There can be little doubt that Brendan Rodgers improved Liverpool deal is deserved.
His two years in charge of the club have involved a backdrop of significant restructuring off the field that has seen the wage bill reduced and the squad trimmed heavily.
Despite seeing his troop numbers diminished and being forced to gloss over notable failures in the transfer market he has transformed his youthful side into a potent attacking force.
He has honed the development of youngsters such as Sterling and Sturridge into key Premier League, and as the World Cup may witness, key international footballers.
Jordan Henderson have benefitted greatly from Brendan's midfield structure and club maestro Steven Gerrard may well see the benefit of his transition through an extended playing career.
Although Liverpool are far from the complete article (a thin squad with a reluctance to keep clean sheets being two of the more significant problems) success should rightly be rewarded, and the young manager from Northern Ireland has not only improved the results but also created an aura of calm professionalism off the field.
Liverpool had got themselves into a bit of a mess off the field due to (mostly) ownership and senior management failures.
The end days of a (rightly) disgruntled Benitez, the tedium of the Roy Hodgson spell and Dalglish being forced to 'walk alone' by his employers as he tried to fend the media away from a self-imploding Suarez are all behind us.
Brendan Rodgers new deal runs till 2018 and his 50% pay increase (to an estimated 65k a week) puts him well into the pay bracket of his new peers in the Champions League.
He deserves it - he will certainly need more extravagant holidays to cater for the incoming pressure increase.
Expectations will now be heavier on the manager. Liverpool's 11 match winning run for instance will give supporters faith of the return of regular silverware to the club.
Three Wembley trips in the space of as many months back in 2012 whetted the appetite of fans, who are rightly disappointed with five miserable cup runs in the two years of Rodgers' tenure.
Liverpool fans were thrilled with last season League campaign but there is a reason that our club has enjoyed over 50 years of regular trophy hunts - it's because the urge to move forward and progress is embedded in the supporters DNA and the club's ethos.
Second place without a trophy is the new baseline.
Progress, and pay promotion, expects that this is improved upon next season.