Liverpool: Klopp shouldn't count on receiving any beginner's luck

Michael Lintorn
14 October 2015

Jurgen Klopp has left his employers, the media and the Liverpool fans besotted with him

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Expectations are enormous ahead of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool dugout debut at Tottenham, but new Reds bosses never win their opener...

"Hodgson was the last Liverpool manager not to lose their first Premier League fixture. Of course, it wasn’t the most positive of omens though as he was gone by January, rendering him their shortest-serving boss ever."

There is a wild amount of optimism around Anfield at the moment following the departure of the increasingly less popular Brendan Rodgers and his replacement with two-time Bundesliga winner and Champions League finalist Jurgen Klopp.

However, the 48-year-old isn't receiving the gentle introduction that most new Premier League managers are dealt to ease their transition. Instead, he has to deal with an opening quintet of Tottenham (A), Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), Crystal Palace (H) and Manchester City (A).

The German tactician is 3.02/1 to start with a victory at White Hart Lane on Saturday lunchtime - in from 3.4 - but a look at how the Reds' six prior Premier League appointments fared in their initial top-flight fixture suggests that the Lilywhites will indulge in a bit of party-pooping...

Brendan Rodgers - West Brom 3-0 Liverpool

In hindsight, Rodgers' shaky getaway is easy to explain: he inherited a side that finished eighth in 2011/12 and only added Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin, Oussama Assaidi and Fabio Borini. Yet a 4-0 aggregate dismissal of Gomel in the Europa League suggested that things were going okay and made what happened at The Hawthorns all the more galling as Zoltan Gera, Peter Odemwingie and Romelu Lukaku tore through their ten men.

Kenny Dalglish - Blackpool 2-1 Liverpool

One of the many amusing quotes generated by the mass deification of Klopp by former Liverpool players was Phil Thompson enthusing that "I don't think there has been an appointment that's captured the fans like this since Dalglish made his return". So four years ago then, Phil? The euphoria of King Kenny's second coming was rapidly dampened by defeats to Manchester United in the FA Cup and Blackpool in the league, though they did enjoy an eight-game unbeaten run after that.

Roy Hodgson - Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal

Hodgson was the last Liverpool manager not to lose their first Premier League fixture, with a debut red card for Joe Cole and injury-time Pepe Reina own goal denying them victory in this Super Sunday showdown. Of course, it wasn't the most positive of omens though as he was gone by January, rendering him their shortest-serving boss ever. It took just eight days for the downward spiral to commence with a 3-0 surrender to Manchester City.

Rafael Benitez - Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool

You will likely have heard all about the Merseysiders' 2004/05 curtain-raisers as supporters attempt to draw parallels between Klopp and the last long-serving coach who they near-universally loved. If you want to get on the bandwagon, the 1-1 draw is a 7.613/2 shot. On that occasion, a debut Djibril Cisse strike before the interval was cancelled out with 19 minutes left on the clock by Spurs serial substitute Jermain Defoe.

Gerard Houllier - Liverpool 1-3 Leeds

The Roy Evans-Houllier joint-manager experiment got off to a pretty promising start, with Liverpool actually topping the Premier League table at one point in September, yet three successive domestic reverses in late October and early November were enough to convince the Englishman that his race was run. Houllier's period in sole charge would ultimately last over half a decade and yield six trophies, but it began with a home loss to Leeds and four defeats in six across all competitions.

Roy Evans - Norwich 2-2 Liverpool

Evans was the club's first new boss of the Premier League era, taking over at somewhat of a crisis point following Graeme Souness' resignation after a home FA Cup withdrawal against Bristol City in January 1994. This 2-2 draw actually wasn't a terrible result given Norwich's competitiveness in the early Premier League years, with the ensuing nine losses in 15 to drop them from fifth to eighth more of an issue. He was kept on that summer though and rewarded them with an ascent to fourth.

Click here to study Luke Moore's five-point guide to how Klopp must rebuild Liverpool

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