Latest news with #LMAManageroftheYear
Daily Mirror
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Liverpool boss Arne Slot addresses serious incident after winning another trophy
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has been named the League Managers Association's manager of the year after leading his side to the Premier League title, but he was not there to accept the trophy Arne Slot has paid tributes to the emergency services who attended to those injured by the terrifying incident during Liverpool's Premier League trophy parade. Police said around 65 people were injured after a car ploughed into pedestrians in the city centre on Monday. A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, suspicion of driving while unfit through drugs and dangerous driving offences. The incident on Water Street overshadowed Liverpool's celebrations and prompted the club to postpone further events on Tuesday for staff. Liverpool issued a statement on Tuesday which mentioned the "unimaginable scenes of distress" that "this appalling incident" caused. And Slot decided not to attend the League Managers Association's annual awards dinner on Tuesday evening in London as a result. The Dutchman sent a letter to the LMA apologising for his absence, which meant he was unable to accept the LMA Manager of the Year award in person, having secured the Premier League title in his debut campaign with the Reds. He wrote: 'As you will know, a shocking incident took place in Liverpool yesterday, one that left dozens of men, women and children who had attended our parade injured and as a result I have had to withdraw from the event out of solidarity with all affected. 'This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but it is one that I feel is absolutely right given the seriousness of the situation. I hope that I have your understanding in this regard. 'I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wider football community, including the LMA itself, the Premier League and many clubs who will be represented tonight, for the support we have received over the last 24 hours. Football is and always should be a game built on rivalry, but it is also a great source of comradeship, especially at times like this. 'If you would indulge me, I would also like to pay tribute to the emergency services and other authorities in Liverpool who swung into action as soon as the incident happened. "Along with the supporters and bystanders who helped one another in an hour of need, I think everyone involved in the aftermath deserves the gratitude of all of us.' Slot was disappointed not to be able to accept the award, which is voted for by his managerial peers, from legendary Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. Slot added: 'Sir Alex, I look forward to meeting with you at a later date to receive my trophy from you. I also look forward to attending my first LMA Annual Awards dinner on a future occasion. "Thank you once again for your understanding and support. Enjoy your evening and if you could join me in keeping those affected by yesterday's events in your thoughts and prayers it would be very much appreciated.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arne Slot withdraws from LMA awards dinner after Liverpool parade incident
Liverpool manager Arne Slot withdrew from the League Managers Association's (LMA) annual awards ceremony to show his support for those affected by the awful incident that took place during the club's Premier League title parade. The Dutchman was named both LMA Manager of the Year and Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year in recognition of a stellar debut campaign in English football in which he delivered only Liverpool's second title of the Premier League era and first since 2019/20 after leaving Feyenoord to succeed Jurgen Klopp last summer. However, Slot did not attend the ceremony as planned in London on Tuesday night in light of Monday's tragic incident, when a car ploughed into dozens of fans out celebrating on Water Street at 6pm during Liverpool's title parade through the city, injuring 65 people in total including 50 who needed hospital treatment and 11 who remain hospitalised in a stable condition. 'As you will know, a shocking incident took place in Liverpool yesterday, one that left dozens of men, women and children who had attended our parade injured, and as a result I have had to withdraw from the event out of solidarity with all affected,' Slot said in a letter sent to the LMA dinner. The winner of the LMA Manager of the Year Award, and recipient of the coveted Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy, is Liverpool Manager Arne Arne! 🏆 — LMA (@LMA_Managers) May 27, 2025 'This is not a decision I have taken lightly but it is one that I feel is absolutely right given the seriousness of the situation. I hope that I have your understanding in this regard. 'I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wider football community, including the LMA itself, the Premier League and many clubs who will be represented tonight, for the support we have received over the last 24 hours. Football is and always should be a game built on rivalry, but it is also a great source of comradeship, especially at times like this.' Merseyside Police said in their latest update on Tuesday that a 53-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs. Slot paid tribute to the emergency services who acted so swiftly following the incident on Monday, as well as those fans and bystanders who helped each other through such a difficult time. 'I would also like to pay tribute to the emergency services and other authorities in Liverpool who swung into action as soon as the incident happened,' he said. 'Along with the supporters and bystanders who helped one another in an hour of need, I think everyone involved in the aftermath deserves the gratitude of all of us.' Slot said he was honoured and proud to win the two prestigious awards and looked forward to receiving the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy from the man himself at a later date, as he also asked people to keep those affected by the parade incident in their thoughts and prayers. 'I am humbled to be named Barclays Premier League Manager of the Season so thank you to the Barclays & The Premier League awards panel for selecting me,' Slot continued. 'The main reason I say I am humbled is that I know the incredibly high standard of the managers in the Premier League. Congratulations to Liverpool Manager Arne Slot on winning the Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year! 🏆#LMAAnnualAwards | @BarclaysFooty | @premierleague — LMA (@LMA_Managers) May 27, 2025 'It goes without saying that I am also really proud to be a member of the League Managers Association and therefore I am truly honoured to be awarded the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy for the LMA Manager of the Year. To be voted for by your managerial peers is so special, especially as I know the unbelievable quality of those who have won this award previously. 'Sir Alex, I look forward to meeting with you at a later date to receive my trophy from you. I also look forward to attending my first LMA Annual Awards dinner on a future occasion. Thank you once again for your understanding and your support. 'If you could join me in keeping those affected by yesterday's events in your thoughts and prayers, it would be very much appreciated.' Slot's predecessor Klopp - who was in attendance as Liverpool lifted the trophy at Anfield on Sunday and then during the title parade - was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame 1,000 Club on Tuesday and said after Monday's horrific scenes that there were more serious things in the world than football. "It should have been one of the greatest days in the history of the city, after a long time because we didn't have the opportunity to do it last time," said Klopp, whose side celebrated their title win in 2020 without fans due to Covid-19 restrictions. "It just showed the two faces of life. The most beautiful face for a long time: the parade was incredible, the mood was incredible. "And from one second to another everything changed and we learned again there are more serious things in the world than football. "Thoughts and prayers go to the injured people and their families as well. I don't know how and why it happened but we know what happened and that's very bad." David Moyes, Jose Mourinho, Mick McCarthy and Ian Holloway were also inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame 1,000 Club on Tuesday, while Tottenham's Ange Postecoglou, Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner, Newcastle's Eddie Howe, Arsenal Women manager Renee Slegers and Chelsea Women coach Sonia Bompastor all won the John Duncan Award, recognising 'those who have achieved historic and notable successes for their clubs this season'. Bompastor also won Barclays Women's Super League Manager of the Year, with Portsmouth's Jay Sadler taking Barclays Women's Championship Manager of the Year honours. The respective EFL Manager of the Year awards for each division went to Leeds' Daniel Farke, Chris Davies of Birmingham and Doncaster boss Grant McCann.
Daily Mirror
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Sir Alex Ferguson's 3am call to Liverpool manager after win says a lot about him
One Liverpool great was understandably keen to share the news of a Premier League title win with a number of individuals, including Man United icon Sir Alex Ferguson Liverpool will lift the Premier League title in front of their home crowd on Sunday as a memorable campaign rounds to a close. However, Arne Slot's grand occasion may not be as monumental as when Jurgen Klopp first won the crown. The Reds will face FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in their final match of the season, having secured the top spot with games to spare. Similarly, Klopp's 2020 squad finished 18 points ahead of Manchester City, in the process ending a 30-year wait for the league title. Klopp, 57, clearly understood the significance of his achievement, as evidenced by his early morning call to Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson to share the news. Ferguson, who was already well aware of Liverpool's triumph, recalled the conversation while presenting Klopp with the LMA Manager of the Year award in that same year. "The winner, Jurgen Klopp. Jurgen, fantastic," Ferguson said on Sky Sports."I speak about Leeds United and 16 years in the Championship, Liverpool 30 years since winning that league is incredible. "You really thoroughly deserved it. Your performance level of your team was fantastic. Your personality runs right through the whole club. I think it was a marvellous performance. "I will forgive you for waking me up in the morning at half-past three to tell me you won the league! Thank you. You thoroughly deserved it, well done." No manager has clinched the LMA Manager of the Year award more times than Ferguson (five), which is why the accolade now bears his name. Klopp scooped up the prestigious award again in 2022 following another successful season with the Reds, securing both the FA Cup and League Cup. Klopp's dynamic 'rock and roll' football transformed Liverpool and brought the curtain down on an era of underachievement. And his fervent enthusiasm for the game is so infectious that even a character like Ferguson couldn't help but become enthralled. On paper, the pair might well be considered nemeses. Ferguson symbolises United's golden era and haunted a generation of Liverpool supporters, while Klopp has been pivotal in restoring the Merseysiders to their former glory. Despite this potential rivalry, Klopp expressed mutual respect after receiving praise from the legendary Red Devils boss. He gratefully acknowledged: "I am absolutely delighted to get this wonderful trophy." He also shared his admiration for Ferguson: "And Sir Alex Ferguson - and I know it's not 100 per cent appropriate as a Liverpool manager - but I admire him. He was the first British manager I met and we had breakfast together. "It was long ago and I'm not sure if he remembers it still, but I remember it forever because it was for me in this moment like meeting the Pope, if you want!". His regard for his senior wasn't so high that he refrained from waking him in the wee hours to share his triumph. Yet, it speaks volumes about the personalities of both men and the mutual respect they have for each other that they were content to be part of this story.
Daily Mail
27-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Liverpool WIN the Premier League with four games to spare after thrashing Tottenham 5-1 at Anfield - as Reds claim record-equalling 20th title
Liverpool have been crowned Premier League champions after thumping Tottenham 5-1 at a euphoric Anfield on Sunday afternoon. The Reds have won their 20th English league title and second Premier League trophy. It draws them level with Manchester United for English top division titles and means they are just four trophies off their bitter rivals' total haul of 60. And they could be set for as many as four guards of honour should their remaining opponents wish it. It will be just reward for an outstanding season which has seen Liverpool win 25 of their 34 Premier League matches, losing only two to Nottingham Forest and Fulham. Slot, who took the reins from Jurgen Klopp ahead of the start of the season, has become just the fifth manager to win the Premier League in his first season in English football, taking his place alongside Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte. He has been tipped for the LMA Manager of the Year award by Mail Sport's Oliver Holt after taking to English football swimmingly. A mammoth 26-game unbeaten run between September 21 and April 6 saw Liverpool pull well clear of Arsenal, who at best may have to settle for a third consecutive second-placed berth. It is their first league title in five seasons - interrupting Manchester City's record-shattering run of four on the spin - and will finally give fans a chance to celebrate properly at the ground, unlike their first during the Covid-19 pandemic. Under Slot's stewardship, the Reds could yet reach 95 points, which would make them the fifth-best title-winning team in Premier League history. That's all the more remarkable considering that clubs often struggle when moving on from a dynasty - Klopp's exit after almost a decade left the possibility of a collapse. Manchester United still haven't won the league since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, while Arsenal have yet to recover the glory days of Arsene Wenger's first decade at the club. Many pundits thought that just a top-four finish was aspirational for Liverpool, especially considering their quiet summer. Federico Chiesa was the only player to join the squad, while Giorgi Mamardashvili, signed from Valencia, will link up with his new team-mates this summer. Slot's success has been built on his resourcefulness, including squeezing a renewed wind out of their senior stars. Salah's superb season has seen him post the best numbers of his career for goals and assists Mohamed Salah, aged 32 and armed with a new haircut, has been in the form of his life with a 28 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League - a record total of 46 for a 38-game season. Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, has recovered the sort of form that made him the fear of strikers across the land before his ACL injury in 2020, brought on by a horror challenge by Jordan Pickford. Both have been rewarded handsomely with new two-year deals worth in the region of £400,000 per week. Trent Alexander-Arnold's future is yet to be decided, though he increasingly looks poised to join Real Madrid when his contract expires in the summer. All the same, he will leave with his head held high after helping to ensure the Reds did not suffer another 30-year title drought. The right-back, who has been with the Reds since he was six, celebrated jubilantly as he tore off his shirt after scoring in the 1-0 win at Leicester on Easter Sunday. Elsewhere, Slot has improved the fortunes of players such as Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, and Ryan Gravenberch. Consistently prolific and tight at the back, Liverpool have scored some landmark victories along the way. Salah and Virgil van Dijk have signed new deals in a major boost to the project going forward Slot could hardly have made his predecessor Jurgen Klopp more proud after a stunning year Next season they will hope to build on their success and amend the few failures, such as their collapse against PSG in the Champions League Slot quickly became a favourite when he led Liverpool to a 3-0 win at Manchester United in just his third league game in charge. A 2-0 victory over Manchester City at home on December 1 - courtesy of goals from Gakpo and Salah - solidified the impression that the title might change hands. There were times when it looked like the wheels might come off, with consecutive draws against Newcastle and Fulham in December betrayed a rare shakiness. A 2-2 draw in that thunderous Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, where James Tarkowski's 90th-minute equaliser preceded Curtis Jones and Arne Slot seeing red, also suggested the side still struggled under pressure. But in a season where Liverpool have marked up wins with consistency - six in their last seven games - the occasional blip has been cause for little worry. At one point it even looked as if they might secure a historic Quadruple - but defeats to Plymouth in the FA Cup, Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, and PSG in the Champions League quashed those hopes in a brutal period between February and March.
Daily Mail
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
You only need to look at Man United's ongoing post-Fergie traumas to realise the scale of Arne Slot's incredible achievement at Liverpool, writes OLIVER HOLT
There was a moment, midway through the first half at the King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as Liverpool moved to within an inch of their 20th league title, when a miscued clearance from one of their players ballooned high into the air and headed out of play. Arne Slot saw it coming, adjusted his body as it fell over his shoulder and caught it in front of the dugout before handing it nonchalantly to a Leicester City defender. It was Slot's stellar first season in the English game in microcosm. This is a man who has refused to drop the ball. As Liverpool prepare to be anointed champions at some point this week – it could happen on Wednesday if Arsenal lose at home to Crystal Palace, or Sunday if they beat Tottenham at Anfield – there is vanishingly little room for debate about who should be crowned LMA Manager of the Year next month. Some have sought to make a case for Nuno Espirito Santo for the quite brilliant job he has done at Nottingham Forest and others have pushed the cause of Andoni Iraola for his superb work at Bournemouth, and Eddie Howe, who led Newcastle to their first domestic trophy for 70 years and whose credentials are burnished with every year in management. But if Mohamed Salah is a shoo-in for the FWA Footballer of the Year award when the voting closes in a few weeks, then Slot, who arrived in the English game last summer after being poached from Feyenoord, richly deserves the accolades that are about to come his way as the season draws to a close made anti-climactic by his side's dominance. If you want an idea of the scale of Slot's achievement at Anfield this season, after he took over from Jurgen Klopp, you need only take a look at what happened to other leviathans of English football when great leaders retired or moved away. Look at Manchester United post-Sir Alex Ferguson. They are still caught deep in the agonies of transition even now, 12 years after he quit, and if the drama of their extra-time Europa League quarter-final victory over Lyon was an example of the beauty of football, it was also a reminder of the chaos that still envelops the club. Arsenal are only just emerging from the period of uncertainty and loss of identity that came upon them in the years after Arsene Wenger left in 2018, even if the period of decline began long before Wenger departed. A manager as good as Unai Emery could not survive the trauma of that transition. There have been times when it has seemed the task would swallow up Mikel Arteta, too, and when gloom has washed over the Emirates. It has really only been in the past couple of seasons, particularly with the Champions League quarter-final victory over Real Madrid last week, that the club can say with confidence they have been born again. The true scale of Slot's achievement can be measured in the fact Liverpool have suffered none of those agonies of transition in the wake of Klopp's emotional and much-lamented departure at the end of last season. Let us not play down what a damaging moment that could have been in Liverpool's history. Klopp set the emotional tone for the club more than any manager since Bill Shankly. He was a populist, as Shankly was. He was a demagogue, as Shankly was. He was intense and unrelenting, as Shankly was. He encapsulated everything Liverpool stood for, as Shankly did. Many, me included, expected Liverpool to take some time to recover from his departure. I thought the best they could hope for in Slot's first season would be to finish in the top four. I thought there was a chance, especially with three of their biggest players coming to the end of their contracts, that everything might fall apart, United-style. Liverpool, remember, used to have an internal failsafe for moments like this, a talent factory called the Boot Room, founded informally under Shankly, that produced giants of football men such as Bob Paisley, Ruben Bennett, Tom Saunders, Joe Fagan, Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans, a production line that gave them continuity for 30 years or more. Slot, like Klopp, was not part of a succession like that. He has the benefit of the support of a new kind of brains trust, the brilliant recruitment team spearheaded by Michael Edwards, Fenway Sports Group's CEO of football, and Richard Hughes, the club's sporting director, who helped secure the signatures of Virgil van Dijk and Salah on new contracts. But this season was on him. This season was down to Slot and his management style and his football intelligence and his human intelligence. It was down to the fact he was strong enough and secure enough in himself to acknowledge Klopp had left him with a strong group of players and that a revolution was not needed. But what Slot did from then onwards has marked him out already as a leading managerial talent of this era. His impact in his first season in the English game has been compared to the effect of the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea in 2004 but, unlike Mourinho, Slot does not feel the need to make meretricious gestures or trumpet his own abilities. He worked with what he was given. There were no lavish new signings. Slot concentrated on improving players instead. The most obvious example is Ryan Gravenberch, who had been a marginal figure under Klopp but became the hub of Slot's side and has been one of the players of the season. Slot made Liverpool more solid, too. They may not be as breathlessly attractive going forward as they were under Klopp, and there may be no creative player in the side to match Roberto Firmino, but they have become far less vulnerable at the back. They have become masters of consistency. That is in a season, remember, when Slot has dealt with the soap operas concerning the contracts of Van Dijk, Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold with grace, class and the kind of emotional intelligence that prevented the saga from derailing the season, as it might have done if he had handled it differently. If Liverpool win their remaining five games, they will finish on 94 points. Even if they don't, they are on target for one of the finest seasons in the last 30 years. They have only lost two league games. And still some seek to damn Slot with faint praise. Some will say it has been a poor season. Some will point to the implosion of Manchester City, for so long Liverpool's nemesis under Klopp. Some will say Arsenal choked, that Chelsea are a joke, that United are irredeemable and Spurs are lost. But Liverpool are none of these things. And that is down to Slot. FA Cup overshadowed The FA still maintain, laughably, that they have not betrayed the FA Cup, but the latest stage in the competition's attempted obliteration by the Premier League will come on Sunday, when the semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City will be overshadowed by Liverpool's league clash with Spurs and likely title coronation at Anfield. Another triumph of scheduling for the game's governing body. Diamond in the rough Amid all the ongoing plaudits for Rory McIlroy, there should be more than a few words for his caddie, Harry Diamond, too. Diamond, one of McIlroy's oldest friends, took over on his bag in 2017 and has, at various times in the last eight years, found himself identified by some of golf's cognoscenti as a reason for McIlroy's Major drought. McIlroy, it was sometimes said, needed the firmer voice of a more experienced caddie in his ear. McIlroy ignored that advice. He never wavered in his loyalty to Diamond, just as Diamond never wavered in his loyalty to him. And on that extraordinary Masters Sunday, when McIlroy had missed the 6ft putt on the 18th green that sent his battle with Justin Rose into a play-off, it was Diamond who inspired him for the last push. 'Well, pal,' Diamond said to him, as McIlroy contemplated his chances, 'we would have taken this last Monday morning.' It flicked a switch for McIlroy. It was the perfect message at the perfect time. And this may be one of the things that pleased the Northern Irishman most about his victory: no one will be able to criticise Diamond's worth again.
