Roy Hodgson’s just perfect, says Steven Gerrard

The 62-year-old faces an immediate rebuilding job with Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and Javier Mascherano all expected to leave this summer.

Liverpool are £350million in debt with American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks having put the club up for sale.

Gerrard, who will meet with the new manager this afternoon, has also been linked with a move to Real Madrid to join up with Jose Mourinho but today the Liverpool captain gave his full backing to Hodgson's appointment as replacement for Rafael Benitez.

"The club have made a good appointment in Roy Hodgson," Gerrard told liverpoolfc.tv.

"Rafa left a few weeks ago and I know the club were determined to take their time and get the right man for the job. Roy is hugely experienced and I believe he is the right man for Liverpool.

"I think it's been worth the wait and I'm sure he's just keen now to get on with it and start to quickly put in place his plans for the new season."

Hodgson said he wanted all the club's stars to stay but if any left he has been promised transfer money to strengthen the squad.

"It's very important for Steven Gerrard and all the top players to stay at the club," he said at a press conference today. "I can't nail people's feet to the ground but I can tell them that we will do everything in our power to keep them. I can't give any guarantees, though."

Hodgson refused to be drawn on whether he had been waiting for Fabio Capello's England future to become more clear over the next fortnight but added: "It's not my job to say whether Fabio should stay on, it's nothing to do with me."

There has been no concrete interest in taking over Liverpool despite the American owners willingness to sell the club but Hodgson said he was not concerned by the upheaval in the Anfield boardroom.

"That's not my priority," he said. "What goes on with the owners doesn't really concern me. My No1 priority is to help the team do better than they did last year and, if possible, get back in the Champions League.

"This is the right job for me. The club did their homework before asking me and I am looking forward to starting."

Liverpool have agreed to pay Fulham in the region of £2m to release Hodgson from his 12-month rolling contract and he has promised not to raid his former club for their star players, despite being linked with Brede Hangeland, Clint Dempsey and former Anfield midfielder Danny Murphy.

Hodgson arrived at the club's Melwood training ground this morning to meet those players who had returned for the first day of pre-season, although many of the club's stars are still on leave after playing at the World Cup.

He has less than a month to get to know his players and prepare them for a Europa League third qualifying round first-leg tie on 29 July.

He is at least familiar with the prospect, having guided Fulham from that starting point all the way to the final last season, eventually losing to Atletico Madrid.

The former Inter Milan and Switzerland manager then has to begin the task of strengthening a squad, severely lacking strength in depth, on a restricted budget expected to be in the region of only £12m — much as his predecessor had to do in the last couple of seasons of his reign.

Fulham placed assistant Ray Lewington in temporary charge this morning after losing the man who led them to the Europa League Final last season.

Sven-Goran Eriksson, in charge of the Ivory Coast at the World Cup, and Alan Curbishley are the two early front-runners to take over.