Robbie Fowler ‘wouldn’t mind’ seeing Liverpool hire ‘top, top manager’ when Jurgen Klopp leaves
Robbie Fowler has said he ‘wouldn’t mind’ seeing one current Premier League manager taking over from Jurgen Klopp whenever the German leaves Liverpool.The 56-year-old’s contract at Anfield runs until 2026, so unless things go majorly awry between now and then, he’ll still have plenty more time on Merseyside.Still, that hasn’t stopped some pundits from discussing […]
The post Robbie Fowler ‘wouldn’t mind’ seeing Liverpool hire ‘top, top manager’ when Jurgen Klopp leaves appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
Robbie Fowler has said he ‘wouldn’t mind’ seeing one current Premier League manager taking over from Jurgen Klopp whenever the German leaves Liverpool.
The 56-year-old’s contract at Anfield runs until 2026, so unless things go majorly awry between now and then, he’ll still have plenty more time on Merseyside.
Still, that hasn’t stopped some pundits from discussing who may be an ideal candidate for the unenviable task of succeeding him when he eventually leaves the LFC dugout.
In his latest column for the Sunday Mirror (30/7; page 74), Fowler sang the praises of one of Klopp’s current Premier League peers and championed him as a viable name to consider as the German’s successor.
The Anfield legend wrote: “I’ve always liked Unai Emery, who took over at Villa Park in October. I know he didn’t do that well at Arsenal, although, under him, they did reach the Europa League final where they lost to Chelsea.
“What he didn’t deserve was to be mocked at times at the Emirates for struggling to make himself understood with his less-than-perfect English. That was completely unfair and the wrong perception of a man who, I have thought for some time, is a top, top manager.
“So much so that when, at one stage last season, there was some talk of Jurgen Klopp possibly leaving Liverpool, I’m thinking to myself I wouldn’t mind Emery as the next Liverpool boss. I can’t pay a bigger compliment to him than that.”
READ MORE: Pundit critical of Liverpool player who was ‘reluctant’ to do one thing v Leicester
When looking at the impact Emery has made at Aston Villa, you can see why Fowler has talked him up as someone he ‘wouldn’t mind’ taking over from Klopp.
The Midlands club were teetering dangerously close to the relegation zone when the Spaniard replaced Steven Gerrard last October, but a return of 49 points and 15 wins from 25 Premier League matches (Transfermarkt) saw them finish the season in seventh, duly qualifying for the Europa Conference League.
The 51-year-old has a formidable CV when it comes to continental silverware, too, winning the Europa League four times as a manager and also reaching the final of that tournament with Arsenal in 2019.
Furthermore, Emery can lay claim to a Premier League record of his Villa outfit scoring in their first 20 matches following his appointment (talkSPORT), so his teams can certainly make an impact in the final third of the pitch.
His stock is quite high at the moment, as Fowler rightly acknowledges, but with Klopp set to be in the Liverpool job for three more years, hopefully we won’t need to seriously start considering his successor for some time yet.
Let’s enjoy the German while we have him – how many other clubs in England, Europe and worldwide must be looking enviously at us when they look at what he’s produced at Anfield…
#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones
The post Robbie Fowler ‘wouldn’t mind’ seeing Liverpool hire ‘top, top manager’ when Jurgen Klopp leaves appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.