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Brendan Rodgers agrees deal to become new Liverpool manager

By Ben SmithBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments185

Brendan Rodgers has agreed a deal to become the new Liverpool manager.

The 39-year-old will sign a three-year contract at Anfield and his appointment is likely to be officially confirmed within 24 hours.

Liverpool are negotiating a compensation packageexternal-link - expected to amount to between £4m and £5m - with Swansea to secure Rodgers' services.

Liverpool sacked former manager Kenny Dalglish on 16 May after finishing eighth in the Premier League.

The Reds were 17 points away from a Champions League qualification spot, but won the League Cup and reached the FA Cup final.

In contrast, Northern Irishman Rodgers guided his Swansea side to an impressive first season in the top flight, including a 1-0 win over Liverpool on the final day of the season.

After parting ways with Dalglish, Liverpool embarked on an extensive search for a new manager.

The Reds were linked not only with Rodgers and Wigan manager Roberto Martinez but also former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas,external-link ex-England coach Fabio Capello,external-link and Ajax manager Frank de Boer.external-link

Rodgers declined the opportunity to speak to Liverpool about the vacancy 12 days ago, and instead the club's hierarchy sought a meeting with Wigan's Martinez.

But it appears Rodgers was always the preferred candidate, despite Wigan chairman Dave Whelan at one point suggesting his manager had been offered the job at Anfield.

The proposed appointment of Louis Van Gaal as sporting director looked increasingly unlikely on Wednesday night with Rodgers demanding complete control of football matters.

Swansea released a statement from chairman Huw Jenkins on the club's websiteexternal-link on Wednesday, which read: "I was contacted by Liverpool last night and they expressed their wish to speak to Brendan regarding their vacancy.

"I had a discussion with Brendan to talk about their interest and his views on whether he wanted to speak to Liverpool.

"He expressed his wish with me to do that and he has spoken to Liverpool today.

"Following on from discussions with Liverpool's owners, Brendan has informed us that he would like to take up their offer to manage Liverpool.

"At the moment we are currently in talks with the owners to agree compensation.

"We are trying to finalise that within the next 24 hours."

Rodgers' managerial career began at Watford in 2008 after coaching spells at Reading and Chelsea.

His return to Reading was an unhappy one but, after his appointment as Swansea boss in July 2010, Rodgers guided his Welsh side to promotion to the top flight in May 2011, making Swansea the first Welsh team to reach the Premier League.

Former England striker Gary Lineker, tweeted:external-link "I feel this could be a very shrewd appointment. Totally gets the way the game's evolving."

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185 comments

  • Comment posted by allwhite99, at 20:57 30 May 2012

    Liverpool fans seem to be deluded into thinking they have a top 4 squad that has underperformed. Sadly it's not. Rodgers is an excellent choice - a great man manager and coach but it'll take more than a season to sort out some of the dross and confusion in the Pool set up. He will improve the team and the club and given a chance, restore former glories . . just not overnight.

  • Comment posted by pokeraddict, at 21:04 30 May 2012

    Re: #4 Moono

    "He'll ruin Liverpool like he tried to do to Reading"

    What's to ruin?

  • Comment posted by User0718729649, at 21:08 30 May 2012

    BR is a great appointment for LFC! From all the managers we've been linked with BR would be my first choice... If LFC play the way Swansea have this season then I'd be more than happy! I think Swansea FC have dealt with the whole thing with great dignity and hope they find a decent replacement... Looking forward to the coming season.

  • Comment posted by Jeff Harris, at 21:21 30 May 2012

    I think this is a good and visionary signing by the Liverpool board.Rodgers has done wonders on a small budget with Swansea and finished what three places below Liverpool who spent 100 million.The Board realise Dalglish was yesterdays man and now have been very brave.People may worry this is his first big appointment, but Shankly was at Huddersfield before and the rest as they say is history.

  • Comment posted by User0138148700, at 21:22 30 May 2012

    I think it's great a young British manager has been given the opportunity at a top English club.

    I know some people will jump on the comment above Liverpool being a 'top' club...based on the last two seasons that tag isn't easy to justify...but in my opinion Liverpool are still one of the biggest clubs around.

    I hope he is given the time to develop his philosophy and wish him all the best!

  • Comment posted by alanmrob, at 22:03 30 May 2012

    Isn't it great though that the Liverpool owners have had the courage to appoint a British manager? How many Rafa's, AVB's, Fabio's, Claudio's and whoever else do we really need (and what did they actually do other than get rich)? If British managers don't get the chances here in the EPL, what a sorry state for our game.

  • Comment posted by User0611032305, at 21:06 30 May 2012

    Big challenge for rodgers. Not certain he can live up to it but i really like him and this philosophy is the right one. He's a calm, measured guy and he seems determined and ambitious. Hopeful for next season. He's should get 2 seasons. We shouldn't rush it. We can't be worse in the league than last season so let's just look for some improvement next season and see what we can do the season after.

  • Comment posted by User0248932503, at 22:05 30 May 2012

    It took Bill Shankly two and a half years to win promotion, today he would have been sacked after one season and the whole Liverpool dynasty would never have happened. But Liverpool was run by local people who understood the game in those days not transatlantic cherry pickers. If LFC fans want to see how a traditional old fashioned decent club is run they only have to look across Stanley Park.

  • Comment posted by User0740987002, at 23:27 30 May 2012

    The truth is Liverpool are no longer a stellar club. Times have changed, players and managers are only interested in the Champs League. LFC fans who think they should get a top notch big name manger are living in the past, and need to face reality.

  • Comment posted by User0959347873, at 07:49 31 May 2012

    Wow...lots of 'football fans' on here with either no memory, or selective at the very least. Before commenting it might be wise to look at the humble beginnings of many a successful manager. For starters take a peek at Shankly, Paisley and Fagan and dare I mention Ferguson. These are men who have built empires of been part of empires sat upon philosophical football foundations ! Learn !!

  • Comment posted by User0341359520, at 20:59 30 May 2012

    Moono, you're stuck in the past. A manager who is young, used to working on a small budget, who plays attractive football is surely a benefit to LFC. Hopefully he can give the good academy players a chance and play the style of football the fans need. People say Hodgson didn't have a chance: if he played like B.R, he would've got more time: you have to play to win at Liverpool.

  • Comment posted by User0135305621, at 23:26 30 May 2012

    Out of all the people linked to the job, Rodgers seems the better bet, in a situation that in the best of all worlds is a gamble. I hope he is given time to build a team and move the club on from the mess were in at present.

  • Comment posted by DontTrustTheGovernment, at 07:51 31 May 2012

    Very brave move by FSG, I just hope they buy into his philosophy and give him the full 3 years. It's time for things to settle at Liverpool now and start rebuilding. Slow and steady wins the race they say. Benitez would have been more of a disaster than this appointment.

  • Comment posted by User0135305621, at 00:41 31 May 2012

    As the rules get harsher about club debt then maybe picking a manager who can gather together a team who can play football is shrewd.

  • Comment posted by User0532133256, at 23:26 30 May 2012

    Im extremely happy that rodgers got the pick over AVB and Martinez for the fact that Rodgers was the manager that played "diffrent" football in the previous season, and liverpool need a massive change. maybe a new style of attacking football is just what we need?
    henderson, downing, carroll, saurez and shelvey have all had full seasons. lucas and adam come back.
    tell ya what, LFC are looking good!

  • Comment posted by D1679633649939, at 21:27 30 May 2012

    At the beginning of this process the two names that stood out for me were Rafa and Rodgers. Rafa made us a good possession team with the addition of Spanish and other international players but from what Swansea have done this season I have real hope that Rodgers can do so with more home-grown players. Along with the new structure this could be very interesting times for LFC.

  • Comment posted by User0332735834, at 22:11 30 May 2012

    I think this is a fresh and intelligent move by the Liverpool owners. Rodgers is young talent and hopefully will be given enough time to develop the club. Older more experienced managers come with too much baggage, history and expectation and what is needed is some breathing space for the club to get back into regular top 4 territory. Thinking about anything other than this at the moment is silly.

  • Comment posted by tseeds790, at 21:23 30 May 2012

    Liverpool's problem has never been beating the big teams like man utd and chelsea but rather beating teams in the bottom half like wigan and QPR. Should Rodgers be able to do this i'm sure he will be a success. I just hope he will be given the time needed to rebuild the team and i wish him all the best.

  • Comment posted by User0179098864, at 00:51 31 May 2012

    Martinez might have proved he is a fantastic motivator, but maybe the sense of jeopardy from the risk of relegation had more to do with it. Swansea came into the season without taking the slightest bit of notice of the 'favourite for relegation' tag attached to them, showing the belief they had in their manager and playing style, it was tremendous.
    I just hope he brings Gylfi Sigurðsson with him.

  • Comment posted by koftinho, at 23:10 30 May 2012

    Happy with this appointment. BR has a good playing philosophy and i think if given at least 2-3 years Liverpool can start to think about champs league football again. Fenway never really wanted to install Dalglish but they would have had a coup d`etat at anfield if they hadn`t after the dramatic turnaround in performance. Liverpool still a huge global club despite what the drooling masses think.