Has the 'rant' backfired?

[Vermilion]

It wasn't a rant.

no it hasn't backfired - Man Utd still look far from convincing and could have lost today if Davies hadn't missed from 5 yards right at the end

[Baldemort]

He had been presented with 2 previous drafts apparently.

Why would he not have mentioned it earlier then? Seems strange to me.

[Neil Young]

Why would he not have mentioned it earlier then? Seems strange to me.

Maybe he was keeping it "in house" which is something lots of posters would like him to have continued doing. Anyway, would you tell the Media about negotiations on your contract while they were ongoing?

Damned if he does...

Of course these contract negotiations take time and go through lots of drafts.

[Icon]

Backfired? No...

Will anything be done about the 'facts' he stated?

Also no....

[Tee]

Backfired? Of course it has.

We were top, looking to go 6 points clear before he stoked teh fires, now we are 2nd and a point behind Man Utd.

Stop deluding yourselves that it has had no effect becuase it has. Rafa did the teamtalk for the scum and indirectly added more pressure on his own team.

Sure his intentions were right, but as I have said elsewhere, he should have carried out this rant in the press conference if we had gone 6 points clear with a win over Stoke.

[tsb]

Backfired? Of course it has.

We were top, looking to go 6 points clear before he stoked teh fires, now we are 2nd and a point behind Man Utd.

Stop deluding yourselves that it has had no effect becuase it has. Rafa did the teamtalk for the scum and indirectly added more pressure on his own team.

Sure his intentions were right, but as I have said elsewhere, he should have carried out this rant in the press conference if we had gone 6 points clear with a win over Stoke.

I love Rafa but I agree with this

[dww]

Backfired? Of course it has.

We were top, looking to go 6 points clear before he stoked teh fires, now we are 2nd and a point behind Man Utd.

Stop deluding yourselves that it has had no effect becuase it has. Rafa did the teamtalk for the scum and indirectly added more pressure on his own team.

Sure his intentions were right, but as I have said elsewhere, he should have carried out this rant in the press conference if we had gone 6 points clear with a win over Stoke.

Why is to believe it has had no effect a deluded view. What has changed in terms of form to make one believe it has an effect?

United: Not playing well but winning 1-0 none the less. Was happening before and has continued since.

Us: Record of failing to breakdown well organised defenses and already drawn 0-0 with Stoke this season. We have drawn 0-0 with Stoke again since.

Doing it when he did was a sign of confidence. I think him having confidence in his players is a good thing. It was misplaced on this occasion but I think taking such a view is barely even an error as far as I'm concerned. If our players can't take the pressure of having to beat Stoke then they will/would have struggled in a title battle regardless.

[Tee]

Why is to believe it has had no effect a deluded view. What has changed in terms of form to make one believe it has an effect?

United: Not playing well but winning 1-0 none the less. Was happening before and has continued since.

Us: Record of failing to breakdown well organised defenses and already drawn 0-0 with Stoke this season. We have drawn 0-0 with Stoke again since.

Doing it when he did was a sign of confidence. I think him having confidence in his players is a good thing. It was misplaced on this occasion but I think taking such a view is barely even an error as far as I'm concerned. If our players can't take the pressure of having to beat Stoke then they will/would have struggled in a title battle regardless.

What was the point of the outburst then?

Maybe nothing has changed in terms of results and performances (personally I disagree with you on this) but the team is now under the spotlight even more so and every bad result is seen as a sign of us 'cracking' under pressure.

[dww]

I have no inside knowledge (obviously) but two plausible reasons for it:
1/ We were in a position of strength where a genuine long term issue for Rafa, which was discussed by Balague and the Guardian podcast in pre-season IIRC, could be tackled.
2/ To take the pressure off the players. how many individuals have been discussed since? It has all been about Rafa in the press. If you believe the press has an influence then this has to be thought of as having equal weighting to any negative effects IMO.

[DannyMan2006]

The more I think about it, the more I agree with an earlier post.

Prior to this "Rant" it was all about Stevie getting sent down and the like, since then I've not seen a thing in the press about Stevie. So I guess we'll never know if it was a success or not because we don't know the motive for doing so.

[pondus]

Expect this to be brought up again before we visit Old Toilet. Rafa is thinking long term, and I'm sure we haven't heard the last of this.

[shanks69]

It's backfired in the sense that Rafa looks like a tosser. Don't think it effects results.

no way did it make rafa look like a tosser,afterall 90% of the press agreed with him.

[shanks69]

I'm inclinded to agree with you as no-one has come out in support of Rafa. No other Manager, CEO, Referees, no-one.

Rafa must feel like a dead man walking at present. We need to smash Neverton big time to end talk of the 'rant' affecting our results so we can get back on track.

no referee is going to back him are they while they are still in the game they would get into trouble,but poll has come out and backed rafas comments.as for managers and ceo's, like rafa said they haven't the guts to say what he said.

[SB]

no referee is going to back him are they while they are still in the game they would get into trouble,but poll has come out and backed rafas comments.as for managers and ceo's, like rafa said they haven't the guts to say what he said.

Your right. Only Poll has backed Rafa, it's a sad state of affairs that no-one else has backed him IMO. I wasn't eluding to current Refs backing Rafa ( my apologies for not making that clear)

[SB]

I'm inclinded to agree with you as no-one has come out in support of Rafa. No other Manager, CEO, Referees, no-one.

Rafa must feel like a dead man walking at present. We need to smash Neverton big time to end talk of the 'rant' affecting our results so we can get back on track.

2 weeks later and the voyeur finally finds his spine.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/wenger-backs-benitez-over-united-advantage-claims-1514375.html

Wenger backs Benitez over United 'advantage' claims

By Jason Burt
Saturday, 24 January 2009


Arsene Wenger has backed Rafael Benitez by saying the fixture list is "unexplainably advantaged" towards Manchester United. Although the Arsenal manager's claims do not amount to the same kind of outburst made by Benitez two weeks ago, he does reiterate the Spaniard's concerns that there is a favouritism towards the Premier League champions in the way games are arranged.

"I feel that next week Benitez has a case if you look at the way the fixtures are arranged," said Wenger. "You can say that Manchester United have been extremely advantaged, unexplainably advantaged.

"But that is what we have to cope with. It's difficult to explain why one team plays on Tuesday and the others are all on Wednesday. It is unfair competition. Next week the fixtures are advantaged for Manchester United, who before had a point against Liverpool – I supported them when they had a case. But this week, I think Benitez has a case. I do not think you need to be a specialist in football to understand that in this case it's an unfair advantage for Manchester United. Will it have an advantage on the global season? I don't know, you would have to analyse that better. It is not Manchester United's fault, it is not Liverpool's fault. It's the organisers of the fixtures. They have a case to explain."

Wenger's argument is that United play on Tuesday, away to West Brom, and then not again until the following Monday, when they host Everton. Arsenal have to visit Everton on Wednesday before facing West Ham at home on Saturday, giving them less time to recover. Liverpool, of course, play Everton in the FA Cup tomorrow before travelling to Wigan Athletic on Wednesday and then playing Chelsea on Sunday.

By Wenger's reasoning it would appear that Everton manager David Moyes has the most to complain about but it is a sign of the sensitivity surrounding United, who have assumed top spot in the league, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference having played a game less, and six points clear of Arsenal, that he has decided to follow Benitez's lead in claiming there has been – deliberate or otherwise – a bias.

Arsenal's protracted pursuit of Andrei Arshavin continued yesterday with the board of Zenit St Petersburg meeting once more to discuss their latest offer. Arsenal are proposing a deal which could amount to £15m for the 28-year-old once add-ons and incentives are included, with a basic £10m paid up front.

They have become increasingly frustrated by Zenit's tactics, given the player is clearly for sale and also because they have been the only serious bidder for Arshavin for some time. Arsenal director Ken Friar has been in St Petersburg to conclude a deal with the club having set a deadline of Monday before moving on to other targets.

However the signs are clear that Zenit, who have, so far, unsuccessfully attempted to drum up interest in their prize asset from other clubs, want to conclude the transfer with Arsenal and are now haggling over the payment structure.