Exclusive: Brendan on signing new LFC deal

Fenway Sports Group, the Reds' owners, rewarded the Northern Irishman for both his efforts since arriving at the club in June 2012 and his side's achievements throughout 2013-14.

Rodgers steered Liverpool back to Champions League football for the first time in five years as the Reds finished second in the Barclays Premier League.

Having put pen to paper on a new contract with the club, Rodgers spoke exclusively over the phone to Liverpoolfc.com to reflect on an important day in his managerial career.

You can listen to what the 41-year-old had to say for free by clicking play on the video embedded below - or scroll down to read a full transcript of the interview with Rodgers.

Watch the video here »

Brendan, many congratulations on signing a new contract with Liverpool. How much does it mean to you to put pen to paper on a new deal here?

It's a huge privilege for me to manage this club and to have been offered the opportunity to carry on with the work I have been doing over the last couple of years. It leaves me hugely honoured. I'm absolutely delighted to be able to continue what has been a really exciting time for the club. We'll look to move forward again next season and over the coming seasons.

You said that you wanted to wait until the campaign was over before signing - how important was the timing of this announcement for you?

It was very important for me. We were talking through the season, but my focus was really on the team and the supporters. I wanted to just make sure we could focus entirely on what we were doing and on the job in hand. Any contract talk we would speak on afterwards. It was important that we tried to finish the season in the highest position we possibly could and that would allow us then to look at speaking about the contract after that. It was always going to be straightforward because I love being at Liverpool. There's still a lot of development in the club for me and it was always going to be straightforward once the season was finished.

In terms of your vision for Liverpool, how far do you think the club has progressed since you arrived here in June 2012?

I've been very pleased with the culture and the environment that we've created over the last two seasons. That has been key in helping us make the strides that we have. We've got a bunch of players now that are very hungry, who are very committed to helping Liverpool. I take great pride and I trust every single one of the players. They are truly professional in their approach. They dedicate their lives to making Liverpool the very best it can be. So I think the environment that we have created and the culture that we have for learning, for both senior and young players, I've been delighted with. But we'll now move into the next phase. We're into the Champions League. Our dream and goal is to win the Barclays Premier League. That's what we want to do. We've shown this season that we can compete for that. With some new additions in the summer, we believe that we can fight again. The objective for me was to try to get Liverpool established again as one of the leading clubs in European and domestic football and we're on course for that.

Having tasted the Anfield atmosphere at its finest towards the end of this season, how much are you looking forward to the famous Champions League nights back at Anfield?

It's a real exciting time. I've seen the games before and I've been fortunate enough to have been at Anfield on a Champions League occasion and they are truly special occasions. You see the support the players get. We had it in the Europa League, when I sensed a little bit of that atmosphere. Of course, it's a different competition, but when we needed to get the win against Zenit St Petersburg, the supporters that night were incredible. Throughout my time here, in the big games, the supporters really show how passionate they are and they show why they are the great set of supporters that they are. We'll really look forward to it. We know that, in the Champions League, if we can perform well away from home, that in the home games, we're going to be hard to beat because of the supporters and the quality of the team.

FSG today expressed their delight at the fact that you have signed a new contract - can you describe how important their support has been since you arrived at Liverpool?

That has been key for me because, as a young manager, coming into such a prestigious club, I was going to need that time to implement the ideas that I wanted to. They had shown an inherent belief in my work since the very first day that we spoke. So our relationship is very strong. I'm a great admirer of theirs and their honesty and how they have given me the opportunity to be here. But, as I said, there's a real trust and a real strong relationship between both of us. I'm delighted for them because they put a young man in charge of a great club and they believed in me. One of the big reasons I came to Liverpool was because of them and hopefully they feel vindicated because of the work we have carried out over the last two years. I'm delighted now to be able to carry on that relationship with them.

What is your plan of action for the summer ahead of the next campaign - will we see new signings?

That's the idea. Obviously it's the off-season and we have the World Cup and other various things going on. People need to refresh and have a break because we have a long season ahead next season. But in the meantime, we're still working on signings, the staff behind the scenes, myself, the recruitment team, Ian Ayre - we're all working hard still in terms of looking to get players in. Of course, at the club, where we are now, the signings are complex; they are not all simple signings. But we need to strengthen up the squad and that's something that we're working hard to do over the next number of weeks.

Your relationship with the Liverpool supporters seems to have developed into something special, what is your message to them after today's news?

First of all, I want to say a big thank-you because they have been patient with me as well as the team. Their support for me is vital. They are the greatest supporters in world football. Liverpool supporters know their football and they know they are part of a great institution. I'm just very honoured and privileged every time they sing my name or show me that support out on the street. It's very, very important for me. It gives me great encouragement every day of my life that all the supporters I meet are very complimentary of the work that is going on at the moment. Hopefully now, this contract extension will allow us to develop that relationship even more, because it's a relationship that I want to continue.

If you're an LFCTV GO subscriber, you can watch the manager's end of season review by clicking here.