Charming but ruthless ..Klopp now holds the whole club in his hands

A LOT gets made of the smiles and laughs, the soundbites and occasional profanities, when it comes to Jurgen Klopp.

It’s all part of the Liverpool manager’s charm and, goodness knows, it’s why so many people love him. But I’ve been around Klopp enough over the years to know that beneath the grin there’s a very ruthless man, someone who knows what he wants and exactly how to get it.

He did a lot of television punditry while he was still a relatively low-level operator in football management. So he worked out long before he was a Champions League-winning manager, even a Bundesliga-winning manager, how to engage with the masses. And he has honed those skills to get everybody at Liverpool, from John W Henry and FSG, to the players, the staff and supporters, wrapped around his little finger.

Klopp is a very, very hard man and after leading them to Champions League glory against Tottenham on Saturday, he owns Liverpool Football Club lock, stock and barrel.

No mean feat given he lost a League Cup, Europa League and Champions League final before finally landing the last one at the second time of asking.

I know Liverpool finished only a point behind Manchester City this season, but a year ago they came up short big time in the race for the Premier League title. And a manager without Klopp’s personality would have been under way more pressure.

But the way he has managed to buy himself a lot more time over the years is a lesson to others around him. One which says that, if you can cultivate a persona, you are going to get much more time to do your job.

When that persona is about fun, enjoyment, joy and laughter, everyone wants to be involved.

If Klopp can now go on to win the Premier League with Liverpool next season, or the one after, then we might as well give him the keys to the whole place for the best part of the next decade.

Because while City boss Pep Guardiola has created a superprofessional, super-proficient outfit that plays football a certain way and has all the club staff connected, Klopp has taken those connections between everybody working at Anfield in whatever capacity to a whole new level.

That was almost the norm back in the ‘Boot Room’ days, when it wasn’t just about the players, but about everyone going in every day thinking, ‘If we are to win something, I’m going to get the recognition as well’.

He has been a master at bringing that back. On the pitch, Klopp needs a midfielder who, like Fernandinho at City, will function at 9.8/10 over a season, and a striker who will challenge Bobby Firmino on a regular basis, as well as a couple more to flesh out the squad.

And he will already be thinking about those upgrades.

Because while City will still be most people’s favourites for the title next season, Klopp has taken his side from being a third of the way to where the ‘Blue Moonies’ are to being three-quarters of the way there.

I’m not sure if that gap will ever close fully, given City’s resources, but there’s no better time for Liverpool to narrow it further than after a Champions League triumph.

After leading them to glory, he owns Liverpool lock, stock and barrel