New manager Brendan Rodgers tried to say all the right things on Friday when he assured Liverpool's fervent fans that he would dedicate his life to fighting for the club and its passing principles.

It was a confident start from a man who is facing a huge challenge in convincing the supporters and English soccer in general that he is the man to revive the fallen giants after one good season in the Premier League with Swansea City.

"Footballers are footballers. They want to learn and be educated and improve. That's something I've done with all types of players," said Rodgers, whose own playing career ended at the age of 20 due to a knee condition.

Having the Anfield crowd on side is a crucial part of the job as current England manager Roy Hodgson discovered in his own short-lived and unhappy time at Liverpool.

Kenny Dalglish, the sacked club great who Rodgers replaces, could never be faulted for his passion for a footballing institution and many fans were upset that he was let go last month despite a lowly eighth place Premier League finish.

Passion only goes so far, however, and Liverpool's American owners are convinced Rodgers has other qualities needed to set the five times champions of Europe back on the road to success.

His appointment and the expected announcement of Norwich City's Paul Lambert at Aston Villa - also American owned - may be seen as a sign that the tide has turned and young British coaching talent is again on the rise in the Premier League.

But what makes the 39-year-old Northern Irishman particularly attractive to his new employers is that he is in so many ways untypical of the British manager of Dalglish's generation.

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner highlighted the new manager's style of "attacking, relentless football" and spoke of him as a coach at the forefront of a new wave.

He talked of Rodgers' talents as motivator and technician and his accomplishments at Swansea, a club with one of the smallest grounds in the Premier League who defied expectations of a swift return to the second division with some delightfully stylish performances last season.

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ANALYSIS-Soccer-Rodgers comes out fighting for big battles ahead