Brendan Rodgers made a fascinating first television appearance since his October sacking as Liverpool managerin Sky’s Goals on Sunday.

The Northern Irishman had his say on a range of subjects, from Liverpool’s transfer policy, nearly signing Alexis Sanchez and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea departure.

Sportsmail brings you the best of his quotes: 

Brendan Rodgers made a fascinating appearance on Sky’s Goals on Sunday and spoke of his time at Liverpool

Northern Irishman Rodgers was sacked as manager of Liverpool in October after three years at the club

RODGERS ON HIS LIVERPOOL CAREER:

‘I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to manage such a great club. 

‘Liverpool is one of the great institutions of the world and you understand that when you see it from the outside but you only really get to know when you go inside as manager. 

‘Every word you say, within a matter of seconds, is around the world.’

RODGERS ON HIS TIME AWAY FROM FOOTBALL:

‘I’ve been spending time with the family and travelling. You know what it is like, it is so intense when you are a manager, the spotlight is on you the whole time. 

‘(I want to) take a bit of time out and then obviously look forward to the next challenge and hopefully, come the summer time, I can get back in again.’

RODGERS ON WORKING ABROAD:

‘It is something that I would consider. But I want to find the time to recover well and make sure the motivation is renewed when I go back in. It can be wherever, as long as it is an exciting project to go into, the club want to work together and build something.

‘I think wherever you go, you have to go to win. No matter where you go, what country it is, you want to be in with a chance of winning.’

Sterling departed Liverpool to join Manchester City last summer for a transfer fee of £49million 

Ex-Liverpool man Rodgers also heaped praise upon the goalkeeper he signed at the club, Simon Mignolet

RODGERS ON RAHEEM STERLING:

‘When I left Liverpool, it was probably one of the first messages I got, was from Raheem, 

‘When Raheem left, there was a whole array of reasons why he needed to leave: it was the position, it was a number of things, and towards the end I suppose I get thrown into the mix, our communication has broken down. But that was never the case.

‘I take great pride in putting him into the team. We played him in a number of positions so he could develop. He was absolutely brilliant.’

RODGERS ON SIMON MIGNOLET:

‘There was a period when I wanted to take him out of the team because it was difficult for him.

‘Sometimes keepers are looked at differently to outfield players. Even Simon felt himself it was right thing to do.

‘When he came back in he was re-focused. He worked very hard and when came back in he was excellent. He’s a top class keeper and a good man.’

Rodgers heaped praise upon the impact Steven Gerrard had while he was the manager at Liverpool

Rodgers also revealed he though that Liverpool were going to sign Dele Alli when he was manager of the club

RODGERS ON STEVEN GERRARD:

‘I think the first thing to mention is that he was brilliant for me at Liverpool. The time I was there, as a captain and a leader, he was really supportive.

‘In the first two seasons his performance level was fantastic. He got to about 34, we got into the Champions League. I think he wanted to know he was playing week in week out.

‘There is no doubt at some point he will come back. He wants to manage, I’m sure at some point in the future he will want to manage Liverpool.

‘He is, I think, already doing his coaching badges. If you can get him experience at the club, which I would have loved to have gave him but I think he was still focussed on playing, he will be a great asset.’

RODGERS ON DELE ALLI:

‘Karl Robinson, the actual manager of MK Dons, drove him down to us. Karl had come on to me and said “Listen, I’ve got a player Brendan, I think he is going to be fantastic I’d love to see him at Liverpool.”

‘We watched him, looked at him and then I spent a couple hours in a hotel room with him. He wanted to come to Liverpool. 

‘It was just then about getting the deal done with the club and unfortunately it never got done but at that point, that Saturday evening, we thought we had him in. 

‘Eventually he went to Tottenham which was frustrating and disappointing, really.’ 

RODGERS ON THE TRANSFER SIGNINGS:

‘It was a group decision, really. It was certainly not something I would have the sole or final say on. It’s difficult really. 

‘When there is a list of players and the player that you want isn’t on that list, you have to take someone. You can’t have no players. If you haven’t got a left back, if the left back that you want, for whatever reason, you can’t bring in, if there is a list of three or four, you are having to take the best on that group. It’s the model. It’s about the young player.

‘The ownership group, as I say they are a wonderful group of people, but they have a way of working and they want to bring in young players and look to see them develop and move on.’

Chief executive Ian Ayre (left) is part of the transfer committee which has a say on Liverpool signings

Rodgers signed Mario Balotelli during his spell at Liverpool but admits it was mainly the club’s owners decision

RODGERS ON MARIO BALOTELLI:

‘He had had his issues, Mario. But Mario has got wonderful talent.

‘You see him on the training ground every day, 6ft 3ins, he is fast, he is strong and he has got a touch. They were thinking that maybe he is a £50m player that we can get for £16m. We can bring him in and we can develop him in the way I had developed some of the other players. 

So, when the owners are wanting you to go down that route and there is no other options, then of course you give it a go.

‘I wasn’t thinking I was going to be different to all the other managers he has had issues with. There was none of that at all. It was at the moment in time, we didn’t really have another option.’

RODGERS ON ALEXIS SANCHEZ:

‘The huge blow for us was we felt we were getting Alexis Sanchez. We thought Luis (Suarez) was going and he would have been the like for like replacement 

‘He would have been perfect for us, how aggressive he is and how he presses the game. If we had got Alexis in after Luis going, it would have been a smooth transition.’

Rodgers believed Liverpool were going to sign Alexis Sanchez when Luis Suarez left in the summer of 2014

Rodgers led Swansea to the Premier League in 2011, before leaving to join Liverpool a year later

Rodgers said he was surprised that Jose Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea so soon after winning the league

RODGERS ON SWANSEA RETURN:

‘I said when I left that maybe at some stage in my career and life I would be back there again.

‘It is an incredible club. It is just going to be about the timing. It’s a wonderful club. Huw Jenkins (the chairman) is a great man, Martin Morgan (the owner) and the guys that run the club have always made the right decisions.’

RODGERS ON JOSE MOURINHO SACKING:

‘Yes (I was surprised). Everyone looks at it and you see the success that Jose has had as a manger, but particularly last year. They were the champions, he signed a new contract.

‘Clearly something wasn’t going well. If Jose goes for the success that he’s had, then the game is very much changing in terms of being a manager.’