Group Work Vital To Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers admits he sought assurances that no director of football would be appointed alongside him before taking the reins at Liverpool.

The Reds officially unveiled their new manager on Friday, with Rodgers having been lured away from Premier League rivals Swansea.

He is the man charged with the task of returning the Merseyside outfit to the top of the domestic game and back into the UEFA Champions League elite.

A successful spell at the Liberty Stadium convinced the Anfield board that he was the right man for the job, with his philosophies matching those of a club steeped in trophy-winning history.

Rodgers has, however, made it clear to the Liverpool hierarchy that he wants to do things his own way - and the Reds have agreed that they will not be looking for a successor to Damien Comolli, who left his role as director of football in April.

"That was one of the issues that I brought up when I was speaking with the club, that I wouldn't work directly with someone in that role," said Rodgers.

"I work best around a group of people. It's about a group of people when you come to a big club, you can't do it on your own.

"Of course there has to be leadership but, for me, if it was a sporting director or director of football, which was something I made quite clear that I couldn't work with.

"What you need at a football club is an outstanding recruitment team, an outstanding medical team, sports science team, player liaison.

"These are all people that will come into the group and then we will form as a football club a technical board, as most clubs do. There will be four or five people around that group who will decide the way forward."

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre claims the club were happy to meet Rodgers' demands.

He said: "The structure really is to - Brendan is aware of this and it was part of that process of finding the person that fits - is a more continental director of football type structure, where you have got a collaborative group of people working around the football area.

"We don't envisage at this point of time having a director of football per se, but having a group of people who will work collaboratively with Brendan to deliver the football side of it."