Rafa to sue Hicks.....

[Craig_H]

Speculative bollocks.
You have no way of knowing.

Just stick the knife in him then

No way of knowing what?

Rafa's comments about how much he wants to stay and how he loves the club etc are from a completely different angle than those made a while back, when he had a pop at the owners in public.

He's obviously making it clear that he has no intention of walking and telling them they'll have to sack him.

Not sure what melodramatic issues you're having with knives either, but it makes for a good chuckle.

[redblood]

I thought the yanks would be keen to keep him til the end of the season, to oversee a top four finish.

Not so sure he'll last that long now.

The most obvious thing is that he wont be our manager for much longer.

I'm sure you're delighted.

[redhead]

I have just found out about this internet thing.

[Craig_H]

You'd have thought that would be the case but we're not dealing with experienced football men here. We're dealing with ruthless business men who obviously think that manages are easily replacable.

I shudder at the thought of who we're going to end up with.

Well from a purely footballing point of view, i think we'll end up with someone who'll do a better job. You and plenty of others wont like it though, which is your perogative.

[kurtangle01]

It's obvious that he cant possibly stay.

I was talking about the notion that he was 'too big a man' and not interested in the money. That isnt true, as far as i can see.

Dont get me wrong, he's fully entitled to stick around for the money and it doesnt discredit his character. Some people bizarrely thought he was happily going to walk away from his £6m.

Well, he may well be to big a man to walk away now. We don't know for sure either way. I know if I was him I'd make them sack me and stiff them for every penny.

It'll all come out in due course I suppose. My fear is that it'll be sooner rather than later.

[Skillz]

As for hicks telling the press about approaching Klinsmann...sounds like an attempt to piss off rafa enough so he walks.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

How do you feel about that DJ?

[AFII]

Rafael Benitez sees red over Klinsmann offer
By David Bond
Last Updated: 12:37am GMT 15/01/2008

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is understood to be considering whether to sue the club's co-owner Tom Hicks after he made the startling admission that he tried to line up Jurgen Klinsmann to replace him.

Although Hicks claims the move for the former Germany manager was an "insurance policy" in case Benitez walked out on Anfield, the Spaniard is now weighing up whether he can take legal action against the Dallas billionaire for constructive dismissal.

He is said to be furious at what he sees as another attempt to undermine his position, which comes just one month after Hicks and co-chairman George Gillett reassured Benitez that he had their full support.

But following Hicks' comments, in an interview with the Liverpool Echo, the Spaniard's position now looks untenable.

Hicks said: "We attempted to negotiate an option as an insurance policy to have him [Klinsmann] become manager if Rafael left for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the press - or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason.

"We never reached agreement on an option with Jurgen, and we are both pleased for him that he has a great opportunity to return to Germany and coach a great club team."

The confirmation that an approach was made to hire the former Tottenham striker, who has now agreed to take over at Bayern Munich at the end of the season, is all the more damaging for Benitez as it was reports linking Klinsmann with his job which prompted the November stand-off with Hicks and Gillett.

Benitez's attack on the Americans over a perceived lack of support in the transfer market led to Hicks and Gillett slapping him down, telling him to "quit talking about new players".

Since their meeting in mid December, Hicks claims relations have greatly improved with Benitez.

He added: "After George and I had our long and productive meeting with Rafa following the Manchester United match, we put all of our issues behind us and received Rafa's commitment that he wanted to stay with Liverpool. Rafa has both of our support, and our communication has greatly improved."

But the Klinsmann revelation would appear to confirm Benitez's fears that he will be sacked at the end of the season.

And if he were to be sacked or successfully claim wrongful dismissal then he would be entitled to around £6 million in compensation for the two years outstanding on his contract.
# Premier League Transfer Talk

The timing of Hicks' comments is all the more surprising given the financial uncertainty at the club.

A £350 million deal to refinance the Americans' borrowings used to buy the club last February is still not concluded. But Hicks yesterday insisted: "It's probably taken two to three months longer than if the markets had been healthy. It's going to close by the end of the week."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mai...ro115.xml#form

[Craig_H]

To approach anyone about a job while someone is in that job is a breach of employment law. He could sue for contsructive dismissal and the evidence is firmly stacked on Rafa's side. I don't believe it's something he'd do anyway.

Is it illegal to have an 'off the cuff' word with someone about what they think of a particular role? Because hicks can easily pass it off as that, and rafa wouldnt be able to prove otherwise.

[Venton]

I agree. I hope he doesn't go but these guys appear to be turning the screw, the media are lapping it up and the stories will continue.

It's a sad state of affairs and who'd have thought a year ago we'd end up in this position?

I may be looking on the bright side here (I've no doubt Tom would agree with this and there is a chance he would be right) but I think an ill-judged attempt to bring out rumours into the open and settle them once and for all has backfired disastrously. Then the vicious circle starts where the press ante-up to sell headlines, we go mad and the club issues corrections starts up.

I'd love to see dead silence from now on in apart from concrete news of signings, financing and stadiums. I just don't want to give them anything else to feed on or to drive a wedge between the owners and the manager.

[kurtangle01]

Well from a purely footballing point of view, i think we'll end up with someone who'll do a better job. You and plenty of others wont like it though, which is your perogative.

Doesn't the fact that Klinsmann was the man for them suggest that Mourinho isn't, as he was touted at the time, first choice to take over?

I'm not certain that he'll be our next manager and I don't think anyone else could be.

[Venton]

Is it illegal to have an 'off the cuff' word with someone about what they think of a particular role? Because hicks can easily pass it off as that, and rafa wouldnt be able to prove otherwise.

Illegal has nothing to do with it. It's an employment contract.
Seriously, the contracts deal with all this crap to avoid any chance of it going to court.

[Craig_H]

I'm sure you're delighted.

Yes, i've got the pom-poms out and everything. Ready to pop the champagne cork as we speak...

[Red_Polo]

Not sure how anyone could argue that in a legal sense. Hicks could've just been 'doing an interview', rafa would be hard pressed to prove anything.

Well, able to prove it or not, that's what any hypothetical case would be built around.

[kurtangle01]

I may be looking on the bright side here (I've no doubt Tom would agree with this and there is a chance he would be right) but I think an ill-judged attempt to bring out rumours into the open and settle them once and for all has backfired disastrously. Then the vicious circle starts where the press ante-up to sell headlines, we go mad and the club issues corrections starts up.

I'd love to see dead silence from now on in apart from concrete news of signings, financing and stadiums. I just don't want to give them anything else to feed on or to drive a wedge between the owners and the manager.

It's a possible scenario but the timing of these outbursts by Hicks are just coming to frequently for them to be mistakes.

[Craig_H]

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

How do you feel about that DJ?

How else could anyone feel about it? It's knutish behaviour from a proven knut.

I have nothing but contempt for these two jokers. I may not think Rafa can win us the league, but i still have a huge fondness for the bloke and he's maintained his dignity in all of this. I'd happily see the yanks run out of town and rafa stay.