Time for a Change??

[Red Chilli]

No. but in 10 years times all Rafas kids will be winning us the league anyway.

But its all about being realistic. We have spent £90 million more on our squad than Derby so were miles ahead of them. The mancs have spent £80 million more than us and they are six draws better off.

I'll keep saying it, give Rafa a real transfer budget and he will win us the league

Can you compare our spending to Blackburn's please?

[Mattshark]

I'm ****ing pissed off but I don't see how this is Rafa's fault in the slightest.

Agree, they players out there were more than god enough, they just played ****.

[Johnny]

Here is a little comparison on the both us and the mancs
A 1st 11 and 7 subs

Renia 6mill................................ Van Der Sar 3mill
Finnan 4mill ............................... Neville 0
Carra 0 .................................... ferdinand 28mill
Agger 6mill................................ vidic £7mill
Riise 4mill.................................. evra 7mill
benayoun 5mill ........................... Ronaldo 11mill
Gerrard 0 ................................. Hargreaves 18mill
Alonso 10mill............................... Scholes 0
Kewell 0 ................................... Giggs 0
Torres 18mill .............................. Rooney 22mill
Kuyt 9mill ................................... Saha 11mill

Itangje 0.5mill ............................Kuszack 2.5mill
Arbeloa 2.5mill ...........................Silvestre 4.5mi
Babel 11mill ................................ Nani 16mill
Pennant 8mill..............................Anderson 18mil
Voronin 0 ..................................Park JiSung 7mil
Crouch 7mill................................Carrick 18mill
Masch N/A ..................................Tevez n/a

TOTAL 91Million .............................TOTAL 173Mill

Fair play for pointing that out but some people love to wallow in self pity and pointing this out will not change their mind.

[dannymogger]

Here is a little comparison on the both us and the mancs
A 1st 11 and 7 subs

Renia 6mill................................ Van Der Sar 3mill
Finnan 4mill ............................... Neville 0
Carra 0 .................................... ferdinand 28mill
Agger 6mill................................ vidic £7mill
Riise 4mill.................................. evra 7mill
benayoun 5mill ........................... Ronaldo 11mill
Gerrard 0 ................................. Hargreaves 18mill
Alonso 10mill............................... Scholes 0
Kewell 0 ................................... Giggs 0
Torres 18mill .............................. Rooney 22mill
Kuyt 9mill ................................... Saha 11mill

Itangje 0.5mill ............................Kuszack 2.5mill
Arbeloa 2.5mill ...........................Silvestre 4.5mi
Babel 11mill ................................ Nani 16mill
Pennant 8mill..............................Anderson 18mil
Voronin 0 ..................................Park JiSung 7mil
Crouch 7mill................................Carrick 18mill
Masch N/A ..................................Tevez n/a

TOTAL 91Million .............................TOTAL 173Mill

its ok sayin man utd av spent nearly double than we have, bt that doesnt mean to say they have a better squad, player 4 player i think we have the stronger team, just we dont get that rub of the grenn as them and the other 2...

[Johnny]

I'll keep saying it, give Rafa a real transfer budget and he will win us the league

Amen Kurt!!!

[Fowler_God]

We need a different method, one not dictated by spending more money than them. Isn't that why we hired Benitez? After he did it at Valencia?

Well Rafa has done that. He's bringing in kids from everywhere ala Wenger. That takes time, which some people arent willing to give him? So what do people want? a different approach that works instantly but costs little money? coz im telling you now that doesnt exist

[BobTheCharmer]

they weren't questions. Just that on paper that side do not score goals barring Gerrard & Torres.

There are no goals throughout our team.

[Maxiedge]

Steve Bruce mentioned his side were up against 'world class' players.

When was the last time you hear that mentioned about Liverpool.

Benitez has brought us Torres, Mascherano, Reina and Alonso.

He needs more time to finish what he's started.

[Jacko]

No. So we should slog the players like donkeys until they are destroyed? We have the best injury record in the league for muscle injuries. why? because Rafa uses the players correctly to minimise the risk.
yeah you can play them every game and hope for the best, but if you lose Gerrard, Carra and Torres to injury in feb/ march because they have been worked to death then you will have threads on here saying why wasnt he rested.
[/B]

That's the biggest load of sh!te i've ever heard. You don't have to go that long back since our squad wasn't that big at all and we still played good football and where closer to the title than we are now. I'm not even talking about the 80's i'm talking about mid-late ninties before Houllier arrived, under Evans. Apparently the players today are fitter than ever. If they can't play 90 ****ing minutes once or twice a week then they shouldn't be at the club.
I'm still not one for getting rid of Rafa but take your head out of the sand FFS. . . we're in big ****ing trouble and no amount of Rafa's done this, Rafa's done that is going to fix this current mess we're in.

It's all about what he's doing now which is what is important. At the moment he's making a huge mess of all the good work he's already done. Personally I think it may just be that torres signing that's going to hang him. 20million pound on one of europes hottest young talents and not only have we showed no signs of improvement but we're going backwards. Not to mention the signing of Ryan Babel.

The loss of Pako has certainly played some part in the predicament we find ourselves in, but once again it's a major issue that we failed t react to.

You can't get away from it. Things aren't right at the club and whatevers going on at board level is effecting Benitez and in turn it's effecting our performances.

[bigfooty]

Steve Bruce mentioned his side were up against 'world class' players.

When was the last time you hear that mentioned about Liverpool.

Benitez has brought us Torres, Mascherano, Reina and Alonso.

He needs more time to finish what he's started.

How about when Sanchez tongue-in-cheek bemoaned the players we brought off the bench to beat Fulham? Or every time Gerrard does something special and the oppo manager gives him credit for being world-class?

Rafa has indeed bought some very decent players but he's also had a shocking transfer window (last Summer) and of the players he bought this past Summer only Torres is a nailed on starter. So two major transfer windows, almost 70M in funds and only 1 definite first-XI player. Not great is it?

[red_in_oz]

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

I agree.

I don't believe we will win the Premier League under Rafa. I do feel confident of winning another Champions League under him.

He can manage the European game as well as anyone, but he cannot manage the Premier League for us to have the class and ruthlessness needed to beat the top three and ensure we see off the minnows.

0-0 at home to Birmingham
1-1 at home to Wigan

Not good enough results.

HOWEVER ... I do NOT agree with change for changes sake.

If there's no-one better than Rafa we should keep him. We might not win the Premier League but at least we won't become Newcastle.

[DannyMan2006]

It's pointless mentioning money all the time. W all know what is required.

It doesn't take a great deal of money in comparison to challenge for a top ten position, but the further you go up the league, the more money you need. Reason being, to progress you need World class players, and world class players cost big bucks.

The other way is to develop talent from scratch, or buy them on the cheap and develop them from 15-19. This takes time, but is what Rafa has been doing from day one. The standard of the reserve and youth team has improved no end - two consecutive FA youth cups and top of the reserves league at present.

Rafa needs the cash to get the world class players, or we will never improve in the present. We will remain exactly where we are. WIth another defender we will have the squad. After that the only time we should buy is for either proven top quality or someone with a very bright future.

Think of players like Danny Agger and Ryan Babel for bright future, and Reina and Torres for proven top quality.

Trust me, after a central defender is added Rafa will have the squad he has been searching for. After that it's all systems go. Guaranteed title challenge next year if the yanks back him.

[Darkon]

Here is a little comparison on the both us and the mancs
A 1st 11 and 7 subs

Renia 6mill................................ Van Der Sar 3mill
Finnan 4mill ............................... Neville 0
Carra 0 .................................... ferdinand 28mill
Agger 6mill................................ vidic £7mill
Riise 4mill.................................. evra 7mill
benayoun 5mill ........................... Ronaldo 11mill
Gerrard 0 ................................. Hargreaves 18mill
Alonso 10mill............................... Scholes 0
Kewell 0 ................................... Giggs 0
Torres 18mill .............................. Rooney 22mill
Kuyt 9mill ................................... Saha 11mill

Itangje 0.5mill ............................Kuszack 2.5mill
Arbeloa 2.5mill ...........................Silvestre 4.5mi
Babel 11mill ................................ Nani 16mill
Pennant 8mill..............................Anderson 18mil
Voronin 0 ..................................Park JiSung 7mil
Crouch 7mill................................Carrick 18mill
Masch N/A ..................................Tevez n/a

TOTAL 91Million .............................TOTAL 173Mill

Fair enough, but try and do the same with arsenal, and you would find their squad value to be less than ours... Don't know where to find the exact list, but according to a quick search their total is between 52-64 mill...

Point is that transfer-sum available is not always equal a title - real madrid would be another fine example of this (know they won last season - thinking more in line with the 3-4 seasons preceding it)...

[plav]

Would you welcome Mourhino if he were to replace Rafa?

Stranger things have happend in Football....?

[bazza76]

cant say I like these posts, but the answer is yes.