Arne Slot was conspicuous in his absence as the Liverpool manager pulled out of attending an awards ceremony on the heels of his side's dismal 3-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
The head coach is the recipient of this year's Northern Football Writers' Association manager of the year award after he oversaw the Reds' triumphant Premier League campaign in his debut season.
But months later, Liverpool are in the thick of a challenging squad rebuild and adrift on the pitch, having lost eight of their last 11 matches.