Time for a Change??

[Radar]

I'm 27, and second is nowhere to me. 3rd/4th is an afterthought.

Thing is you get used to it, don't you?

Maybe next year and all the rest.

At least we lasted to mid January this time.

Yeah but to some 2nd mean CL proper and 3rd/4th mean a qualifier somewhere in Eastern Europe. Winning the league doesn't seem that important. **** I remember thinking it took Man Utd 25 years to win the league. No way Liverpool could go that long between titles. It's been 17 now

[Kopite_Colin]

The thing is that Rafa will probably need £50m+ net to sort out the wholes in the squad. I can't see G&H giving Rafa that.

Two new strikers £40m+
Two new wide players £30m+
A new central defender £10m
Fullbacks £20m+
Attacking midfielder £20m+

That's a lot of money and I mean a lot of money. We would of course get in £40m-£50m on some players that we sell but it's still a lot of money.

Just to use your example:

2 strikers:

Villa / Eto'o class striker = £25m, Owen £5m = £30m
Top class Winger = £15-£20m
CB = Garay = £10m
Fullbacks = Aurelio & Arbeloa = OK for this year, maybe Insua if he shows enough promise.

If we get the quality wingers and "split striker" or "No. 10" type of striker, we probably don't need an Att MF: we have the No.10, SG, Benayoun to play that position (and Kewell if he was to stay).

So £60m outlay in the short-term (at least) , with decent incoming monies from the sale of the following:

Riise £4m
Carson £8m
Crouch £8m
Kuyt £6m
Voronin £3m
Pennant £4m
Sissoko £10m

Total income = £43m

So it's not a huge net outlay in overall terms to take us to the next level. Add £10m or so if we need another full back. It is possible. But you have to trsust the manager to sign quality attacking players - something Rafa 's record isn't good at with LFC (Torres excepted). For every Torres, there's been a Bellamy and a Kuyt. And for every Alves / Quaresma / Simao we hoped for there's been a Benayoun and a Pennant.

[Red_hot]

In this thread there are plenty of them.

Call themselves supporters. It disgusts me to hear them call for him.

Thought you meant at the ground. Phew.

Seriously though I agree completly! I can't believe people really want him here and Rafa gone. Un****ingbelievable.

[Fowler_God]

So we can NEVER judge him thne as he will never get the same funds as the SCUM and especially Chavski

Exactly. He has to be judged on whats been available to him. If we win the game in hand then 8 points behind the mancs is not bad considering Rafa has had to for nearly FOUR years **** around with wheeling and dealing. In the time he has been able to make one major buy. Just this summer the mancs made 3. Thats what he has to compete with. Its a virtual impossible task.

[alunevans]

You're an absolute fool if you don't think we've progressed.

Rafa is not to blame for todays loss, look at the team he put out.

That team today should be capable of beating team's like Everton and Blackburn, let alone Wigan.

The players didn't live up to their standards.

Bollocks. One up front against Wigan and he's not to blame?

I defend Rafa when it's right to do so. I defended him against City last week. But he is at fault for tonight. Simple as.

One up front against a team in the bottom three at Anfield isn't just a ****ing disgrace. Its criminal.

Once again Rafa shows himself to be at core a fundamentally negative manager. If you're negative and you don't get what you need then you deserve it.

[CAD]

And for the lineup whiners.
It looked like a 4231 for me. 2 holding mids because you have 3 attacking ones.
SG had the license to attack from deep against a team that sat back. Was a good plan I think.

Was a ****e plan and we never came and applied real pressure because Gerrrard dropped deep. It was a ****e plan from the get go. Even if we had won the game. We only managed 8 shots on goal through out 93 mins against one of the worst away sides in the PL. It was a ****e plan.

[Red_hot]

This will be my only post in this thread
[SIZE="5"][B]
RAFA IS THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB, HE'S NOT ****ED UP THAT RESULT TONIGHT, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU ****S THAT ARE SAYING GET JOSE IN KNOW THAT THAT TEAM SHOULD HAVE WON TONIGHT, RAFA CANT GO AND PUT THE BALL IN THE ****IN NET HIMSELF!

Well Rafa is to blame for everything didn't you know??

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

THere were moaninhio chants at anfield? FFS, where's the respect?

17 years mate.

Think they're beauts, don't get me wrong, but I understand why it's happening. We're all desperate.

And it's still looks miles away.

[bigfooty]

So do you think Chris didn't support Liverpool back in the 80's when anything but winning the league was acceptable? It's been brought up here a lot that fans perception based on age as to what you think is or is not acceptable for Liverpool.

I'm just over 30 and spent a significant amount of my childhood living in the Merseyside area so I can remember the LFC teams of old that were a real force in the league. I also can therefore remember the barren 90s, so I've known the good and the bad.

[Kopite_Colin]

......but I reckon we are gonna lose Masher in all of this ****.

Spot on. I feckin hope not - but I fear you are right.

[alunevans]

In the champs league, I wouldnt want any other manager coaching us.

In the league, i could name about a dozen id sooner have. Why cant rafa cut it domestically? Its doing my head in

**** the Champions League. The league first. Everything else is secondary.

[Taffy]

I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed by tonight's result, like the rest of us.

We should have been hitting 3 or 4 past Wigan at home tonight - a team who have never scored against us in the league!

I was baffled by Rafa's team selection and formation for the game - with Crouch available again he should have been starting a game like this one to prove his worth. I was also surprised by the selection of Pennant, who hasn't been seen for weeks and weeks due to injury, and was put straight back in for a simply 'must win' home game.

Our wide players just aren't good enough though with Kewell and Pennant tonight not having the 'quality' when it's needed most, be it with their final ball or the lack of goals they offer. And I won't even start on the fact that Gerrard wasn't in his 'best' central midfield role (where he does the most damage to the opposition running from deep).

So, what about Rafa then?!

Yes, as has been said, in the cup competitions he's up there with the very best, but from what has been seen since he's been at LFC it just doesn't happen for him where it counts most, in the league. He did manage it at Valencia against the big boys of Real and Barca, so he is capable of it, so why not over here so far?! Too much tinkering? Not finding the balance right when the big cup games are played around a busy league period? Resting players when there's no need for it? It's just baffling!!

On paper we have our best squad in years - ok, the quality of the squad players could be better in areas, but the bulk of our first team squad should be more than good enough to beat the 'lesser' sides week in week out shouldn't it! So why do we continue to drop points at home to the likes of the Birmingham's and Wigan's of this world each year?!

My fear is that Rafa is walking on very thin ice and his job is most certainly at risk. If we're still in the same position come May then it could be it for Rafa, unfortunately (as I like him and still have hopes that one day the title will be his and ours). However, my main fear is that should Rafa lose his job we then risk losing our very best players too. The sack for Rafa could see our star names moving on also as a few are here mainly down to the manager (i.e. Torres, Alonso, Reina, and possibly more), and I'd hate to lose the likes of those three as they are all top quality and should be the backbone of our side for years to come.

LFC are really in a difficult situation here and with the stadium fiasco ongoing the future really is up in the air with the Yanks in control. My biggest fear of all is that G & H push Rafa out, the stadium mess continues to be just that, a mess, and we end up with a new manager who'll rightly have his our ideas and want his own players alongside him meaning some of the best players in the squad move on.

This really is a tough time for us Reds, when really it shouldn't be as we've got the quality - I've no doubt about that! For the forseeable future I see this continuing, with the new stadium mess ongoing, the Rafa situation continuing to be a worry, and I can also see us losing the likes of Mascherano come June too! I'm desperately disappointed about most things to do with LFC at the minute (apart from being relieved that we have both Torres and Gerrard who have been carrying us of late), and unless our fortunes change for the better soon I fear that worse is to come in time!

For now though I'll continue to support Rafa and the squad in the hope it turns round quickly from the 'indifferent' month or so we've just had/currently having, as I really believe this lot are capable of getting us up there, but with the top three winning almost week in week out seeing us dropping points against the likes of Wigan at home just isn't going to make things better!

YNWA

[Joe King]

Best line- 'I take each game, game by game.'

How can he explain rotation?!

[CAD]

Well Rafa is to blame for everything didn't you know??

His obviously to blame for nothing in LALA-land. Pass the ****ing spliff please.

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

**** the Champions League. The league first. Everything else is secondary.

You know what I'd like?

For Rafa to write that out 300 times and at the end actually buy into it.

And that goes for all those who work for the club, and those who support it.