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

Lijnders was promoted from LiverpoolBrendan Rodgers' first-team U18s in the summer of 2015. The energetic coach was initially retained by Klopp who took over a few months later and remained in place until a move to Dutch second division side NEC Nijmengen in January 2018. Similar to his time at Salzburg, Lijnders' spell at To Holland, it 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 straight titles, but the well-funded Austrian giants have accelerated their downward spiral under Lijnders' watch this term.

At the time of Lijnders' departure, Salzburg was in fifth place in the first division, already ten points behind the leader Sturm from Graz.

The former Liverpool manager, who returned to Anfield after the 2018 NEC failure. following Klopp out the door last summerhe managed to lead his team into the new-look league stage Champions League. However, the European elite proved to be an unforgiving environment. RB has lost five of its six matches by a combined score of 3-18.

Salzburg won their last match under Lijnders, heading into Austria's winter break after a 3-0 league win over Austria Klagenfurt.

However, the club has seen enough. General manager Stephan Reiter and sporting director Rouven Schroder released a joint statement about the season, which was "not satisfactory".

"It was clear to see that in many of our games we were far below our requirements and goals," the statement said. "Therefore, we have become convinced that our team needs a new impulse under the new management, even if we were hoping for a turnaround until the end.

"We want to thank Pep for his work. He invested a lot of effort and passion in it and gave 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. It is clear that we want to start training again on January 3, 2025 with a new coach in place."

In the search for a new coach, Lijnders' former boss, Jurgen Klopp, could help. The legendary manager of Liverpool announced the controversial decision to take over the ace head of global football operations for Red Bull's vast stable of clubs earlier this year, ahead of its January 1, 2025 start date.

Klopp considered Lijnders his own potential heir at Liverpool in the summer, but the Merseyside side eventually settled on Arne Slott. The pair have enjoyed and endured wildly contrasting seasons thus far.

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