Benitez thread

[Slim]

The thing is that I really feel people are giving G&H a hard time. I have no idea about the current situation but given that Moores had to give a personal loan to buy Kuyt it is reasonable to assume that without them the transfer activity this summer would have been much reduced.

I really think that you could reasonably add Kuyt and the Mascher loan into the amount of cash that they have spent on transfers as they had to come up with the money for both in the end. They also allowed us to go for transfers we would never have gone for before such as Lucas who was a complete luxury and the sort of youth purchase associated more usually with Arsenal. Along with the bigger investment in Torres this was a step change in the way we operate.

I like everyone who supports LFC as we want the best for our club and want our owners and manager to be singing from the same hymn sheet. At this time I really think we have to give the owners some leeway as they are trying to refinance a huge debt in a way that will influence the future of the club for years to come.

No one knows whether Rafa's frustration is short or long term - we have seen outburst from him before when he has felt he hasn't had the tools at his disposal he desires at the time when he is unhappy with team performance. It is obviously bad that he feels this way but from the outside it is not clear at all whether this is impatience while the owners sort the debt or a bigger problem that might lead to him leaving. On this basis I think the best thing to do is wait and see - I suspect everything will become clearer by February.

Top post

[dww]

Riled at what he sees as another example of their dragging their heels, a monosyllabic Benitez straight-batted any mention of Newcastle or England's Euro 2008 demise by saying: 'I can only focus on training and coaching my team.'

That's a very long syllable.

[Slim]

That's a very long syllable.

[tomasjj]

I don't think it is unreasonable to tell Rafa to sell a few players to make the squad smaller before buying. Recoup some cash for Momo, Riise, Carson or whoever he wants to sell.
If we don't advance in the CL, this has an effect on spending. It is only fair that the owners point that out.

I love Rafa and thinks he is the man, but he can be a right kid sometimes. What ever his reasons are, they should have done this in private. This moaning is something we could have done without - just another energy drain, taking our eyes away from the real issues - games coming up.

Yanks get too much beef - they revamped the stadium completely and made sure we got a proper one that can be expanded . Thank God for that! It is extremely costly though.
The weakness of the dollar makes it a lot tougher for them too.

When it comes down to it, the stadium is more important than Rafa getting his fix in the January window.

[Imy]

The thing is that I really feel people are giving G&H a hard time. I have no idea about the current situation but given that Moores had to give a personal loan to buy Kuyt it is reasonable to assume that without them the transfer activity this summer would have been much reduced.

I really think that you could reasonably add Kuyt and the Mascher loan into the amount of cash that they have spent on transfers as they had to come up with the money for both in the end. They also allowed us to go for transfers we would never have gone for before such as Lucas who was a complete luxury and the sort of youth purchase associated more usually with Arsenal. Along with the bigger investment in Torres this was a step change in the way we operate.

I like everyone who supports LFC as we want the best for our club and want our owners and manager to be singing from the same hymn sheet. At this time I really think we have to give the owners some leeway as they are trying to refinance a huge debt in a way that will influence the future of the club for years to come.

No one knows whether Rafa's frustration is short or long term - we have seen outburst from him before when he has felt he hasn't had the tools at his disposal he desires at the time when he is unhappy with team performance. It is obviously bad that he feels this way but from the outside it is not clear at all whether this is impatience while the owners sort the debt or a bigger problem that might lead to him leaving. On this basis I think the best thing to do is wait and see - I suspect everything will become clearer by February.

I don't know about the spending, what was the net spend? this year the Premiership money increased and saw the likes of Spurs and Man Yoo spend big partly to this, add CL prize money and how much does that give us?

Did they really put their own money in to the transfers? or did they guarantee the money knowing that they will be paid back in full plus interest via their yearly dividends?

[Joe King]

I don't think it is unreasonable to tell Rafa to sell a few players to make the squad smaller before buying. Recoup some cash for Momo, Riise, Carson or whoever he wants to sell.
If we don't advance in the CL, this has an effect on spending. It is only fair that the owners point that out.

I love Rafa and thinks he is the man, but he can be a right kid sometimes. What ever his reasons are, they should have done this in private. This moaning is something we could have done without - just another energy drain, taking our eyes away from the real issues - games coming up.

Yanks get too much beef - they revamped the stadium completely and made sure we got a proper one that can be expanded . Thank God for that! It is extremely costly though.
The weakness of the dollar makes it a lot tougher for them too.

When it comes down to it, the stadium is more important than Rafa getting his fix in the January window.

Wouldn't you want to be walking into the stadium as the Premiership champions instead of runners-up or third or fourth best?

[JohnDoe]

I am concerned about what is going on behind the scenes but what concerns me more is that the whole thing seems to be being played out in public.

This is a result of G&H's lack of communication with Rafa.

[tomasjj]

Wouldn't you want to be walking into the stadium as the Premiership champions instead of runners-up or third or fourth best?

Of course, but the stadium won't be finished for another 3 years, besides, when you get such a stadium surely you have to acknowledge the costs and accept a bit less to spend for a little while?
I know, we want both, but I think it is unrealistic.
Rafa should sell some before moaning too much.

[cobain]

That's a very long syllable.

[dww]

I don't know about the spending, what was the net spend? this year the Premiership money increased and saw the likes of Spurs and Man Yoo spend big partly to this, add CL prize money and how much does that give us?

Did they really put their own money in to the transfers? or did they guarantee the money knowing that they will be paid back in full plus interest via their yearly dividends?

Most people put the nett spend at £20m-£25m and are using this as a stick to beat us with. I think that seeing as the money had to be found in practice the Kut and Mascher deal had an impact putting our spending not so far behind the teams you mention. We are also finding cash for a stadium which in the short term has to negatively affect our spending power. I would also question the fact that we see all the money from the players we sell as some has to go to pay agents etc. which again tends to add to the nett outgoings.

As to your second point I have no doubt that in the long run the Americans expect to get their money back but I suspect that they fully expected to invest in the initial phase of their project. This seems pretty much the same way that most of the top clubs in the PL (Chelsea excluded) operate.

I worry that they made promises to Rafa that they can't (possibly only temporarily due to the refinancing) meet but that is a separate issue in some ways. It would be a problem if true.

I don't mean to come across as a G&H fan boy and I feel that it is imperative we do everything to keep Rafa and continue the progress of the team. I just feel that this debate needs some balance.

[Slim]

This is a result of G&H's lack of communication with Rafa.

If that is the case then it's a poor way to do business.

[AFII]

This is a result of G&H's lack of communication with Rafa.

Not really much else he can do if they don't even answer his emails.

[JohnDoe]

G&H are in it for the money.

Rafa loves this club and wants it to succeed.

Rafa any day.

[AFII]

I'm concerned because Rafa will walk if they don't back him or give him 100% control of the transfer deals IMO, he decides who he want to sell and sign after they backed him up with a good transfer budget.

If you consider that G&H really hasn't spent more or less anything from their own pockets on transfers yet IMO then they can't come out and say that they have backed him. We earned a lot of money from the CL last season and we also get more money from the new TV deal.

When G&H really shows that they back Rafa then they can moan and say that we should win things, not before they have done that.

[Nicey]

So you think nothing whatsoever has gone on?

Honestly mate no. I cant for the life of me understand what all the palava is about, actually I think you English boys are suppressing your feelings about your national team being a pile of Arse and your are projecting on our beloved Liverpool FC and Rafa B not to mention the Marvelous G&T

Cut them all some slack and stop fighting fire after fire