Welshman Colin Pascoe has been relieved of his duties as the assistant manager of Liverpool and the search is on to find his replacement. Here I list four people (in no particular order) the Reds could potentially appoint to replace him.
Rene Meulensteen
Meulensteen is a great assistant manager and was number two to Sir Alex Ferguson for five years; a period in which Manchester United won seven trophies. Meulensteen has gained valuable experience working under the tutelage of Sir Alex and also Guus Hiddink for a brief period at Anzhi Makhachkala. His stint as head coach at Fulham was not so successful which perhaps shows that the assistant manager role is where his career will prosper further. He also had his say on Brendan Rodgers’ backroom staff last season:
“He has obviously got people around him who he obviously thinks are the right ones. But I think he could have done with someone who has been there, seen it and done it.”
Is this a come and get me plea?
Pako Ayestaran
Liverpool fans will know Pako very well from his time as Rafa Benitez’s right hand man from 2004 to 2008. Pako also worked with Rafa at Tenerife and Valencia. Together, they won the La Liga twice with Valencia and the Champions League with Liverpool. They parted ways after some sort of disagreement and Pako moved on to Benfica and then back to Valencia. More recently, Pako took over as head coach of Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv and done the domestic treble, a feat which has never been achieved before. Despite such success, he will not be returning to Israel and is seeking pastures new. He still has his house in Hoylake but in an interview with Liverpool Echo, he stated that his dream is to be a Premier League manager which perhaps cools any interest from Liverpool.
Sascha Lewandowski
This 43-year-old German is my outside bet for the vacancy. Lewandowski is currently at Bayer Leverkusen and coached alongside ex-Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia in 2012. Leverkusen finished third in their first and only season together; a season which exceeded expectations. Lewandowksi then returned to his role in the academy and Hyypia was sacked soon afterwards after a poor run. He is currently working under Leverkusen’s manager Roger Schmidt and together they helped guide them to a fourth place finish in the Bundesliga. Whether he will leave the forthcoming Champions League campaign to become assistant manager to Brendan Rodgers remains to be seen.
Sami Hyypia
This former Liverpool defender is a fan favourite after appearing over 300 times in a Liverpool shirt and captaining the side too. Under his leadership, Liverpool won a number of trophies including the brilliant treble in 2001. He has coaching experience (as stated above) and also managed in England with Brighton & Hove Albion. He knows the club and the city and will probably welcome the chance to return to Liverpool in a coaching capacity. His defensive expertise may prove useful to patching up that leaky Liverpool defence.
