Brendan Rodgers says it will take time for Mauricio Pochettino to get things right at Southampton (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Brendan Rodgers says it will take time for Mauricio Pochettino to get things right at Southampton

10:11am Friday 15th March 2013 in Sport By Gordon Simpson

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned that it will take time for Mauricio Pochettino to put his stamp on the Saints team.

Pochettino tomorrow takes charge of his eighth game as Saints boss, as Liverpool visit St Mary’s.

Despite plenty of encouraging performances during the Argentine’s short reign, the club have registered just one win under him so far, albeit a magnificent 3-1 success against champions Manchester City.

Given their precarious position in the table, Saints cannot afford to be writing-off too many results in favour of a period of readjustment.

But Rodgers knows as well as anyone how difficult it can be to achieve instant success on arriving at a new club.

Having joined Liverpool in the summer, it has taken the former Swansea manager time to mould his team and properly implement his philosophies and methods.

The Reds have struggled badly at times this season, notably early on in the campaign, but have now hit their stride.

However, Rodgers still expects to be given a stern test by Saints, who he rates as the most impressive of the three clubs to have come up from last season’s Championship.

“You’ve got to go back to Nigel Adkins,” he said. “Nigel did a brilliant job and was relieved of his duties, but the job that he did there was incredible, to get two consecutive promotions.