Rafa - I'm here to stay

[Craig_H]

Why not? Arsenal did last season, and now theyre youth players are playing an integral part of the team, hopefully like ours will.

They did, however they still got into the CL.

I seriously wonder, as i have done before, if you and your counterparts here actually think Rafa is remotely even responsible for team performance. From some comments i see, it almost implies that his job requirements are independent from anything related to team performance. It's un-fathomable, it really is.

[AFII]

If he can do that and guarantee CL football every season, then fine.

Looking a bit ropey, mind...

Well, he has done that so far and won the CL and got us to another final.

[Nic83]

Lets put it this way. If Rafa had 4 top class strikers he'd be a great manager. Get my drift.

[Craig_H]

Alright sydney baby

Oh, i'm grand...

I'm learning a few bits too...apparently the manager isnt actually in any way responsible for team performance.

I'm wondering who is. George Sephton, perhaps...

[Craig_H]

mate thats exactly what he did. but he had an average of 25 mill a season to spend. how many top players do you want to get for that net sum? players contracts come to an end too don't they. even the ****e that were backup had to be replaced by more backup on longer contracts.

he inherited the 4th best team, has spent an amount similar to the others so is still 4th best. arsenal are the exception for sure but we've finished above them twice and been in 2 CL finals. since Rafa's been here, our record has been better than theirs.

£25m, as we've seen, buys you world class talent, if you know what you're doing with it.

As for players whose contracts expired - well you can renew them (which still costs less than a £6m replacement) or you can promote a younster.

[Nic83]

Oh, i'm grand...

I'm learning a few bits too...apparently the manager isnt actually in any way responsible for team performance.

I'm wondering who is. George Sephton, perhaps...

I've given up arguing on here, there's no point!

[barnes10]

So let's just get this straight - the reason we're so rubbish in the league is the off field stuff? None of it is down to the manager, is that right?

Or if it's not, tell me what's down to the manager, what he's got wrong.

i think all he's gotten wrong this season is a couple of rotations too much because eseentially kuyt/vorinin haven't delivered. and thats basically it. draws would have been wins otherwise and we'd not be having this conversation.

the off field stuff has undermined the manager and gets into players heads and they don't perform 100%. as we saw with mancs when fergie was retiring.

[Craig_H]

Well, he has done that so far and won the CL and got us to another final.

Let's hope he continues doing it this season...

We've almost reached the point where 4th place is considered an achievement and something to celebrate.

[barnes10]

£25m, as we've seen, buys you world class talent, if you know what you're doing with it.

As for players whose contracts expired - well you can renew them (which still costs less than a £6m replacement) or you can promote a younster.

renew diao? cheyrou? biscan? smicer?

which youngsters exactly?

25mill buys you 1 world class player. not 5.

[Craig_H]

i think all he's gotten wrong this season is a couple of rotations too much because eseentially kuyt/vorinin haven't delivered. and thats basically it. draws would have been wins otherwise and we'd not be having this conversation.

the off field stuff has undermined the manager and gets into players heads and they don't perform 100%. as we saw with mancs when fergie was retiring.

You mention about Kuyt and Voronin not delivering. Does no blame fall on the manager for signing them and/or attaching a level of dependency on them TO deliver?

[Nic83]

i think all he's gotten wrong this season is a couple of rotations too much because eseentially kuyt/vorinin haven't delivered. and thats basically it. draws would have been wins otherwise and we'd not be having this conversation.

the off field stuff has undermined the manager and gets into players heads and they don't perform 100%. as we saw with mancs when fergie was retiring.

Yes, the basics but the problem is that the 'basics' are the main part of the game and it doesn't look like he's ever going to learn, which is why i mentioned if he had 4 top class strikers he'd be great as he could rotate to his heart's content

[pezzzer]

Hold on though, he HAD £20m and £30m to spend, so he COULD have had his 1st choice targets - why didnt he just spend big on them, the money was there...

He chose to have a 'big squad'...the lot of good it's done.

what, and continue paying players like salif diao 50 grand a week? so by your rationing he should of bought torres and then watched in awe as players like diao/smicer/biscan fed him killer balls

utter rot mate.

he had to build the squad first then add the quality ffs

if building a team was like making a cake DJS you would start by icing the flour

[dww]

They did, however they still got into the CL.

I seriously wonder, as i have done before, if you and your counterparts here actually think Rafa is remotely even responsible for team performance. From some comments i see, it almost implies that his job requirements are independent from anything related to team performance. It's un-fathomable, it really is.

Yes, the point being made though was that they struggled despite having a superior squad and have now progressed. If we got 4th despite a struggle this would be a reasonable analogy.

Why should taking the pessimistic hypothetical option rather than the optimistic one be seen as somehow the intellectually superior position?

Does people believing that there are positive signs necessarily mean that people divorce team performance from management ability or are you being needlessly provocative?

[Craig_H]

renew diao? cheyrou? biscan? smicer?

which youngsters exactly?

25mill buys you 1 world class player. not 5.

There's several youngsters, who either get overlooked or loaned out.

£25m buys you one world class player, to add to a squad already good enough to finish 4th.

[barnes10]

who's saying rafa's not responsible for team performance?

look at any of the so called 'weak' starting 11s and tell me they shouldnt have beaten the teams they were up against.

rafa can train and pick the best team for the job allowing for injuries and the odd rest. if the team won't respond to his motivation attempts - as they think he's approaching the sack - then what more can he do? funny how they're playing better now they believe he's staying for 2.5 more years isnt it.