Liverpool parted ways with manager Matt Beard on Thursday with the club seventh in the Women’s Super League.
The move has dumbfounded fans with the boss having a successful second tenure in charge of the club, particularly with their fourth-place WSL finish last season.
And so why have the Reds sacked Beard now?
Matt Beard: Architect of his own demise
The incredible run that Liverpool went on last season may have contributed to the sacking. The Reds won 12 games from 22 last campaign and beat the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.
This season the Reds have won just four games out of a possible 14 with no top team scalp on their books. Liverpool were also knocked out of the League Cup in the group stage.
The drop off in form from last season’s incredible feat may have led bosses to believe Beard had taken the team as far as he could.
However, Liverpool are incredibly unlikely to be relegated this season as they are nine points outside of the drop and Beard had also secured an FA Cup quarter-final, against Arsenal which will be played in March.
The manager had also surely built some credit with the club having brought them back into the WSL by winning promotion in 2022. In addition, he won two WSL titles with the club during his first spell in charge in the early 2010s. In FouFourTwo’s view the decision has come prematurely and should have been considered when the season came to an end.
The majority of fans have voiced their frustration at the decision on social media.
One wrote: “Matt Beard was NOT the main problem at Liverpool. What a self-defeating decision to sack him. He needed proper investment by the club to back up the team’s performance from last season and didn’t get it.”
And another said: “Liverpool haven’t been given enough criticism about their lack of investment in the women’s team. Matt Beard could only do so much with the players on the team.”
While a third added: “Matt Beard is an old-school good guy. I am sorry to see him lose his job. Football is a result-orientated business.”
Though not every supporter was against the decision.
“A shame it had to end this way for Matt Beard. Most of us knew it was coming, I just thought it’d be at the end of the season.
“Beard is up there on the list of the best managers LFCW has ever had. Brought us back to the WSL, made us believe again.”
Despite all the success Beard brought the club, one spell of inconsistent form has seen him shown the door.
Amber Whiteley is in interim charge while the club search for a new manager.
Her first game will be on Sunday against bottom-Crystal Palace.
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