Hot Football Rodgers Gossip: Klopp, Ancelotti, Di Matteo linked with Liverpool job

It’s not quite a Premier League or FA Cup trophy, but Brendan Rodgers has at least achieved something at Liverpool. The Northern Irishman’s departure from Anfield has resulted in the papers, mercifully, having a day off from making up transfer stories. Thanks Brendan.

Instead, they are making up stories about who will replace Rodgers at Anfield. And the name being made up most is Jurgen Klopp, although there are others too.

One of the good things about Jurgen Klopp, apart from the fact that he took Dortmund to league titles and Champions League finals on resources that are a fraction of Bayern Munich’s and generally comes across as a massively cool dude with good taste in glasses, is that his surname rhymes with Kop. So the tabloids have been having a nice time saying things like “Jurgen Kop” and “Klopp of the Kops”. The underlying message to this nonsense talk is that the German will be Liverpool’s next manager.

According to the Mirror, this will happen quickly, with the Anfield board aiming to have Klopp in place before the Reds’ next game – away at Tottenham on 17 October.

The Telegraph concurs that Klopp is likely to “have talks” at Anfield in the coming days, adding that Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard could be offered roles in the new set-up – news that will make LA Galaxy fans feel really great about themselves.

The Star goes one step further, like it always does, and suggests that Klopp has already accepted a three-year deal to take over on Merseyside and will be bringing along a Bosnian chap called Zeljko Bovac as his assistant coach.

It’s not all about Jurgen though. The Daily Mail reports that former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has flown to London today. It doesn’t say why – maybe he’s going to Madame Tussauds or needs to top up his Oyster card – but it could also be that he packed his CV and got on the first plane to England after hearing of Rodgers’ demise.

Those crazy guys at the Metro have also thrown the name of another former Chelsea boss into the frame: Roberto di Matteo. The paper says… well, not a lot really. Just that Di Matteo “ has emerged as a candidate” but without adding anything to back that up. He’s won more Champions Leagues than Klopp though, so maybe it’s not so crazy (it is though).

Finally, there’s an intriguing claim in the Sun that, before sacking Rodgers, Liverpool “prepared a five-bedroom house” in nearby Formby for the arrival of a “special guest”. We don’t know what these “preparations” involved exactly, but if there are lederhosen hanging in the wardrobe and a load of sausages in the fridge, we can probably assume it was intended for Klopp. If it just had some Robbie Fowler DVDs and a couple of beers we can assume it was for, dunno, John Bishop? Atomic Kitten? It all shows we can’t be sure of the identity of Liverpool’s next manager just yet; we just know they need someone who can make them whole again.

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