On this day: Kenny Dalglish returns to manage Liverpool

By Liam Apicella, Features Editor | 08 January 2014

Three years ago today, Kenny Dalglish returned to manage Liverpool for a second time following the departure of Roy Hodgson.

To this day, Rafael Benitez is highly regarded among the Liverpool faithful. After all, he is the man that delivered the club their fifth success in Europe's elite competition.

So, when he departed Anfield in the summer of 2010, it was going to take someone with broad shoulders to replace the Spaniard.

A host of names were linked with the vacancy, but the owners eventually plumped for Roy Hodgson, who had guided unfashionable Fulham to the final of the Europa League during the previous campaign. The future England boss, though, would win just seven of his first 20 Premier League fixtures, which culminated in him leaving the club on this day three years ago.

At the same time, it was announced that Kenny Dalglish had returned to the helm, initially in caretaker charge, until the end of the season.

The Scot had scored 169 goals during 355 outings for the club, whom he also managed between 1985 and 1991, during which time he guided the Reds to three league titles and two FA Cups. He stepped down despite that success, citing the stresses of the job.

"Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants," said owner John W Henry upon Dalglish's acceptance of the role. "We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season."

As for the departing Hodgson, he said in a statement on the club's official website: "I have found the last few months some of the most challenging of my career. I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool."

Dalglish went on to be offered the job on a permanent basis in the May of that year and oversaw success in the League Cup, but finishing eighth during the 2011-12 season meant that Liverpool would be without Champions League football for the third successive year. That, ultimately, cost Dalglish his job.