Rafa Benitez appreciation

[kurtangle01]

Now that I do agree with, good post mate

Undoubtedly, there has been some sort of problem, and it seems that the role Hicks has played in addressing it was not a good one. There are definite concerns, and the owners srill have a lot to prove before we should believe the club is safe in their hands. I just don't think the sort of emails to Parry and so on, printed on here today, and protests of any sort along the lines of simple abuse, are the way forward, or may not prove to be wholey counter-productive.

Anfield should rock for 90mins on Wednesday with Rafa's name. Show our total support for the man in a positive fashion. But a mob calling for Hick's head on a stick would also be so not-liverpool, especially not yet.

I'd be surprised if it wasn't just a minority who called for Hicks' head. The majority, I think, will go on this March for a bit of a laugh and a sing song if anything else.

I'd be amazed if the 'protest' or what ever it is amounted to much. It, like the events of the last few days, will be forgotten as soon as the press have nothing more to go on.

The press are already scraping the barrel now. The stories have gone from rafa being sacked to mass player exodus' 'if' Rafa gets sacked. Perhaps Rafa and Hicks are learning that if you give the press nothing to go on they have very little of substance to write.

[Skillz]

Very sensible posts here. I wish I was over to sing Rafa's name but I won't be calling for anyone's head. Hicks and Gillett were well within their rights to make those statements IMO. Rafa has to learn that undermining the owners through the media will result in one thing only, his removal.

He seems to have backed down as he needed to and he may be able to save his job, however that will require him to deliver on the pitch now more than ever. I suspect he will need to qualify for the CL 2nd round and win (or at least go very close) the title. In effect he has placed himself in a much more precarious position.

If the fans continue with an us vs them mentality they will blame Rafa, probably quite rightly as he has created this scenario and I feel he will have to placate that, probably after Wednesdays game IMO, with a further endorsement of H&G good intentions.

[Dhav]

Now that I do agree with, good post mate

Undoubtedly, there has been some sort of problem, and it seems that the role Hicks has played in addressing it was not a good one. There are definite concerns, and the owners srill have a lot to prove before we should believe the club is safe in their hands. I just don't think the sort of emails to Parry and so on, printed on here today, and protests of any sort along the lines of simple abuse, are the way forward, or may not prove to be wholey counter-productive.

Anfield should rock for 90mins on Wednesday with Rafa's name. Show our total support for the man in a positive fashion. But a mob calling for Hick's head on a stick would also be so not-liverpool, especially not yet.

Certainly it is extremely premature for protests, especially if they are intended to be anti-Hicks, Gillett, Parry etc. Anything other than a pro-Rafa rally would be inappropriate IMO.

But these two have made two monumental errors the past few days, firstly with Hicks' public instructions to Rafa to "stop talking and get on with coaching the players we have" and then that derisory statement on Sunday which achieved nothing but to muddy the waters, increase speculation and heap more pressure on the shoulders of Rafa and the team. If they wanted to turn the heat down and get down to focusing onthe important matches ahead as their statement said then that could have been more readily achieved by putting a statement out in support of the manager, not by saying essentially that team requirements will be reviewed in a few weeks time. Surely they would have realised that it would encourage further speculaiton about Rafa's future? This seems to me to be strategic posturing designed to weaken Rafa's position or at least put him under more pressure.

I hope this pulls the team together and rallies them around Rafa, but equally there is no doubting that this has the potential to have a destabilising effect on them, to our obvious detriment.

[RedProf]

Well, just playing devils advocate a bit.... wasn't it Rafa who brought all this into the public domain? Therein seems to have come most of the problem. Ok, so in response Hicks basically told Rafa to shut it and concentrate on the important games coming up. Games which will firmly shape the direction of our season, and dictate whether transfers in Jan should involve strengthening for an end of season title push or not. Where's the ultimatum there? Rightly or wrongly, they are Rafa's bosses. He criticised them in public. Wrong. They had a go back. Also wrong. The whole thing got whipped up and almost went out of control. Wrong.

I'll tell you what betrays the ethos of the club. Muppet "fans" who call 606 after a couple of draws abusing our own players and saying Rafa should be sacked. I heard it on the radio, and I read similar on here too. Frankly, all the way over in Texas, I can understand how, just a few weeks ago, Hicks and Gilette may have been getting the impression that the fans of the club were anything other than behind Rafa. His judgement over transfers, his tactics, his selection policy, all were being heavily questioned by the media, fueled by a general sense of simmering discontent amongst the fans. Don't make me go searching this forum for some choice quotes, we all know it was happening.

What I'm trying to say is that its the sort of fans who go off on one at the slightest thing, who demand instant success, who believe everything they read in the Sunday S*n or have spoon fed to them by Sky, that need to do a bit of looking at themselves rather than constantly chucking the abuse about at whoever is today's villan of the piece. There's been wrong on all sides of this spat, if we can just pull ourselves out of pantomime mode for a minute and act with some of the dignity our owners unfortunately seem to have lacked slightly in this whole episode, we might just get an awful lot further.

Great post well put across. Sometimes I think the pre-internet days were better when you didnt have every man and his dog spouting off Hey ho!

[IrishPaul]

I would like to use this thread to pay tribute to our manager Rafa Benitez. We have IMO the finest manager in world football right now, certainly one of the top 3 anyway. The way he has transformed us into being one of the most feared/respected clubs in world football again in such a short space of time is remarkable.

The reason he has done this is down to many reasons, his tactical knowledge is second to none. There hasnt been a manager born yet that gets EVERY decision right, but I have never seen a manager get his tactics right as often as Rafa does. Also, he is mentally strong, he picks HIS team, not what player power or fan power dictates. He sticks with rotation, even though a million internet managers tell him its wrong, because HE BELIEVES ITS THE BEST WAY TO GET RESULTS OVER THE COURSE OF A SEASON. And judging by the fact we are generally the best team each season from november onwards this would seem to be correct. Now that we have finally had a good start to a season, god only knows how good we will be when we really kick into form in a month or so.

Finally, and most importantly, he is not too proud to admit mistakes. Morientes, Pellegrino, Kromkamp etc under a lot of managers would still be playing and still be struggling week in and week out due to the managers fear of admitting he dropped a bollock by selling them. Not with Rafa.

Finally, I would like to say a big **** OFF to some of the ballbags on this site who have been talking about getting rid of Rafa you know who you are

RAFA RAFAEL RAFA RAFAEL RAFA RAFAEL RAFAEL BENIIITEZ


Anbeleebable

Good auld Coops - The voice of the people

In Rafa We Trust

[Red11]

1747. Signed yesterday, more as a show of support for Rafa than an anti-owner thing.
Rafa needs to appreciate the constraints he has, probably because of the stadium financing and the need to progress in the CL. The yanks had none, and certainly have no understanding yet of what :
a) football means to people and b) just how much LFC means to football and it's supporter. For that they need to wise up fast and i think the fans singing Rafa's name loud and clear will help no end in them getting that understanding.

They can undoubtedly make money from owning LFC, which is the reason they bought us. But they will make far more by appreciating LFC's uniqueness, and history and the relationship that has always existed between us, our managers and our owners and not trampling on those bonds that we hold so dear and that were forged through unimaginable glories and heartaching tragedies. We are faithful and we'll happily let the owners profit from us if they respect these truths. Our manager and players will be loved if they play with passion and without fear.

ANYONE that disrepects these canons though, should be under no doubt whatsoever , that they will reap the awesome ****ing fury of us, the supporters of Liverpool Football Club.

IMHO of course....

[Sprouty]

Rafa Photoshop

Not seen this before.

[Johnny]

[Johnny]

[loco_law]

bump

[Nicey]

Dear Mr .....,

Thank you for your e-mail.

The owners have made a statement on the website however your comments have been passed on.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Carroll
Customer Services
Liverpool Football Club


My comments .......... Don't even think about it !

[Marky]

i love rafa

that is all,
rafa goes...i go wit him,

[Nicey]

Me too mate

[Johnny]

Silly thread.

We are Liverpool supporters first and foremost.

[Nicey]

Go **** yourself Johnny Upside down on the Christmas Tree ... Ho Ho Ho Meeeerry Christmas