Liverpool fans to stage protest in game that could decide Arne Slot’s future

Liverpool’s next Premier League match could be pivotal in deciding the future of the club on and off the field.

Steven Gerrard told talkSPORT that the clash with Fulham may hold the key to the fate of Reds boss Arne Slot – but there’s another reason that he won’t have as many fans behind him at Anfield.

AFP

Liverpool are winless in their last three Premier League games against the Cottagers, but can’t afford another slip-up in the race for Europe.

The reigning champions are currently languishing in fifth in the table, five points adrift of Aston Villa and six behind Manchester United.

And Gerrard told talkSPORT Breakfast this week that he’s worried for Slot’s future if his former side’s domestic situation gets any worse.

“I think the Fulham game is just as important [as the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain],” he said.

“I think if the ownership and the people above, they see that gap, the Villa, and United stretches or gets any worse, I worry for the manager’s position.

“I don’t want to see that happen. I’m a huge fan of Arne Slot. I was blown away by his first season.

“I must say, he’s a good man, he’s obviously a very, very good coach, the job he’s done.

“I think the key to this situation will be the Fulham game, in terms of if he can put more heat on United and Villa, and he can stay in the PSG game into next week, I think everything will be fine and in a better place in five, six days’ time.

“But if this was to get any worse, I’d be worried for the manager, I must say.”

As it is, Liverpool fans are hoping club owners, FSG, pay a higher price at Anfield on Saturday than Slot as part of a planned protest.

Getty

Liverpool raising ticket prices is ‘unnecessary’

A fan group are protesting against the Reds’ decision to raise ticket prices for the next three seasons despite posting record revenue.

Spirit of Shankly have launched a campaign called ‘not a pound in the ground’ and instead invest in independent businesses around Anfield.

Spokesperson Jay McKenna joined talkSPORT’s White & Jordan on Tuesday to reveal the main problems fans have with FSG’s decision.

“It’s unnecessary as far as we’re concerned, and we’ve been involved in those conversations with LFC over the last few months, talking to them about their plans for ticket prices, and as far as we’re concerned, this was unnecessary.

“Liverpool Football Club have made record revenues in excess of £703 million. The amount of money this raises is insignificant to LFC, but fairly significant to fans.

AFP

“We’re really worried about the long-term impact of this,” McKenna continued. “The potential increases next season and beyond. LFC will go with the lower end of what they believe inflation could be.

“But what we’ve seen across the Middle East and, indeed, across the world in recent years, inflation could be as high as 5 per cent.

“There could be a 13 per cent increase in ticket prices for supporters.

“Tickets reaching the £70 mark, season tickets cost in excess of £1,000, all the while Liverpool Football Club are making more money than ever before.”

A decade ago, Liverpool fans forced FSG into a U-turn over planned price rises, leading to a freeze in eight of the last ten seasons.

Rejecting the claim that supporters have become cushioned by the owners’ recent stance, McKenna added: “I’m not entirely sure we can give LFC credit for freezing prices in eight of the last ten years, when, firstly, it was because they tried to put them up to £77, and we all protested and said no, and they admitted they got it wrong.

“And then a global pandemic hit. There is some context to those freezes in eight of the last ten years.

“During which time, it should also be said, LFC have been extremely successful in their revenue growth. It has grown significantly without ticket prices.”

Liverpool fans withdrawing financial support until discussions are had

Asked what the protests would look like, McKenna replied: “Well, there’s a strong sense from what we’ve heard from supporters already is they don’t want to be giving Liverpool Football Club more money and encouraging people not to spend in the ground.

“You say, Jim [White], there, it’s only a couple of pounds. Well, supporters spend more than a couple of pounds in the ground, and they’ve come to us saying they don’t want to be giving Liverpool more money. And what LFC sells around the world is our support.

“It’s the flags on the Kop. It’s the passion inside Anfield, the players, managers, past and present, have spoken about how important that is. And you look at anything LFC sells in its merchandise, it includes all the pictures of the Kop.

“And what fans are telling us is they want to withdraw their support and start at Fulham and escalate.

“Until the ownership listens to the Liverpool supporters, supporters will take action until they feel they’ve been heard.”

GETTY

Another Liverpool fan, author and journalist Tony Evans, joined talkSPORT’s Hawsbee and Jacobs to give his take on the debate.

They’ve chosen a very, very bad time to announce the ticket hike.

“It still would have drawn a protest had the team been doing well, but it ties into a whole sense of drift at Anfield, where, and it’s always been that way really, ever since Fenway Sports Group took over, back in 2010.

“So they’ve always been distanced a little bit by what’s been going on on Merseyside. And it’s allowed other people to make decisions which have rebounded on the club.

“I felt in my dealings with John Henry that you wouldn’t hear from him for, I don’t know, a year and then you’d hear from him five or six times in a day.

It’s that sense of like, they forget about the club for long periods of time. And then all of a sudden, something comes along to remind them, and these protests will remind them.”