Roy Hodgson claims being Liverpool manager ‘is the biggest job in football’ as he looks to bring the glory days back to the Merseysiders (Liverpool 8/1 Premier League 2010-11 Outright) having signed a three-year contract at Anfield.

The 62-year-old has opted to quit Fulham, whom he guided to last season’s Europa League final against the odds, and will take the first day of pre-season training with the Reds on Thursday before being officially unveiled as Rafael Benitez’s successor.

Hodgson’s good work at Fulham last season, where he was manager since December 2007, saw him guide the unfashionable Londoners to wins against top European sides such as Juventus and Wolfsburg and earned him the League Managers Association manager of the year award.

And it appears that his other work with the Cottagers over the past two-and-a-half-years, where he dragged the club from being relegation certainties to a top-seven outfit, has attracted the Liverpool hierarchy to his managerial credentials.

On taking the job, Hodgson, who has vast management experience having coached clubs sides such as Blackburn and Inter Milan, while enjoying fairly successful stints in charge of the Switzerland and Finland national teams, said on the Reds’ website: “This is the biggest job in club football and I’m honoured to be taking on Britain’s most successful football club.”

The confirmation of Hodgson’s appointment ends a summer of speculation about who would replace Inter Milan-bound Benitez, who quit after a disappointing campaign in which Liverpool finished in seventh spot in the Premier League and missed out on the Champions League.

The hard work now starts for Hodgson as he will look to ensure star players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard are not tempted to jump ship for pastures new ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser against Arsenal at Anfield (Liverpool 5/4, Arsenal 7/4, draw 9/4 90 Minutes) on August 14.

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