KOP favourite Craig Johnston believes Rafa Benitez may have lost the dressing room and that his reign as Liverpool manager is hanging by a thread.
Benitez’s side needed a controversial penalty to salvage a 2-2 home draw against Birmingham last Monday night and have won just once since the end of September.
Johnston, 49, says the goodwill of the Anfield fans is probably the only thing keeping the Spaniard from the chop.
Liverpool now lag 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea in seventh place and face an early exit from the Champions League.
“You see one win in nine games, six defeats in the space of eight games, you see a dejected look on players’
faces. Has he lost the dressing room?
Six defeats in eight games would say that he has,” said AustralianJohnston.
“Has he lost a bit of the board’s backing? Well you hear what Liverpool co- owner George Gillett’s saying about him in the papers. He actually said that he’s made bad signings, the team’s not playing well and there’s no youth coming through. And this is from your employer.
“I think people think Rafa is a genuine and sincere bloke and that goes a long way with Scousers – but there are things going against him now.”
Johnston won five league titles, a European Cup and an FA Cup in almost 280 games for the Reds in the 1980s and his all- action style won him many fans.
It’s those same fans who he believes will have the ultimate say on Benitez.
“I think the fans are really critical,” he said.
“If they wanted him out they’d have got him out. But they want the American owners out more than they want Rafa out.”
Johnston, who invented the Adidas Predator football boot, is now forging a career as a photographer.
But his focus is never far away from his former club and he even questioned the return to Liverpool of legend
Kenny Dalglish, who was Johnston’s player-boss for three years.
Johnston compared the situation to the ill-fated union between Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier in the late 1990s, suggesting Dalglish’s presence as an ambassador could unwittingly be adding to Benitez’s load.
He said: “If Rafa spits the dummy or there’s a row between Gillett and him, they’ve brought in an insurance policy.
“Rafa will be wondering what’s going on.
“There was Houllier undermining Roy’s position as the manager and similarly now, if I’m the boss and I’ve got a Liverpool legend and ex-manager, it’s like someone’s covering their backs and I don’t like it.
“If you’re Rafa you’re thinking, ‘They’re preparing for my exit’.”
Benitez’s side needed a controversial penalty to salvage a 2-2 home draw against Birmingham last Monday night and have won just once since the end of September.
Johnston, 49, says the goodwill of the Anfield fans is probably the only thing keeping the Spaniard from the chop.
Liverpool now lag 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea in seventh place and face an early exit from the Champions League.
“You see one win in nine games, six defeats in the space of eight games, you see a dejected look on players’
faces. Has he lost the dressing room?
Six defeats in eight games would say that he has,” said AustralianJohnston.
“Has he lost a bit of the board’s backing? Well you hear what Liverpool co- owner George Gillett’s saying about him in the papers. He actually said that he’s made bad signings, the team’s not playing well and there’s no youth coming through. And this is from your employer.
“I think people think Rafa is a genuine and sincere bloke and that goes a long way with Scousers – but there are things going against him now.”
Johnston won five league titles, a European Cup and an FA Cup in almost 280 games for the Reds in the 1980s and his all- action style won him many fans.
It’s those same fans who he believes will have the ultimate say on Benitez.
“I think the fans are really critical,” he said.
“If they wanted him out they’d have got him out. But they want the American owners out more than they want Rafa out.”
Johnston, who invented the Adidas Predator football boot, is now forging a career as a photographer.
But his focus is never far away from his former club and he even questioned the return to Liverpool of legend
Kenny Dalglish, who was Johnston’s player-boss for three years.
Johnston compared the situation to the ill-fated union between Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier in the late 1990s, suggesting Dalglish’s presence as an ambassador could unwittingly be adding to Benitez’s load.
He said: “If Rafa spits the dummy or there’s a row between Gillett and him, they’ve brought in an insurance policy.
“Rafa will be wondering what’s going on.
“There was Houllier undermining Roy’s position as the manager and similarly now, if I’m the boss and I’ve got a Liverpool legend and ex-manager, it’s like someone’s covering their backs and I don’t like it.
“If you’re Rafa you’re thinking, ‘They’re preparing for my exit’.”
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