"Barnes secured a contract with Tranmere Rovers in England for the upcoming English football season and advised the JFF of that development last Sunday morning.

"With Barnes securing a job prior to the Gold Cup, the JFF decided in the long- term interest of the game not to offer him a short-term extension, but to appoint Theodore Whitmore as national coach for the remainder of the life of this administration."

Despite his reputation on the pitch as one of the all- time greats at Anfield, Barnes’s only managerial experience at club level was an ill-fated stint in charge at Celtic almost a decade ago.

One of Barnes’s first tasks will be sorting out the futures of several of Rovers’ big name players.

Captain Antony Kay has already departed for Huddersfield Town while the likes of Ben Chorley, Steve Jennings and Danny Coyne are all out of contract.

Rovers came within minutes of reaching the League One play-offs last season – pipped by promoted Scunthorpe – despite Moore having to work on a reduced budget from the previous campaign and after his dismissal the former manager warned any potential successors just how tough their task would be this term. He said: "To get within a few minutes of the play-offs this season was a very good achievement when you consider the resources at our disposal.

"We were unbeaten in the league at home from October and only Leeds United have a better home record than us.

"Whoever comes in they have to do well to improve the results because we were winning at home. Whoever comes in will have a good standard to follow."