Rafael Benitez Discussion Thread

Won 6-0 at St James Park in front of 49,000 supporters...

First quater final appearance in 10 years..

If we don't catch them in this tourney then we'll see them in the league next season.

Won 6-0 at St James Park in front of 49,000 supporters...

First quater final appearance in 10 years..

Said this back in August;

I think there are too many big name, big ego managers going around at the moment to let this one slide by. Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte, Klopp, Wenger, Koeman, Bilic, Ranieri, Pochettino and a dark horse in my opinion being one Rafa Benitez (With a squad better than it's current position may be capable of competing on both fronts). These are all men who are geared to win, and not all of them can, or will, so expect them to look to get on the board early with this competition.

Rafa is no fool, he knows this one is up for grabs, and Rafa in a knockout tournament, never say never.

Rafa,s got em going alright ,

and Rafa in a knockout tournament, never say never.

More than capable of winning any game but if I had to pick out a team I am most wary about coming up against, it's them.

Not Rafa, but Rafa's team. Quite stunning really.

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/791207645516562433

Not Rafa, but Rafa's team. Quite stunning really.

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/791207645516562433

F**k me....that's some quality goal that....even the sweeper keeper looked good

https://twitter.com/NUFC/status/796349814258577409

Sir Bobby would be proud.

Is it Rafas fault yet that trump got in?

Nope it's Rodgers, never flipped the triangle... 

5 pts clear and sitting good top of the Championship.

Seeing Newcastle's results over the last week brought back to my mind some of the occasions at Liverpool when I couldn't get along with the mass rotation which Rafa believes in. Firstly they got beat by Blackburn at Home, an incredible result which was brought to my attention by Jonny, a great lad from work who is a dyed in the wool Blackburn fan. Blackburn are really really poor by his own admission, but they were given a huge helping hand by Benitez's decision to make SIX changes to the team which had won the previous week. Obviously the rest is history, they lost there, got beat by Hull in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup despite Hull being reduced to 10 men, then went onto lose at Nottingham Forest 2-1 while having two players sent off.

They still sit on top of the Championship by a point from Brighton, but I can't help thinking they or he makes it harder for himself than it needs to be with selectorial tinkering. They outgun every team in the Championship in terms of budget by absolutely miles (forget Celtic in Scotland, we are talking absolutely a huge gap) and will win the league at a canter, but why make it difficult? Alan Curbishley said recently that it is the strongest squad which has ever been in the Championship and I agree with that, so just win it then and don't mess about.

Those six changes just brought the memories back of the season with us where he made 75 changes to the first team in the first 15 matches. I remember at the time thinking "this is absolutely bonkers" and nothing has happened since to make me change my mind. 

Seeing Newcastle's results over the last week brought back to my mind some of the occasions at Liverpool when I couldn't get along with the mass rotation which Rafa believes in. Firstly they got beat by Blackburn at Home, an incredible result which was brought to my attention by Jonny, a great lad from work who is a dyed in the wool Blackburn fan. Blackburn are really really poor by his own admission, but they were given a huge helping hand by Benitez's decision to make SIX changes to the team which had won the previous week. Obviously the rest is history, they lost there, got beat by Hull in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup despite Hull being reduced to 10 men, then went onto lose at Nottingham Forest 2-1 while having two players sent off.

They still sit on top of the Championship by a point from Brighton, but I can't help thinking they or he makes it harder for himself than it needs to be with selectorial tinkering. They outgun every team in the Championship in terms of budget by absolutely miles (forget Celtic in Scotland, we are talking absolutely a huge gap) and will win the league at a canter, but why make it difficult? Alan Curbishley said recently that it is the strongest squad which has ever been in the Championship and I agree with that, so just win it then and don't mess about.

Those six changes just brought the memories back of the season with us where he made 75 changes to the first team in the first 15 matches. I remember at the time thinking "this is absolutely bonkers" and nothing has happened since to make me change my mind.

Strikes me as agenda driven this post

Not going to go massively into it but the three games in six days? Who wouldn't rotate? In a league like the championship where you have games weekend midweek constantly and you expect him to play the same team Saturday/Tuesday/Friday of the same week leading up to the Christmas period?

Guess you're not a Rafa fan Mick 😬

Strikes me as agenda driven this post

Not going to go massively into it but the three games in six days? Who wouldn't rotate? In a league like the championship where you have games weekend midweek constantly and you expect him to play the same team Saturday/Tuesday/Friday of the same week leading up to the Christmas period?

Guess you're not a Rafa fan Mick 😬

. It's hardly a hatchet job on the man, I'm simply talking about something which came up in conversation with the Blackburn lad the other day. No "flipping the triangle", just saying I don't believe in such mass rotation.

As for being a "Rafa fan" I suppose it depends on what you mean. I've said on forums for a number of years that he think he did a very decent job at Liverpool and that he seems like a very honorable fella. His record in the transfer market at Liverpool taken as a whole is IMHO excellent, and to win the Champions League with a team which contained the likes of Djimi Traori is an astounding achievement.

But yes compared to some I'd be a bit more lukewarm in my worship of the ground he walks on than they, it is true. They would summise the above paragraphs of proof that I "hate" him, detest him etc. They would say that I've spent years "slagging him off" whilst never ever being able to find a single post on this forum or any other where I've slagged him off, and probably finish off by saying I call him a FSW (even though I never have, obviously). I didn't even abuse Hodgson when he was our manager (it's not my style), but that's what gets said.

Anyway rotation, never been a fan of it on this mass scale.     

Seeing Newcastle's results over the last week brought back to my mind some of the occasions at Liverpool when I couldn't get along with the mass rotation which Rafa believes in. Firstly they got beat by Blackburn at Home, an incredible result which was brought to my attention by Jonny, a great lad from work who is a dyed in the wool Blackburn fan. Blackburn are really really poor by his own admission, but they were given a huge helping hand by Benitez's decision to make SIX changes to the team which had won the previous week. Obviously the rest is history, they lost there, got beat by Hull in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup despite Hull being reduced to 10 men, then went onto lose at Nottingham Forest 2-1 while having two players sent off.

They still sit on top of the Championship by a point from Brighton, but I can't help thinking they or he makes it harder for himself than it needs to be with selectorial tinkering. They outgun every team in the Championship in terms of budget by absolutely miles (forget Celtic in Scotland, we are talking absolutely a huge gap) and will win the league at a canter, but why make it difficult? Alan Curbishley said recently that it is the strongest squad which has ever been in the Championship and I agree with that, so just win it then and don't mess about.

Those six changes just brought the memories back of the season with us where he made 75 changes to the first team in the first 15 matches. I remember at the time thinking "this is absolutely bonkers" and nothing has happened since to make me change my mind. 

He's rotated so much over the last week because they have been having midweek games too, a cup game looking for a place in the semi final. Games on the 26th, 29th and then the 2nd. Before that they were on a very good run. It's no different to us rotating in the week.

Funny how this thread is so quiet when things are going well for him.

He's rotated so much over the last week because they have been having midweek games too, a cup game looking for a place in the semi final. Games on the 26th, 29th and then the 2nd. Before that they were on a very good run. It's no different to us rotating in the week.

Funny how this thread is so quiet when things are going well for him.

I wouldn't know I don't really post in it whether things are going well or not. I made a rule a long time ago not to get involved in Benitez discussions so in the main I don't. I thought I was making a fairly innocent observation here about what it was while he was at Liverpool which iritated me on occasions, but if it's going to turn into a big barney I'll bow out. I should've known better, my apologies.

Newcastle doing ok at the moment.

And I commend the great work Rafa is doing there.

The Championship isn't always about big budgets or having the best team.

If not the teams that drop down from the premiership should always make it back up.

Looking forward to seeing him back in the premiership where he belongs.

Big up to him in even taking the Championship challenge, shows the sort of person he is.

Newcastle doing ok at the moment.

And I commend the great work Rafa is doing there.

The Championship isn't always about big budgets or having the best team.

If not the teams that drop down from the premiership should always make it back up.

Looking forward to seeing him back in the premiership where he belongs.

Big up to him in even taking the Championship challenge, shows the sort of person he is.

After the first 3 games losses it looked like a tricky move but then they went on an unbeaten run which looked unlikely to end, have had a few tough games & shot themselves in the foot at times like last nights 2nd goal for Norwich...hope he gets them back up.

Just to add the championship have some very strong teams & some of the football & support is better than the PL.

Some eye catching fixtures this week.

Among them, two teams that have gone onto bigger and better things since he took a wrecking ball to them, battling it out in the Bernabeu for a quarter final place in the European Cup.

Where was himself? The hallowed turf of Carrow Road, stuttering and struggling in his quest to win a league that makes the SPL resemble Serie A.

We have lost just 4 league games this year with significant consequences. So I'm sure if we lost the amount he has, the roof would fall in.

Some eye catching fixtures this week.

Among them, two teams that have gone onto bigger and better things since he took a wrecking ball to them, battling it out in the Bernabeu for a quarter final place in the European Cup.

Where was himself? The hallowed turf of Carrow Road, stuttering and struggling in his quest to win a league that makes the SPL resemble Serie A.

We have lost just 4 league games this year with significant consequences. So I'm sure if we lost the amount he has, the roof would fall in.

Piss off, your just boring now.

Some eye catching fixtures this week.

Among them, two teams that have gone onto bigger and better things since he took a wrecking ball to them, battling it out in the Bernabeu for a quarter final place in the European Cup.

Where was himself? The hallowed turf of Carrow Road, stuttering and struggling in his quest to win a league that makes the SPL resemble Serie A.

We have lost just 4 league games this year with significant consequences. So I'm sure if we lost the amount he has, the roof would fall in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MK7qz13bU

Piss off, your just boring now.

The guys a weirdo mate. Rafa left close to a decade ago and he still can't let it go.

Feel bad for the first girl who ever dumped him, he must be throwing darts at her every night!

Some eye catching fixtures this week.

Among them, two teams that have gone onto bigger and better things since he took a wrecking ball to them, battling it out in the Bernabeu for a quarter final place in the European Cup.

Where was himself? The hallowed turf of Carrow Road, stuttering and struggling in his quest to win a league that makes the SPL resemble Serie A.

We have lost just 4 league games this year with significant consequences. So I'm sure if we lost the amount he has, the roof would fall in.

& we have really covered ourselves in European glory since Rafa left....I'd taken them back right now than the sh*te that's been served up since Rafa's departure..

Newcastle have spent money in the past and ended up with a completely unbalanced squad. They spent 45 million this year but sold 75 million. I hope Newcastle give him the reins for transfer dealings. I think the biggest 'lie' about Rafa was his transfer dealings. Rafa built an unbelievably strong and balanced side for us, on the cheap too. Imagine if he had the resources to build a second string side as formidable. We would have won everything. I don't think he is suited to a Madrid or a side that wins solely by buying success, he's a real manager who can build teams and instruct them. I don't think he's a motivator, he expects his players to be professional and given good instruction. I think that's why Liverpool and Newcastle suit him; the fans motivate the side.

Benitez v Bruce tomorrow night. Wonder if Rafa will big fat head of this tomorrow night.

Featuring a Riise classic no less!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ylpDgbpgk