Roy Hodgson's miserable six-month reign as Liverpool manager was ended Saturday amid a fan revolt with former title-winning player and boss Kenny Dalglish given the task of revitalizing the team until the end of the season.
Dalglish, who has been out of management for more than a decade, was returning from holiday in the Middle East to take charge of the side in the FA Cup at fierce northwest rival Manchester United on Sunday.
Hodgson presided over Liverpool's worst start to a season for more than 50 years - a dismal run that coincided with star players underperforming, financial instability and a bitter court battle to oust unpopular American owners.
But even the arrival of Boston Red Sox owner John Henry in October couldn't halt the dire form on the pitch by Rafa Benitez's successor.
While Hodgson vowed not to resign, the club finally lost patience with him after Wednesday's 3-1 loss at Blackburn - a ninth defeat in 20 Premier League matches - left Liverpool four points above the relegation zone.
''We are grateful for Roy's efforts over the past six months, but both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down from his position as team manager,'' Henry said.
It completes a dramatic swing in fortunes for the 63-year-old Hodgson, who was named manager of the year after steering Fulham to its first ever European final in May despite Atletico Madrid winning the Europa League title.
Hodgson's downfall began after an embarrassing League Cup loss at home to fourth-tier club Northampton in September.
The team even found itself in the relegation zone in October after losing to promoted Blackpool, the first time since September 1964 Liverpool had ended a round of topflight fixtures in such a position.
A victory over Chelsea in November was a rare high, and Hodgson angered fans last week by saying he ''had never had the famous Anfield support.''
Hodgson said Saturday in a statement released by Liverpool that ''the last few months (were) some of the most challenging of my career.''
The much-traveled Englishman has previously taken charge of three national sides and had managerial roles with clubs in six different countries including Inter Milan.
''I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool,'' Hodgson said.
Now Dalglish, who left Liverpool due to stress less than a year after the delivering the team's 18th - and most recent - topflight title triumph in 1990, has a chance to prove he is up to the job again.
The 59-year-old Dalglish was overlooked for the manager's job in July by then owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. But his name has been chanted by fans for several months as he watched the team struggle from the directors' box in his position as a club ambassador.
''Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants,'' Henry said. ''We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season.''
While Dalglish hasn't managed a club for more than a decade and was fired from his last jobs at Newcastle and Celtic, the Scotsman has stayed close to fans in recent months by embracing modern technology, with Saturday's appointment making him the first Premier League manager to have his own Twitter account.
Dalglish, who joined Liverpool as a player from Celtic in 1977, had already won the English league five times when he was promoted to player/manager from the 1985-86 season and won a further three.
But the glory years at Liverpool were also marked by tragedy.
He played in the 1985 European Cup final against Juventus, when 39 fans were killed at Brussels' Heysel Stadium after rioting. In 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at Hillsborough stadium.
Both incidents are thought to have left mental scars on the quietly spoken, deep-thinking Scot and led to his departure on health grounds in February 1991.
But by October of that year he was persuaded to return to football at Blackburn, which he took from the depths of the lower division to its first league title in 81 years in 1995. Then he quit again, moving sideways to become director of football before leaving the club the following year.
Dalglish resurfaced at Newcastle midway through the 1996-7 season, clinching a runners-up spot in the Premier League and qualification for the Champions League.
But he was fired after 20 months in August 1998, with his defense-minded tactics and dour demeanor never endearing him to the club's passionate fans.
After a year out of the game, Dalglish was hired by former club Celtic as director of football. When John Barnes was fired as manager in February 2000, Dalglish took over, but he went, too, at the end of the season after being unable to stop rival Rangers from running away with the Scottish league title.
After almost 11 years out of the dugout, Dalglish faces the toughest possible return to management in the cup at Man United, which has since matched Liverpool's haul of 18 English titles.
''He is still so involved in the game and watches probably as much football as (Arsenal manager) Arsene Wenger, which is saying something for someone who is not a manager,'' said BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson, who played for Liverpool in the 1980s.
''The good thing for Kenny is he can't really lose with his first match being the FA Cup game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. No one will expect Liverpool to win, so he can just get on with business after that.''
