How much time should Rafa have been given?

Rafa Benitez was given six years in charge of Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool Football Club exist to win trophies, for four straight years we won nothing under Rafa Benitez. Liverpool Football Club pride themselves on winning League titles, in six years at Liverpool Football Club Rafa Benitez never won the League title.

Yes he was the manager that led us to the Champions League in 2005. The same season we finished fifth and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Burnley. Yes he was the manager that took us to second in the League in 08/09, but since when did 2nd become an achivement for this club? A famous quote by a man named Bob Paisley - "mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second." and now we're celebrating a second place finish? That's how far we've fallen and Rafa, like it or not, has played a part in us falling as have many other people.

I'm not gonna go into his transfers because we all have a say on who was a good transfer or not. Some will make out Aurelio is a good signing, while others will slag off that transfer. And there's very few all agree on. I think he made more f**k ups than good buys, but others don't. No point dragging that argument back up just to hear "how can you say that's a bad transfer when we bought him for x amount and sold for twice as much" blah blah blah.

He was given six years and after that we were left with a pretty average side that finished seventh behind a pretty average Aston Villa side. I would of given him one more year to see if he could get us playing like he did in 08/09 but he wasn't. So we have to move on like this club always has. We can sit here and say how many years should of Evans been given or how many years should Don Welsh of got as manager? But we don't, we move on and remember the good times rather than just mope in self pity.

Get over the fact that Rafa Benitez no longer manages Liverpool Football Club.

Don Welsh should of got 0 years believe me and we might not of been relegated to the old second division,they were not happy memories for me.Back to RAFA ,I am not sure if my memory is playing tricks but did he not win the F.A.Cup against West Ham.

On paper he got Liverpool's 3rd best league performance in 117 years of history.  

In what way do you mean, points reached? Im thinking if we won 18 titles and finished runner up a few times are you going by points total and goals scored/difference?

 

Roy gets blasted for his 'give me 10 games and then judge me', Rafa had a 'five-year plan' and after six we'd only challenged for the league title once. In his first year he made an astounding start giving me one of the best nights of my life as a Pool fan. But, I can't rest on those lurals forever and bring that up six years later as a reason to keep him here longer than the proposed 'five year plan'. He did have very difficult constraints to work under of that there is no doubt and this made life for him even more difficult. But we had Moores here prior to that when money was available albeit not in the same vain as Chelsea's at the time, but never the less that was why he was brought here in the first place, because at Valencia he out fought and outfoxed the money powerhouses of Barca and Madrid. Unforunately the English league proved a different beast altogether and it seemed to take him an eternity to come to terms with English football. He ws infact the next Claudio Raneri, the tinkerman who at one point hadn't playerd the same team in succession for over 90 odd games!



Six years was ample time, it ultimately didn't work out as we'd have liked so a new chapter begins in his career and Liverpool's respectively.

It was the boards '5yr plan' that failed so sack the board not the mananger !

If it was one of your best nights as a Liverpool fan why would you want to get rid of the winning manager ?
Did Manure shout for Fergies head when the won the CL in '99, after all Rafa won it in his 1st full season not after 13 ! If anything Rafa was the victim of his own success (Or was that Houlliers side he won it with, in that case he deserve to be sacked  )

I seem to remember a certain Bill Shankly going 6-7 seasons without a trophy in the 60's-70's did they sack him ? No ! far too much pressure and sh*te from the media and Sky lead Boards to make mistakes which was the case in Rafa's departure (I.M.O. ).

Rafa Benitez was given six years in charge of Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool Football Club exist to win trophies, for four straight years we won nothing under Rafa Benitez. Liverpool Football Club pride themselves on winning League titles, in six years at Liverpool Football Club Rafa Benitez never won the League title.

Yes he was the manager that led us to the Champions League in 2005. The same season we finished fifth and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Burnley. Yes he was the manager that took us to second in the League in 08/09, but since when did 2nd become an achivement for this club? A famous quote by a man named Bob Paisley - "mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second." and now we're celebrating a second place finish? That's how far we've fallen and Rafa, like it or not, has played a part in us falling as have many other people.

I'm not gonna go into his transfers because we all have a say on who was a good transfer or not. Some will make out Aurelio is a good signing, while others will slag off that transfer. And there's very few all agree on. I think he made more f**k ups than good buys, but others don't. No point dragging that argument back up just to hear "how can you say that's a bad transfer when we bought him for x amount and sold for twice as much" blah blah blah.

He was given six years and after that we were left with a pretty average side that finished seventh behind a pretty average Aston Villa side. I would of given him one more year to see if he could get us playing like he did in 08/09 but he wasn't. So we have to move on like this club always has. We can sit here and say how many years should of Evans been given or how many years should Don Welsh of got as manager? But we don't, we move on and remember the good times rather than just mope in self pity.

Get over the fact that Rafa Benitez no longer manages Liverpool Football Club.

I would agree with you if it was that simple.

You however forget that Rafa was fighting all on his own, without any financial backing and a lot of stress with the owners to deal with. Not to forget situations like Carragher refusing to play Right Back for him when asked, or Gerrard just playing really sh*t during our last season.

Benitez was a great man, and he still is a great man. I'd get over him if he had wanted to leave. That's not the case. He still has a job to finish here, and i believe he can; with the right backing from the board and owners.

I think it is irrelevant how much time RAFA should of got,because of twit and tw*t he never had the opportunity to show what he could/would of achieved under decent owners.RAFA will be remembered for the way he respected the fans,the club(not the owners) and the city of Liverpool.He was not afraid to put his hand in his pocket for a worthy cause as we are all to well aware.

Yes, he did donate a lot of money to charity, even gave some of the money from his payout to a charity in Liverpool.

Benitez was a great man, and he still is a great man. I'd get over him if he had wanted to leave. That's not the case. He still has a job to finish here, and I believe he can; with the right backing from the board and owners.

That, young man is a very well balanced view of the situation, it was the board and owners who removed him and bought another manager out of his contract, why cannot the present board and owners reverse that move (remove Roy and reinstate Rafa) ?

Rafa is gone we have to deal with what we have and looks to the future .

It was the boards '5yr plan' that failed so sack the board not the mananger !

If it was one of your best nights as a Liverpool fan why would you want to get rid of the winning manager ?
Did Manure shout for Fergies head when the won the CL in '99, after all Rafa won it in his 1st full season not after 13 ! If anything Rafa was the victim of his own success (Or was that Houlliers side he won it with, in that case he deserve to be sacked  )

I seem to remember a certain Bill Shankly going 6-7 seasons without a trophy in the 60's-70's did they sack him ? No ! far too much pressure and sh*te from the media and Sky lead Boards to make mistakes which was the case in Rafa's departure (I.M.O. ).

That is a valid point about Bill Shankly and  it is the media who are responsible for most of the shi*e these days.Also in Shanks day we discussed the events of the club at the match,in the pub or at work not on the internet.this meant you spoke to a person and not a keyboard.If Shanks had of had Twit and tw*t as owners I think he would of walked,he would not of put up with the backstabbing and sh*t that RAFA had to endure.

That is a valid point about Bill Shankly and  it is the media who are responsible for most of the shi*e these days.Also in Shanks day we discussed the events of the club at the match,in the pub or at work not on the internet.this meant you spoke to a person and not a keyboard.If Shanks had of had Twit and tw*t as owners I think he would of walked,he would not of put up with the backstabbing and sh*t that RAFA had to endure.

Does that make Rafa a stronger/better person ?

He should have been given a job for life, a chance to out live whiskey nose, and at least better those eleven prem league titles that old b***ard has gathered. And he would have done it, no doubt, whiskey nose was poor early on and almost got the sack, and they stuck with the old coot and look what happened.  Rafa was twice as good as that son of a bi*ch, he won the European Cup in a much quicker time than Ferguson won anything. Rafa worked on a shoestring budget and pulled off miracles, imagine what he would have done if he was given some serious cash to play with.

Okay, granted Rafa's English wasn't the greatest, but it was at least comparable to that old scottish bas**rds version of the English language. Rafa took extensive notes, for fucks sake Einstein did the same thing, its a sure sign of a genius at work, and whilst he was recording all those important points, Fergie was slapping his ugly chops on gum.  Again, a sure sign of his superiority.  Rafa donated money quietly to charities in the area, that tight scottish c**t wouldn't give you his urine if you were on fire he is so lousy.

Rafa stood up to those tight fisted owners, compare that to the crawling old scot who has prostituted himself to the mancs version of greedy yanks. Wouldn't you rather have someone with balls, who will stand up and fight the cancer that was ruining the club you love.?

In conclusion, Rafa should have been given another 20 years, and I am certain he would have managed at least 12 titles.

It was the boards '5yr plan' that failed so sack the board not the mananger !

If it was one of your best nights as a Liverpool fan why would you want to get rid of the winning manager ?
Did Manure shout for Fergies head when the won the CL in '99, after all Rafa won it in his 1st full season not after 13 ! If anything Rafa was the victim of his own success (Or was that Houlliers side he won it with, in that case he deserve to be sacked  )

I seem to remember a certain Bill Shankly going 6-7 seasons without a trophy in the 60's-70's did they sack him ? No ! far too much pressure and sh*te from the media and Sky lead Boards to make mistakes which was the case in Rafa's departure (I.M.O. ).

Okay, surely as a board you must set objectives and targets with your employee, no? I don't think the board initially giving him a five year plan was a bad thing or do you thin he deserves Carte Blanche over his own managerial career. Anyway it's besides the point now as a new board came in three years into the original boards plan - everything went out the window when they came in, and like I said in my initial post H&G made life very arduous for Rafa, it is acknowledged and widely accepted by 'any fan who has opposable thumbs' that H&G made life difficult for him.

I do agree that Rafa was the victim of his own success to an extent, yet I not going to keep reliving that night 6 years ago now as a criterion to judge the manager on a current basis. A lot has happened since then, we went for CL in 2005 to finishing seventh in our league losing 19 games during that season. It doesn't give him Carte Blanche though, I am going by what my head tells me, many others are going by what their heart tells them.

Maybe, without H&G it could all have been so different.

To my mind this is the most salient point.

I can remember saying, ater we finished second, it was then that we should have pushed on. It was then that proper owners would have given any manager the resources needed.

If H & G/The Board had sanctioned the transfers Benitez wanted we, most likely, wouldn't have finished seventh. There wouldn't, most likely, have been unrest in the dressing. It's more likely we wouldn't have heard calls for "four or five top-class players" mid-season. ..."likely" but we don't know for sure.

What we do know, however, (should that support have been forthcoming), is that no-one could argue one way or the other if Benitez was the right man. Bear with me - he would have either succeeded or failed miserably (with no excuse).

If, for no other reason, Benitez deserved a chance (with proper backing) to prove us either right or wrong. The length of time? Two transfer windows with proper backing.

Does that make Rafa a stronger/better person ?

I think it just made RAFA more determined and no manager could be stronger or better than Bill Shankly,after all it was Shanks that reincarnated L.F.C. and I can still remember his photograph on the back page of the Echo the day he signed.Yes it was on the back page as in those days all the death notices used to be on the front page.

I think it just made RAFA more determined and no manager could be stronger or better than Bill Shankly,after all it was Shanks that reincarnated L.F.C. and I can still remember his photograph on the back page of the Echo the day he signed.Yes it was on the back page as in those days all the death notices used to be on the front page.

I must admit to being a little nervous about making my post but I just want to point out that as you say Shanks would have walked where Rafa was dealing with it as only Rafa could !

In what way do you mean, points reached?

Pts per game.  86pts from 38 games was Liverpool's 3rd best in the club's history.

I’d like to put an outsiders opinion on here, my friend is a Bluenose and we have been having this same convo over emails at work for a while now.  He’s what he put, im not saying I agree with it, but disect it if you like.

“Looking from the outside in, I find it amazing that a club used to what you are used to can idolise a man as inept as Benitez.

He regularly lost the plot, has systematically STRIPPED your youth system apart and it will take years, and money to put right.

If Henry turned up to Everton as a new owner, would he, in all honesty say, "We are going to concentrate on getting the youth set-up right first, then concentrate on the rest"? No, I doubt he would, because there isn't the damage there that Benitez left for you.

He would be able to concentrate on the front line, the marketing, the money coming in, the spending on better players.

Some of your fans are fascinated with the media portrayal of Benitez, the "15 minutes that shook the world". They forget about the first half when you were as poor as they have been.

If a man cannot get a team up for that, then I would be very surprised.

I seem to remember a game when whiskey nose walked in to the changing room, said "win" then walked out. The team subsequently went on to win the game comfortably. Is that cause of what he said?

Maybe, maybe not.

The second half in Istanbul was, in my opinion, more down to the drive and absolute determination of Gerrard and Hamann, who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and turned it to how they wanted it.  I know Benitez made the change, but a change had to be made and after that Benitez was just a bystander, all his work was done in the first half, with a team who was built by Houllier.

I cannot deny that what he said at the interval wasn't stirring, because it was, but then, I could've thought of that at that moment, and I'm an Evertonian.
 
One of the funniest sights I have seen in world football was the parade of the Rafatollah. The most toe curling, cringe worthy piece of theatre I have ever seen or witnessed, and all this was happening right on my doorstep.

I tell you one thing mate, the EPL misses Rafa like we miss Jose, pure comedy factor.”

I’d like to put an outsiders opinion on here, my friend is a Bluenose and we have been having this same convo over emails at work for a while now.  He’s what he put, im not saying I agree with it, but disect it if you like.

“Looking from the outside in, I find it amazing that a club used to what you are used to can idolise a man as inept as Benitez.

He regularly lost the plot, has systematically STRIPPED your youth system apart and it will take years, and money to put right.

If Henry turned up to Everton as a new owner, would he, in all honesty say, "We are going to concentrate on getting the youth set-up right first, then concentrate on the rest"? No, I doubt he would, because there isn't the damage there that Benitez left for you.

He would be able to concentrate on the front line, the marketing, the money coming in, the spending on better players.

Some of your fans are fascinated with the media portrayal of Benitez, the "15 minutes that shook the world". They forget about the first half when you were as poor as they have been.

If a man cannot get a team up for that, then I would be very surprised.

I seem to remember a game when whiskey nose walked in to the changing room, said "win" then walked out. The team subsequently went on to win the game comfortably. Is that cause of what he said?

Maybe, maybe not.

The second half in Istanbul was, in my opinion, more down to the drive and absolute determination of Gerrard and Hamann, who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and turned it to how they wanted it.  I know Benitez made the change, but a change had to be made and after that Benitez was just a bystander, all his work was done in the first half, with a team who was built by Houllier.

I cannot deny that what he said at the interval wasn't stirring, because it was, but then, I could've thought of that at that moment, and I'm an Evertonian.
 
One of the funniest sights I have seen in world football was the parade of the Rafatollah. The most toe curling, cringe worthy piece of theatre I have ever seen or witnessed, and all this was happening right on my doorstep.

I tell you one thing mate, the EPL misses Rafa like we miss Jose, pure comedy factor.”

All your mates comments are typical of someone who hasn't really studied what Rafa did here.

I highlighted two points to prove this.

Rafa was the one who overhauled our youth system and wanted to see it develop players for the first team. He just did not get the time to see it happen.

Also Rafa is one of the most negatively portrayed managers I can remember by the media. It is us fans who hold him in high regard, the media do nothing but snipe and criticise the man and give no credit whatsoever.

Yeah, I know many Mancs, bitter and Chavs who wanted us to keep Rafa as they thought we'd never achieve the league title under him. Some of them were even more upset when he left than some of the mob on here.

Yeah, I know many Mancs, bitter and Chavs who wanted us to keep Rafa as they thought we'd never achieve the league title under him. Some of them were even more upset when he left than some of the mob on here.

That's a poor post RnR.

That's a poor post RnR.

Apparently most of mine are mate, so no loss there

Apparently most of mine are mate, so no loss there

Nah mate, think about it. You're better than that.

For all his so called failings which I think were totally blown out of all proportion, I love the man like a brother. He brought me great things and fought on my behalf. I will never turn on him.

Lets give Rafa credit, in his early years he had the inspiration to try and fill the team with Spanish talent, he knew years earlier that Spanish players would soon rule the world and he was right, the fuckers won the world cup didn't they.

Lets not forget he was thwarted in his grand plan by H&G when they tightened the purse strings and made it so he could no longer afford the Spanish talent.  That's when he realised he would have to go to plan B and overhauled the youth academy.  He was now going to have to grow some home talent, and was putting together a really talented bunch of youngsters.    Now Roy Hodgson is going to benefit from all that.  That lad Kelly and his performance against Chelsea is just the beginning.