As Kopites prepare to make their way to Old Trafford for tomorrow's FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester United, there is no doubt their mood has been lifted.

"I can barely type this as I'm in fucking heaven right now, my hands are shaking," is how one supporter reacted to Kenny Dalglish's return on the Red and White Kop website. "It's a dream, the King is back" was the reaction of another. And this from Carras Left Foot: "I'm on the verge of tears." It would take Sherlock Holmes to find a fan who is not happy with the appointment as manager of Liverpool's greatest ever player and the last man to lead the club to a league title.

As dramatic as these sentiments are, the underlying emotion that links them is relief. The supporters have become fed up with feeling low for more than 18 months now and while there has been moments of respite – most notably the ousting of Tom Hicks and George Gillett last October – the general mood among the faithful has been one of misery and frustration with rock bottom being reached on Wednesday when the team sunk with barely a fight at Blackburn Rovers. They needed a reason to feel buoyant again and now it has arrived.

Given his long absence from frontline football, there is no firm reason to believe that the 59-year-old Dalglish will do any better at Anfield than the 63-year-old Hodgson did, but the point is that the fans will remain united and supportive throughout the further pain that is sure to follow. That will be obvious tomorrow when Dalglish's name will be sung in defeat as well as unlikely victory and will continue into the rearranged midweek fixture against Blackpool and then into the Merseyside derby next Sunday. Ironically, Dalglish's first game back in charge at Anfield will come against the last opponents he faced as Liverpool manager before his resignation in 1991.

Gone, then, is the toxic air that spread between Hodgson and Liverpool supporters whenever they came into contact and that can only be beneficial for all concerned. The now departed manager is a good man and a decent manager, but for a multitude of reasons it simply was not working out for him and the 63-year-old as good as wrote his resignation letter when he criticised the fans in the aftermath of last month's abject defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. That was the moment when Kopites knew for sure that Hodgson wasn't one of them. Dalglish well and truly is.

As the fans rejoice the return of the man who first arrived at the club from Celtic in 1977 some should, nevertheless, reflect on the way they treated his predecessor. The chants of "Hodgson for England" may have been smirk-inducing but they were also cruel and unhelpful, as was the painting of "Hodgson out" at the club's Melwood training base following Wednesday's defeat. But these were the manifestations of long-standing frustrations which, in truth, Rafael Benítez, another darling of the Kop, must take some responsibility for. That has all gone now, though, and even as the defeats continue to come in, the club's fans will remain fully behind their new manager, a man whose name is sung with gusto every time The Fields of Anfield Road is bellowed out by those who once watched "King Kenny play".

A re-energised support base may even lead to a much-improved team and then Dalglish's return really will be seen as the right move at the right time. He may even, in that case, be given the manager's job on a full-time basis. But that is all for the future. For now Liverpool's fans are just happy that they have been given a reason to feel happy again. Old Trafford's away end is going to be quite a sight tomorrow.