For the fans, news on Friday morning that Jürgen Klopp would depart the club at the end of the 2023-24 season came as a shock given how well everything seemed to be going and that the manager’s contract runs for two more seasons.
It was just as big a shock for the players, with only a small handful of people having previously known he intended to leave. After Sunday’s 5-2 win over Norwich, veteran Andy Robertson talked about his own reaction to the news.
“Like the rest of the world it was a bit of a shock,” he said. “When he told us all I think nobody really knew where to look or what to do. You have to respect his decision. He’s thought long and hard about it. He’s not a rash person.
“He’s obviously thought a lot with it in terms of his family and everything. For what he has done for this club we will all be forever grateful. I think he doesn’t want the fans singing his song and that, but I think he’s going to lose that battle!”
Certainly on Sunday the fans sang Klopp’s song early and often given it was probably their only available coping method for dealing with the shock news that one of the club’s all time legendary managers had decided it was time to move on.
In the coming weeks focus may turn more fully to the task at hand—winning games and keeping in the fight for four trophies—but one imagines there will continue to be more shows of emotion sent in Klopp’s direction than he might prefer.
“I think the fans will always want to say a proper goodbye,” Robertson added. “But for us the one thing he asked is for it to be business as usual. We have to keep winning and hopefully that results in giving him a send-off that he truly deserves.”
