Liverpool (40/1 – Premier League Outright Winners 2012/13) have finally ended a very public and possibly embarrassing hunt to find their new manager and confirmed Brendan Rodgers as the man who takes over from Kenny Dalglish in the Anfield hot-seat.

Despite those in the Reds hierarchy, in particular chairman Tom Werner, claiming the Swansea manager was always their first choice, the way they seemed to publicly chase Roberto Martinez, and also Louis van Gaal , casts some doubts over the claims Rodgers was number one on their shopping list.

But it is Rodgers who all the Liverpool fans will hope ends their long-awaited title drought and end their fall from grace. There is no doubting the history of Liverpool, how great they were in the 1970s and 80s, but this Liverpool is completely different and anyone thinking their new boss can transform them into a side capable of challenging Manchester City and Manchester United straightaway is from another planet (City 11/8, United 2/1 – Premier League Outright Winners 2012/13).

Rodgers leapt to people’s attention when Jose Mourinho head-hunted him to run the Chelsea youth team, then the reserve team, and he took his first senior managerial role at Watford in 2008. The Northern Irishman did well enough to guide them to safety but within eight months his eyes flickered elsewhere and he was off, jumping at the opportunity to take over at Reading (11/10 – Premier League Relegation 2012/13).

It was a shocking time for Rodgers at the Madejski Stadium and he was given the boot before Christmas 2009 after a string of terrible results, and then he spent seven months unemployed. This was a period where he failed to get an interview for a League Two position he had applied for. Ask any Liverpool fan back then if they would ever want this man to manage their side and you would have got laughed off Merseyside.

Finally, Swansea (5/2 – Premier League Relegation 2012/13) took a punt on Rodgers and handed him the lifeline and that started a rise to prominence that resulted in him getting the Anfield hot-seat. It is true that he got Swansea playing great football and they have over-achieved during his time there, but it remains that Rodgers has got a massive job after only one season of managing in the Premier League and the pressures at Liverpool will grossly increase compared to the Liberty Stadium.

There is a lot of work to be done at Liverpool and it would require a miracle if he can get the current crop at Anfield playing the same type of football he won plaudits for in Wales. The likes of Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing have been highly derided and Rodgers will need to make the decision of whether to stick with the struggling troops or kick them out the Anfield exit door.

The Liverpool board are likely to throw money at the problem – like they have always seemed to do in recent years – and there remains the chance Rodgers could go the same way of Roy Hodgson.

If the Reds are struggling down the table come Christmas then the fans are likely to start screaming for the manager’s head again. The hardest thing Rodgers has to do is to calm down the expectations of the Liverpool fans – a top-six finish would be good, top four amazing, but winning the title nigh on impossible.

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