Ronnie Whelan wants Rafa sacked

I don't understand Whelan.

1. Didn't he realize it was Rijse who actually destroyed Liverpools run for the Final with a once-in-100years-mistake? Didn't he relaisze that our boys had chances in London to pull it out? It could have gone the other way very easily....

2. Mourhinho had a lot more money and top-players available at Chelsea. Liverpool never had the money to spend like Chelsea or ManU.

3. Benitez has a couple of young guns who will develop into very good players, but not overnight. Benitez thinks strategically (more longtermwise).

4. Mourinho - can you imagine this guy being 5-10 years in Liverpool? His theatrical character won't admit that...Rafa on the otherwise seems loyal to our club and THAT should count something.

GIVE RAFA TWO MORE YEARS and if he hasn't won another CL- or PL-title by then, let him go...but only if he had the money to make sure Liverpool gets the competitive players it needs to accomplish those goals...and this brings us back to the DIC/Gillett & Hicks-Parry-problem...that's the real cancer of this club and it needs to be removed VERY QUICKLY!

Rafa spent 40 million on second rate players acording to Ronnie Whelan. Unlike  Morinho. You bet it was unlike Mourinho. He spent 250 Million and over 40million of that was on players who failed to make the grade and were sold at massive losse. I havn't heard much about Ronnie Whelan since he stoped playing until he appeared as a t v pundit. Not a very good one at that. This is just a method of stirring up controvercy so he gets noticed. Must be looking for a bit of work alongside andy gray i think. F***ing Tosser.

I have to say I am shocked by this outburst and lack of respect for a manager who has given this club fresh hope and is working towards a bright future.  I think a lot of people think they have a right to write off Benitez so easily as they tend to follow the general media misconception, but for an ex legend I'm sure he has close ties to the club and understands how much the media bandwagon and bad vibes can affect a club such the size of Liverpool and these comments don't help one bit.

I'm all for freedom of speech and if he had a REAL argument to question Rafa's position maybe people would take them on board, which I'm sure a select few have.  Unfortunately this is not the case:

“He has been quoted many times as saying ‘judge me at the end of the season’, well it’s the end of the season and his squad simply isn’t strong enough.”

Does anyone remember Rafa saying "I will win a trophy this season" as that's pretty much what whelan is implying.

“When the Americans [co-chairmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett in 2006] came in, they gave Rafa a lot of money to spend on players.

Really? from what I saw they gave him the money for a few big signings to keep him sweet then shut the kitty, probably due to the fact that they didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket cowards!

There were plenty of times in the past when he could have done it if he’d wanted to. I don’t think it was a good idea.”

Maybe it was due to the fact that in such a high profile game the ref/officials need to be aware of what diving antics he is usually capable of, as if any other team would not do the same given the opportunity!

“We don’t know if the American owners will be there next season or if the Dubai group [Dubai International Capital] will be the new owners.

As if you care unless they ultimately "buy" the title

“Whoever is there will need to decide if they have confidence in Rafa. Personally I don’t.”

Well I'm sure the editorial team of gulf news will listen to your unsupported claims on that all day as after all they are the first for all the big stories or were they the only people who would interview you on this?

True Legend !!!!!

Kenny Dalglish, the most eminent player in Liverpool's history, fears that Rafael Benítez will struggle to attract top-class reinforcements to Anfield this summer unless the club's ownership issues are resolved.

Benítez is highly confident of signing Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa captain, and a handful of low-key acquisitions, such as Philipp Degen, the Borussia Dortmund full back, but Dalglish believes that the continuing dispute between Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the Liverpool co-owners, may deter other potential targets from joining the Merseyside club.

“On the field, [liverpool] are an attractive proposition,” Dalglish said. “Off it, you would have reservations about coming here while there are still issues to be resolved. How does Rafa get the sign-off to go after a player? Who signs it off and who negotiates the deal to a conclusion? I hope it is resolved sooner rather than later. Players around Europe are starting to look at where they want to play next season and it's not fair for Rafa to try to enter negotiations with an arm behind his back.”

Steven Gerrard, writing in the match programme before the game against Manchester City last Sunday, also stated the importance of signing more top-class players to improve on this season's fourth place in the Barclays Premier League. “We'll hopefully invest in a couple of quality additions to the squad in the summer and have a go at it again,” the Liverpool captain said. “If we get some of the players that the manager wants - and some of them can have the same impact that guys like Yossi Benayoun, Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel and Ryan Babel have had this year - then we will have taken a step forward.”


Whelan you are a pure and utter clown!!!!!!!!

y the hell did he say that it must have been for his own publicity as in every way it is not helpfull for the club.

2 CL finals in 4 years makes every single manager in the premier league at the moment jealous. Look at the signings recently, skertel, masch, babel, torres all Fing amazing and wtf is he talking about mourinho. hes talking absolute bull and makes me laugh every time i read it.
We did them twice under him and if it wasnt for that 95th minute in the first leg we would have done them again this season but thats football.
Football is at its highest level ever at the moment and does he just think that spending 40mil in this day and age can buy u the league? The scum and chelski have been spending that every summer for the last 4 years and he expects  rafa to be the messiah
Sorry Ron i respect what u did for us in the past but footballs a whole different ball game nowadays seeming as the £ rules all

IRWT

We all have an opinion I suppose but please tell me I am not dreaming when Ronnie said Rafa has had just as much money to spend as Chelsea (that's not my take on these proceedings) Drogba, Anelka, Essien, Cole, Lampard, Cech, Wright-Philipps, Malouda, the list goes on so and on so where does Ronnie get is facts. He also wants Rafa sacked based on one Champions League game in which he sounds like he was watching the 2005 game. Your wrong Ronnie and aught to know better than to ask for a guys job just because you do not like the way he does things so get of Rafa's back and support your old club like Phil Thomson does and other ex players. And Ronnie would like the special one to take over (must have bumped into his agent)....No thanks...

Would someone put me strait on how much money Rafa has spent during his time at the club I caught a little of how much the clubs spent on ssn and our club were 3rd with something like 260mill spent and just ahead were the mancs and Chelsea with something like 20 and 30 mill more, will someone tell me how can this be since Rafa has been here I've see him spend on ave. about 30mill a year so where did they get 260 from, I know last year he spent a little more but it was around 40 mill and a lot of that was from selling players so where the sh*te do these people get their figures...

£260m is over 10 years.

Rafa's spent about £150m, but his NET spend is around £90m.

Mourinho's net spend was around £200m.

To say Lucas - Brazilian league's Footballer of the Year and full international - and Babel - regular Dutch international - aren't good enough when both have only just turned 21 and are in their first season in England is deplorable. Combined the pair cost £17m, or roughly a Darren Bent or a Michael Carrick.

Was Ronnie a world-class player at 20/21? No. He'd had three years to get used to being at Liverpool are only just started playing regularly at 21.

im sorry for bringing this thread up but im new in the forum and have only seen it now.

im very disappointed, id say. even tough I didnt watch Ronnie Whelan, for some reason he is maybe my favourite Liverpool legend. im a big fan of him since I downloaded and watched the FA Cup final 89 vs Everton. he always seemed to be a very good guy and I still like him a lot, but I think his comments were very superficial and unapropriate. come on Ronnie, I expected u to make more sense.

The worst thing is that he gave the interview to a Gulf Newspaper. So was he trying insure that it was heard by all the relevant people in the DIC camp, very very disapointing.

The worst thing is that he gave the interview to a Gulf Newspaper. So was he trying insure that it was heard by all the relevant people in the DIC camp, very very disapointing.

Very wanky indeed.

He has lost the respect of many reds over this.

Pity ...as I had him down as a very decent fella.

The worst thing is that he gave the interview to a Gulf Newspaper. So was he trying insure that it was heard by all the relevant people in the DIC camp, very very disapointing.

He wants F***ing with the rough end of a pineapple.......I used to have so much respect for him.

I dont see the logic behind this, unless he wants the job for himself, but either way i think that he's disgraced himself

He wants F***ing with the rough end of a pineapple.......I used to have so much respect for him.

christ dude. was drinkin pinapple juice when i read the post. eeeewwwwwww. haha dissappointed in ronnie. have a lot of respect for him and this is a silly thing to blurt to the papers

I dont see the logic behind this, unless he wants the job for himself, but either way I think that he's disgraced himself

I would have a side bet that Ronnie imagined that one day he would have a role to play within the Melwood set-up... and it hasn't materialised under Rafa... and it doesn't look very likely now does it?

I would not go as far as to say he has done an incredible job, 4th and no trophies is far from incredible he is professional enough to get on with his job and not blame the lack of success on the politics of the club.

I have the greatest respect for Ronnie Whelan as a great Liverpool player but he is wromg with his comments about RAFA who I feel as done an incredible job this season with a totally disorganised board.Also I dont think Ronnie can claim any success as a manager himself.

I would not go as far as to say he has done an incredible job, 4th and no trophies is far from incredible he is professional enough to get on with his job and not blame the lack of success on the politics of the club.

Politics or lack of available funds? Don't get these confused...

Real Madrid has more political battles than Brown and Blair ever had... yet they have funds coming out of the kazooo... e.g. forth coming GBP X0M () offer for Ronaldo.

Don, the main point I was getting at is that regardless of the circus show behind the scenes we can not say Rafa has done an incredible job as was stated.

Politics or lack of available funds? Don't get these confused...

Real Madrid has more political battles than Brown and Blair ever had... yet they have funds coming out of the kazooo... e.g. forth coming GBP X0M () offer for Ronaldo.

Don, the main point I was getting at is that regardless of the circus show behind the scenes we can not say Rafa has done an incredible job as was stated.

What I would say is "incredible" is the fact that he has kept a professional attitude and fought for the best interests of the club whilst being stabbed in the back by the clubs owners. Also "incredible" for me is the level of respect he has for the club, city and supporters. Especially with the amount of money flying around the game nowadays and the fact that he could easily have walked into the managers position of many top European clubs.

What I would say is "incredible" is the fact that he has kept a professional attitude and fought for the best interests of the club whilst being stabbed in the back by the clubs owners. Also "incredible" for me is the level of respect he has for the club, city and supporters. Especially with the amount of money flying around the game nowadays and the fact that he could easily have walked into the managers position of many top European clubs.

Couldn't have put it better myself... without swearing.

Well said mate.

And so he should be be incredibly professional, massive respect to Rafa for that but he has his own squad now 4 years in the hot seat and he is still to get a realistic title challenge going. Why is 4th in the country good enough?

What I would say is "incredible" is the fact that he has kept a professional attitude and fought for the best interests of the club whilst being stabbed in the back by the clubs owners. Also "incredible" for me is the level of respect he has for the club, city and supporters. Especially with the amount of money flying around the game nowadays and the fact that he could easily have walked into the managers position of many top European clubs.

Has seen the backing the fans have given Rafa! and the content give to Hicks? I doubt it with these comments.

“I doubt the supporters will mind who the owner of the club is as long as they are winning trophies. If they give money to the manager and the manager spends it wisely, that's all the fans care about.”

Too much time in the sun Ronnie.

The whole piece is crass anti LFC/Rafa pro Chelsea/Maureen.

And so he should be be incredibly professional, massive respect to Rafa for that but he has his own squad now 4 years in the hot seat and he is still to get a realistic title challenge going. Why is 4th in the country good enough?

At least we agree that he's got the right attitude! A real pro!

As for the rest we can agree to disagree, as this does seem a dividing point between many supporters at the moment. I totally respect people who want the club to succeed, as we all do, it just shows we love the club and want to be at the top of the game. I haven't said that 4th was good enough, I don't think I have ever said that, and for me first in the EPL is the thing I want us to achieve most.

However (here we go you're thinking ), IMO four years in charge of a club is the minimum required for a manager who doesn't have bucketloads of money to spend such as Chelsea and Man Utd, as I feel the creation of a team takes a relatively long time. We are bringing in top class players, and young ones at that, but over several years, not in one summer. The youth players are highly promising, but again it takes time for them to mature and break into the first team.

If we had more money perhaps things would go quicker, but if we want long-term success rather than just 1-2 titles, we need to create and bond a real team rather than just cutting and pasting 11 £25 million pound lads from around the world. Looks good on paper (and computer games ), but I don't think it works in real life, as we have to consider players personalities and playing styles (and lifestyles too!).

Maybe I'm optimistic or deluded, but I do think we're not far at all from challenging for the title, we need just one or two players signed in the right positions and a steady boardroom that doesn't undermine it's own manager throughout the season. A couple of decent results against the other top clubs and we're there. It's a matter of building on what we already have, and I feel we have solid foundations for a real push next year, and (more importantly) many years to come.