Mourinho 'keen on Benitez's job'

[ronan]

well apart from when he was at valencia.

[Red_Al_77]

money's tight - do the yanks have any idea how costly it would be to sack the manager and back his replacement?

I expect they do, but they like to be in charge and dictate. I would think Jurgen Kilnsmann is the ideal manager for them especially as he is a pseudo American. I just cannot see the Yanks signing a character like Jose.

[AFII]

Rafa is now finished with step one and can now start on step two.

Step one.

Get rid off the deadwood after Houllier and sign up good enough players for a top four place every season. That means quantity over quality. You can do that with less the money Moores could afford to let him spend, around £16m net/season.

Step two.

Sell off the players that isn't good enough for a title winning team and sign quality over quantity. Step two will cost more money because you need to go for the best attacking players out there. Player like Torres for example.

[Dhav]

I expect they do, but they like to be in charge and dictate. I would think Jurgen Kilnsmann is the ideal manager for them especially as he is a pseudo American. I just cannot see the Yanks signing a character like Jose.

they want a yes man?

[Red_Al_77]

Rafa can handle the press WHILE our fans remain strong behind Rafa of that i am sure......what worries me is the yanks picking up the UK papers and reading all the crap in them!!

especially when all they have to keep in contact is the media. The media smell blood and want another manager to go because it fills the back pages. Big Sam is nothing because Newcastle do it all the time, but a Liverpool sacking...well its unheard of. Even Ged officially resigned.

[blacky]

I'm a massive fan of Rafa, am right behind him at the moment and will support him all the way. I think he is the right man for the job and given the time and financial support will get it right. I don't think he is perfect though and he still has not come to terms with what it takes to win the premiership. I'm not a huge fan of his rotation policy, I understand he wants to keep players fresh for the 2nd half of the season but when we are out of the title race by January whats the point? He needs to adapt his way of thinking to the English game and I believe he will. Contrary to where we are in the table and the amount of points we have we are a better team now that last year, we are improving every season and I think we are on the cusp of great times.

[Red_Al_77]

they want a yes man?

Definitely. They want a manager who comes in and is just happy to have the job. They can say "Well you can have the job but your budget is only 20mill per year until such and such is sorted" As I say JK fits their bill. He'd love to walk straight into a top job such as Liverpool. Rafa knows the markets etc and knows what is needed to get the winning players. He is difficult and I expect ultimately too expensive for their tastes.

[Red Chilli]

I'm a massive fan of Rafa, am right behind him at the moment and will support him all the way. I think he is the right man for the job and given the time and financial support will get it right. I don't think he is perfect though and he still has not come to terms with what it takes to win the premiership. I'm not a huge fan of his rotation policy, I understand he wants to keep players fresh for the 2nd half of the season but when we are out of the title race by January whats the point? He needs to adapt his way of thinking to the English game and I believe he will. Contrary to where we are in the table and the amount of points we have we are a better team now that last year, we are improving every season and I think we are on the cusp of great times.

See that's where we fundamentally disagree. I don't think he'll change, ever.

[blacky]

See that's where we fundamentally disagree. I don't think he'll change, ever.

The man is stubborn no doubt but he is not stupid......surely he will adapt if he wants to succeed?

[Dhav]

Definitely. They want a manager who comes in and is just happy to have the job. They can say "Well you can have the job but your budget is only 20mill per year until such and such is sorted" As I say JK fits their bill. He'd love to walk straight into a top job such as Liverpool.

i suspected as much, and extremely worrying if that is the case. Not a recipe that spells success in the near future. time to rally round Rafa. It probably wont save his job, but it;s worthehile if it at least sends a message to these two cowboys. hopefully Rafa pisses on their bonfire by picking up a trophy and makes sacking him all the more difficult

[Red Chilli]

The man is stubborn no doubt but he is not stupid......surely he will adapt if he wants to succeed?

Well he's leaving it a bit bloody late

[Mattimetal]

I can't show my support for a man who deliberately lied about the Reading ambulance crew when Cech got injured. The bloke is a total and utter scum bag of the highest proportions. I don't hate him as a football manager I hate him as a man and how he conducts himself. Old Whisky nose is a cunt and I can't stand him but would he do and say some of the stuff Mourinho does? Would he ****. The **** made a ref receive death threats which led to him retiring from the game.

Amen to that I feel he is the most arrogant manager ever... Do you think we'd ever see Rafa on TV saying...

"Excuse me no? I don't mean to be arrogant but I am european champion manager that won the cup when my team was down 0-3 at HT, in the FINAL!! Can you believe? Unbelievable against the best defence in the world AC Milan... Unbelievable unbelievable. he he I'm champion (with massive cheesy grin)"

Another thing that gets my back up is the way Mourinho has cleverly been angling (through friends and press) for disruption at Anfield since he GOT FIRED!

He reminds me of the kid that wanted all the sweeties in the sweetie jar and sulked and plotted revenge when it never happened.

NO WAY IS HE LIVERPOOL MANAGER MATERIAL.. NO ****IN' WAY!

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Sell off the players that isn't good enough for a title winning team and sign quality over quantity.

Eh, steady on there. Shouldn't that be part of step one?

[blacky]

Well he's leaving it a bit bloody late

Better late than never

[Craig_H]

well apart from when he was at valencia.

I dont see why people cant grasp that it's different.

His Valencia title winning sides won the league with 77 and 75 points.

Where do you think that would leave you in the Premier League? About third is the answer.

The difference when he was at Valencia, was that you probably COULD afford to draw quite a few games that you're expected to win. He could probably afford to draw at home to La Liga's equivalents to Brum, Wigan and Spurs. It doesnt work that way here.

Even last season, La Liga was won by 76 points. That's all. 76. The season before it was 82 (and Barca won it by 12 points, meaning a tally in the early 70s would've still won it).

Before that, it was 84. This was the highest points tally recorded in La Liga since 1997.

In La Liga, they only started giving 3 points for a win from the 1995-1996 season...and they only dropped down to 20 league clubs (and 38 league games) from 1997-1998. So i'll use 1997-1998 upto 2006-2007 for my example. 10 years worth.

During this time period, the average total points tally for the league champions in spain is 77.4 points.

During the same period in the Premier League, the average total points tally for the leeague champions is 86.3 points.

So that's a difference of basically 9 points.

During those 10 years, the highest tally for La Liga champions was 84, achieved by Barcelona in 2004-2005.

84 points would only have won you the Premier League in four out of those 10 years.

In 1999-2000, Deportivo won La Liga with just 69 points.

During the whole history of the Premier League, 69 points would only once have seen a side finish above 3rd...and that's only one solitary season. In all the other seasons, 69 points would've got you a 3rd or 4th placed finish.


Now do you see why Rafa's methodology that won him La Liga is meaningless here? Because you need to achieve far more to win the Premier League than you do to win La Liga.

If someone can argue my point, then please do so.

I've backed this up with facts and statistics. If someone can dispute it doing the same thing, then fair play.