Rodgers not concerned by comparisons with Hodgson

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has brushed off any comparison of his record with that of former Reds boss Roy Hodgson.

Defeat at Stoke on St Stephen’s Day meant the Irishman has exactly the same points haul — 25 — from 19 league matches as that of the now England manager.

Hodgson did not make it past 20 league games as defeat at Blackburn in early January 2011 put an end to a difficult and much-criticised six months in charge.

Rodgers benefits from a position of greater strength as he was the choice of owners Fenway Sports Group in the summer and while his record may not be as good as predecessor Kenny Dalglish, he is working to a different set of objectives than those given to the Scot.

He is a long way from his position becoming under threat and insists progress has been made — with plenty more to come.

“It is not something I am overly worried about,” he said of comparisons with Hodgson’s record.

“I have been brought in here to do a job and the owners have been brilliant with me.

“The backing I’ve had from supporters has been incredible considering and that is the most important group really.

“There is a lot of progressing to do because we’re 10th in the table and this is a club which wants to be at the very top but the only way you can do that is by reconstruction of the work and building the squad.

A deal for Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge has virtually been done while the club are still pursuing Blackpool winger Tom Ince.

Meanwhile QPR boss Harry Redknapp has ruled out making any panic buys next month in an ill-conceived attempt to lift QPR off the foot of the Premier League.

Rangers are six points adrift of safety following successive defeats by Newcastle and West Brom and Redknapp accepts they must strengthen in the transfer window.

Demba Ba and Brede Hangeland are among Redknapp’s targets with the QPR boss insisting any new signing must bring something to their survival bid.

“If we can get one or two in, we’ll give ourselves a chance. That’s what I’m looking at,” said Redknapp, who denied having made an approach for Hangeland.

“If I can’t bring in people who I think can do the job for us, then I won’t bother. There’s no point signing players for the sake of it.

“I’ve got to sign people in the right positions who can help us. If we can’t do that, we may as well sit tight and see what happens.”

The future of Jose Bosingwa remains uncertain after the Portuguese right-back refused to sit on the bench against Fulham on December 15, resulting in him being dropped altogether and a £130,000 fine.

“We’ll have to look at that and see how we’re going,” said Redknapp.

Redknapp added: “I can’t look to get rid of anyone — I had to pull in a kid who had been on loan at Yeovil on the bench against West Brom.

“We’re certainly not over-loaded. Out of the 25 we have long-term injuries. I won’t shift people out unless I get some in.”

Redknapp had an immediate impact when he was appointed Tottenham manager in October 2008, lifting a team that had secured only two points after eight games out of the relegation zone within two weeks.

Despite having steadied the ship at Loftus Road, his impact has been less marked with six points in six games leaving the club in a precarious position.