Past managersRoy Hodgson

The Reds acted swiftly to appoint Hodgson after the Benitez era drew to a close by mutual consent. The Englishman arrived at Anfield with a gleaming reputation having helped Fulham to two of the greatest seasons in their history.

His final act with the Cottagers was to steer them to the Europa League final against all odds, where they were narrowly defeated by Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.

However, Hodgson's endeavours were enough to clinch the LMA Manager of the Year accolade by a record margin, serving to add to an already rich footballing pedigree.

It was no surprise, therefore, to see him heavily linked with the vacant position at Anfield, and on July 1 the club confirmed his hiring on a three-year deal.

After a below-par 2009-10 season, optimism began to rise again and was helped in no small part by the decision of star duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to commit their futures to Liverpool shortly after speaking with the new manager.

The acquisition of England winger Joe Cole on a free transfer from Chelsea ahead of an extensive queue of other elite teams from across Europe only bolstered the feel-good factor around Anfield.

Things certainly began brightly on the pitch for Hodgson, too. He oversaw a routine 2-0 Europa League qualifying victory over FK Rabotnicki in Macedonia in his first competitive game in charge on July 29, before Liverpool won the return leg by the same scoreline at Anfield one week later.

On August 15, Hodgson took charge of his first Premier League game for Liverpool as Arsenal travelled to Merseyside on 2010-11's opening weekend.

Despite going down to 10 men on the stroke of the interval following a red card for Cole on his league bow, the Reds staged a gallant second-half display and duly took the lead through David Ngog. However, an uncharacteristic stoppage-time error from Pepe Reina gifted the Gunners a point.

A heavy 3-0 reversal at Manchester City was sandwiched in between Europa League victories over Trabzonspor as Liverpool secured safe passage into the group stage - though the desire of Javier Mascherano to join Barcelona tempered any joy the Reds felt as they journeyed back from Turkiye.

Hodgson moved quickly to swell his midfield ranks in the aftermath of the departure of the Argentina captain to Camp Nou, signing FC Porto's Raul Meireles to add to the earlier purchase of Christian Poulsen. Full-back Paul Konchesky would later be drafted in from Fulham.

But the Reds' form was beginning to stutter domestically and after a scrappy defeat of West Bromwich Albion at home and a low-key goalless draw at Birmingham City, they suffered a morale-sapping loss against Manchester United in mid-September.

That frustration was compounded by a shock penalty shootout exit from the League Cup at the first hurdle to League Two outfit Northampton Town at Anfield just days later.

A 2-1 defeat against newly promoted Blackpool in front of the Kop on October 3 left Liverpool languishing in the bottom three of the table - and the Reds fared little better in Hodgson's first Merseyside derby, crashing to a 2-0 reversal against Everton at Goodison Park.

The Europa League was providing Liverpool with some welcome respite from their Premier League form, and a hard-fought goalless draw at Napoli proved the catalyst for the Reds to embark on their best run of the campaign so far.

Following a win versus Blackburn Rovers at Anfield, Hodgson oversaw his first league away victory at the helm against Bolton Wanderers on October 31 courtesy of Maxi Rodriguez's dramatic winner at the death.

Napoli were then put to the sword at Anfield thanks to a superlative second-half hat-trick from Gerrard to all but assure a spot in the knockout stages of the Europa League.

Liverpool then produced arguably their finest performance of the entire calendar year, comprehensively dispatching defending champions Chelsea 2-0 at Anfield with an on-song Torres firing a memorable brace.

A draw at Wigan Athletic extended the Reds' unbeaten run to six matches in all competitions, but defeat at Stoke City was cause for further disappointment. Back on the continent, though, a 1-1 draw in Romania against Steaua Bucharest was enough to secure top spot in Europa League Group K with a game to spare.

Meanwhile, dominant home wins over West Ham United and Aston Villa, and a spirited display at Tottenham Hotspur, gave cause for renewed hope, only for Liverpool to slump to a loss at Newcastle United.

A surprise 1-0 Anfield setback to bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 29 further intensified pressure on Hodgson and the Reds.

And though a New Year's Day win over Bolton was achieved, a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn - Liverpool's ninth of the campaign - proved a result too far for Hodgson, who vacated the helm by mutual consent shortly after.