Rafael Benitez Discussion Thread

Just a few to prove you wrong.

Antonio Nunez    Real Madrid    £1,500,000    17 August 2004
Antonio Nunez    Celta Vigo    £2,000,000    29 July 2005

Mark Gonzalez    Albacete    £1,500,000    20 October 2005
Mark Gonzalez    Real Betis    £3,500,000    17 July 2007

Momo Sissoko    Valencia    £5,600,000    14 July 2005
Momo Sissoko    Juventus    £8,200,000    28 January 2008

Craig Bellamy    Blackburn    £6,000,000    1 July 2006
Craig Bellamy    West Ham    £7,500,000    10 July 2007

Peter Crouch    Southampton    £7,000,000    20 July 2005
Peter Crouch    Portsmouth    £11,000,000    11 July 2008

Scott Carson    Leeds    £1,000,000    21 January 2005
Scott Carson    West Brom    £3,250,000    18 July 2008

Yossi Benayoun    West Ham    £5,000,000    12 July 2007
Yossi Benayoun    Chelsea    £6,000,000    2 July 2010

Our top 5 highest transfer fee's received are 4 of Rafa's signings.

Suarez
Torres
Sterling
Alonso
Mascherano

Markus Babble          Free
Danny Murphy          £2.5m
Stephane Henchoz      Free
Vladmir Smicer          Free
Igor Biscan                 Free
Jon Otsemobor            Free
Zenden                         Free
Dudek                         Free
Fowler                         Free
Hamann                       Free
Pennant                        Free
Hyypia                         Free
Finnan                          £1m

Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
For me at least, Rafa always seemed to willing to let players go too cheaply

But let’s just concentrate on the players bought and sold by Rafa
                                                                         Sold for
Josemi   £2m plus signing on fee and wages          Swapped
Nunez    £1.5m plus signing on fee and wages        £2m
Garcia    £6m plus signing on fee and wages           £4m
Pellegrino Free plus signing on fee and wages          Free
Morientes £6.3m plus signing on fee and wages       £3m
Paletta      £2m plus signing on fee and wages         Free
Dossena    £7m plus signing on fee and wages         £4.7m
Keane       £19m plus signing on fee and wages        £16m
Riera         £8m plus signing on fee and wages         £4m
R. Babel   £11.5m plus signing on fee and wages      £7m-£8.5m     

Liverpool FC took cash losses on all these players and more under Benitez…
Of the players I named above he fail to gain any money on transfers except for Finnan and Murphy, and when you look at some of the names here it is totally unbelievable and (to me) unacceptable. Criminal even…Eleven players named in which Rafa did not get one single penny for, and that’s just the few I have named.

On a few others,
Benayoun, Bellamy, Crouch, and Arbeloa he may have sold them for more than the initial amount LFC paid for them, but when you take into account signing on fee and wages it is still quite a loss

Yes Rafa did very well on some players the likes of Alonso, Mascherano. But you can not attribute the sales of Suarez, Torres, and Sterling to Rafa… He had long gone from the club by the time these players were sold….

So again, my original point….. Rafa Could have kept Danny Murphy as back up to Xabi Alonso If (a) He had wanted to, (b) He had tried to get money for the players he chose to let go for Free

Rafa is proving his class by dropping down a division. Would any other top manager do that? Normally I wouldn't want Newcastle to gain promotion, but out of respect for Rafa, I hope they do.

"Rafa is proving his class by dropping down a division." The only other club rumored to be offering him a job was Everton...  Lets see if he can bring Newcastle back up first before you say he has proven anything

So again, my original point….. Rafa Could have kept Danny Murphy as back up to Xabi Alonso If (a) He had wanted to, (b) He had tried to get money for the players he chose to let go for Free

You ever thought Murphy wanted to leave!

"Rafa is proving his class by dropping down a division." The only other club rumored to be offering him a job was Everton...  Lets see if he can bring Newcastle back up first before you say he has proven anything

Simple F***ing fact - we went from number 1 ranked team in Europe under the Spanish failure to whatever the F**k we're ranked now.

Rafa's record on selling players is poor, He very rarely got a half decent price for them (Alonso excluded)

Here's a few more to show he was doing similar with youth.

Antonio Barragan    Sevilla    £240,000    4 July 2005

Antonio Barragan    Deportivo    £675,000    3 August 2006

Mikel San Jose    Athletic Bilbao    £270,000    28 June 2007

Mikel San Jose    Athletic Bilbao    £2,600,000    19 May 2010

Sebastian Leto    Lanús    £1,800,000    1 July 2007

Sebastian Leto    Panathinaikos    £3,000,000    1 July 2009

Then we have the likes of.

Shelvley
N'gog
Suso
Ayala

Rafa purchases that sold following him leaving for more than we paid.

Now I'm not saying he didn't have any bad transfers but in 6 seasons he spent £229,340,000 and recouped £151,000,000. giving him a net spend of £78,340,000.

That's effectively £13.056m a year net or £6.528m per transfer window.

Figures that unfortunately show you to be talking out of your proverbial rusty hoop.

Are you beginning to see a pattern here?

Yes i'm beginning to Understand you have no idea about Amortisation of contracts, which means we never took a hit on the books on Sami, Henchoz as an example as their existing contracts had been served.

I'm beginning to understand that you don't realise that a lot of clubs allow good servants to move for free/modest fee at the twighlight end of their careers ala Sami, Henchoz, Markus Babel, Didi, Pellegrino, Finan, Fowler as a gesture of goodwill and to free up a squad space and wages, its nothing revolutionary, we recently done the same with Gerrard.

Signing on fee & wages ? Weak as piss argument, NEWSFLASH all clubs pay them.

P.s

Yes Rafa did very well on some players the likes of Alonso, Mascherano. But you can not attribute the sales of Suarez, Torres, and Sterling to Rafa… He had long gone from the club by the time these players were sold….

If Rafa hadn't of brought them here, they wouldn't have been here to be sold.

Ohh and Kenny signed Suarez not Rafa and the OWL sold Mascherano..

Educate yourself 

Bollocks... I will leave it there. You haven't even the F***ing decency to apologise when you have been pulled up.

Piss off. I wrote one line to you and that was it.

Carry on like a 12 year old schoolgirl if you want.

Here's a few more to show he was doing similar with youth.

Antonio Barragan    Sevilla    £240,000    4 July 2005

Antonio Barragan    Deportivo    £675,000    3 August 2006

Mikel San Jose    Athletic Bilbao    £270,000    28 June 2007

Mikel San Jose    Athletic Bilbao    £2,600,000    19 May 2010

Sebastian Leto    Lanús    £1,800,000    1 July 2007

Sebastian Leto    Panathinaikos    £3,000,000    1 July 2009

Then we have the likes of.

Shelvley
N'gog
Suso
Ayala

And if we were a grocers that would be great , sadly we are a football club and all those transfers did was to waste time and take up valuable space in our squad.

Rafa bought some great players for which he deserves credit, but I am not going to go into paroxysms of delight because we sometimes made a few quid on our flops.     

Markus Babble          Free Houllier signing twilight of career affected by severe illness
Danny Murphy          £2.5mHoullier signing
Stephane Henchoz      Free Houllier signing twilight of career
Vladmir Smicer          Free Houllier signing twilight of career
Igor Biscan                 Free Houllier signing sh*t
Jon Otsemobor            Free came through youth ranks
Zenden                         Free Rafa free signing twilight of career
Dudek                         Free Houllier signing
Fowler                         Free Rafa free signing twilight of career
Hamann                       Free Houllier signing twilight of career
Pennant                        Free Rafa signing sh*t
Hyypia                         Free Houllier signing twilight of career
Finnan                          £1m Houllier signing twilight of career

How is there no mention of Milan Jovanovic in here? Easily Rafa's best signing from a comedy perspective.

Rafa bought some great players for which he deserves credit, but I am not going to go into paroxysms of delight because we sometimes made a few quid on our flops.

A lot of his signings were youth for the academy, necessity signings if you will all clubs do this and its hit and miss.

He signed some dudds too for the 1st team, but he also signed some players we all lauded, again all clubs do this and its hit and miss.

How is there no mention of Milan Jovanovic in here? Easily Rafa's best signing from a comedy perspective.

You forgetting Phillip Degen ?

Remember his unveiling ?

You forgetting Phillip Degen ?

Remember his unveiling ?

But Jovanovic had that great header!

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

A lot of his signings were youth for the academy, necessity signings if you will all clubs do this and its hit and miss.

He signed some dudds too for the 1st team, but he also signed some players we all lauded, again all clubs do this and its hit and miss.

I agree mate, it was the scattergun approach that let him down a bit.

61 signings ... 76 signings if you include the youth players.

In 6 years that's a lot... over 10 a season.

But Jovanovic had that great header!

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

  Think that was about the only time he forced me out of my seat and thats because i fell off the tw*t laughing.

Could have put Aquifuckinglani in that bubble wrap too and Kewell even if he was Houllier's signing.

oach that let him down a bit.

61 signings ... 76 signings if you include the youth players.

All under 21's when signed by Rafa.
1 Scott Carson
2 Antonio Barragan
3 Miki Roque    
4 Jack Hobbs
5 Besian Idrizaj    
6 Mark Gonzalez    
7 Paul Anderson
8 David Martin
9 Gabriel Paletta
10 Nabil El Zhar
11 Astrit Ajdarevic
12 Jordy Brouwer
13 Francisco Manuel Duran
14 Krisztian Nemeth    
15 Mikel San Jose    
16 Sebastian Leto
17 Emiliano Insua    
18 Lauri Dalla Valle
19 David N'Gog
20 Daniel Ayala
21 Raheem Sterling
22 Jonjo Shelvey
23 Suso
24 Lucas
25 Babel
26 Agger 21/22

"Rafa is proving his class by dropping down a division." The only other club rumored to be offering him a job was Everton...  Lets see if he can bring Newcastle back up first before you say he has proven anything

You obviously  (probably intentionally) misunderstood the point I was making.
A manager of his stature ( which is widely acknowledged wether you like it.or not) staying with a team after they've been relegated, shows a lack of ego on his part. Could you see Mourinho, Pep, or Ancelotti doing that? I think not!

And by the way, I was one who thought Rafa's time was up when he left, so don't think I'm just some Rafa hugger that thinks he still has unfinished business, but that man deserves the respect and recognition of all Liverpool fans.

the OWL sold Mascherano..

As if Hodgson had a clue what was going on.

That was pure Cuban heeled snake oil charmer himself Purslow who gift-wrapped that deal for Barca and sold it by saying Mascherano wouldn't play against City.

I've no hate for Rafa, No desire for him to return, respect him but more than happy with Klopp, so i'm looking at things objectively.

As if Hodgson had a clue what was going on.

That was pure Cuban heeled snake oil charmer himself Purslow who gift-wrapped that deal for Barca and sold it by saying Mascherano wouldn't play against City.

You know what I mean HR, in saying that he left Purslow no alternative when Woy said he wanted 'The one to watch' Poulsen. 

F**k me, H&G, Purslow, Roy Hodgson, Joe Cole, Konchesky, Poulsen, Jovanic all in one summer, was like Wes Craven wrote us our very own F***ing nightmare.

Think that was about the only time he forced me out of my seat and thats because i fell off the tw*t laughing.

Could have put Aquifuckinglani in that bubble wrap too and Kewell even if he was Houllier's signing.

God, we've signed some absolute dross, haven't we?

All under 21's when signed by Rafa.
1 Scott Carson
2 Antonio Barragan
3 Miki Roque    
4 Jack Hobbs
5 Besian Idrizaj    
6 Mark Gonzalez    
7 Paul Anderson
8 David Martin
9 Gabriel Paletta
10 Nabil El Zhar
11 Astrit Ajdarevic
12 Jordy Brouwer
13 Francisco Manuel Duran
14 Krisztian Nemeth    
15 Mikel San Jose    
16 Sebastian Leto
17 Emiliano Insua    
18 Lauri Dalla Valle
19 David N'Gog
20 Daniel Ayala
21 Raheem Sterling
22 Jonjo Shelvey
23 Suso
24 Lucas
25 Babel
26 Agger 21/22

A lot missing from your list mate

Godwin Antwi
Ryan Crowther
Martin Hansen
Daniel Pacheco
Alex Cooper
Jordy Brouwer
Ronald Huth
Gary Stevens
etc etc

I would list them all but it's tricky picking out the ones you missed

A lot missing from your list mate

Godwin Antwi
Ryan Crowther
Martin Hansen
Daniel Pacheco
Alex Cooper
Jordy Brouwer
Francisco Duran
Ronald Huth
Gary Stevens
etc etc

yup

Damien Plessis

I sharp got bored.

Wonder if 10 years from now everyone will still be arguing over all this crap; one of the biggest strengths and weaknesses of being a supporter of LFC is the past....either by using it inspiration or ever being able to just let it go and move forward.

I swear some spend more time arguing about every little detail of every thing that has ever happened its amazing they can time to support in the now.