Pepijn Lijnders has been dismissed from his position as head coach of Red Bull Salzburg after only six months in charge.
The former Liverpool assistant manager took over at the Austrian club in May 2024, leading the team to three consecutive league wins.
However, after this strong start, the team’s form took a downturn, winning only four of their next 13 matches.
This poor run left Salzburg in fifth place in the Austrian Bundesliga, trailing the leaders, SK Sturm Graz, by a significant ten points.
Despite securing a 3-0 win over SK Austria Klagenfurt in their most recent match, Salzburg’s management pointed to “unsatisfactory performances” as the main reason for Lijnders’ sacking.
The team also struggled in the UEFA Champions League, finishing with only one win from six matches, placing them in 32nd position in the competition.
In an official statement, CEO Stephan Reiter and Sporting Director Rouven Schröder highlighted the need for change, saying, “We recently started a review of what has been a disappointing season so far.
It became clear that our performances in many games have fallen short of expectations.
We’ve concluded that the team requires a fresh impulse through new leadership, even though we were hoping for improvements until the very end.”
Salzburg is now on the hunt for a new head coach, hoping to have someone in place when the team resumes training on January 3, 2025.
This news comes as Jürgen Klopp, who worked with Lijnders at Liverpool, is set to begin his new role as Red Bull’s head of global soccer in January 2025.
Klopp will oversee the operations of multiple clubs within the Red Bull network, including Red Bull Salzburg.
Lijnders’ departure marks the second time his managerial career has been cut short.
His previous managerial stint, at NEC Nijmegen in 2018, was also brief, after which he returned to Liverpool as an assistant coach.
During his time back at Anfield, Liverpool achieved significant success, including winning the UEFA Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020.
