By the bitter end, Arne Slot had become nothing if not perceptive.
As Liverpool’s players embarked on a lap of appreciation last weekend, some of them for the last time, the head coach was conspicuous by his absence.
While Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson bade emotional farewells to The Kop, Slot observed matters at a distance; from the safety of the home dugout.
The Dutchman rarely ventured in close proximity to football’s most famous home end. Even in good times, he would salute fans from the halfway line.
Only once did he dive headlong towards the adoring masses as he hoisted the Premier League title aloft in jubilation, little over 12 short months ago.
Deep down, Slot probably knew his own time was nearing an end – which was finally confirmed on Saturday – after a season that shook Anfield to its core.
From Diogo Jota’s untimely death, unprecedented spending and injuries to ructions both on and off the pitch, no one will forget the campaign just gone.
Scraping a Champions League qualification spot had echoes of Gerard Houllier’s final year, which also ended in a 1-1 home draw and 60-point haul.
Slot’s predecessor Jurgen Klopp racked up the same meagre tally but did so from a half-season at the outset of an era which now looks like a golden age.
The man tasked with succeeding ‘The Normal One’ lasted just two years at the helm before the unforgiving nature of modern football caught up with him.
He leaves sharing the most number of victories after 100 games in the hot seat with Kenny Dalglish and a post-century win ratio only eclipsed by Klopp.
But other damned statistics underline why the 47-year-old was shunted out of the exit door by Fenway Sports Group barely a week after the season’s end.
Slot presided over 20 defeats in all competitions – 12 of them in the Premier League- and suffered a 24-point swing, the biggest of any top flight mainstay.
Dressing room discourse and supporter rancour went hand in hand as the Reds’ style deteriorated from panache into a painful stumble to the finish line.
Salah drove the former, openly challenging his superior more than opposing defences, but those critiques struck a chord with teammates and fans alike.
A parting shot from the Egypt captain that demanded the club returned to the ‘the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear’ proved to be a final nail.
His departure, along with that of Robertson and, imminently, Ibrahima Konate only scratches the surface of the challenges Slot faced in the inner sanctum.
The social media interactions behind Salah’s infamous statement tells its own story about how the former Feyenoord boss had lost the dressing room.
Weeks earlier, the Anfield faithful had turned its ire on him after substituting Rio Ngumoha in favour of Alexander Isak during a 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
Seldom has any manager, let alone a Liverpool one, turned things around from such a position of unbridled opposition seemingly from all quarters.
Even when backed into a corner, by various parties, Slot carried himself with a dignity and decorum befitting of the postion he held until several hours ago.
He was, however, already a man on borrowed time and the club’s American owners had little choice than to risk writing off another season to malaise.
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