• Premier League

Dalglish confirmed as Liverpool manager

Kenny Dalglish has been confirmed as the new full-time Liverpool manager, signing a three-year deal at Anfield.

The Scot has turned the club's fortunes around since assuming the caretaker manager role in January, leading the club to fifth in the table and to the brink of European football next season. Only Chelsea have claimed more league points since he took charge of the Reds.

Before Dalglish grabbed hold of the reins, Roy Hodgson had suffered nine defeats in his 20 league games in charge of Liverpool, leaving the club languishing four points off the relegation zone in 12th place.

But from that point onwards the Reds have been on an upward trajectory, recording impressive wins over Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea under Dalglish, who oversaw the signings of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in January.

The appointment marks the beginning of the 60-year-old's second spell as manager of Liverpool. In his first stint, Dalglish led the club to three league crowns - and fans will be desperate for him to add to that tally, as the club are on the brink of surrendering their 18-title record to Manchester United.

Speaking about the deal, Dalglish paid tribute to first-team coach Steve Clarke, who has also signed a three-year contract. "I said when I took the job on in January that I was just happy to help the club out for the remainder of the season," Dalglish said. "Now the owners have decided in their wisdom that they want me to stay a little longer and it's fantastic news for both myself and Steve Clarke that we have signed these contracts.

"I want to salute the efforts of all the players as they have been fantastic and thank everyone at the club for the welcome they have given me since I returned in January.

"I also want to pay tribute to Steve Clarke's input since we started working together as he has brought great experience and knowledge to the role. The players enjoy the training sessions, understand their relevance to our actual football games and have responded brilliantly."

Tom Werner, Liverpool's chairman, said: "It was extremely important that we enjoyed a period of stability after some difficult times and Kenny has done a tremendous job over the last three months in bringing the whole club back together.

"It's clear how much the players have responded to his leadership, his man management skills and knowledge of the game and that sense of optimism now runs throughout the club. We have a clear vision of the way a Liverpool team should play and the way the club should be run and Kenny's inspirational effect on the senior squad and his keenness to involve and feature the younger players from our academy set-up sits perfectly with that way of thinking."

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