Arne Slott downplayed the Northern Football Writers’ Association awards dinner on Sunday night after Liverpool suffered a humiliating defeat at home to Nottingham Forest. The Merseyside Giants ended the weekend 11 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after a 3-0 reversal.
Slott endured two difficult seasons at Anfield after leading the Reds to title glory in his first spell as manager. Despite spending huge amounts of money and signing a number of summer signings, Liverpool have lost six of their last seven Premier League games. They sit 11th in the standings and almost certainly have no chance of retaining the title. And their manager seems to be feeling the pressure.
Slott was due to receive the Northern Football Writers’ Association Manager of the Year award at a ceremony in Manchester.
However, according to the Daily Mail, the Dutchman left the event at 4pm, hours before the ceremony began. Liverpool then sent club ambassador Gary McAllister to collect the award in his place.
McAllister, who played 87 games for the Reds during his two years at Anfield between 2000 and 2002, was at Elland Road to watch Leeds play Aston Villa.
The Scot spent six years as a player at Leeds and was also Villa’s assistant manager.
And while accepting the award, McAllister shared Slott’s apology and admitted he was “very proud” that the former Feyenoord manager had been recognized.
Liverpool fell behind after 30 minutes when Murillo fired a shot from a corner kick against Forest. Then, just after the break, the visitors doubled their advantage with Nicolo Savona’s shot from 10 yards. Morgan Gibbs-White then scored her third goal late on to round out the win.
And after the game, Slott admitted: “It’s very disappointing. When things go well and when things don’t go well, it’s always my fault.”
“What you can see is that after we lost 1-0 we were struggling. We were struggling in the sense that we didn’t create too many chances. We are trying to motivate them and give them the information they need to get a good start in the second half, but right after the start we conceded 2-0.
“This was another big blow for us and a big confidence booster for them. The players kept trying and I can’t blame them, but it was very difficult for us to find openings. And when we found openings, they blocked all our shots.”
