JURGEN KLOPP left the press room stunned with his six-word statement after he arrived late to his media duties.
The Liverpool boss was unusually late to his media conference ahead of The Reds’ clash with Aston Villa on Monday.
The German waltzed in a few minutes late after he was held up with other duties and apologised as he sat down.
But one reporter in the media room was quick to tease the manager by joking: “That’s twice in three weeks!”
Klopp gave a brutally honest response to the jokey jibe which gave a glimpse into his attitude heading into his final two games as Liverpool manager.
He replied: “To be honest, who gives a…”, leaving the press room stunned before breaking into a chorus of laughter.
The 56-year-old was quick to then joke back with the reporters by claiming that it was media duties that had delayed his conference.
He added: “I had a media commitment, so one of YOU guys held ME back.”
Klopp has just two games left in the technical area for Liverpool after he announced he would be bringing his near nine-year spell on Merseyside to a close at the end of the season.
The former Dortmund tactician will take his team to Villa Park on Monday before closing the curtain on his Liverpool career with an Anfield farewell against Wolves on the last day of the season.
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And while Klopp has said he is going to be taking a break from management for at least a year, he has also joked he won’t be watching any of the early kick offs on TNT Sports either.
The gaffer threw a lighthearted jibe at the broadcaster in a recent press conference after a long battle about Liverpool being selected for the 12:30 Saturday kick offs too often for Klopp’s liking over the years.
He said: “I had a discussion the other day with colleagues from my favourite TV channel which I will definitely never watch again, TNT.
“And people always say, ‘They pay you! They give money for football’. It’s not that, it’s the other way around, football pays them.
“They broadcast and deliver it but it’s not like TNT or Sky is doing really well and can pay all of you.
“You have to become a partner of football again and not just the squeezer. That’s just a little advice from an old man on the way out.”
Klopp has botched his Liverpool exit… and it’s cost him his legacy, says Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
NOW we know Jurgen Klopp’s final major trophy haul at Liverpool — one Champions League, one Premier League, one FA Cup, two League Cups and (if you must) a World Club Cup.
But where does his reign stand among the greatest of the Premier League era?
In black-and-white terms, Klopp is way behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, the only two men to have won multiple Premier Leagues and a Champions League at the same club.
Those two sit alongside Brian Clough, Bob Paisley and Sir Matt Busby as the undoubted all-time managerial greats of the English game.
But Klopp ranks in the next tier down — with Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho (the Chelsea version), Bill Shankly and Don Revie.
These were all men with the strength of character to transform their clubs in their own image and enjoy success but who did not win as much as they might have done.
Had Klopp managed to keep his intentions under wraps and ended up with another title, perhaps even a treble or quadruple, he’d have edged himself up into that highest echelon with Ferguson, Guardiola, Clough, Paisley and Busby.
But deciding the timing and the manner of your exit is one of the toughest calls for any manager or sportsman.
Klopp got it wrong.
Read Dave Kidd’s take on Klopp’s demise in full here.
Or click here to check out all of Dave Kidd’s articles.
