Rafa on Roy - 'Some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar'

Killing me daz with that one!

Roy has had 10 games. All I'm saying is give the dude a chance. He took the job under difficult circumstances, knowing how well liked Rafa was by a majority of the fans, knowing the club might be taken over and his job would be at risk, knowing the squad was weak and a key player - Masch - wanted to leave etc. etc. Basically a shitload of baggage. I don't think he's the kind of guy who can lead us to the title, but that's moot cause we don't have the players. To the top4, unlikely - but then again, you never know (eternal optimist - lots of points still to play for.
Now that NESV have taken over, his time might be short. Would love to make it 3 on the bounce at the WE. He might not be a the most inspirational character, but I find it hard to dislike Roy and I'd like him to do well. IMO, his only chance of keeping his job is if he can grab a top4 place, and I'd put the odds of that at approx 15-1 (well I'd have a hopeful tener on that).

And what I'm saying is that hodgson never has been and never will be of the calibre required to manage a club like ours.

If you find it hard to dislike a man who criticizes EVERYONE else for his own shortcomings, then that's your problem.

But when a man uses fan protests against the owners as an excuse for his own shortcomings, and then goes on to say the players are crap I am not going to respect him or give him time.

When a man puts his friendship with ferguson ahead of the club, we have a right to ask questions.

When a man uses the press to belittle our players and legends, we have a right to castigate him for it.

When a man refuses to rule out selling our best players, we have a right to voice our anger - especially when the club linked with him is manu - and all because he didn't want to upset his mate ferguson.

All this coupled with his arrogance, his sh*t tactics, his crap motivation and his long ball sh*te.

And you want us to give him time? Why? so he can drag us down still further?

This bollocks about a crap squad is all very well, but he sent 2 players out on loan, and brought in 2 WORSE players to replace them - and besides which, even a blind man can see that the 1st team is a very good team, given the right coach, which hodgson is NOT.

FFS anyone with half an ounce of football knowledge could get this team into the top half of the table - and 10 games in he hasn't managed that, and correct me if I'm wrong but he himeslf said to judge him after 10 games.

Well, I have, and it's an EPIC FAIL.

I admit that I didn't want Rafa to leave, but at the very least we should have replaced him with a manager of some ability - instead we got a manager who is the same as the players he signs. A journeyman. And whilst that might be good enough for you, it's nowhere near good enough for me.

that really isnt funny.

Well I found it highly amusing but then again I can differentiate my sense of humour from football, you should try it.

Sarcasm is so misunderstood these days.

This is what Roy said in the pre-match interview

Hodgson offered an olive branch to Benitez, who has continued to criticise elements at the club despite leaving for Inter Milan in the summer.

"I totally agree with him that every manager needs to work with his own club," said the Liverpool boss.

"If I have upset him by saying something which I certainly didn’t mean to be in any way critical or negative about his work at the club, then I would happily apologise because there was never any intention to do that.

"As far as I am concerned I work at Liverpool and do my best for Liverpool, and he will work at Inter and do his best for Inter.

"I have no comments to make about other people’s opinions - I’ll allow them to make them and in this case I’ll accept them if that’s what they want to be."

Finally common sense prevailed and Roy has tendered an apology. I think he should now concentrate on the team and getting us up the league. He should now realize that he should not release stupid comments. Roy gets a thumbups from my side.

Oh when I saw the word Tendered just for a minute........

This is what Roy said in the pre-match interview

Hodgson offered an olive branch to Benitez, who has continued to criticise elements at the club despite leaving for Inter Milan in the summer.

"I totally agree with him that every manager needs to work with his own club," said the Liverpool boss.

"If I have upset him by saying something which I certainly didn’t mean to be in any way critical or negative about his work at the club, then I would happily apologise because there was never any intention to do that.

"As far as I am concerned I work at Liverpool and do my best for Liverpool, and he will work at Inter and do his best for Inter.

"I have no comments to make about other people’s opinions - I’ll allow them to make them and in this case I’ll accept them if that’s what they want to be."

this so irritates me, another distrotion of the F***ing facts. Raffa has only ever responded, thgir making it out as if he's constantly talking about lfc

This is what annoys me, people seemingly completely ignoring the cause of all this and just thinking Rafa is instigating it all.

Have to say I agree, if I was baited then I would respond...

However I stil lbeleive Rafa should have said nothing before the game with Tottenham, he could have waited. I posted earlier that Inter fans would be pissed off with him, and it turns out the Italian media and fans have been giving him a bit of a grilling today.

Rafa's timing was bad on this occassion, not for us - but for Inter and his relationship with their fans.

Again, my point is if I was an Inter fan, hearing my manager talking about his ex club then losing would irritate me. It would make me question where his mind was at before the game and if he wants to return to Liverpool.

Good move by Roy.

However, I'm not fooled. He's obviously been told to, especially with the Echo results - he knows full well that fan opinion is well and truly behind Rafa. This is purely a PR exercise IMO. Full credit still, as it still takes some guts to apologize publicly like that. I'm just not convinced he meant it really.

I'm with you on this one mate. It is a micro drop in the ocean in the context of the issues that need addressing in order to put us back where we belong and essentially what Roy is saying is that his attitude on this particular subject was faulted.
It really alters nothing and we are in the same quandary, the majority think Roy is the wrong man for the job.

And what I'm saying is that hodgson never has been and never will be of the calibre required to manage a club like ours.

If you find it hard to dislike a man who criticizes EVERYONE else for his own shortcomings, then that's your problem.

But when a man uses fan protests against the owners as an excuse for his own shortcomings, and then goes on to say the players are crap I am not going to respect him or give him time.

When a man puts his friendship with ferguson ahead of the club, we have a right to ask questions.

When a man uses the press to belittle our players and legends, we have a right to castigate him for it.

When a man refuses to rule out selling our best players, we have a right to voice our anger - especially when the club linked with him is manu - and all because he didn't want to upset his mate ferguson.

All this coupled with his arrogance, his sh*t tactics, his crap motivation and his long ball sh*te.

And you want us to give him time? Why? so he can drag us down still further?

This bollocks about a crap squad is all very well, but he sent 2 players out on loan, and brought in 2 WORSE players to replace them - and besides which, even a blind man can see that the 1st team is a very good team, given the right coach, which hodgson is NOT.

FFS anyone with half an ounce of football knowledge could get this team into the top half of the table - and 10 games in he hasn't managed that, and correct me if I'm wrong but he himeslf said to judge him after 10 games.

Well, I have, and it's an EPIC FAIL.

I admit that I didn't want Rafa to leave, but at the very least we should have replaced him with a manager of some ability - instead we got a manager who is the same as the players he signs. A journeyman. And whilst that might be good enough for you, it's nowhere near good enough for me.

You might very well be right

Well I found it highly amusing but then again I can differentiate my sense of humour from football, you should try it.

Thought it was funny too. Guilty as charged
Not because I'm in anyone's camp btw, just that I haven't had a sense of humour lobotomy.

And what I'm saying is that hodgson never has been and never will be of the calibre required to manage a club like ours.

If you find it hard to dislike a man who criticizes EVERYONE else for his own shortcomings, then that's your problem.

But when a man uses fan protests against the owners as an excuse for his own shortcomings, and then goes on to say the players are crap I am not going to respect him or give him time.

When a man puts his friendship with ferguson ahead of the club, we have a right to ask questions.

When a man uses the press to belittle our players and legends, we have a right to castigate him for it.

When a man refuses to rule out selling our best players, we have a right to voice our anger - especially when the club linked with him is manu - and all because he didn't want to upset his mate ferguson.

All this coupled with his arrogance, his sh*t tactics, his crap motivation and his long ball sh*te.

And you want us to give him time? Why? so he can drag us down still further?

This bollocks about a crap squad is all very well, but he sent 2 players out on loan, and brought in 2 WORSE players to replace them - and besides which, even a blind man can see that the 1st team is a very good team, given the right coach, which hodgson is NOT.

FFS anyone with half an ounce of football knowledge could get this team into the top half of the table - and 10 games in he hasn't managed that, and correct me if I'm wrong but he himeslf said to judge him after 10 games.

Well, I have, and it's an EPIC FAIL.

I admit that I didn't want Rafa to leave, but at the very least we should have replaced him with a manager of some ability - instead we got a manager who is the same as the players he signs. A journeyman. And whilst that might be good enough for you, it's nowhere near good enough for me.

This

Thought it was funny too. Guilty as charged
Not because I'm in anyone's camp btw, just that I haven't had a sense of humour lobotomy.

Guilty as well had a good chuckle meself.

Had no respect for Roy anyway but after his apology I have even less.

Everyone could see he was blaming Rafa for ALL of our problems now to come out and say he wasn't and it wasn't ment to offend anybody then WTF? It was but he's even to weak to stand up for what he thinks.

Roy Hodgson offers olive branch to Benitez

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has offered his apologies to predecessor Rafael Benitez, after the Spaniard hit out at him on Monday.

Benitez responded to comments the 63-year-old had made about the state of the club when he took over by saying ''He's talking about things that he doesn't know.

''Some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar. Instead of talking about flips and flops, he has to concentrate on his job, try to do his best and not talk about the level of his players or the new players.''

But Hodgson has now offered an olive branch to Benitez, who has continued to criticise elements at the club despite leaving for Inter Milan in the summer.

''I totally agree with him that every manager needs to work with his own club,'' said the Reds boss. ''If I have upset him by saying something which I certainly didn't mean to be in any way critical or negative about his work at the club, then I would happily apologise because there was never any intention to do that.

''As far as I am concerned I work at Liverpool and do my best for Liverpool, and he will work at Inter and do his best for Inter. I have no comments to make about other people's opinions - I'll allow them to make them and in this case I'll accept them if that's what they want to be.'

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=838637&sec=england&cc=3888

Hope that will draw a line under things and both clubs can go on to be successful.

He actually said he would apologise rather than does apologise.

 I do not know about an olive branch but Roy should get down on his knees and beg forgiveness from RAFA.Roy like Ferguson tried to do,take RAFA on and he like Ferguson  failed miserably.

bit of a backhanded apology there - in fact it doesn't really seem much of an apology.

About the best that could be expected though, given the nature of the man...

Liverpool's Roy Hodgson apologises to Rafael Benitez

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has apologised to Inter Milan manager Rafael Benitez for comments about the Spaniard's reign at Anfield.

Hodgson criticised the "expensive failures" he inherited in the squad with Benitez responding by telling him to concentrate on doing his job.

"If I upset him by saying something which I didn't mean to be critical then I'd happily apologise."

"There was never any intention to do that," he added.

Former Fulham boss Hodgson replaced Benitez this summer when the Spaniard left Anfield after six years and took charge of the Italian European champions.
   
With Inter playing at Tottenham in the Champions League this week, Benitez has been able to speak to the British media to get across his response to Hodgson's criticisms of some of his signings.

"I think that Mr Hodgson, he doesn't understand," insisted Benitez.

"Every single press conference is even worse than the last one. He's talking about things that he doesn't know. And some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar.

"Maybe he hasn't been in Liverpool too long. We gave the fans their pride again. We fought for the fans, we fought for the club and we fought for our players. So maybe he cannot understand this.

"With £10m net spending, I left that squad with £300m value, 13 internationals."

However, Hodgson insisted he was not looking to prolong their dispute.

"As far as I am concerned I work at Liverpool and do my best for Liverpool and he will work at Inter and do his best for Inter," he said.

"I have no comments to make about other people's opinions - I'll allow them to make them and in this case I'll accept them if that's what they want to be."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9156415.stm

There should be no need for an apology Roy, as you should have kept your mouth shut!

A man of you age should realise that things like this ALWAYS come back and takes a big bite out of your arse.

I have never known a Liverpool manager to carry on talking rubbish in virtually every interview.

"As far as I am concerned I work at Liverpool and do my best for Liverpool and he will work at Inter and do his best for Inter," he said.
[/quote]

Roy says he's doing his best for Liverpool!?!?!?  

We are still waiting for his own assessment of his first 10 games. at best its a D more like an F.