To have been hand-picked by José Mourinho, Brendan Rodgers must have something about him, perhaps something special. Yesterday, he was given the opportunity to prove that when he was appointed manager of Watford, the struggling Coca-Cola Championship club.

Do not, though, expect Rodgers, 35, to display any of the explosive traits of his Portuguese mentor. Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager, may have personally prised the Northern Irishman away from the Reading academy for his role as youth-team coach at the West London club in 2004, promoting him to reserve-team coach two years later, but there are few similarities in character.

“Brendan is not a ranter and raver,” David Downs, the Reading children’s officer, club historian and a close friend of Rodgers, said. “He will only raise his voice when he absolutely needs to. He is quite quiet but has a great sense of humour and is thorough, conscientious and determined. He was highly thought of at Reading and had an excellent rapport with the young players, coaches and staff.

“That obviously got noticed by Mourinho. The experience he has picked up along the way makes him eminently qualified to take on his new job. Even though he’s now on the front line, I’m sure he will do well.”

Rodgers earned glowing praise from Mourinho on his arrival at Stamford Bridge. “I like everything in him,” Mourinho said. “He is ambitious and does not see football very differently from myself. He is open, likes to learn and likes to communicate.”

With Watford labouring in 21st place in the Championship, just above the relegation zone, Rodgers will need to make an immediate impact. He succeeds Adrian Boothroyd, who left the club by mutual consent this month, and has enlisted the help of Frank Lampard Sr — whose son is the Chelsea and England midfield player, — as his “football consultant”.

Malky Mackay, the caretaker manager, will continue in charge for the match away to Bristol City this evening. He has overseen two wins in four games in the league and Carling Cup, including the 3-0 home victory against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, and will be kept on by Rodgers.

“Buck” stops at Vicarage Road

- Brendan Rodgers was born in Carnlough, Northern Ireland, in 1973. He is 35 and nicknamed “Buck” after Buck Rogers, the fictional American television and comic-strip hero.

- He played for Ballymena United before moving to Reading, but, although a Northern Ireland youth player, he never made a first-team appearance for the Berkshire club. Joining the youth coaching staff at Reading in 1995, he was made academy director in 2003.

- He was head-hunted by José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager at the time, to become youth team coach at Stamford Bridge in 2004 and was promoted to reserve-team coach in 2006.

- Became increasingly involved with first-team training at Chelsea.

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Burnley were unable to end their 76-year run without a win at Oakwell as they were beaten 3-2 by Barnsley in the Coca-Cola Championship last night. Jon Macken’s strike gave the home side the lead at the break and second-half goals from Simon Whaley and Diego León seemed to give them a secure advantage. But Martin Paterson scored his fourth and fifth league goals of the season as Burnley fought back.