Rafa Benitez - Will Rafa leave?

[Dellas]

Originally Posted by kyan

Never gonna happen, I'm pretty sure Mourinho signed an agreement saying his next job wouldn't be in England.

And after all the stuff he's said about Liverpool & Benitez not sure how much the players would like if he took over.

Plus not sure how Mourinho would feel about a board with unknown intentions/aspirations and no guarantees.

He signed a contract which says that he isn't allowed to comeback and manage in the EPL for next "x" amount of years. And I completely agree with Kyan, Jose would never goto Liverpool.

This kind of thing really annoys me. Why does the Owner need to come out and say this kind of stuff?? He is definitely not helping his manager, he isn't giving him the courage to make certain decisions. I'm sure that when Benitez reads the paper every morning he sees that his position is under threat because of his rotation policy and some of the decisions that he takes. However Tom Hicks has Benitez as a manager atm and going and confessing that he spoke to another manager who would probably replace Benitez is not the most encouraging thing for your current manager to hear, if anything it will make him more worried than he is already and he is more liekly to make silly mistakes in tactics etc. Imo the owner should just wait until the end of the season and get rid of the manager, or get rid of him whenever he feels necessary for change, don't go around leaking stories to the press and then expect your current manager to respond positively.

Another thing I have noticed is that when a board or owner backs a manager after a while the manager will be sacked...like what happened at chelsea with jose, the board backed him and a few months later he was sacked. The same has just happened at Newcastle the owner backed Allardyce and the next thing you know he is sacked as well....I just don't see any reason for the board/owner to lie to the fans when they have pretty much figured out that their manager is hanging on by a thread...

anyway rant over

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Back me or I quit, says Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez

The moment that Steven Gerrard's penalty ripped the back of the net against Arsenal last week, the dynamic of power at Anfield was changed forever.

That goal didn't just guarantee Liverpool a place in the Champions League semi-final for the third time in four years. It put manager Rafael Benitez in a position to finally dictate his terms at the club.

His response was immediate and unyielding. The Spaniard knew that scintillating performance and result in Europe's premier competition would have placed his name on the shortlist of just about every top club across the continent.

He is a wanted man for his heroics in turning Liverpool into the Champions League's best performers. Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC and Inter Milan and Juventus will all look closely at his CV in the summer when they consider likely managerial vacancies.

AdvertisementThat has left the Anfield boss in a no-lose situation.

For the past year he has been involved in a stand-off with chief executive Rick Parry over ultimate control of all football matters, a feud that has become increasingly bitter.

Benitez wanted Parry out a year ago and that almost cost him his own job. The Spaniard believes his chief executive is ponderous and uncommunicative when it comes to the transfer market - where he insists decisive action is required. But in saying so - famously after the Champions League final last May - he upset owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett who, new to the club, were very much in thrall to Parry's Premiership pedigree at that time.

By repeating the accusations early this campaign, Benitez was almost sacked with the Americans and Parry going as far as to meet with Jurgen Klinsmann to discuss the possibility of him taking over.

Benitez survived that crisis by backing down. But he was never deflected from his determination to take control of transfer policy at the club - and with it win his power battle with Parry.

Now, by getting to the semi-final again, and after cementing an unlikely relationship with Hicks, he has seen his chance to end the dispute in his favour.

His remarks on Sunday seemed straightforward enough. He believes that Parry was dishonest in keeping his presence at one meeting with Klinsmann secret. Further, he believes that their relationship is compromised by that fact.

But the extension of his logic is inevitable. Because Parry was chasing a new manager when he should have been working on transfers for Benitez, the Spaniard will insist the two of them can no longer work together in any trust.

So Benitez will arrive at a situation this summer where he will demand not only that he gets total control of transfers, but also that he gets the money to buy who he wants as quickly as he wants. And in that scenario, Parry must depart.

If Benitez doesn't get what he wants then he will simply walk out the door because like most Liverpool fans he is unhappy with the continuing political strife at the club... even if he is partly to blame for that.

The Spanish manager knows that Hicks backs him implicitly now because the two men communicate almost every day. He knows he can count on the Texan to sack Parry should the opportunity arise... and provide a sizeable transfer budget.

And he will test George Gillett's commitment to him and the fans by demanding the co-owner follow suit. Because Benitez has a real trump card up his sleeve - the supporters.

They do not want to see their manager go and would gladly sacrifice Parry to ensure that it doesn't happen.

If Gillett stands in the way of that and instead forces Benitez out, then he will become reviled and Hicks will be viewed more sympathetically. In defence of Hicks, he has backed Benitez since their brief fall out in November and it is thought that his letter demanding Parry resign last week was because he realised the chief executive would have to be sacrificed if he is to keep his manager in the summer.

So Benitez wins all ways because if he doesn't get what he wants, then he will simply walk into a job with an equally big club that will offer better wages and a bigger transfer budget. As for Liverpool, Parry is now in a vulnerable position.

Even if DIC's attempted takeover ever comes off, then the new owners will still be forced to support a massively popular manager ahead of a backroom man with a chequered record.

Not that it may come to that at all. By backing the Spanish coach so vigorously, Hicks will find himself a more popular on Merseyside than the reviled figure he currently cuts with the fans, which will increase the pressure on Gillett to sell.

LIVERPOOL'S FUTURE: WHAT IF..

Hicks wins control, by buying out George Gillett. Benitez will stay at the club, and Rick Parry will be sacked. Benitez will be offered the support of the owner, and given the power and funds he wants to truly compete in the transfer market.

George Gillett wins control with Dubai's DIC. Gillett has already backed Parry, so Benitez would be more inclined to leave. Should DIC win sole control, Benitez could be vulnerable. But they might be forced to change their position given Rafa's popularity with the fans.

Gillett And Hicks both refuse to concede, forcing the saga to continue, with both owners holding 50 per cent of the club, preventing the other from making any big decisions. Parry would stay, but Benitez would head off into the arms of the ranks of top European clubs sure to be interested in his services.

Source: mirror.co.uk

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Rafa Benitez will not walk away from Liverpool - at least until the end of their Champions League campaign.The Guardian says reports Benitez was about to tender his resignation were quashed by sources close to the Liverpool manager who said he will remain in charge at least until this season's Champions League campaign is concluded.

However, the Spaniard is still upset with the increasingly strained relationship between the club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and chief executive Rick Parry.

[NJ10]

I dont blame him, he is being treated poorly. Rafa is the one who is trying to hold things together, trying to keep the club successful, whilst Parry, Gillett & Hicks are sat there with Klinsmann's lipstick at the collar. Yeah Benitez has made mistakes, some bad ones actually, but i have no doubt in my mind that every decision he makes is in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club, the same can't appear to be said for the rest of the powers that be.

Reminds me a bit of Claudio Ranieri in his last season at Chelsea, he went through the mill as the papers were in overdrive speculating as to who would replace him, and what the owner wanted. I just hope it doesnt end the same way cos i think Rafa is a top manager and just what Liverpool need.

[The Rule]

First of all, Rafa's not leaving. He has no intention of going and the club have no intention of letting him go.

And Dallas, Mourinho would take the Liverpool job in an instant. He wanted the Liverpool job when he left Porto. He announced in his goodbye press conference that he wanted the Liverpool job. We choose Rafa and he went to Chelski instead.