Key question owners have to answer after axing coach Matt Beard despite handing him one of smallest WSL budgets

The imposing image of Liverpool sitting 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League and powering towards a record-equalling 20th top-flight title brings into sharp focus the comparatively dishevelled sight of the club’s women’s team.

Sitting 25 points off the pace in the Women’s Super League, having waited more than a decade to lift a major trophy and almost 30 years without reaching a Women’s FA Cup final, a club that once took a proud role in the women’s game remains light years away from emulating their men’s counterparts, and are now entering a critical phase in their history as they search for a new manager for the first time in four years.