‘I do not really feel unhappy at Jurgen Klopp leaving Liverpool – it is time to have fun’

In my near 35 years supporting Liverpool we’ve had eight managers – almost all of whom have left the club under a cloud.

The vast majority I was sad to see go. Now I won’t lie, there’s one obvious flop who I couldn’t wait to see the back of, and if Manchester United need someone to ‘steady the ship’ post-Erik ten Hag, then I can’t recommend Roy Hodgson highly enough.

His methods have translated from Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team, and he might even know a good roofer.

READ MORE: Trent Alexander-Arnold is left in tears during Jurgen Klopp’s farewell speech

READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp reduced to tears as Liverpool fans gift the German a moving tribute

But when I think back to Roy Evans, the last of the famous Anfield Boot Room, and how I felt when his thrilling attacking side fizzled out – before he walked away when having to share his job with Gerard Houllier went as well as you’d expect – I instantly remember the sense of bitter disappointment.

It was the same when Houllier made his exit, having restored our pride and European standing by winning an epic cup treble, only to struggle to maintain both after battling back from emergency heart surgery.

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I was devastated when Rafael Benitez was fired, the glory of Istanbul and the most miraculous Champions League triumph in history overshadowed by his inability to overcome the vast financial resources of Manchester United and Chelsea in order to win the Premier League.

It turned out fighting tooth and nail against greedy owners while having to rely on Andriy Voronin and David N’Gog to get us over the line wasn’t quite the winning formula against a side rotating Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov up front. The deck was stacked.

It was the same when Sir Kenny Dalglish left the club for a second time in 2012, having been a whisker away from completing a domestic cup double. King Kenny made plenty of mistakes, and was severely undermined by the behaviour of his star player Luis Suarez and the way he handled it, but to see a club legend and hero sacked left me with a deep sadness.

Brendan Rodgers certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea and by the time he left Anfield, few people shed a tear. Yet with all these departures, my overriding thoughts were ‘what could have been’. Rodgers got as close as anyone to the Holy Grail of winning a league title, but it literally slipped away one agonising afternoon against Chelsea in 2014, which still gives me nightmares!

So, what about Jurgen Klopp? Ahead of our final game of the season today against Wolves, I saw plenty of fellow Reds saying they were dreading saying goodbye to the German giant. How they couldn’t bear the thought and were already fighting back tears at the mere mention of his impending exit, after eight-and-a-half years at the club.

Not me. I had no doubt it would be an incredibly poignant farewell. I didn’t think for a second that I wouldn’t be shaking with emotion when he approached the Kop one last time to pump his fist and beat the Liverbird on his chest.

And I knew beforehand, and know now, that I’ll miss everything about a man who every Liverpool fan loves, who has shown us endless love in return.

But he’s the first manager of my time following the Reds for whom there is no question of ‘what could have been’. There’s no lingering regret, no sense of unfulfillment.

I won’t wake up tomorrow wistfully thinking ‘if only things had been different,’ or day dreaming like I have for the last 10 years of a parallel universe where Steven Gerrard controlled a routine pass from Mamadou Sakho in his own half.

That’s because from the moment I got in that ground today, I was too busy celebrating. Celebrating the achievements of a legendary football manager, who changed the way the game was played across the globe with his glorious gegenpressing, toppling Bundesliga billionaires Bayern Munich with unfancied

Borussia Dortmund, before coming to Merseyside and repeating that feat by going head to head with megabucks Manchester City and somehow – even if it was just for one season – coming out on top.

If you’d said to me in October 2015 that Klopp would soon have Liverpool playing the most thrilling, all-action football imaginable, with a front three rivalling any in history, a battling midfield who didn’t know the meaning of giving up, two flying fullbacks revolutionising what we expect from players in their position, one of the greatest centre halves of all time picking out pinpoint 70 yard passes, and a gorgeous goalie saving the unsavable, all of whom would go on to win every top trophy available, I’d have thought you were mad.

But that is exactly what happened.

He took us fans on a ridiculous rollercoaster of a journey when at times it was hard to catch your breath and stop and recognise what was unfolding before your eyes.

Like on European nights such as the Barcelona semi-final that rival any in Anfield’s rich history, a 4-0 victory when 3-0 down from the first leg that will live forever in Champions League folklore. Before we won it in Madrid and cemented his legacy.

That year, the might of Manchester City, with the genius of Pep Guardiola, was pushed to the limit. Liverpool fans again felt the agony of just missing out on the prize we all wanted most, with a record points total for a runner-up. So what did Klopp do? He and his men buckled down and the next season obliterated all before them.

The first 26 out of 27 league games won, with at one stage a 25-point lead – the biggest ever in English top-flight history – before breaking another record by winning the Premier League with seven games to spare.

Liverpool’s first championship in 30 years. ‘What could have been’? No, what was. One of the best teams these shores will ever see crowned champions of England, Europe and the World, all in the space of 12 months.

There was plenty more joy to come, all made possible by the immense 6ft 3in presence on the touchline that never stopped fighting for his team.

So many unforgettable memories, like turning Wembley into a red cauldron in the sunshine against City en route to winning the FA Cup, or the staggering victory over Chelsea in January, when the cavalry coming to the aid of the injury-ravaged Reds consisted of a host of academy prospects, who still managed to clinch the League Cup.

Some will dwell on whether Klopp could have won more trophies, after so many near misses. I know I have in the past. We’re all greedy sods! Even the man himself admitted it this week. But he added: “We could have won less as well… I couldn’t have done more.”

It was the last thing on my mind when he took to the microphone today, following a 2-0 win that truth be told was just a precursor to a party.

Most of the first half on the Kop was spent serenading the greatest stars of his era, from Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to Gini Wijnaldum and, of course, Mohamed Salah.

At the end of the game we first said goodbye to Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip – the second key to so much of Klopp’s success – before departing backroom staff all took deserved plaudits. And then it was time for the big man to speak.

Klopp said: “I’m so happy. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy about all of you. About the atmosphere. About the game. About being part of this family. About us. And how we celebrated this day.”

Klopp joked about how we’d sung his song for weeks – after admonishing us for singing it during games in the past. And he surprised the entire stadium by leading us in singing for incoming manager Arne Slot, to the tune of Live is Life. Who else would even think of doing that?

It was part farewell, part team talk. “People told me that I turned them from doubters to believers,” he said. “That’s not true. Believing is an active act – you have to do it yourself. I just said we have to and you did it.” He added: “I’m one of you now, I love you to bits.”

Jurgen Klopp gave Liverpool fans everything he had. He won us everything we dreamed of. And he instilled a way of thinking, a way of seeing football, that I hope never leaves us. It’s time to celebrate, not commiserate. As the great man himself said minutes after winning Liverpool a sixth European Cup: “Where are the drinks?”