LIVERPOOL legend John Barnes has been appointed as manager of Tranmere Rovers.

The ex-England international’s new job was officially announced at Prenton Park by chief executive Mick Horton during a press conference on Monday afternoon.

His appointment follows the sacking of Ronnie Moore two weeks ago.

Jason McAteer, a former Republic of Ireland international who ended his playing career with three seasons at Tranmere, has been appointed assistant manager following the departure of Peter Shirtliff.

The duo will now prepare their squad for their first pre-season friendly against Prenton North End on July 18.

Looking forward to his new role, Jamaican-born Barnes, 45, told Globe Sport: “I live in Wirral, so Tranmere is my first club and I’m impressed with the relationship it has with the community.

“I’m really looking forward to managing Rovers because for me it’s a family club, but ultimately it’s about trying to win football matches.

“So everything at the moment is positive, but I’m still focused on the fact that regardless of whether everything is positive or not, we have to win football matches.

"I demand from the players the exact intensity and desire I had when I played.”

As a player Barnes had successful spells at Liverpool, Watford and Newcastle United and made 600 career appearances.

He made his England debut aged 19 and scored 11 times. He was awarded the MBE in 1999.

His first managerial role was at Celtic in 1999-2000 and he was appointed Jamaica manager in 2008.

He guided the Reggae Boyz to victory at the Caribbean Championship last December, a win that saw them qualify for the North America, Central America and Caribbean Gold Cup.

He remained team coach up until a few weeks ago.

Asked how he intended to prepare Tranmere Rovers for the challenging new season ahead, he replied: “My philosophy is just to have an organised way of playing.

"I think that if you can organise your players and understand what their roles are, then they can be consistent, because consistency is key.

“Teams can play very well one day and not very well the other day, whereas if you have a consistent way of playing, you will win more matches than you lose.”

One of his first jobs is to sign new players.

“We’ve lost about six players, so therefore we have to replace them because the squad’s not big. I’m confident that we will do well this season," he said. "We will train hard.

“There’s no point looking to the end of the season when we haven’t even played one game yet.

"Ultimately, my aim is to get Tranmere through to the play-offs, but at the moment we can’t see the wood for the trees."

Birkenhead-born McAteer began his professional career at Bolton Wanderers in 1992.

He made more than 100 appearances for the club before moving to Liverpool for £4.5m in 1995.

He then made 150 appearances for Liverpool in four seasons before spells at Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland took him to Tranmere in 2004.

He was captain of the Rovers side that reached the play-offs in the 2004-2005 season.

Commenting on his working relationship with McAteer, Barnes said: “Sometimes I’ll have to calm him down, because he’s very enthusiastic.

"But it’ll be a normal working relationship of manager and assistant manager.

“I’ve known him since our playing days and we live in the same area.

"We play five-a-side football at Birkenhead School every week.”

In a statement read out by the club’s chief executive Mick Horton on Monday afternoon, chairman Peter Johnson said: “I am delighted John has agreed to become our manager as he was our first choice for the position.

“With John and Jason as the club’s management team they bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and contacts within the game.

“They are a Wirral-based partnership who are very enthusiastic about what they offer Tranmere and I look forward to watching their team play next season.

“They have both had successful careers as players and hopefully they can be successful together in management at Tranmere.”