Exclusive: Stan Collymore cites two realistic ambitions for Iraola in first season at Liverpool

Stan Collymore has specified what he thinks would represent a successful first season at Liverpool for Andoni Iraola.

The Spaniard has replaced Arne Slot in the Anfield dugout, earning the job off the back of his excellent work at Bournemouth, who finished just one place and three points behind the Reds in 2025/26.

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The 43-year-old will be expected to improve upon the Merseysiders’ fifth-place finish from last term, although ambitions of challenging for the Premier League title may be considered optimistic.

What does Collymore expect from Liverpool next season?

Collymore feels that, if Liverpool comfortably qualify for the Champions League and end the season with silverware, that’d constitute a job very well done by Iraola in his first year at Liverpool.

When asked by Empire of the Kop (in association with BetWright football betting) what the Reds’ ambitions should be for 2026/27, the 55-year-old replied: “Qualification for the Champions League. I don’t necessarily think a trophy, although I know well that when you play for Liverpool, there’s always pressure to win a trophy.

“The issue is that, when it’s such a big club, the first priority is to win the league. Then it’s a European trophy, and then it’s FA Cup and League Cup. If he comes away with an FA Cup and League Cup double and gets Liverpool into the top four to qualify for the Champions League, then happy days.

“For a young manager who’s been at Bournemouth, he’ll be given every opportunity to say, ‘It’s Liverpool and we need to win trophies’, but I don’t think he’ll be under pressure to win the Premier League or a major European trophy next season.

“If you look at Jose Mourinho’s first trophy with Chelsea, or Pep Guardiola’s first for Manchester City, it was the League Cup. If he comes away with silverware and top four, I think that would represent several steps up the ladder towards the kind of success that Liverpool expect.”

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What would represent a successful first season for Iraola?

Collymore is right in saying that the aim for the Reds at the start of every season should be to win a trophy, although there must be a realism in accepting that aspirations of winning the Premier League and/or Champions League in 2026/27 are fanciful.

Iraola won’t be expected to deliver either of those trophies in his first year in charge, but if he can get Liverpool closer to the top of the table and win a domestic cup along the way, that’d be considered a job well done.

Collymore’s expectations for next term are similar to those of Danny Murphy, who recently spoke to Empire of the Kop, and LFC fans would be satisfied to see discernible progress and a comfortable qualification for the Champions League, rather than being left to sweat on the final day once again.

It won’t be until next spring that trophies are handed out, so the immediate goal for the new head coach is to get the Reds playing more expressive and potent football, whilst also making them harder to breach defensively.

Some early-season momentum will be vital to landing Iraola a grace period from the fan base and setting him in good stead to push for silverware in the second half of the campaign.

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