Rafa's worst season?

[Scaramanga]

Can any of the Statos advise whether Rafa has had to deal with being in a mid table position? Seems to me at Valencia he inheritted a good team who never really got as bad as we are but is this right?

I love Rafa and unless we want to begin on another 5 year plan with a new manager I dont think sacking him is necessarily the answer. However, does he have the experience of turning things around from such a potentially poor position? At the rate we are going we wont qualify for Uefa, let alone the CL :-(

[andyhanrahan]

Was'nt he sacked from one of the teams he managed before Valencia

[Guest]

Was'nt he sacked from one of the teams he managed before Valencia

No, he was packed, not sacked.

Refer to the lady at the can teen.

[bigfooty]

He finished 5th at Valencia in between winning the two titles.

He was relegated with Extremadura after getting them into the top flight.

[Morph]

Can any of the Statos advise whether Rafa has had to deal with being in a mid table position? Seems to me at Valencia he inheritted a good team who never really got as bad as we are but is this right?

I love Rafa and unless we want to begin on another 5 year plan with a new manager I dont think sacking him is necessarily the answer. However, does he have the experience of turning things around from such a potentially poor position? At the rate we are going we wont qualify for Uefa, let alone the CL :-(

of course he has other jobs prior to valencia,


from wiki


The first attempts by Benítez at senior management away from the Real Madrid fold were less than successful. He was appointed manager of Real Valladolid for the 1995-96 season but was sacked after only two wins in 23 games with the club bottom of the Primera División. During the 1996-97 season, Benítez took charge at CA Osasuna in the Segunda División but after only 9 games and one win he was sacked. In 1997, he joined another Segunda División side, CF Extremadura and this time led them to promotion, finishing second in the table behind Deportivo Alavés, after winning 23 out of 42 games. CF Extremadura only survived one season in Primera División, however, and were relegated in 1999 after finishing seventeenth and losing a play-off to Villarreal CF.

Benítez subsequently quit CF Extremadura and took a year out studying in England and Italy. He also worked as a commentator/analyst for Eurosport, Marca, El Mundo and local Madrid TV.In 2000 he was appointed manager of CD Tenerife of the Segunda División and with a team that included Mista, Curro Torres and Luis García,he gained promotion to La Liga by finishing third in the league behind Sevilla FC and Real Betis.