DYCHE IS PALACE CHOICE
one v one.” And uber-competitive Klopp takes no prisoners on the court.
“He battles for every point, with massive focus too,” says Lijnders, 37. “Even when I am winning, he gets right under my skin.
“So when I do beat him, I let everyone at the club hear it when I have beaten him!’’
Lijnders, who moved to Anfield in 2014 after coaching at Dutch second division side NEC, has been bowled over by the reaction to Liverpool’s title win in Holland.
“The crowning of Liverpool as champions was always going to be something special,” he says.
“But it only dawned on me what winning the championship meant for Liverpool when I got bags of letters from the official Liverpool fan club in my home country.
“They wrote to tell me how much it meant to them.they wrote such lovely stuff. It really made me emotional and it still does.
“The chairman of the Dutch Liverpool fan club is a guy called Kim Olthof. He wrote a massive poem for everyone at the club.that was really touching.
“I have asked our media department to wrap up a speech from me with wonderful footage of this season and we will send it to them as a surprise, just like they surprised us all.
“There has been a lot of mystique around our Premier League title. First the club and the fans have to wait for 30 years, then Liverpool win the Champions League, the European Super Cup, theworld Club Cup and finally the Premier League.all that in one year – it’s been amazing.’’
LEICESTER CITY are in pole position to sign the highly-rated Saint-etienne central defender Wesley Fofana.
Boss Brendan Rodgers is looking to boost the Foxes’ defence and has received positive reports on the Marseille-born 19-year-old. Fofana (right) is tipped as a future France international and has also been watched by Everton and AC Milan, who have had a £15million offer rejected.
Saint-etienne think they can pocket twice that sum.
CRYSTAL PALACE are targeting Sean Dyche as their next manager, with Roy Hodgson facing the chop.
Palace chairman and part-owner Steve Parish is believed to be stepping up plans for a change after a run of seven defeats and no goals in their last three games. Hodgson (right), 72, is under the microscope, with Palace facing Tottenham at Selhurst Park today in their final Premier League match of the campaign. Palace are safe but it’s understood Parish has been less than impressed with results, even though five of the seven defeats were against teams in the top five.
Parish has remained loyal to Hodgson, who only signed a new one-year deal in March. But there’s a boardroom belief that it’s time for a managerial change – and overachieving Burnley boss Dyche, 49, is firmly in the frame.