Local Liverpool fans are hoping new man Klopp can take them to the top

The arrival of the former Brussia Dortmund manager signalled the end of brendan Rodgers tenure at the club.

Pressure had been mounting on the Northern Irish man for a number of months now, and he was relieved of his duties following the recent Merseyside derby.

The Secretary of the Coleraine Liverpool Supporters’ Club, Jonathan Ewart, told Times Sport it was a case of mixed emotions for him and fellow local fans.

“There was definitely a few mixed emotions,” he said.

“There was definitely disappointment when his time came to an end on Sunday, but I felt that it was inevitable as things have been on a downward spiral for quite a few months.

“There were definitely ups and downs along the way but unfortunately in the end it didn’t work out.

“As Brendan was from ‘Our Wee Country’, it felt like there was an extra connection with the club, and we hoped that that would be the case.

“No matter who the manager is the goal as a fan is to see your team win trophies but to have someone from here leading the team to trophies would have been that little bit extra special for us.”

Unfortunately the highs of coming so close to winning the Premiership title in 2014 were outweighed by a lot of lows.

And Jonathan said he felt Brendan was on borrowed time, particularly after some performances last season.

“After the Stoke game at the end of last season I felt that Brendan was on borrowed time with a lot of the fans,” he said.

“Performances at home had been poor and that certainly hasn’t improved at the start of this season and that has been transmitted to the stands with the crowd being very subdued during the home games. It was very frustrating. To have such a strong season in 2013/2014 where we saw great attacking football and goal scoring where we scored 101 goals in the league to then struggling to score half that last season and again at the start of this season.

“It was always going to be hard to maintain another season like that after losing a player of the quality of Luis Suarez but Brendan just seemed to have lost his way and his philosophy.

“He definitely looked to have run out of ideas. We never seemed to start and finish the game with the same formation. Too many players were being played out of position. It all seemed to lead to our difficulties in front of goal and the reasons why we were conceding so many.”

Jonathan, like many Reds fans, is looking forward to a new era under Jurgen Klopp.

I have to say I am very excited about Jurgen Klopp taking over,” he said.

His Dortmund teams played some really good football and he has an enthusiasm which will be infectious for the Liverpool fans. He got on so well with the “Yellow Wall” at Dortmund and hopefully that will be the case with the Kop at Anfield.

“As a fan the ultimate aim is to see your team win trophies. Hopefully Jurgen can bring back the glory days.”