Re: Rafa Post Match statement - Shock

[El Jefecito]

I have a bad feeling that Rafa is going to walk at the end of the season and who could blame him, the way he is being treated. Our club is a shambles at the moment and I am sick of it. Too much ****e going on and if Rafa does quit it will be an absolute shame to loose one of the best managers in world football at the moment. There will be a line of clubs queuing up to get his signature and I tell you there won't be a queue of new managers at Anfield for the Liverpool job with the state of the club at the moment.

WE CAN NOT LOOSE RAFA!!!

TBH I think Rafa will hang around until they throw him out or we win 2 EPL titles. There is too much pride of ownership where his is concerned.

But you are right, Rafa has shown in the CL, that he can beat ANY continential team (they'll be looking at CL vs. EPL).

Anyone of AC, Inter, Barca, Real, Atletico, Roma, etc, would offer him a kings ransom to join them. Let's hope we don't piss him off enough for him to jump ship.

[Davex2IRL]

He walked out on Valencia becuase of boardroom trouble, why wouldn't he do the same here???

[Darkon]

He walked out on Valencia becuase of boardroom trouble, why wouldn't he do the same here???

That is a good question, but in Valencia it mainly had to do with trouble between him and the board not so much within the board (might stand corrected on this)

However as it looks right now, Rafa might have a breakdown in relationship with the board (if not already) and he might end up walking. He certaintly won't walk out on us now, so the big battle will come after last game...

I think as others have said lately, and as other boards are discussing as well, that it is time once again for the supporters to join in support of Rafa. Another Rafa day might be necessary, as the last one in november seem to have helped a lot.

I will be utterly gutted if we loose Rafa, better managers are hard to come by and my feeling is that he is one the verge of creating a great team!!

[Redspin]

TBH I think Rafa will hang around until they throw him out or we win 2 EPL titles. There is too much pride of ownership where his is concerned.

But you are right, Rafa has shown in the CL, that he can beat ANY continential team (they'll be looking at CL vs. EPL).

Anyone of AC, Inter, Barca, Real, Atletico, Roma, etc, would offer him a kings ransom to join them. Let's hope we don't piss him off enough for him to jump ship.

There's also the small matter of money. When the Klinsmann links were first leaked it was speculated that it was meant to provoke Rafa into resigning because if they show him the door they have to pay him off and £6m was the figure quoted. Rafa would be daft to walk away from a sum like that

[Davex2IRL]

Another Rafa day might be necessary, as the last one in november seem to have helped a lot.

I will be utterly gutted if we loose Rafa, better managers are hard to come by and my feeling is that he is one the verge of creating a great team!!

I agree tottally, another support Rafa day would be fantastic.

[Johnny]

I think Rafa wants to be able to run a team. I don't think he sees the same problems with Hicks that some here do. He clearly just wants a structure around him with people he can trust and with the finances to progress the team. If he feels Parry interferes with that then he is bound to want him out.

I'm not sure we can expect Rafa to try and be everything to all men. He can and clearly is fighting for what he sees as the best for the team on the pitch (it is fair to assume he believes that he is the best person to run that). Not sure what he is expected to do about the ownership struggle. He is a lot closer to many of the facts than we are and he appears to have greater faith in Hicks than most do here.
The Mail article offers no evidence and until this mud slinging press conference occurs I think we have to hold our horses. It is clear that joint ownership, like joint managers before it simply hasn't worked. It is far from clear to me where exactly the blame lies.

Don't get me wrong I'm not happy with either of them but I remain unconvinced that there is some vastly superior alternative. Or that DIC realistically have any chance of buying the club. As such I just want everything to calm down and get back to being about playing and winning football matches.

My point,only put more eloquently.

[Johnny]

The worst thing that can happen in my opinion is we continue to bumble on with divided owners and no firm hand on the commercial rudder and Rafa or any future manager is not given the funds to continue improving the team.

I'm not sure that we can unequivocally say that all those involved are morons or unable to run the club. The first thing we have to accept is that anyone coming in is likely to care about the club as an investment and best case scenario in some peoples eyes as an advert for another country. What is important to me is that the club is run well and that we succeed.

Unlike you I think it is possible that one of the people in charge now if they get in funding streams, the right people and have sole control might be able to bring the club forward. I see no obvious difference between the parties internal and external who have all happily dragged the name of the club through the mud in the tabloid press. Caring little for supporters or the impact on the team.

If someone can propose an owner with a love of the club and the money and will to take it over I'm all for campaigning to get them in. However I see no reason that the fans should be another group getting the club in the news for the wrong reasons and offering no solutions. To my mind there is a real danger of us the fans cutting our nose off to spite our face in a campaign to dislodge our owners without any superior alternative.

Maybe DIC would be a boon to the club but their behaviour in the press and in general has done nothing to convince me they are the wonderful cure for all our ills some portray them as. They may be the best of a bad bunch though I accept but I don't think I'm in a great position to judge.

The idea that stability and unity throughout the ownership and managerial structure though seems to self evidently be what we need. I want to see this and to a certain extent at this point I want that to happen more than I want any of the options on offer in charge per se or indeed than I want to see any of those options out specifically.

So maybe I do fall into the 'ah **** it, I just want it resolved' camp but I would say that the resolution has to meet certain criteria that will make it and the very worst considerably better than it is now.

Again,I totally agree.

[Dhav]

I'd rather continue as we are with a stalemate and deadlock than have that clueless, classless cunt Hicks in total command. The man is a disaster, and I can think of no one more ill-equipped and undeserving of being the figurehead of our club. While there's a stalemate there's a chance of both Americans leaving and not just one. And if either or both stay medium-long term it will spell disaster for our club.

[Nicey]

I think Rafa wants to be able to run a team. I don't think he sees the same problems with Hicks that some here do. He clearly just wants a structure around him with people he can trust and with the finances to progress the team. If he feels Parry interferes with that then he is bound to want him out.

I'm not sure we can expect Rafa to try and be everything to all men. He can and clearly is fighting for what he sees as the best for the team on the pitch (it is fair to assume he believes that he is the best person to run that). Not sure what he is expected to do about the ownership struggle. He is a lot closer to many of the facts than we are and he appears to have greater faith in Hicks than most do here.

The Mail article offers no evidence and until this mud slinging press conference occurs I think we have to hold our horses. It is clear that joint ownership, like joint managers before it simply hasn't worked. It is far from clear to me where exactly the blame lies.

Don't get me wrong I'm not happy with either of them but I remain unconvinced that there is some vastly superior alternative. Or that DIC realistically have any chance of buying the club. As such I just want everything to calm down and get back to being about playing and winning football matches.

Great Post Hicks is a cunt.

[cannotmakeit]

What if this is a clever ploy by Rafa and Parry to take ther focus away from the team in the run up to the CL Semi's surely Rafa knew who attended the meeting in the first place or am i too hopeful?

[blacky]

Benitez caught in crossfire of Reds' war
Tools
Print Email Search
Search
Go
Bookmark & Share
Digg
del.icio.us
Google
Stumbleupon
Facebook
Reddit
What are these?
By Ian Herbert and Pete Jenson
Tuesday April 15 2008


Liverpool attempted to quell the storm created by co-owner Tom Hicks yesterday as the club manager Rafael Benitez indicated that he will reserve judgement on his own future until the conclusion of his side's Champions League campaign.


Hicks delivered the most brutal blow at his disposal at the weekend when, having failed in his demands for the resignation of the chief executive, Rick Parry, he disclosed that Parry had been in on a meeting with Jürgen Klinsmann about Benitez's job.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this was a deliberate manoeuvre on Hicks' part to drag Benitez into the dispute, having failed to win any support for his demands last week that Parry should quit. Nowhere in the list of questions put forward by Sunday newspaper journalists which prompted the weekend's Klinsmann revelation was any inquiry about Parry's presence at that meeting. It was Hicks' decision to disclose that information.

Benitez did, indeed, jump in after the Blackburn match on Sunday, by requesting a meeting with Parry, Hicks and co-owner George Gillett. Parry replied yesterday that he was "more than happy" to discuss Hicks' revelations with the manager and when the meeting does occur Parry will presumably tell Benitez that he could hardly have avoided his Klinsmann encounter, which came at a board meeting called by Hicks and Gillett in New York.

Discussion

Yesterday was a day off for Benitez and his players and it remains unclear whether today might finally presage a discussion between manager and chief executive. Both will be at Anfield, along with the players and around 3,000 fans to remember the 96 Liverpool supporters who were killed at Hillsborough 19 years ago.

Benitez has said he will be discussing developments with his agent, Manuel Garcia Quillon, and the uncertainty the controversy is now creating about his Anfield future might actually play into his hands, with his former club Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona reportedly monitoring the situation at Anfield.

The dispute will also give him leverage should Liverpool fail to make advances on the title next season. There is a view at the club that Benitez's squad is already strong enough for him to be challenging for the title; he could certainly argue that the breakdown in relations between Hicks and Gillett has prevented him from preparing to rebuild at this critical time.

There is little dissent from the view that the club need to have a clear direction by June at the latest to formulate a plan for summer transfers but as things stand, Hicks and Gillett will not speak, let alone plan investments together.

The extent of the Americans' involvement with Klinsmann appears to have been greater than was originally thought. Reports yesterday suggested that Hicks and Gillett met Klinsmann twice -- once in New York where they were joined by Parry and other members of the Liverpool board, and a second time at Hicks' holiday home in California during Thanksgiving weekend in Parry's absence.

Hicks has dismissed as "categorically untrue" weekend reports that the Texan has maintained contact with Klinsmann, who had been given sight of Liverpool's transfer targets.

Gillett and suitor Dubai International Capital (DIC), which is still working to secure his shareholding at the club, are aghast at Hicks' public pronouncements in the last week and his failure, if he wants Parry removed, to seek fellow directors' approval first rather than going public. Even Hicks is unlikely to make further contributions to the argument today. The club are adamant that they do not want any infighting to overshadow today's service.

Fernando Torres certainly believes Benitez will be at Liverpool for a long time. He told Spanish radio yesterday that Benitez had "coached in England and Spain and the ideas are the same but the difference is that in Spain he is a coach whereas at Liverpool he is the manager, the coach, the one who signs the players, the one who oversees the youth system, the one who decides who is on his coaching staff.

"Ferguson and Wenger are the examples that in England even when you do not win managers are given time." (© Independent News Service)

[blacky]

Another dire article from the hate mail

Parry insists Liverpool will patch it up with boss Rafa Benitez
By JOHN EDWARDS - More by this author »

Last updated at 21:45pm on 14th April 2008

Comments

Rick Parry stepped in as peacemaker yesterday after it emerged that Liverpool made two attempts to install Jurgen Klinsmann as their new manager.

A seething Rafa Benitez demanded answers from the Anfield board after learning over the weekend that Parry had been involved in one of the clandestine get-togethers with the former Germany coach.



Time for talks: manager Rafa Benitez (right) with chief executive Rick Parry (centre) and former chairman David Moores


Read more...

ANFIELD IN CRISIS: Rafa refuses to make a decision on his Liverpool future as Parry pleads for talks
Liverpool's deadly marksman Torres backs boss Benitez
STOP the whingeing Wenger, it's your fault you didn't splash Arsenal's cash
WHY is Juande still wasting his time with Spurs' greedy band of misfits?
AND how two Liverpool legends would've really given Stevie G something to go down over
Furious Liverpool boss Benitez demands crisis talks after Parry's part in Klinsmann plot
Anfield's owners fight for control: Liverpool at breaking point as Hicks wants to force out Parry
Former Liverpool chairman Moores 'heartbroken' and 'let down' by American owners
Parry: Working for Hicks at Liverpool is a nightmare
Liverpool turmoil won't work to our advantage, claims Blackburn's Hughes

Although clearly taken aback at becoming embroiled in an escalating war of words among Anfield's hierarchy, Liverpool's embattled chief executive attempted to take the sting out of the latest fall-out by promising Benitez clear-the-air talks in the next few days.

Parry's priority is attending today's memorial service to mark the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, but he intends trying to patch up his differences with Benitez at the earliest opportunity, saying: "I am more than happy to sit down and talk to Rafa about this."

Although there have been calls from co-owner Tom Hicks for Parry to stand down, Benitez could be on dangerous ground after questioning the former Premier League chief's conduct in an angry outburst after Sunday's 3-1 win over Blackburn.

Several well-placed Anfield observers are adamant Benitez would have been dismissed by now but for another outstanding European campaign which appeased George Gillett and, in particular, Hicks.

With doubts persisting about Hicks's financial muscle to take full control and Gillett thought to be exploring ways of raising the necessary funds for a buy-out of his own, Benitez could find his confrontational approach rebounding on him.

After admitting that the former Valencia manager had almost talked himself out of a job earlier in the season, Hicks now appears to have formed a solid alliance with him, possibly influenced by the popular Spaniard's standing with fans.

Hicks and his son, Tom Jnr, are in a minority on the board, though, and Benitez may have left himself vulnerable by seeming to side with them and by taking on Parry in such public fashion.

Even so, Benitez's mood will not be helped by the revelation that Parry, Hicks, Gillett and other board members had already sounded out Klinsmann when they convened at the new Bayern Munich manager's holiday home in California last November.

The Liverpool boss claimed he had been undermined by the development and demanded clarification from the board about where he stood and why details of the initial meeting had been kept from him. It is understood he may even have fired off emails to Hicks and Gillett on Sunday night, underlining his displeasure.

Rumours are gathering pace that he could be on borrowed time, but there is another scenario. As he approaches his 48th birthday tomorrow, Benitez may yet beat his paymasters to the punch by walking away.

Benitez has form for packing up and leaving whenever boardroom conflict threatens to cramp his style and the outsmarting of Inter Milan's Roberto Mancini and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger will have sent his stock soaring in Italy and his native Spain.

Just as he quit Valencia in despair over a perceived lack of transfer backing, so his exasperated tone on Sunday hinted at a resignation that had nothing to do with calls for Parry's head.

Valencia are ready to welcome Benitez back after one or two significant boardroom changes and Atletico Madrid are also monitoring his availability.

Both Milan clubs are considering a change of manager, but it is the thought of Atletico winning the chase that will send a shudder through Fernando Torres.

Seeing Benitez take charge of his old club would be unbearable for the Spain striker.

"I think and hope Rafa is going to be at Liverpool for a long time," said Torres. "He is backed by the players and fans and his record is there for all to see."

[AFII]

BACK ME OR I QUIT
EXCLUSIVE BOSS THREAT ROCKS LIVERPOOL Rafa demands support from Anfield board over Parry rift
By David Maddock 15/04/2008

Rafa Benitez will walk out of Anfield unless his demands are met at the end of the season.

The Liverpool boss wants an end to the current ownership squabble - and complete control of all football matters.

He will also insist on substantial financial backing in the transfer market in the summer, and the power to act quickly to make signings of his choice.

Benitez has privately made clear his frustration at the present situation at the club and that he will quit if he does not get what he wants.

The Spaniard will have talks with co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett this week, and it is thought he will bluntly state he can no longer work with chief executive Rick Parry.

Benitez believes Parry abused his trust by going behind his back to join talks with Jurgen Klinsmann over the prospect of becoming the next manager of Liverpool.

He has also been unhappy with what he sees as dithering by Parry in the transfer market.

Parry has ultimate control over football dealings, but Benitez wants that power for himself, and will effectively ask for the chief executive to be replaced.

Sources close to the Benitez camp yesterday suggested it was that wish that prompted the letter from Hicks last week demanding Parry resign - and drew up fresh battle lines at Anfield.

Hicks has backed Benitez since the turn of the year and speaks to him almost daily. He has promised his support and funds to bring in new players.

But so far the American has been unable to persuade compatriot Gillett to back his vision for the club.

If Hicks fails in his bid to win total control, or if the stalemate continues with both owners refusing to budge from their entrenched positions, then Benitez will walk out in the summer.

The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC and Inter Milan, and possibly Juventus could all be looking for managers at the end of the season, and are all impressed by the Spaniard's record in the Champions League.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...9520-20383723/

[AFII]

GAFFER BENITEZ
LIVERPOOL AT WAR Kop boss demands total domination Rafa knows that owners must back down or he will be off to Europe
By David Maddock 15/04/2008

The moment that Steven Gerrard's penalty ripped the back of the net against Arsenal last week, the dynamic of power at Anfield was changed forever.

That goal didn't just guarantee Liverpool a place in the Champions League semi-final for the third time in four years. It put manager Rafael Benitez in a position to finally dictate his terms at the club.

His response was immediate and unyielding. The Spaniard knew that scintillating performance and result in Europe's premier competition would have placed his name on the shortlist of just about every top club across the continent.

He is a wanted man for his heroics in turning Liverpool into the Champions League's best performers. Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC and Inter Milan and Juventus will all look closely at his CV in the summer when they consider likely managerial vacancies.

That has left the Anfield boss in a no-lose situation.

For the past year he has been involved in a stand-off with chief executive Rick Parry over ultimate control of all football matters, a feud that has become increasingly bitter.

Benitez wanted Parry out a year ago and that almost cost him his own job. The Spaniard believes his chief executive is ponderous and uncommunicative when it comes to the transfer market - where he insists decisive action is required. But in saying so - famously after the Champions League final last May - he upset owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett who, new to the club, were very much in thrall to Parry's Premiership pedigree at that time.

By repeating the accusations early this campaign, Benitez was almost sacked with the Americans and Parry going as far as to meet with Jurgen Klinsmann to discuss the possibility of him taking over.

Benitez survived that crisis by backing down. But he was never deflected from his determination to take control of transfer policy at the club - and with it win his power battle with Parry.

Now, by getting to the semi-final again, and after cementing an unlikely relationship with Hicks, he has seen his chance to end the dispute in his favour.

His remarks on Sunday seemed straightforward enough. He believes that Parry was dishonest in keeping his presence at one meeting with Klinsmann secret. Further, he believes that their relationship is compromised by that fact.

But the extension of his logic is inevitable. Because Parry was chasing a new manager when he should have been working on transfers for Benitez, the Spaniard will insist the two of them can no longer work together in any trust.

So Benitez will arrive at a situation this summer where he will demand not only that he gets total control of transfers, but also that he gets the money to buy who he wants as quickly as he wants. And in that scenario, Parry must depart.

If Benitez doesn't get what he wants then he will simply walk out the door because like most Liverpool fans he is unhappy with the continuing political strife at the club... even if he is partly to blame for that.

The Spanish manager knows that Hicks backs him implicitly now because the two men communicate almost every day. He knows he can count on the Texan to sack Parry should the opportunity arise... and provide a sizeable transfer budget.

And he will test George Gillett's commitment to him and the fans by demanding the co-owner follow suit. Because Benitez has a real trump card up his sleeve - the supporters.

They do not want to see their manager go and would gladly sacrifice Parry to ensure that it doesn't happen.

If Gillett stands in the way of that and instead forces Benitez out, then he will become reviled and Hicks will be viewed more sympathetically. In defence of Hicks, he has backed Benitez since their brief fall out in November and it is thought that his letter demanding Parry resign last week was because he realised the chief executive would have to be sacrificed if he is to keep his manager in the summer.

So Benitez wins all ways because if he doesn't get what he wants, then he will simply walk into a job with an equally big club that will offer better wages and a bigger transfer budget. As for Liverpool, Parry is now in a vulnerable position.

Even if DIC's attempted takeover ever comes off, then the new owners will still be forced to support a massively popular manager ahead of a backroom man with a chequered record.

Not that it may come to that at all. By backing the Spanish coach so vigorously, Hicks will find himself a more popular on Merseyside than the reviled figure he currently cuts with the fans, which will increase the pressure on Gillett to sell.

LIVERPOOL'S FUTURE: WHAT IF..

Hicks wins control, by buying out George Gillett. Benitez will stay at the club, and Rick Parry will be sacked. Benitez will be offered the support of the owner, and given the power and funds he wants to truly compete in the transfer market.

George Gillett wins control with Dubai's DIC. Gillett has already backed Parry, so Benitez would be more inclined to leave. Should DIC win sole control, Benitez could be vulnerable. But they might be forced to change their position given Rafa's popularity with the fans.

Gillett And Hicks both refuse to concede, forcing the saga to continue, with both owners holding 50 per cent of the club, preventing the other from making any big decisions. Parry would stay, but Benitez would head off into the arms of the ranks of top European clubs sure to be interested in his services.

If Benitez doesn't get his way he will simply walk out the door because like the fans he's unhappy with the politics

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...9520-20383695/

[Guest]

Political maneuverings aplenty and the press living on guesses here and there.