Will Rafa the Rotator last the year??

[johntheclaret]

It seems Rafa has overstepped his brief and has p1ssed off his American owners.

Here is the best (most accurate article I could find)

Rafa timebomb

by Jonathan Northcroft of the Times

Training and coaching. A top manager in a top post who declared an interest in giving it all up for the England job had to be in a funny mood. Rafael Benitez has done many brilliant things at Liverpool, but some odd ones too, and he may come to look back on this week much in the same way as his on-loan goal-keeper, Scott Carson. Like Carson, Benitez made an excruciating miscalculation. No ball slipped through his fingers, but a degree of job security surely did.

Training and coaching. When Benitez gave his regular press conference on Thursday, there was a pointed lack of rotation policy applied to the words he spoke. Here is a bit of how it went. “Rafa, would going out of the Champions League impact seriously on the club’s finances?” “As always, I’m focused on training and coaching, so why would I talk about other things?” “Is a deal close for Javier Mascherano?” “Nearly, but because I’m focused on training and coaching, I can’t say anything.” “Have you been in touch with George Gillett and Tom Hicks in the last few days?” “Coaching and training.” “You sound like something’s up, and your relationship with the Americans might be the problem.” “On the record and off the record. Coaching and training!” “Do you feel let down by somebody.” “Coaching and training.” And so it continued.

Coaching and training. Benitez was told to concentrate on this when, during the international break, he took it upon himself to broker a provisional arrangement to pay Mascherano’s third-party owners £17m to convert his loan stay at Anfield into a permanent transfer. Benitez also made moves to buy Ezequiel Garay, another Argentinian, from Racing Santander that would commit Liverpool to an outlay of at least £10m.

For Hicks and Gillett, squeezed by the escalating steel and interest costs that mean the projected price of Liverpool’s new stadium has more than doubled since their takeover, Benitez had gone beyond his brief. His bizarre press conference got him into further trouble. In its aftermath, a request for the Americans to respond was answered within minutes by a personal e-mail from Hicks. “It is time for Rafa to focus on winning important matches,” it read. Hicks went further, with the “shut up” message in an interview with the Liverpool Echo on Friday. “We told him [Benitez] to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else. I guess he didn’t like that,” Hicks said.

Benitez’s jousting since joining Liverpool has generally strengthened his position, but he is finding the Americans, Hicks in particular, quite different adversaries from David Moores and Rick Parry, with whom he generally had good relations. Like the lady who swoons, he must have thought creating a scene would make Hicks and Gillett come running with the poultices. He was badly wrong.

Benitez might have also imagined stories that Bayern Munich want him would spook the Americans, and that linking himself with the England job would do similar, creating a situation in which he would get his way. But Hicks’s message was the opposite: “Shut up or ship out.” A tycoon who made his $1.3bn fortune in the bloody world of mergers and acquisitions would not hesitate to carry out any threat. Hicks and Gillett had previously strained to keep Benitez onside, seeing him as key to maintaining relations with Liverpool’s fans, whose goodwill they require after indebting the club by £500m as result of the new stadium and their takeover.

But now supporters are beginning to nurse little doubts about Benitez; the manager is in a weaker position and may not have understood this. He was entitled to a previous outburst after the Champions League final in May. Not now.

One reason is his travails in this season’s competition. Failure to beat Porto would see Liverpool eliminated at the group stage. Beating Besiktas by a record 8-0 was diverting, but danger remains. Maximum points are required not just on Wednesday but in their final match in Marseilles for Liverpool to progress. “The Besiktas match was a fantastic game for us, but against Porto the idea is just to win. We don’t need to score a lot of goals, just win. It is clear we must score and win and be ready for Marseilles,” Benitez said.

“Porto know that they have to win as well, because if Besiktas win [against Marseilles] they will have six points and can go into the last game [versus Porto] with a chance of going through. I feel Porto need to win and I think that might help us.” Hicks and Gillett next visit England on December 16 and have told Benitez any discussions about transfers will have to wait until then. It is the date of Liverpool’s home match with Manchester United, but also five days after the Marseilles game. If he is out of the Champions League, with all the income that entails, Benitez will face an awkward time in front of his masters. Coaching and training. The meeting will already be uncomfortable enough.

[smithy]

http://www.anfieldroad.com/news/200711252692/rafa-to-be-sacked-by-absentee-owners.html/

A good story on the above...

Just on that JTC, the longer Parry has been employed by the club the bigger the rumblings as he has been seen as the stumbling block to many transfers to LFC over the years rather than the lack of funding..
It's not surprising to see Rafa try and communicate with agents as he's probably trying to overcome the major stumbling block which is PArry..

[johntheclaret]

*BUMP*

I know we shouldn't bump topics but after Liverpool's ignominious FA Cup exit at the hands of Barnsley the fate of Benitez is back in the headlines over here.
Much of the talk is that if he doesn't get success in the CL then he could be on his way. This is a mamoth task for them as they play Inter Milan in the coming round.

Other speculation is that if the Dubai take over happens, he is out anyway.

Things aren't looking good down at Anfiled as Jamie Carragher has publicly spoken out about Liverpool's lack of form and consistency. Benitez has reported told the press that he was aware that Carragher was about to speak out, saying he had effectively given his blessing to Carragher.

The jist of Carraghers interview, is that there is not a crisis at Liverpoll, the problems have been there for sometime, and that they are just not good enough.

Here is the Carragher article

Rotting Reds - Liverpool are in crisis and Carragher admits they've been decaying for too long
By IAN LADYMAN -

Last updated at 08:32am on 18th February 2008
Jamie Carragher, the heartbeat of Liverpool, has laid into his club as their season stands on the brink of collapse. Anything other than victory against Inter Milan in the Champions League tomorrow to re-ignite the campaign will leave manager Rafa Benitez facing the boardroom firing squad.
Defender Carragher — captain in the absence of Steven Gerrard for Saturday's shock FA Cup home defeat by Barnsley — said: "I wouldn't call for and we have to fight this just a bad spell, it has been a lot longer than that."
Admitting Benitez's team are in crisis and that fans' patience is stretched to the limit, Carragher added: "We realise we aren't playing well enough. It's not a matter of putting your finger on one reason: it's simply because we haven't been good enough. The sooner we get out of this run the better. We've still got the Champions League to play for that fourth place, so every League game is important. We have to make sure we're in the Champions League next season."
"You get feedback from supporters all the time. Obviously they're not too happy about things. Myself and Stevie, because we're local lads, hear a lot from supporters and we're supporters ourselves. We aren't stupid, we know what's being said. The supporters are as disappointed as we are."

Benitez must now surely deliver the Champions League to stay on beyond this season, but even that is no guarantee after their shocking result against a Championship side.
As Benitez struggles From Back Page to turn things around on the field, talks are on-going between Hicks, who is considering attending tomorrow, and Gillett and the DIC group.
Despite denials from the Americans, it is understood that talks continue daily.

However, Carragher stressed that events in the boardroom cannot be used as an excuse by his team-mates and called on the Liverpool players to raise themselves for tomorrow's game.
Carragher said: "We can't do anything about all the things off the field. We just have to concentrate on improving the football side. If we can start winning matches again then a lot of the other stuff can be put to bed. There'll be a great atmosphere against Inter. The fans will be up for it and it's up to us to match that. "
"I don't think that beating Inter would make up for losing the FA Cup tie the way we did, but it would give everyone a boost if we can get a result. We're devastated. It's a major, major blow to go out of the FA Cup to a lower league team at Anfield. We realise that's not good enough."
"But we're going to have to get over this quickly because the Champions League is massive for us now. It's the only thing we have left that we can win. We realise how poor we were against Barnsley, but we have to get over it."

And whilst we are in the mood for bumping topics, it is interesting to note that Keegans number two at Newcastle, Nigel Pearson, has left to take over the hot seat at Southampton. Talk about rats leaving a sinking ship, this must be a real slap in the face for Keegan.

[JK]

Yep, it would seem as though RAFA is in trouble, and all I can do is look at the situation/crisis at Anfield through this supporters set of eyes and form my own opinion.

Random thoughts:

1. RAFA is a quality Manager, no doubt about it - You don't win the Champions League (and make another final 2 years later) as well as 2 Spanish Primera titles (particularly against the heavyweights of Barcelona and Real) if you're a donkey.

That said, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and his rotation policy doesn't have the runs on the board in terms of the EPL, which really should be priority no. 1 at the club.

2. The Squad - In his entire time at Anfield it has been far inferior to the likes of Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal - There have been times when this has been masked a little, but there are not enough world class players in that Liverpool line up - Take your pick from first choice players Kewell, Alonso, Finnan, Hyppia, Aurelio, Riise, Pennant, Arbeloa, Kuyt, Crouch - There's just not enough quality in that lot - RAFA has been acutely aware of this for sometime and realises the need to spend on better quality players, which he was promised and then denied by the owners, forming the essence of his media tantrum earlier in the season.

As I said last week, can't see us displacing Everton in the EPL and will struggle mightily against Inter (although we have a habit of pulling off* some big wins in that comp, particularly when we're the biggest of underdogs).

In summary, I believe Rafa is part of the problem, but perhaps not the biggest part of it ... No doubt he's in trouble I reckon, but should he be the only thing that changes down there then I think troubled elements will remain and prevent us from achieving what we want, regardless.

Worrying times indeed ...

[JK]

Oh and btw, I don't reckon RAFA should cop any stick over the loss to Barnsley, we played a team good enough to win it, and actually would have if they'd taken the many chances they were presented with, blame the players for that one.

One other random thought too - We play a very unattractive brand of football - We need to watch more of Arsenal (lol ok, except when they play Man U in the FA )