'Brendan will make LFC great'
Former Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington believes Liverpool have made a very astute choice in appointing Brendan Rodgers as their new manager.
The ex-Sheffield Wednesday left-back is also a cousin of the new Kop boss and he insists the new man at the helm will improve Liverpool's fortunes for the better.
"I'm absolutely delighted for Brendan and Liverpool Football Club. I think it's a very courageous thing that Liverpool have appointed a young British coach, and let me tell you he will be very successful with Liverpool.
"For me it's a very good gamble. Brendan is a very level headed coach who is very enthusiastic about his work, he is very knowledgeable and very down to earth, and those things will take him a long way.
"He knows how to deal with the press, he is very comfortable, he is very assured of himself, he knows his own mind which is very important when you need to lead people.
"If he can get the amount of work and application out of world class players at Liverpool that he had with good players at Swansea, then Liverpool are in for very exciting times.
"His man management is very good. He has worked under some good managers and I think Jose Mourinho, who Brendan worked with at Chelsea, was one who he really took to and Mourinho took to him, so they are very close.
"As Brendan has already stated he wants the players to play his way and the philosophy of the game and they will have to buy into that."
Worthington admits he is delighted to see his cousin managing one of the biggest clubs in the world and will be contacting him shortly to pass on his congratulations.
He added: "I haven't spoke to him yet and I'm waiting until the dust settles, and I will certainly speak to him then. Because football life is so hectic I only get to see him on coaching courses or football matches, but I'm very proud for Brendan and his family because he has worked hard and did a fantastic job at Swansea.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for him to manage a fantastic football club known throughout the world.
"He was very football minded as a youngster. He played for the same local team as I did. I'm a little bit older, and I stress a little bit (laughs), but we played for Ballymena in the Irish league and then he got a move to Reading, but unfortunately his career was cut short by injury, and that's what directed Brendan into coaching.
"He's really grabbed the bull by the horns. He didn't waste any time and he threw himself into it. He started off with Reading's Academy and moved on from there to Chelsea, again working with better players and better coaches.
"He gained a lot of knowledge and he took that into management with him at Watford and then he went back to Reading as manager and it just didn't work out for him there. He then went to Swansea where it was fantastic for him and he's now at Liverpool and I think it's going to be exciting times.
"I think it's everybody's dream to manage a team like Liverpool, and I'm sure none more so than Brendan's, and he has realised one of those dreams.
"He is at a fantastic football club and if he can get the team to play with the same passion and pride as shown by the Liverpool supporters then they will be successful."