Jurgen Norbert Klopp

[DalyanPete]

8 hours ago, Barrington Womble said:

Get the fuck in. Best news there could be. And look at this. 

 

 

 

 

Gives you goosebumps 

[VladimirIlyich]

Great news,of course,but I also remember this being done with Rafa(close to the end of a good season?)and it all went to horse shit soon after. 

[TD_LFC]

 

[TheRedMachine]

2 minutes ago, TD_LFC said:

 

He's taken same money but got his staff a raise. What a guy.

[Brownie]

29 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Great news,of course,but I also remember this being done with Rafa(close to the end of a good season?)and it all went to horse shit soon after. 

Klopp is nothing like Rafa though. Chalk and cheese.

[sir roger]

3 hours ago, clockspeed said:

Dying with man flu so cannot be arsed looking up details . The 2028 fact ? Or post current extension euphoria causing speculation on your part ?  

Saw it explained as 4 years with a 2 year option so could be.

[Lario]

So head to Paris on May 28th, and come home with two number 7s??

[Scott_M]

2 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Great news,of course,but I also remember this being done with Rafa(close to the end of a good season?)and it all went to horse shit soon after. 

 

That was midway through the season and Benitez kept publicly rejecting it.

[KMD7]

6 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Great news,of course,but I also remember this being done with Rafa(close to the end of a good season?)and it all went to horse shit soon after. 

Weird take.

[Harry's Lad]

7 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Great news,of course,but I also remember this being done with Rafa(close to the end of a good season?)and it all went to horse shit soon after. 

[Chocoholic]

9 hours ago, Lario said:

So head to Paris on May 28th, and come home with two number 7s??

Apologies for being a bit slow on this, but that just went 'whoosh' right over my head. What's the other no 7 apart from Big Ears?

[Jarvinja Ilnow]

12 hours ago, deiseach said:

I keep a spreadsheet of all the games I've been at, a legacy of a time when I first moved to Liverpool and worked in a job where I had little to do - yeah, it was fun. Anyway, at two points for a win, one for a draw and nothing for a loss, I have a 71.07% win rate from the 121 times I've watched Liverpool. Take out the 13 games I've been at where Klopp was the manager and the win rate drops to 68.52%. It's still darn good, most football fans can only dream of such a record. But then look at the record with Klopp in charge: Played 13 Won 11 Drew 2 Lost 0 Goals For 41 Goals Against 8 Win Rate 92.31%. And even the raw stats don't tell the whole story. Five of those eights goals-against were in the 5-5 draw with Arsenal which, as I wrote at the time, was my son's first ever Liverpool game and illustrative generally of just what a blast it is following Klopp's Liverpool. Heavy metal football, eh? I have been eagerly looking forward to being able to finally acquire a season ticket for the start of the 2023/4 season, an eagerness undermined a little by the thought that it would be Klopp's last season in charge. Now I'll have at least two more years to look forward to, and I can hopefully be seated beside my wife and we can mix-and-match attendance with our son. What a time to be a Red.

All this went over my head but repped anyway for being a nice chap.

[polymerpunkah]

14 minutes ago, Chocoholic said:

Apologies for being a bit slow on this, but that just went 'whoosh' right over my head. What's the other no 7 apart from Big Ears?

Mbappe?

[Chocoholic]

Oh, Mbappe, I see. Do we know where he lives? I mean, where he really lives, it's not a good look to be turning up at a neighbour's house, as some will testify, and end up coming home with an overweight Parisian Sunday league team centre half. Who's the getaway driver?

[Sugar Ape]

Klopp: Inside the deal to extend Liverpool love affair

 

 

After a long day of grafting, two mates were nursing their pints of lager early on Monday evening when the mood inside The Freshfield pub changed suddenly.

 

One of the men, an Evertonian, had been at Anfield the previous afternoon to watch a defeat in the Merseyside derby that would send the club he supports into the Premier League’s relegation zone.

 

The other, a Liverpudlian, had also been in attendance.

 

Their relationship reminds that empathy still exists in this part of the world. Continuing to feel lousy over 24 hours on, the Evertonian had accepted the Liverpudlian’s invitation to unwind and talk about something else.

 

And that was the case, until a member of the bar staff reached for the remote and changed the TV to a channel showing a re-run of the match. The pair wondered whether there was any escape from football. Could it get any worse, one of them asked?

 

That’s when Jurgen Klopp walked in, with his agent Marc Kosicke.

 

The Liverpudlian approached, asking Klopp whether he was assessing what happened in his team’s gruelling 2-0 victory. The reply? Something like, “I couldn’t go through that again…”

 

Even the Evertonian laughed.

 

Klopp has a sense of place in Formby, where he is able to lead a normal life relative to the environment.

 

On those long walks through the pine woods and onto the beach, he still usually keeps his hood up but people recognise him because of his 6ft 3in height, as well as the company he keeps. Klopp loves his dog Emma and when at home, the pair are inseparable.

 

 

It’s that sort of town, Formby. Folk know all about its famous residents but they keep a respectful distance most of the time.

 

Stories, nevertheless, spread quickly.

 

At the start of the pandemic, it did not take long for this one to circulate: Klopp and his wife Ulla went around the doctors’ surgeries in the area and quietly handed over Waitrose vouchers to receptionists to redistribute among colleagues. With that, the finance of a weekly shop was one less thing for some NHS staff to think about during the most challenging period in their working lives.

 

It was Ulla’s idea, apparently, and it is ultimately her opinion that matters the most to Klopp.

 

Six to eight weeks ago, he turned to her in their kitchen and asked whether she wanted to live this way for a little longer.

 

Instinctively, Ulla said yes, but experiences on the concourse of the away end at the Etihad Stadium ahead of Liverpool’s game with Manchester City earlier this month helped reinforce her view.

 

When Liverpool supporters noticed her and started singing I Feel Fine, the Beatles song recently rehashed in honour of her husband, the smile that followed was a mile wide. Sometimes, family members of footballers and managers cannot wait to get away from such situations, but she really realised then it would be impossible for her husband to walk away from such energy.

 

It had been the plan for the couple to return to Germany in 2024 but the house Klopp and his wife are building there won’t be finished by then.

 

COVID-19 has also made Klopp rethink. The pandemic has made him feel like he has missed 18 months of his career, given the obstacles he has faced on the pitch. The world in which he operated during this period also made him consider what life might be like after Liverpool, possibly in semi-retirement — and without the regular contact with the sport he loves and the close relationships that brings.

 

Last summer, he took nearly eight weeks off because of the European Championship and this gave him the time to do a lot of the things he wanted to do, including family visits and trips away. This brought a period of reflection where he was able to get his head around the 2020-21 season, one which nearly collapsed amid the testing personal circumstances of his mother’s death back in Germany.

 

The club he served, he concluded, had let him breathe but key figures had also been there to give him a hug when he needed one. In conclusion, he felt people at Liverpool cared about him and perhaps he had not reciprocated their kindness because he had been so down about his performance as a coach.

 

 

As Liverpool’s 2021-22 campaign rolled to a point of unbelievable opportunity, he began to consider his next move. Klopp had anticipated he would talk to the club about his future next autumn but a fortnight ago, with Liverpool moving closer to an unprecedented quadruple, he realised it would be a good time to initiate contact rather than in six months’ time when the mood might have changed.

 

Klopp called his agent and asked him to contact John W Henry, the principal owner of Fenway Sports Group (FSG), to see whether he’d be interested in talking about extending his stay on Merseyside. From afar, FSG had been thinking about trying to convince Klopp to stay by beginning talks in the autumn as well but chose to give him space – wisely – because it did not want to distract him at a critical stage of the season. FSG was also concerned he might end up feeling pressurised and that might end up having a negative effect on his judgement.

 

In the end, everything happened on Klopp’s terms. Liverpool’s owners wanted to move quickly, especially when they realised he wasn’t asking about extra money for himself. Klopp’s contract has not changed – it has just been extended.

 

 

From the initial call from Kosicke, it would take just two weeks to finalise the paperwork. During this period, the only question mark for Klopp related to his staff. If some had wanted to move on, then maybe the outcome would have been different, but they were all fully on board.

 

Collectively, fresh terms are said to be worth around £2 million more for Klopp’s backroom team. For Klopp, securing the future of first-team coach Pep Lijnders was crucial because he is the youngest of the group and Klopp believes his energy and talent helps drive those around him.

 

Kosicke arrived in Liverpool on Sunday, ready for meetings the following day. By the time he entered the saloon doors of the Freshy with his representative, Klopp knew the pub would remain his local for a little longer.

 

It is believed there is no break clause in Klopp’s contract, rather an understanding that he can say he doesn’t want to do the final year. If he still feels he is wanted, however, he will see it out — and nothing is thought to have been written into the deal about the 54-year-old being able to leave for other clubs or the national team.

 

From here, there are more deals for FSG to sort out.

 

The contracts of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are currently set to expire on the same day in 14 months’ time and Klopp would like both of them to stay. Perhaps he will find a way to convince new sporting director Julian Ward to help ensure that happens.

 

Yesterday’s developments are not related to the departure of Ward’s predecessor but Klopp’s relationship with Michael Edwards – while constructive – had a different dynamic, given its longevity and the seniority established by the outgoing executive. With Ward taking over, Klopp’s life within the club is likely to become smoother.

 

There had been some concerns inside Liverpool that Klopp’s long farewell may have become a distraction. It would have been mentioned every week, a countdown that nobody at the club would have been able to keep control of.

How would this impact on the players and their attention and efforts?

 

In the history of football, few goodbyes of the same nature have ended happily.

 

Staying on for two more years offers clarity on what happens next. Existing players deliberating about their own futures will know who they will be working under if they agree terms. Salah says his contract impasse is about more than just money. Surely, he will be keener to carry on with a manager who has helped make him a superstar.

 

Meanwhile, there will be no awkward discussions with agents or potential signings when questions are asked about what the medium-to-long-term plan is at Liverpool.

 

Currently, Klopp has most of his best players tied to long-term contracts, seeing them through their prime years. Meanwhile, younger talents are developing nicely even though the full effects of the club’s new training ground are yet to be felt because of the logistical challenges of the pandemic.

 

Deep down, perhaps he was also not quite ready to hand over the kingdom he has built to someone else just yet.

[TD_LFC]

Ditto

 

 

[Jimmy Hills Chin]

Imagine supporting a team that isn't managed by Jurgen Klopp, no wonder there are so many unhappy, bitter bastards.

[Code]

I love it.

 

 

[gkmacca]

 

[Oh Buoy]

 

[Tj hooker]

This guy is just simply the fucking best there is around no one comes near him , to do what he's done since he came in is just remarkable I'm so glad we've got 4 more years of him 

[bizzle10]

Jurgen you fucking beautiful man we got 4 more years of you boiling piss across the country

[Bobby Hundreds]

I hoped he was going to be good for us but fuck me. He's not just an unbelievable manager he's an unbelievable person. 

[Leyton388]

He'll need his own gates outside Anfield soon. 

[Reckoner]

The amount of money this fucker is costing me this season, it’s no joke. I was loaded under previous managers, Evans, Rodgers. Under Hodgson I had so many spare weekends in May I took up gardening. Now I’m skint to fuck, my birds pissed off and my garden looks like an 80s porno minge.