Liverpool Football Club - The awakening of a sleeping giant

Brendan Rodgers steps down as Liverpool manager.

Brendan Rodgers has stepped down as manager of Liverpool Football Club, for currently unknown reasons.

The club announced that the former Watford, Reading and Swansea manager had stepped down with immediate effect, leaving assistant manager Colin Pascoe in charge of the clubs dealings until a new manager has been appointed. Liverpool's long serving captain, Steven Gerrard, was also caught by surprise over Rodgers' resignation.

"I'm not sure what went wrong." the Liverpool captain said. "At the end of last season he was really optimistic about the way they club had been progressing, and he even said that he was looking forward to next season. I'm utterly clueless."

We have been unable to get into contact with Brendan Rodgers himself, to get a statement.

As of right now, there is a lot of speculation as to who the next manager will be. The current front runners for the job are believed to be Rafa Benitez, Frank Rijkaard and Frank de Boer.

Liverpool manager appointment has fans in shock

Liverpool have appointed 28 year old Andreas Dähnert as Liverpool manager. The young Dane only finished his top level coaching badges six months ago, and had been on the lookout for a new job ever since. The fans and media alike are puzzled by the Liverpool board's decision to appoint sich an inexperienced manager.

Andreas does have some footballing experience, having been a youth player at Danish Superliga side SønderjyskE for a number of years, before a career ending injury hit.

It wil certainly be an interesting season for The Reds. Will they surprise everyone, or are we about to witness another year of mediocre football? Only time will tell.

Quadruple transfer activity at Liverpool, and early injury woes for manager Andreas Dähnert

New Liverpool boos Andreas Dähnert hasn't wasted any time putting his own mark on the squad, sending two players out and bringing two new players in. Meanwhile, Liverpool's wonderkid Raheem Sterling has received a serious injury in training.

Transfers

Players coming in:

Eder Alvarez Balanta - River Plate - £7 million

The Colombian youngster was snatched up by Liverpool for a reported fee of of £7 million from Argentinian side River Plate. Reds boss Dähnert and fans alike are hoping that he will be the answer to the defensive issues Liverpool had last season. The 21 year old Colombian international played 29 games for River last season, whilst also notching up 4 international caps.

Lasse Schöne - Ajax - £5 million

Another new arrival this season is 28 year old Danish midfielder Lasse Schöne, who has signed a 4 year deal with the club. The versatile midfielder, who can play in any midfield - or striker - position was snapped up by Liverpool for approximately £5 million. This is a peculiar move, as Liverpool already are well covered in the midfield with Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen, Phillipe Coutinho, Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen and Adam Lallana. The Danish international was in great form last season, netting 11 goals in 35 games.

Players going out:

Martin Skrtel - Tottenham Hotspur - £13 million

In a very strange move, Liverpool have decided to sell Martin Skrtel. One of the clubs top performers last season was let go to Premier League rivals Tottenham, for a fee of £13 million. Skrtel was in superb form last season, netting 7 goals in 36 Permier League apperances. The Liverpool fans are surely going to be scratching their heads over this for a while.

Suso - Napoli - Loan

After a loan spell at Almeria, Suso had hoped to fight for a place in the starting 11 at Liverpool. With the arrival of Lasse Schöne however, Suso is forced to spend another year on loan. This time at Italian side Napoli.

Raheem Sterling out for 4 months

Liverpool have been dealt a massive injury blow as England international Raheem Sterling broke his foot in training. Reports suggest that he may be out for 4 months, which means he will miss the start of the season. Sterling was one of Liverpool's star performers last season, and will surely be missed.

"It's terrible." The Danish manager said. "It's absolutely terrible. Raheem [Sterling] is a major part of this team. I'm sure we will manage to cope with his injury, however this is not an ideal time, with our first game of the season against [Manchester] United approaching fast, I need everyone fit. But what's done is done. With Adam Lallana already set to miss the start of the season, this couldn't have come at a worse time."

Losing Sterling could be a bitter blow to your chances of pushing for Champions League football again this season. Good luck! YNWA!

Thanks! I'm definitely gonna need some luck with Sterling being injured for so long. But I'm still confident that we'll cope!

Acceptable Liverpool pre-season causes optimism among fans for the coming season

Liverpool's pre-season results were more than enough to satisfy the Anfield faithful. Liverpool won all 5 of their pre-season games, conceding only 1 goal in 5 games. Even though the games were against significantly weaker oppositions, there is a sense of optimism around the club and its fans. The results were as follows:

Shenhua 0 - 3 Liverpool
Guangzhou 0 - 2 Liverpool
Preston 0 - 2 Liverpool
Zaragoza 0 - 4 Liverpool
Shandong 1 - 5 Liverpool

Liverpool sign Iraqi wonderkid Humam Tariq

Upon completing their pre-season, Liverpool have confirmed the capture of 18 year old Iraqi international Humam Tariq for a fee believed to be £350.000. However, Liverpool fans won't see the talented midfielder play for their club in the near future. Issues with securing a work permit have resulted in the 18 year old being loaned out to Bulgarian side Ludogorets for the remainder of the season. Should a work permit be secured in the meantime however, Liverpool have included a recall clause in the loan deal, meaning that the club are free to recall the player if they so desire.

These are exciting times at Anfield, and the fans will surely hope that the transfers - and manager - will be able to deliver.