Question for those who dont want rafa gone...

[Joe King]

How many seasons will it take for people to start and noticing that Benitez is to blame for a lot of downfalls?

[Craig_H]

How many seasons will it take for people to start and noticing that Benitez is to blame for a lot of downfalls?

That's kind of the question i'm asking with this thread. Not 'how many seasons', but more generally, just WHAT will it take...

[Joe King]

That's kind of the question i'm asking with this thread. Not 'how many seasons', but more generally, just WHAT will it take...

Fourth position to some will be an achievement. Just shows how stupid a lot of our fans are. That shouldn't even be a requirement. A minimum title challenge is the requirement and a cup and a good run in the Champions League.

[Craig_H]

Well, i'd say a comfortable 4th place finish is the bare minimum. If we scrape 4th, that doesnt count as a comfortable 4th place finish.

At this stage of the season, whether we finish 4th shouldnt be in doubt.

[Slinky Skills]

I think many of the posts in this thread are pretty poorly thought out and answered FFS.

Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. Every one of us has an 'image' of what's best for LFC, but we may have a different methodology of achieving this 'image'.

Labelling DJS anti Rafa and pro Mourinho is absurd.

Personally I have been very unimpressed and dispondent with Rafa for some months now --- I think he is a great bloke and I'll always respect him as a manager and man, but I believe he has lost the ability to motivate the players and steer us in the right direction, and I believe that Rotation is a key issue. How can you go into a pep or half time talk telling the players that they are good enough to get the result or to come back, and then a couple days later decide that half of them are not good enough to play the following week. If I were a player in the middle of 'his system' I'd be fed up by now.......

Unfortunately Rafa's biggest problem is his stubborness, and he is not willing to listen to others. He is determined to do things his way even if there are problems and it is not working - he will not change.

If you look at the top teams in the world with large squads, they probably rotate in a total season as much as Rafa does in a couple of weeks --- the squads are therefore settled, the players know how to play with eachother and the most important players in those teams tend to play week in week out.

I also think someone with the ego and arrogance of Mourinho would be great for the club. I hate the bloke as a man, but have huge respect for him as a manager. He takes no nonsense and is able to motivate through his arrogance. He truelly believes that he is the best in the world at what he does, and that attitude would transfer to the players building confidence and morale. As much as I love the liverpool ethos of having 'nice' managers, I'd gladly take Mourninho today!

The players should be pulling their fingers out of their arse, they forget who they're playing for which is not good enough. They shouldn't need motiviating at the end of the day. Rafa told them this when they they were 3-0 down in the Champions league final, he told them to listen to the fans, listen to them singing YNWA....do it for them!

If they can't beat the likes of Barnsley, Wigan, H & W then that's their own fault not Rafa's. They know they can play but they don't, and that's the most heartbreaking thing. People on here forget that Rafa doesn't want them playing for him, he wants them playing for Liverpool Football Club and those that adore them, not some ****ing bums. It's not about Rafa, it's not him that plays and performs on the pitch it's the players.

The responsibility lies with them.

[Joe King]

Well, i'd say a comfortable 4th place finish is the bare minimum. If we scrape 4th, that doesnt count as a comfortable 4th place finish.

At this stage of the season, whether we finish 4th shouldnt be in doubt.

You think 4th place should be the bare minimum considering the spending we did this year and the start we had? We should be aiming higher since we had finished 3rd for two seasons in a row.

Yes, yes, all this bollocks about Man U and Chavs having money but the Chavs changed managers and are a million miles ahead of us.

[Craig_H]

So Slinky, is it not the manager's job to motivate players and get the best out of them?

Crikey...of course they NEED motivating.

[Slinky Skills]

So Slinky, is it not the manager's job to motivate players and get the best out of them?

Crikey...of course they NEED motivating.

I wouldn't need motivating if I was playing for LFC.

[Joe King]

Footballers need motivating.

They are so ****ing thick, they probably don't know how to do it by themselves.

[Craig_H]

You think 4th place should be the bare minimum considering the spending we did this year and the start we had? We should be aiming higher since we had finished 3rd for two seasons in a row.

Yes, yes, all this bollocks about Man U and Chavs having money but the Chavs changed managers and are a million miles ahead of us.

Well as a BARE MINIMUM, yeah, i think 4th place is a fair cut-off point.

COMFORTABLY 4th place, mind.

[Craig_H]

I wouldn't need motivating if I was playing for LFC.

You're a fan, speaking from the point of view of a fan, who hasnt played tonnes of games and doesnt get paid millions a year. It's vastly different.

[Joe King]

I wouldn't need motivating if I was playing for LFC.

Of course you wouldn't need motivating. You are a fan, different circumstances.

[fowlen]

The players should be pulling their fingers out of their arse, they forget who they're playing for which is not good enough. They shouldn't need motiviating at the end of the day. Rafa told them this when they they were 3-0 down in the Champions league final, he told them to listen to the fans, listen to them singing YNWA....do it for them!

If they can't beat the likes of Barnsley, Wigan, H & W then that's their own fault not Rafa's. They know they can play but they don't, and that's the most heartbreaking thing. People on here forget that Rafa doesn't want them playing for him, he wants them playing for Liverpool Football Club and those that adore them, not some ****ing bums. It's not about Rafa, it's not him that plays and performs on the pitch it's the players.

The responsibility lies with them.

Is it also the players' faults if they themselves simply are not good enough?

Simple scenario --- we all get paid to work and do our jobs, and i'm sure most of us are pretty good at what we do. However let's say that staff morale is low, is it the staff members' who need to motivate themselves or should management try stop the rot and 'freshen' things up or do something else to get their team happy and performing once more?
A happy team is one that performs. A dispondant team is one that tends to fail....

And yes we are speaking about pro footballers - many of who are passionate about the sport and are in their ideal jobs, but at the end of the day, it is still a job, and regardless of money being made they need to be managed!

[Dhav]

You're a fan, speaking from the point of view of a fan, who hasnt played tonnes of games and doesnt get paid millions a year. It's vastly different.

One answer DJS - professional pride. Players with integrity, character and moral fibre have it. Players without those characters dont.

too many of our players do not have professional pride and so are not worthy of the shirt IMO.

[Dhav]

Is it also the players' faults if they themselves simply are not good enough?

Simple scenario --- we all get paid to work and do our jobs, and i'm sure most of us are pretty good at what we do. However let's say that staff morale is low, is it the staff members' who need to motivate themselves or should management try stop the rot and 'freshen' things up or do something else to get their team happy and performing once more?
A happy team is one that performs. A dispondant team is one that tends to fail....

And yes we are speaking about pro footballers - many of who are passionate about the sport and are in their ideal jobs, but at the end of the day, it is still a job, and regardless of money being made they need to be managed!

Not a fair analogy IMO. With football there is an emotional attachment that bears no comparison with any other job.