Who?

[MrMichael]

I have a feeling that it would be nigh impossible to get either of those two.

Agreed.

I really can't see Hiddink coming to us considering he left Chelsea where he could have got all the resources in the world to play with.

Don't even want to get into a Maureen debate.

Fact is, the likelyhood of our current owners both appointing the best man for the job and giving him adequate resources, if Rafa were to go (which I still hope doesn't happen), is about as likely as Martin Skrtel winning a beauty competition.

We'd probably get Howard Wilkinson or El Tel

[the rev leeroy brown]

after last night shambolic performance and rafa's obvious tactical **** ups ( ngog was isolated with no-one within 50 feet of him at times, benni taken off?!?!?!? and bringing voronin on instead of babel and playing so defensivly against a distinctly average lyon team ) i'm starting to wonder if bringing in a new man might be the answer. we simply have to salvage our season which at the moment looks in free-fall. in kenny dalglish we have the perfect answer already employed. he could easily slip into the dugout for the remainder of the season and would no doubt give the team the boost it so badly needs.

[qabiri]

I believe that its more important to get rid of the American mercenaries that are running us into the ground.
Look at it this way the only real time Rafa has been backed was the year we bought Torres and even then it was Champion League money that bought him,Hicks and Gillette have money but it seems they are not willing to spend it on us they seem to think that we will magically play above our ability and win the League.
Look at the other teams around us and look how their board works with the manager our system doesn't work.

Look we simply have to many squad players playing in the first team but if we spent most of our transfer cash on one player a season like some want we wouldn't be where we are now IMO.

[the rev leeroy brown]

Hicks and Gillette have money but it seems they are not willing to spend it on us they seem to think that we will magically play above our ability and win the League.

would you trust rafa with our money? i sure wouldn't. keane, babel, dossena, lucas to name a few. 46 mill down the pan. he doesn't have a clue what to do with big amounts of money.

[MrMichael]

he doesn't have a clue what to do with big amounts of money.

Torres, Mascherano and Alonso say hi

[FatTony]

I would like Rafa to stay and allow him to buy his first choice players wouldn,t that benefit our squad?

Nearly everybody on this site is calling for Rafa's head but like i've asked before who would replace him and hit the ground running [meaning someone who will be used to managing premiership teams and their players]?

I can only think of Capello but what do you guys really think? Who is the man?
We cannot in this climate wait another 5 years for someone to reach a peak with an entirely new team [Man City,Spurs,Villa,Everton will not allow it].

No they're not.

There are plenty of critics at the moment, and I'm one, but we're not calling for him to be sacked.

Anyone who is calling for his head ultimately has a failed argument. This is pretty much the same squad which finished 2nd last season, there were no shouts of a lack of depth and quality then. We don't have the financial resources to have a starting team of world class players and we'll have to rely on our youth more, and some will argue Wenger hasn't spent as much and has a better squad, but I will say what has he won recently and where did they finish last season?

Rafa doesn't help himself though sometimes, purchasing Aquilani was a big risk and at the moment its backfired. I also believe that his insistance to playing with a lone striker for the majority of games means we'll never be able to keep 2 world class strikers happy and I think this is why (after Bellamy, Crouch and Keane leaving through lack of opportunities) he won't be pursing another again. This leaves us more exposed when either Torres or Gerrard are unfit and why people say we are a 2 man team. Without one or the other, the supply chain is broken, without both, there is no supply chain. The other problem with this is that if we ever are fortunate enough to bring in a young striker who does look the real deal, he (like those before him) will not be happy for very long sitting on the bench. I really do think we need to go 442 and Rafa needs to get someone of the calibre of your Villa's or Eto's to partner Torres. Taking Gerrard back into the middle, but with 2 top class strikers up front will pin teams back a few more yards and allow him to roam forward a little more than he would normally playing that role.

[Reece]

would you trust rafa with our money? i sure wouldn't. keane, babel, dossena, lucas to name a few. 46 mill down the pan. he doesn't have a clue what to do with big amounts of money.

Torres, Alonso, Mascherano, Johnson, Reina would say otherwise.

[the rev leeroy brown]

Torres, Mascherano and Alonso say hi

torres i'll give you. but mash has been off the boil for a good while now and he ****ed up the alonso situation.

[Reece]

torres i'll give you. but mash has been off the boil for a good while now and he ****ed up the alonso situation.

Well that's a matter of opinion, but regardless it was still money well spent in the first place.

[the rev leeroy brown]

Torres, Alonso, Mascherano, Johnson, Reina would say otherwise.

as i replied to mr m to the above but reina was a bargain. 6 mill isn't a lot for a keeper. proves my point that rafa cant handle the big money transfers. he's a bargain basement shopper.....riera, arbeloa, agger, skrtel, insua, benni would say otherwise.

[kingfunk]

Agreed.

I really can't see Hiddink coming to us considering he left Chelsea where he could have got all the resources in the world to play with.

Don't even want to get into a Maureen debate.

Fact is, the likelyhood of our current owners both appointing the best man for the job and giving him adequate resources, if Rafa were to go (which I still hope doesn't happen), is about as likely as Martin Skrtel winning a beauty competition.

We'd probably get Howard Wilkinson or El Tel

He wont win it if Kuyt is in it...

[Reece]

as i replied to mr m to the above but reina was a bargain. 6 mill isn't a lot for a keeper. proves my point that rafa cant handle the big money transfers. he's a bargain basement shopper.....riera, arbeloa, agger, skrtel, insua, benni would say otherwise.

It doesn't prove your point at all. You mentioned Lucas and Dossena in your original post who were both a similar price to Reina, so if you're allowed to use them as "evidence" then I don't see what the difference is with me coming back with Reina, who has become one of the best goalkeepers in the world since arriving.

And I stand by Torres, Alonso, Mascherano and Alonso being good use of big money.

[Parr_Zee]

Everyone on this message board knew that we were thin on the ground regarding our striker situation (basically, fooked if Torres got injured). Rafa maintained that he is happy with N'Gog, Voronin, Kuyt and Babel as back-up. How long can we put up with this stubborness to realise that these players are not good enough?

He maintained that we did not need Owen as these players were good enough - BIG mistake.
Even if he sold Babel, Voronin and N'gog and got in 1 decent striker, it would be an improvement. Never thought'd i'd be looking at teams like Spurs, Villa, Man City etc and wishing we had their strikers.

Must say, I am losing patience - this is not knee-jerk, i've been feeling it for 2 seasons.

[cream]

The G+H effect has started to kick in, unless they **** off, there is only one way this club is heading. This club has debts that it cannot afford to pay, not long before the times comes where we will start to sell off our best players.

[qabiri]

Do you know why your argument is flawed? Last season with these same players we were tumpiing teams who were outspending us why has that stopped that's the enigma.