"The assessment of my time there allowed me to be more clinical in my work. By clinical, I mean I got to the end point of deciding a player would play much quicker. I was brought up developing young players and thinking that players deserve a chance for as many as 10 games. I probably carried that into Reading and before I knew it I was out. I only had 20-odd games.
"After that I decided I might just give a player three or four before I made a change. Not a lot else of my work has changed. I still believed in that way of working but what I learnt was that you have to have some flexibility."
Rodgers believes the Reading experience – he won six out of 23 games, losing 11 – has made him tougher and less patient with players he does not believe in. You do not have to look far at Anfield to note how this theory has been applied, with the signings of his predecessor rapidly discarded.
For those enthused by Rodgers' efforts to revive Liverpool, Reading is disregarded as a blip. Others casually urge more analysis of his six-month tenure to imply it could go the same way at Liverpool. If Reading can lose patience so soon, a club such as Liverpool, with more elevated ambitions, certainly can.
Rodgers emphasises significant differences, not least because he believes the Anfield board are entrusting him with a long-term plan and will not get jittery because of inevitable early setbacks.
"Where we want to be is a long way from where we are, it is totally different places," said Rodgers. "In some ways, where we want to be we have to discard that because this is where we are at. We have to build towards that. The game is about getting results, I know that, but you've got two ways of getting there. You invest an astronomical amount of money and that will take you very quickly or you have to grow and build and cultivate our own. That is where we are at, that is the reality and there is no quick fix.
"I am not crying for time here, people are looking for short-term fixes but that's not why I came here. I came here because of the commitment of the board and educated supporters that understand the position we are in. Whoever was here, it was going to take time."
On the field Rodgers is well aware that all eyes will be on his only striker, Luis Suárez, today, and the manager says it is time for perceptions of him to change. "His goal record for his first 50 games for this club is only one behind Ian Rush yet there's a negative slant towards Luis. That's a sadness. How these guys play it is a skill to win a penalty. It is not cheating, it is part of the game. On the other side of it we don't want to see players going down easily and for nothing. It undermines great play."
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