Jurgen Klopp has vowed that he’ll be ‘on the bus’ if his reign at Liverpool is marked with a public parade through the city.
The Times reported on Monday that the club are in discussions regarding that particular form of recognition, in the wake of the Carabao Cup triumph ensuring that the 56-year-old’s final season in charge will end with at least one trophy.
It’d be a break from tradition to organise such an event after winning the domestic competition, but given that the German is leaving in May, and in recognition of how he’s ‘transformed the club, and his standing within the city’, an exception could be made in this instance.
The subject of a signing-off parade was put to Klopp at his press conference on Tuesday afternoon, and while he didn’t seem eager on the idea of having one purely to pay gratitude to him, he accepted that the decision would rest elsewhere, and that he’d partake if one were to be held.
He said (via Liverpool Echo): “I don’t think that it’s seen [as being for me] makes sense but trophy parades I like. I don’t decide that but it’s my business. If there’s a parade I will be on the bus, no doubt about that.”
While it might seem like an invitation to ridicule from rivals if Liverpool are to organise a public parade just for winning the Carabao Cup, circumstances might warrant one in this instance.
Such has been Klopp’s impact on the club – and indeed the city – that he’d be deserving of a large-scale event which’d give fans one final chance to show their appreciation for him.
Also, when the Reds finally won the Premier League in 2020, no such celebration could take place for supporters because of restrictions during the global pandemic, so this’d feel like an atonement of sorts for being unable to have a parade four years ago.
Of course, there remains a possibility that the season will end with more than one trophy added to the Anfield cabinet. If Liverpool were to win one (or more) of the domestic title, FA Cup or Europa League, a full-scale public event would definitely be in order.
One thing is for certain – if there is to be a parade in May and Klopp is ‘on the bus’, to use his words, he’d get one monumental send-off from thousands of eternally grateful Liverpudlians (as well as Liverpudlians at heart).