Sack Rafa, Fergie, Scolari and Wenger

[red g]

do you think istanbul in rafa's 1st season is enough to of a success to merit a new contract 5 seasons later?

no but his comitment and passion to the club and the players he has brought in from yoof upwards means that he deserves a new contract as wll as the success we have had?

Liverpool

FA Cup
Winners (1): 2006
Football League Cup
Runner-up (1): 2005
FA Community Shield
Winners (1): 2006
UEFA Champions League
Winners (1): 2004-05
Runner-up (1): 2006-07
European Super Cup
Winners (1): 2005
FIFA Club World Championship
Runner-up (1): 2005

not a bad haul while building for the big one.

[Sarb]

no but his comitment and passion to the club and the players he has brought in from yoof upwards means that he deserves a new contract as wll as the success we have had?

Liverpool

FA Cup
Winners (1): 2006
Football League Cup
Runner-up (1): 2005
FA Community Shield
Winners (1): 2006
UEFA Champions League
Winners (1): 2004-05
Runner-up (1): 2006-07
European Super Cup
Winners (1): 2005
FIFA Club World Championship
Runner-up (1): 2005

not a bad haul while building for the big one.

Can you add in the league performances to that, so we can view it in totality? Not having a pop but just interested to see that's all

[red g]

don't tell me not a single one of you haven't used the term 'please god' during games. i'm not a religious man but even i have uttered these words countless times following liverpool

abso****inglutely

[Reece]

God decided we were meant to win it.

Reggie, a lot of people recognise that it was destiny. However, I am not taking anything away from the achivement of the players and the boss. I said on the weekend, it was an amazing night and a fantastic achivement. Of course Rafa played his part in that. Can't have sent out a team of 11 mediocre players and still won the game.

I'm not discrediting Rafa's achievements in Europe. He is second to none. In league terms in England, he isn't up there in the Top 3 and he continues to make some glaring mistakes in games. Isn't an agenda, it's just a view point

But not every fan believes in God so therefore they cannot use that as a valid reason for us winning a cup/game of football.
He may not be in the top 3 in England, but who would you put above him - Ferguson and Wenger I assume? Both who have been around as managers a hell of a lot longer, and it's fair to say there is a pretty steep learning curve in all this.
I genuinely believe he can take us to the Premier League title - maybe you don't - as you say it's just a point of view and therefore not something I can argue with

Nope

[Sarb]

They should believe in a higher being after what happened in 2005

[red g]

Can you add in the league performances to that, so we can view it in totality? Not having a pop but just interested to see that's all

wiki doesnt show that

but then even you have to admit to build a PL wininng team from scratch bar 2/3 players reqires more than 5 years or a rich russian and yes maybe a froggy genius

[rage]

so we've won 1 fa cup, 1 european cup and a super cup. honestly the fa cup and super cup don't really mean anything. he's still here because of istanbul, nothing else imo

[Reece]

Do we want players who want to play for Liverpool or want to play for Rafa? Then isn't Rafa becoming bigger than the club

Another question in the mixer there for you Reggie :-)

No that's a fair point, but then you also have to ask why they want to play for Rafa so much? Maybe working with him everyday they appreciate just how good he is. I don't know - I obviously want players to want to play for Liverpool above everything, but I'm not sure in this day and age you can realistically expect to have a full team of players with that mentality. At the end of the day if they are good players and make us a better team then I want them here.

[Sarb]

wiki doesnt show that

but then even you have to admit to build a PL wininng team from scratch bar 2/3 players reqires more than 5 years or a rich russian and yes maybe a froggy genius

It does

But in those 5 years as a manager you need to show you're eradicating the mistakes made in previous campaigns. To me he is still making the same mistakes however

[wiw]

Footie forum is a feckin zoo these days

[red g]

It does

But in those 5 years as a manager you need to show you're eradicating the mistakes made in previous campaigns. To me he is still making the same mistakes however

Benitez defending himself for saturdays substitions......



“When you have 20 minutes to go you do not think about money, you think about solutions,” he declared.

“You might think putting a lot of players into the box is the right way. I think to use wingers with ability and pace can be a solution.

“You have to think about how to win, and the best way today was to use wingers and an offensive midfielder who can pass the ball better.

“In the last minutes, when people are playing with anxiety, you need someone who can pass the ball well.

“That was the idea.

“I wanted to keep Alonso in the middle to try and control the middle because Gerrard was going too high and Lucas is a player who can get into the box really well, and keep the quality in the final pass.

“We had to use people with ability in the wider areas, who could beat players. That was the idea.

It was an idea which did not work, but while Benitez conceded that Keane’s confidence might have been damaged by the snub, the players in his squad would have to accept unpopular decisions.

“Everybody had to be disappointed today,” he explained.

“We have drawn a game at home that everybody normally would think we were going to win.

“Everybody has to understand and think about the next one.

“The decisions are tactical decisions.

“At a club like this, a top side, all the players know they will have opportunities. Robbie Keane was playing well and working hard the other day and now he knows we were looking for other solutions.

“All the players want to play, that is clear.”

Benitez also defended the performance of full-back Andrea Dossena, given a torrid time by Bernard Mendy until injury forced Hull into switching the Frenchman to full-back.

“I think going forward he was really good,” said Benitez.

“Two or three times his crosses were very good.

“I thought he played well in the last game. Today his attacking was very good but defensively the team made mistakes.

“You can talk about two or three players who made mistakes, not just one. Everybody is very disappointed but if you want to win titles you have to keep calm.”

[Mattshark]

They should believe in a higher being after what happened in 2005

Even winning the CL is not enough to make me believe in a invisible man in the sky.
The team and the manager and the fans who sang at half time deserve the credit.

[BFG]

of course i credit rafa for our european success. i just don't rate european success above league success amigo.
we shouldn't be giving him a new contract just yet. rafa talks about loving the club etc, what difference will a contract in May make to one in January?

Its like me getting paid for the next job without finishing the 1st job!

You must be well chuffed with our current league standing then, the embodiment of cheer and optimism

I think the arguments put forward against Rafa have reached a new staggering low. Istanbul was just destiny is laughable. Without Rafa it wouldn't have happened. Obviously as much an opinionated statement as yours but at least my opinion is based on years and years of great European form whereas yours is based on, well nothing.

[Vermilion]

You must be well chuffed with our current league standing then, the embodiment of cheer and optimism

I think the arguments put forward against Rafa have reached a new staggering low. Istanbul was just destiny is laughable. Without Rafa it wouldn't have happened. Obviously as much an opinionated statement as yours but at least my opinion is based on years and years of great European form whereas yours is based on, well nothing.

People, Fans, seem to concentrate on the final itself, it was a bit special sure, but getting there was nothing short of fantastic management from Rafa, some of those games were tactically superb.

[rage]

You must be well chuffed with our current league standing then, the embodiment of cheer and optimism

I think the arguments put forward against Rafa have reached a new staggering low. Istanbul was just destiny is laughable. Without Rafa it wouldn't have happened. Obviously as much an opinionated statement as yours but at least my opinion is based on years and years of great European form whereas yours is based on, well nothing.

obviously we disagree

i would have rather we also beat stoke, fulham, west ham and hull then i would have been more pleased by our league standing.

i don't think i'm the only one who thinks we're top of the league because of as much to do with the failure of chelsea and utd as how well we've played (or indeed actually haven't!)