Pep Lijnders believes his old club's strong start to the season has justified the decision of the departed coaching staff to remain in charge for a further year
Lijnders followed Jurgen Klopp and several others in leaving the Reds in the summer after a trophy-laden spell at Anfield.
The Dutchman, who is now boss at Red Bull Salzburg, had considered leaving along with Klopp the previous year
However, they chose to stay for another season in which the Reds won the League Cup and flirted with a trophy quadruple
Now Klopp's replacement, Lijnders' Dutch compatriot Slot, has enjoyed the best start of any Liverpool boss with nine wins in 10 games
Lijnders
“I’m really proud and I’m really blessed that Arne is doing what he’s doing,”
“Because this was the whole idea when we leave, that we leave the club and the team in a really, really strong moment.
“That was so important for us. I speak now for myself, but it’s so nice to see them play, to see ‘our’ boys perform so well.
“The guys who we had so high hopes for, who we signed when we built a new team, the guys are flourishing.
“So, I couldn’t be more proud of what’s happening. I always believed all the time that it would go like this.”
“I said already five times that I never considered it (staying) because we ended the job together. We said we will finish together and I go my own way as a head coach. That is what I’m really happy about, I really love that.”
Lijnders raided his old club in the summer to sign Bobby Clark and take Stefan Bajcetic on loan for the campaign
Both have had their difficulties, with Salzburg losing their opening two Champions League game and thumped in the domestic league 5-0 by champions Sturm Graz.
Lijnders said: “Listen, I know Bobby really well. I know the passion he has for the ball, to score goals, to go into the box, to be creative. He will be completely fine.
“Stefan, we know he didn’t play for one year, one and a half year even (because of adductor and calf injuries) . So he needed time as well."
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