Personally I'll respect and admire the man regardless of what he chooses to do with his professional life. I don't demand anything of him. But I expect him still to be here next year in spite of all this, and I'll be surprised if he leaves.
That said, he wants a lot against a backdrop of there not being a lot there. There is no money. Apparently the club tried to secure Van Der Vaart without his ken. So Rafa's on record saying we need 5 players and Tony Barrett is saying privately he feels we need more, or we won't challenge (won't go down the 'it's his squad' route as it's a grey area having had good players on the hook and lost them due to shifting budgetary goalposts).
So we might as well accept that no matter who's at the helm, we won't challenge. Personally that'll sadden me, but it won't affect the way I feel about the club one jot. That's the club mind, not the owners or its executives. We're going into managed decline - there's very little doubt about it, unless a magic fairy unexpectedly starts shitting diamonds into our coffers from upon high. Rafa's ambitious and has his own footballing legacy to consider, so if he can't bear the idea of the combination of pressure and lack of recognition while he rebuilds the workings of the club, then he'll leave.
But then again, how often in your footballing career do you get to put your stamp on academy, reserves, scouting, first team, the works. I know the Van Der Vaart thing no doubt rankles with him, but he ought to sit down and have a think before he squanders the remit and opportunity he has. Others might think it's a sh*t sandwich, but personally I think it's one of the finest job descriptions you could ever see, despite the sh*te.
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