Tom Hicks: Quit talking and coach the players

[hound]

Nov 23 2007 EXCLUSIVE by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL co-owner Tom Hicks today ordered Rafa Benitez to "quit talking about new players and coach the players we have".

In an angry rebuke to the Reds boss who launched a cryptic attack on the club owners yesterday, Hicks made it clear the club will not even consider any demands from Benitez until mid-December at the earliest.

At yesterday’s weekly Melwood press conference, Benitez admitted he was frustrated with life at Anfield and continually told reporters that he wished only to concentrate on coaching and training his team.

His repeated comments have been taken as a thinly veiled attack on Hicks and George Gillett – who recently told Benitez to forget about transfers for the time being and to focus only on the players he already has at his disposal.

In an exclusive interview with the ECHO today, Dallas-based Hicks responded to Benitez’s comments by defending the level of financial support he has afforded the manager and insisting the time has come for the Spaniard to do his talking on the pitch.

He said: “After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer.

“We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club.

“We now have some crucial games coming up in the Premier League and the Champions League and we want to see if we can win these games with the players we have.

“This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this.

“We told him to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else and I guess he didn’t like that.

“But, for the time being, we just need to be focused on what happens on the pitch.

“George and I will be over in mid-December and that is the time to talk about other issues. It is really time for Rafa to quit talking about new players and to coach the players we have.”

Sources close to the Americans admit they are concerned with the present climate but hope to see harmony in relations restored quickly.

tonybarrett@liverpoolecho.co.uk

[solodee]

I have seen this scenario get played out before. This is not good.

[Brian78]

Good chairmen should never be seen and rarely be heard. What good is it them coming out with that attitude. We are doing ok so far and its still only November shut your faces and let Rafa get on with it and if he wants 3 players in January buy them and put your money were your mouth is if not pack up and p**s off. Liverpool football club is bigger then any one person chairman included

whether hicks/Gillette are in charge of the club or whether Rafa's the manager the club comes first so pack in the bickering and do whats best for our club. End of 

[JD]

Rafa didn't buy big enough in the summer.  I always knew when the new investors said they would back him for whoever he wanted then he would be under pressure this year.

Good Chairmen should indeed be seen and not heard but Rafa yesterday at the press conference? Have you ever heard a Liverpool manager touting himself for an England job before?

This could be an interesting one.

[donrafael]

Rafa will walk - he won't wait for the pay-off.

He will simply walk-away if he feels his work is question or not respected... just like he did at Valencia.

I don't think Señor Hicks thinks he would actually do it... but he would.

[Brian78]

Rafa didn't buy big enough in the summer.  I always knew when the new investors said they would back him for whoever he wanted then he would be under pressure this year.

Good Chairmen should indeed be seen and not heard but Rafa yesterday at the press conference? Have you ever heard a Liverpool manager touting himself for an England job before?

This could be an interesting one.

was it not put to him along the lines of "would you be intrested in the England job"  to which he said " you never know in the future what can happen" Its hardly putting your hands up saying pick me please I want the job. The fact that he turned his hometown club down (Real Madrid) to saty with us suggests to me he doesnt want to leave us unless he is unhappy then I believe hed go on his own accord.

And besides England is a step down from Livepool 

[kelv78]

We could do without all this off the pitch bollocks,Rafa has had more than enough to spend he needs to start winning games consistently or dare I say it we might see Jose in the Home dug out sooner than we think.

[molby86]

Just what we need before tomorrows game this!! I thought it was strange that the chairmen posted that statement on LFC TV yesterday..now we know why.

Lets hope they kiss and make up soon or else we could be left with a no win situation and our season would be the main casualty.

 

Life's never dull being a red!

[donrafael]

We could do without all this off the pitch bollocks,Rafa has had more than enough to spend he needs to start winning games consistently or dare I say it we might see Jose in the Home dug out sooner than we think.

If I say Moanrinio dirtying the LFC bench I would be physically sick.

Jose went loop the loop between the ears many moons ago... and if Hicks has a problem with under-public-ego Rafa... he would have a genuine mare managing Moanrinio.

Moanrinio can't keep his mouth shut... I can't think of someone less suited to manage LFC.

IN RAFA WE TRUST.

[molby86]

More on the story from BBC...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A29449326

[donrafael]

Maybe Rafa is hell bent on selling Crouch to raise funds for a big spanish name (David Villa?)... and this is Rick Parry's way of gently telling Rafa who really is in charge.

Mind boggles.

Blimey between SG being depressed, JAR not wanting to go, Crouch tempting Villa, Carra now feeling guilty, Kuyt burgled, Torres dropped for Spain, Voro falling out with his national manager, Sami just missing out, Masch in the shop window, Yossi missing out on his national sides most famous win ...and Rafa asking for more money... it rarely ever gets dull at Anfield!!!

[The Fallen Soldier]

Personnally I think the character references which were produced (allbeit in a circumstantial way) about Hicks are beginning to rear their ugly head.
This I think is a case of "Im the boss now listen do your FUCKING Job shut your mouth and get on with". Americans are well known for there total and utter lack of diplomatic flair, in fact what flair none if I recall, Vietnam case in instance I Think. American coperate bosses are well renowned for putting people in their place and for stating my way or the highway. The trouble being that this lack of diplomatic skill could leave the club in a very precarious position if this fallout is not handled correctly. Rafa like everyone needs to have his ego stroked but he must also remember that some other managers in the EPL manage quite well without all the resources he has had of late. To be fair to Hicks he only sees the fact that he has spent a lot of money in order to make more money "speculate to accumulate" is a big term in big business, and he will be blinkered to the emotional aspects of football in this country, no matter what his and Gillets media and speech writers will have you listening too. Hicks & Gillet will only see the money they have put in and will want some return from it and for Rafa to want to hark on about who he wants to transfer in even before the deadlines are in place is a little pretentious and immature from where Im sitting.

However having said that I do believe some of the media speculation is doing more harm than good aswell and I have to disagree with a lot with some of things that Tony Barret has put forward in that article. Words like "cryptic attack" how can you have someone cryptically attack someone, this is ambigous to say the least and is so open to interpretation that anyone could read anything into the statements. I also did not like the way he stated
"Benitez admitted he was frustrated with life at Anfield" He didnt say that he said he was frustrated with some things, which could mean any number of things, "frustrated with the game plans not going right" "frustrated his wife isnt giving into his sexual advances" or any other crap that comes to mind!!

In conclusion I really do think this is a "6 of one half a dozen of the other" petty quibble and both men need to get the air cleared before any other lying propaganda can be perpetrated by the Liverpool FC hating media, if its not then some more comments could be taken even more out of context and could lead to more tention and so on and so forth. Until they meet to settle this Rafa and Hicks need to keep their mouths shut and concentrate on the whole which is Liverpool FC, show a united front and sort this out in private, thats how it was done in the old days and thats how it should be done now. I would argue that we need not let our competitors start laughing at us which only gives them amunition to play the mind games. Im sure Ferguson will have comment about things before long a sort of anicdotal snippet at the end of a press conference on or before we play the SCUM in December.

[Boot]

I don't like the sound of this!!!!

I wasn't keen on the americans to begin with.  I knew they were buying a club with money they don't have.

I have queries with both the Chairmen and Benitez. 

Firstly Benitez came to Liverpool knowing the club were financially sound but not as rich as the top 2 clubs in the premiership, yet he still joined.  Benitez always comes out and tells the media, WHY?  Does he feel that the fans will always back him?

Secondly.  The chairman promissed that Benitez would have enough money to buy the squad he wanted.  The chairman did not spend a great deal over the summer, when you consider the sales we made too.  They also lied to us about not putting Liverpool in debt.  They also promissed that the Stadium would be resolved very quickly, yet still we are awaiting for the work to start and now the price has doubled.

Also H&G promissed us one signing that we would all be excited about was that Torres?

[redkenny]

Not happy hearing about all this today. There's nothing worse than dirty washing in the public, although I think the usual media vultures are making a mountain out of a mole hill - as per usual. If all what we read is to believed then I expect clear the air talks as soon as possible. Until then, I don't want to hear anymore about it!

In conclusion I really do think this is a "6 of one half a dozen of the other" petty quibble and both men need to get the air cleared before any other lying propaganda can be perpetrated by the Liverpool FC hating media, if its not then some more comments could be taken even more out of context and could lead to more tention and so on and so forth. Until they meet to settle this Rafa and Hicks need to keep their mouths shut and concentrate on the whole which is Liverpool FC, show a united front and sort this out in private, thats how it was done in the old days and thats how it should be done now.

Couldn't agree more Prag!

[EddieC]

I agree that more is probably being made of this than there actually is to it, but it is gonna have a disruptive effect on the team & needs to be sorted. One thing's for certain, Tony Barrett certainly isn't helping at all. I'm not sure myself, does anyone know wher his loyalties lie club-wise?

[RedWilly]

If this is true, then the owners can f**k off. They said they would back us and allow Rafa to get who he wanted, now he has stated targets there telling him to sit down and shut up. It's about time they put their money where their mouth is and start doing, I'm fed up of hearing them say in their annoying accents 'Rafa can buy who he wants, we back him all the way' f**king do it then. I don't think they would be able to sack him with the amount of support he has got from the fans, and who can they bring in who is better than him?

I really don't the sounds that are coming out of the club at the moment.

[LondonRed]

ffs this is so annoying

In any business its natural to dispute things. Just make sure things get resolved. Rafa will speak his mind but he's not an arse like Mourinho. They want to wait till December to discuss funding and maybe Rafa wants to get the ball rolling now as he knows if we wait we will miss out on opportunities



The papers are to blame, they look for one sign of unease and take it out of proportion in order to sell papers.

 I'm sure things will be OK they just to to clarify things.

[king kenny]

I don't know the situation behind the scenes, but I get this feeling Rafa is trying too many things and has too much on his plate.  The chairmen has probably told him concentrate on what your best at coach the team for the next few weeks and get some results.  Nothing wrong with that!

[aw1]

One message to the chairmen,don't let rafa go ...............T(trust)
                                                                                 R(rafa)
                                                                                 U(u)
                                                                                 S(stupid)
                                                                                 T(tycoons)

[koolkidda]

First off a year ago our club was in big trouble, certainly off the pitch, we had little funds to compete for players and the stadium just wasn't going to happen.

We look set to have an amazing stadium on the way and Benitez was given, in the summer, the go ahead to pick his targets and the board would back him.

What happened?  I personally still believe he didn't bring enough quality in to the club.  Torres apart - he didn't get anyone special.  We were never only one striker short of having a world class team where we?

Because Rafa DID have the choice of the market then this season he was always going to be under pressure - he could no longer rely on the 'board didn't back me' line. 

He is fond of throwing a strop to try to intimidate the owners.  If it is over sorting Mascherano's deal out then fair enough - that does need sorting out.

To hear a Liverpool manager touting himself for an England job I found disrespectful to my club.  It was wrong of Benitez to do that.  I understand his frustration to some extent but his actions have disappointed me. 

[EddieC]

I wouldn't say he touted himself for the England job, the question was put to him by a reporter and he answered it as diplomatically as he could. The way he answered the question might not have been ideal, but he was put on the spot and sometimes people get things wrong. I don't believe he wants the job, and I can't believe how much this thing has blown up either.

[king kenny]

The media caught him at the wrong time, he was pissed, like most of us after a little difference of opinion with the boss!  He's not going anywhere, he's not the right man for England, and he has a job here which is far from complete. Its all Bull S***!

[CRK]

I wouldn't say he touted himself for the England job, the question was put to him by a reporter and he answered it as diplomatically as he could. The way he answered the question might not have been ideal, but he was put on the spot and sometimes people get things wrong. I don't believe he wants the job, and I can't believe how much this thing has blown up either.

True! This thing has been blown way out of proportion! I don't think there is as much of a problem as is being made out by the papers! Fingers crossed anyways! Exactly what we need isn't it?

[The Fallen Soldier]

True! This thing has been blown way out of proportion! I don't think there is as much of a problem as is being made out by the papers! Fingers crossed anyways! Exactly what we need isn't it?

Its more than way out of proportion its giving the media ammunition, this is why I still think that both should just STFU. And do it behind closed doors, and they need to do it fast,................... NO in fact f**k it lets do the American way QUEENSBURY RULES fisty cuffs at 20 paces, my monies on Rafa as he has a slightly bigger belly if anyones got a bet for Hicks Im in at 9/1 for Rafa to knock him out in the 3rd. FFS its getting banal but if the media cant cream any more crap off the info orange then dont be surprised to see the Next Sky Sports pay per view being Rafa and Hicks going at it in Las Vegas all exclusive live event for £1400.95 punch off at 3am.

[kingjari]

Has it struck anyone how surreal  this situation really is. only yesterday I was reading an interview with Rafa in the official mag where he stated he'd like to stay at anfield for more than twenty years, about half an hour later I read Tony Barrett's Echo article online. Both of Barrets articles yesterday and today have a slightly sensationalist tone to them, and have alarmed a lot of reds fans myself included. But to be honest this macho posturing between Hicks and Rafa clearly has'nt helped the situation. it's interesting that Rick Parry has'nt pipped up yet to try and calm the waters, his column in next weeks LFC magazine is going to be interesting !!
Why do things like this always seem to happen to us the Noel white saga, Paco leaving, bust ups between the Manager and owners and even bust ups between our co-chairmen if the gutter press are to be believed !! Does anyone else have the feeling we've been cursed by a blueshite or manure supporting witch ?? supporting this club is as much a daily test of faith, patience and belief as going to any church, mosque or a synagogue.
any way back to topic as I read the north wales daily post today a throwaway line in an artice by ian doyle really got me thinking. It said that "Foster Gillette was back in america for an extended period"  Is this part of the reason for Rafa's outburst maybe. as I recall Foster is meant to be in this country full time , the face of the co-chairmen at anfield. He's meant to work with rick parry and Rafa as
a quicker way of communicating with the owners so that their not waiting weeks for answers to their questions about finances et al
I know it's probably nothing but I had a bad feeling when I read that line to me it meant "Rafa's been abandoned". I can also only assume that Rafa and Rick's working relationship is hardly peachy after Rafa's outburst post-Athens.
I hope this sh*te is put to bed quickly for the good of our club,  the fans Faith, the players state of mind and for Rafa too.
YNWA Rafa
Sorry I forgot to ask did they show the now infamous interview on LFC TV at all ?? interesting to know if they chose to broadcast it or not !