Slot’s Role, Transfers, and Board Patience

There’s a lot of noise about who really runs Liverpool’s transfer business and what “progress” will look like in a transition. For me, the key point is simple: the hierarchy decides, and the head coach gets judged with that in mind.

Every summer, and honestly every rough patch, the same arguments come back around: who’s picking the players, who’s accountable, and what league position actually puts a manager in danger. On all three, I think Liverpool’s structure is clearer than people want it to be.

Transfers aren’t the head coach’s department

Liverpool’s hierarchy has the final say on transfers. That’s not me trying to absolve anyone of responsibility, it’s just how the club is set up. Arne Slot has hinted at the boundaries of the job before, and his title matters. “Head Coach” is a fairly blunt clue that the job is centred on coaching the first team, not owning recruitment.

Even under Klopp, the idea of the manager having full control never really matched reality. Klopp obviously had a massive presence, and you’d be daft to think his opinions didn’t carry weight, but the club has long been built around a structure where the recruitment side can pull rank.

That’s why the Edwards part is important. If the premise of his return really was that he has final say on transfers, then it tells you everything about where the power sits. Not in the dugout. Up top.

So what’s “failure” during a rebuild?

This is where fans (all of us, at times) get a bit carried away. We talk like anything outside the top four is instant crisis and, sure, at Liverpool the standards are high. But boards don’t always work off fan emotion. They work off plans, timelines, and whether the whole thing looks coherent.

To me, finishing 5th isn’t a sackable offence. Truth is, finishing anywhere in the top half probably isn’t either, if the club genuinely sees this as a major rebuild and a transitional spell. That doesn’t mean it’s acceptable forever, and it doesn’t mean expectations vanish. It just means context matters.

Leeway, credit, and the real red line

If the squad is heading for a big turnover, it’s not hard to see why the board might grant Slot extra leeway. When you’re changing key pieces, you’re not just swapping names. You’re changing relationships on the pitch, leadership in the dressing room, and the whole feel of the side when the game turns.

That’s why I struggle with the idea that Slot is “one bad season away” from the door. Unless Liverpool completely collapse, the kind of form where the wheels properly come off and you end up bottom half, he’s not going anywhere in the summer.

And if the club wants to be judged fairly, it has to start with honesty about the structure: the hierarchy signs the players, and the head coach is asked to make it work. That’s the deal.

Written by chewysuarez7: 29 December 2025