge that's going to be even tougher with our best performing striker for this season now out for what will likely be a period extending into a good portion of next season; the departure of Mo (and possibly Virg - even though both were far faaar from their best this season), and Slot's inability/reluctance to intergrate the 'fringe' or young players like Rio.
My point is, if the club's decision is, as it seems it will be) that we're not sacking him this summer and are instead going to see how we start the season next frame.....- and with what will likely be a relatively quiet transfer window, we're told despite the desparte need to fix some positional issues - then if we do get to the point when we have to sack him sometime early next season, it should not be only him who gets the sack, but anyone else involved int he decision to keep him past this summer.
Keeping him past the end of this season is likely going to cost us potentially quality replacements - none of whom will wait out to see how our season goes, especially if any of them get good job offers elsewhere (which they will if they truly are quality replacements).
There's no Klopp sitting out there or who will be ready waiting to take over while taking a sabbatical from football if we get rid of Slot a third of the way through the season like we did Brendan, and if I remember correctly Klopp hadn't wanted to come right away but would have preferred to come at the end of the season after his year off from football after he left Dortmund, and it took a lot of convincing from us to get him to come to us mid-season.
That's not going to happen again.
So the decision to keep Slot will be impactful, affecting not just this coming transfer window and who choose to come here (if we can even get anyone or have the funds to), but also the entirety of next season and our competitiveness even for a replacement manager.
If he has to go then (and I believe he will have to. He just doesn't have what it takes), then Hughes and Edwards have to go with him.
Possibly the head of the scouting department as well.
But those like me who felt that way and stated as such were drowned out by the "give him more time" crowd that insisted he'd right the ship and that once he got back some of our key players from the physio bench healthy, we'd make a run that would possibly even see us back in the race (despite the fact that by that point there was just too much ground to make up, and despite the fact that we were jeopardizing our potential Champions League place for next season.)
The Mancs and Chelsea fired their respective managers and both saw an instant improvement with their replacements - and although Chelsea have regressed again allowing us to catch them and pip them for that 5th spot which now matters because the Premier League gets an extra slot next year, the direction of our club relative to our rivals is still not good.
There's now been more than enough time and data points to let anyone with any ounce of footballing knowledge know that we are not going to be challenging for anything - neither the title nor any of the cup competitions - if we still have Slot in charge next season.
It's a challenge that's going to be even tougher with our best performing striker for this season now out for what will likely be a period extending into a good portion of next season; the departure of Mo (and possibly Virg - even though both were far faaar from their best this season), and Slot's inability/reluctance to intergrate the 'fringe' or young players like Rio.
My point is, if the club's decision is, as it seems it will be) that we're not sacking him this summer and are instead going to see how we start the season next frame.....- and with what will likely be a relatively quiet transfer window, we're told despite the desparte need to fix some positional issues - then if we do get to the point when we have to sack him sometime early next season, it should not be only him who gets the sack, but anyone else involved int he decision to keep him past this summer.
Keeping him past the end of this season is likely going to cost us potentially quality replacements - none of whom will wait out to see how our season goes, especially if any of them get good job offers elsewhere (which they will if they truly are quality replacements).
There's no Klopp sitting out there or who will be ready waiting to take over while taking a sabbatical from football if we get rid of Slot a third of the way through the season like we did Brendan, and if I remember correctly Klopp hadn't wanted to come right away but would have preferred to come at the end of the season after his year off from football after he left Dortmund, and it took a lot of convincing from us to get him to come to us mid-season.
That's not going to happen again.
So the decision to keep Slot will be impactful, affecting not just this coming transfer window and who choose to come here (if we can even get anyone or have the funds to), but also the entirety of next season and our competitiveness even for a replacement manager.
If he has to go then (and I believe he will have to. He just doesn't have what it takes), then Hughes and Edwards have to go with him.
Possibly the head of the scouting department as well.
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