Some 24 hours after seeing one trophy wrestled away, Brendan Rodgers belatedly got his hands on some silverware.

The Liverpool FC boss was crowned League Managers Association (LMA) Manager of the Year at Monday night's ceremony at London's Old Billingsgate.

Rodgers deservedly beat off competition from Crystal Palace's Tony Pulis and Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini to become the first Reds winner of the prestigious accolade in the award's 20-year history, with Pulis picking up the prize for the Premier League.

It was recognition from his peers for the remarkable job Rodgers has done in transforming Liverpool from mid-table also-rans into Premier League title contenders in the space of nine months.

Bill Shankly famously once said: "If you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing."

But the managers of England's top four divisions have looked beyond who walked away with the big prize.

They have shown their appreciation for the work of the most talented young coach in the country.

Pulis was the bookies' favourite after masterminding the Great Escape at Selhurst Park - dragging Palace off the bottom and up to the dizzy heights of 11th place.

Yet that revival was built on defensive solidity and organisation, what Rodgers has achieved at Anfield has been on a different level.

The brand of attacking football he has installed has been lauded as the best Kopites have witnessed for a quarter of a century.

The Northern Irishman - in just his third season as a top flight boss - has made a mockery of the idea that you can only compete at the top end of the Premier League with an endless supply of cash.

Liverpool's net spend last summer was just £17million and they didn't add to their thin squad in January.

Chelsea and Tottenham embarked on £100million spending splurges in pursuit of glory but Rodgers ensured the Reds out-performed them both as they made the sizeable leap from seventh to second.

The statistics underline the rate of progress.

Their 84-point haul was up 23 points on 2012-13 and their tally of 101 league goals - the club's best since 1896 - represented a 30-goal leap on the previous campaign.

A run of 11 successive league victories was Liverpool's best since 1990 and six straight away wins equalled a club record.

Rodgers made light of missing out on top transfer targets such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Willian, Mohamed Salah and Yevhen Konoplyanka.

Instead he focused his efforts on draining every last drop of talent out of the players at his disposal.

His Liverpool team is littered with examples of how those countless hours on the pitches at Melwood have paid dividends.

The rate of improvement in the likes of Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Jon Flanagan is testament to Rodgers' work in ensuring natural ability is twinned with tactical intelligence.

He has given captain Steven Gerrard a new lease of life by re-inventing him as a deep-lying playmaker.

Gerrard recently admitted he had been "blown away" by Rodgers' tactical expertise and a man-management style that "makes you go out on to the pitch feeling a million dollars".

He has unlocked the rich potential in Daniel Sturridge and turned him from Chelsea reject into England's No 9 at the World Cup finals.

The way he handled Luis Suarez last summer was exceptional. Strong leadership ensured the Uruguayan was brought back into line.

Suarez has credited Rodgers for helping him produce the best form of his life as the Footballer of the Year became the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush in the mid-80s to notch 30 league goals in a season.

The unity, spirit and camaraderie the manager has fostered enabled Liverpool to mount their best shot at the title for 24 years.

How times have changed for Rodgers since the dark days of four years ago when he out of work after being shown the door by Reading.

He applied for three jobs - two in the Championship and one in League One - but didn't even get an interview.

Instead he flew to Dubai for a holiday and spent his time writing down what he would do differently if he got another opportunity to prove himself.

He vowed to be more ruthless in his approach and not wait for solutions to fall into place.

Swansea City finally came knocking and Rodgers' upward climb began. His success in South Wales secured his passage to Anfield.

Today the name of the 41-year-old from Carnlough in County Antrim sits proudly on the LMA honours board alongside the likes of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

A new long-term contract will soon be signed and his stock will continue to rise.

Rodgers has come a long way in a short space of time and he has taken Liverpool with him.

The members of the LMA have recognised the efforts of a man who has proved he belongs at the highest level.

Source: Daily Express