One of the favourite sons of Anfield, Dalglish returned to Liverpool to take control of the club for six months after Roy Hodgson had been sacked in early January 2011 and was given a three-year contract just before the end of the season.

Liverpool had stuttered in the latter stages of Rafael Benitez's reign and, despite Hodgson's success with Fulham, he could not arrest a slide that had seen them fall woefully off the pace for the title. So Liverpool turned to 'King Kenny' - a man whose name is synonymous with success at the club and who was already working as an ambassador at Anfield.

Dalglish played for just two clubs throughout his career. As a youth player, he joined Celtic (despite having supported rivals Rangers as a boy) and scored 112 goals in 204 appearances for the club before moving to Liverpool in 1977.

In Scotland, Dalglish won four Scottish First Division titles, four Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup between 1971 and 1977 and rose to captain the side, but after choosing to move south for a then-British record fee of £440,000, his achievements in England made him a legend in the game.

A vital part of one of Liverpool's most successful periods in their history, he picked up seven league titles, three European Cups and five domestic cups during his time at the club - including the Double in his first season as player/manager in 1986. He also set a record for both appearances and goals for Scotland - 30 goals in 102 games - before taking up a managerial role with Liverpool in 1985.

Following the tragedy of the Heysel Stadium disaster, Dalglish brought Liverpool a league and FA Cup Double in his first year. He kept the club consistently high in the First Division and brought three league wins and two FA Cups from 1985-1991, but tragedy struck again as the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 saw 96 fans crushed to death; it was an event that would have a profound effect on both the club and Dalglish himself.

Despite the fact that Liverpool were leading the league, Dalglish shocked the footballing world by resigning in February 1991, claiming he was keen to take a break from the game. However, Jack Walker's revolution at Blackburn persuaded him to return to football in October and he immediately led Rovers into the newly formed Premier League.

Spending record sums on the likes of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, he turned the side into Premier League winners in 1994-95 and sealed one of the most shocking titles of all time, before moving on to become the club's director of football at the end of the season.

He did not appear again as a manager until January 1997, when he joined Newcastle United. However, it was not a successful time as, after claiming an FA Cup final place and a second-place finish in his first season, he was sacked two games into 1998-99.

Returning to Celtic, he was appointed director of football in June 1999 and took over briefly after the sacking of John Barnes to lead them to a Scottish League Cup win. But he left in acrimonious circumstances as Celtic opted to bring in Martin O'Neill over his head and he quit the game for a period of ten years to focus on charity work, founding The Marina Dalglish Appeal with his wife to raise money for cancer care.

Consistently linked with a return to Liverpool, he was given a role in the club's youth academy in 2009, while also working as an ambassador at Anfield. 'King Kenny' was then called upon to take charge of the club after Hodgson's dismissal and, given possibly the biggest challenge of his managerial career, he led the club to 7th place after a shocking start to the season.

Strengths: With a great eye for talent, Dalglish has a lot of experience in the English game and has the backing of both the fans and the players.

Weaknesses: Perceived as a dour man by the media, his reputation is still one that goes before him and is hard to live up to. Tactically he has been caught short a few times.

Career high: Winning the 1994-95 Premier League with unfancied Blackburn Rovers to break the domination of Manchester United.

Career low: The 1989 Hillsborough disaster was an event he has never fully recovered from and played its part in his eventual resignation from Liverpool.

Tactics: Dalglish's tactics in his success at Blackburn were not vastly dissimilar from Hodgson's. Keen to see his wide men provide some attacking thrust, he favours a 4-4-2, with some support for the fashionable lone frontman.

Quotes: "Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants. We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season." Liverpool owner John W Henry, January 2011.

Trivia: Dalglish is only the third manager in the history of the game to lead two different clubs to league championships, Herbert Chapman (Arsenal and Huddersfield Town) and Brian Clough (Derby County and Nottingham Forest) being the others.