Should Rafa be replaced by Guus Hiddink?

[red g]

Really????

He's now adding goals to his already impressive game. I'd have him over Kuyt every ****ing time. Ronaldo he ain't but he's doing exactly the job he was signed to do.

he aint impressed me when i have seen him not that kuyt has this season either!!!

[Shaggy]

Valencia is rubbish and completely one-dimensional.

[Vermilion]

Stock reponse here for such articles seems to be "**** off, what a load of ****e".

Generally they are a load of ****e though, written only to stir up the natives, and based usually on nothing concrete, who the **** is Lawton to say Rafa has disresepcted Shankley, ffs sake they all moaned he was concentrating too much on the Champions league not so long ago..now he's disrespecting a memory/legacy for trying to put a brave face on going out, does this guy really think Rafa is unconcerned about it, idiot.

The media are trying to stir the **** with every thing Rafa says or does now, it's pathetic, and any reds fan who buys into it is pathetic too. IMO.

Fed up of this constant ****in media barrage of ****e directed ar Rafa.

And although i support Rafa, i'm not so stupid as to not see he's made mistakes, but so will any other manager we get, all managers make mistakes that end up with them having a bad season here and there, although any mistakes made have been compounded tenfold by the problem of injuries, and a disruption to the expected spend on players, ie, 20mill dissappearing, cash that was promised for players, and taken into account by the manager when planning for the future.

It's just all come together and the result is what we have now.

It will get better. Obviously.

[The Birdman]

Surely Rafa is one of the best at recognising he has made a mistake?? how many managers would have spent £20 mill on Robbie Keane then perservered with him even though it clearly wasn't working just because of the price tag and media campaign - I'd almost forgot the pathetic questions in every single press conference, it became the Robbie Keane FC for a while and he was horse manure.
Rafa shipped him straight out, Morientas didn't last long, Gonzales, Josemi etc... etc... if Rafa makes a bad signing he generally moves them out of the club and rarely makes a loss financially

[vonk]

I'm not really sure what anyone expects Rafa to say really. "It's a complete disaster I give up"? It's certainly not what any successful manager would do in his situation.

Purslow has only ever really talked about it in the context of is it enough to sack Rafa over to which he says no and will it cause financial meltdown at the club to which he also says no.

People obviously have the right to criticise under performance but I think that in the end we have to accept that it is the long term that is important. That doesn't mean that people have to agree with me that Rafa is the best option but the criteria for success I do think are best assessed at the end of the season - we have clearly had a bad patch as we tried to change the way we played with a thin squad and get over the loss of a key player from last season.

Rafa rightly takes flak for decisions like buying Aquilani - would a temporary solution have been better. Perhaps but the time to judge is at the end of the season if not further into the future. Most people have for a long time wanted us to fill out the squad with young players and go for quality in our buys when we do that people feel we left the squad too light in numbers.

Have to say, I can't disagree with any of that. Good post.

[red g]

The Merseysiders had to settle for a place in the Europa League despite their 1-0 win against Debrecen on Tuesday night - Fiorentina's defeat of Lyon meaning they advanced instead from Group E.

Fortunately for Benitez, his team get a quick shot at redemption when they take on city rivals Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

And the Spaniard is determined to make amends for their European setback.

He said: "We have not been able to go through to the last 16 of the Champions League, so we must make sure we double our efforts in the league and always do our very best in future matches.

"Then the confidence of the team will be much better, we will be able to approach league matches in a better frame of mind."

Reds chief executive Christian Purslow again backed Benitez to improve the club's fortunes this week - they have won just two of their last 11 games to fall well behind in the Premier League title race - and the former Valencia chief is adamant he does not fear the sack.

He added: "I do not feel under any greater pressure, Liverpool are under pressure in every single game, anyway, whatever the competition. This is nothing new for me.

"My aim is just to help the players, working and preparing the team.

"The players know we are better than our results suggest, they can see that we could have won in every game even if not playing well.

"We have played better than many of our opponents in this run, we have had plenty of opportunities to score. They know the situation.

"We have ideas, we have solutions to problems, and plans for matches. The players know we have been a lot better than people are saying."

He continued: "We need a winning mentality to return, but we have not planned any differently for matches, just the same organisation.

"Things are still positive, we have players coming back from injuries. We have been positive in recent league games against Birmingham and Manchester City, things have been improving."

Benitez's hand has been severely weakened by injuries to star duo Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard as well as a number of other first XI regulars.

Gerrard is now back, along with Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio and Yossi Benayoun, but Torres is unlikely to be ready for the short trip across Stanley Park.

"Steven Gerrard has started to play 90 minutes again, so there are a lot of things that give us confidence that we are improving," said Benitez.

"Some players are fitter now. So we can manage the team and matches in a different way. If you do not have a strong bench, it is difficult to change games."

"Now with more options it can be easier for us in such circumstances.

"When you have injuries it is always difficult. But it has been worse recently when we have had to contend with two or three injuries during a game."

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_5722527,00.html

[vonk]

I firmly believe you should dig a hole in the woods get in it and don't come out again until spring.

Considering it.

[vonk]

Once again the thread decends into a debate about the money and the players we didn't get. Can we talk about the actual football for once?

[einar]

Once again the thread decends into a debate about the money and the players we didn't get. Can we talk about the actual football for once?

When you talk about Rafa and how he is doing as a manager the money and the players we did not get is part of the equation.

[Slinky Skills]

Generally they are a load of ****e though, written only to stir up the natives, and based usually on nothing concrete, who the **** is Lawton to say Rafa has disresepcted Shankley, ffs sake they all moaned he was concentrating too much on the Champions league not so long ago..now he's disrespecting a memory/legacy for trying to put a brave face on going out, does this guy really think Rafa is unconcerned about it, idiot.

The media are trying to stir the **** with every thing Rafa says or does now, it's pathetic, and any reds fan who buys into it is pathetic too. IMO.

Fed up of this constant ****in media barrage of ****e directed ar Rafa.

And although i support Rafa, i'm not so stupid as to not see he's made mistakes, but so will any other manager we get, all managers make mistakes that end up with them having a bad season here and there, although any mistakes made have been compounded tenfold by the problem of injuries, and a disruption to the expected spend on players, ie, 20mill dissappearing, cash that was promised for players, and taken into account by the manager when planning for the future.

It's just all come together and the result is what we have now.

It will get better. Obviously.

Great post, someone that talks some sense at last.

[vonk]

When you talk about Rafa and how he is doing as a manager the money and the players we did not get is part of the equation.

We have enough quality in this squad to be able to play better. It is no excuse for the pish poor performances this season. I've accepted we will not win the PL under Rafa. I'm actually ok with that. I don't even care if we challenge for the title. My expectations have been lowered as he has asked us to do. Top four finish is all we can expect. I also accept that Rafa will be with us for a long time. Fine.

However, the least I expect is for us to play decent football. It's appalling stuff to watch and I challenge anyone to tell me they love the way we play. Apart from the blip at the end of last season that people are claiming is the norm, we set out to keep games tight and not to concede. The games against Sunderland and Debrecen were two of the worst performance I've seen in my 33 years watching us. Dire stuff.

We are football fans too, we need to be entertained by flowing football now and again.

[tomasjj]

As to the original question, no.

I'd assess things at the end of the season.

[einar]

We have enough quality in this squad to be able to play better. It is no excuse for the pish poor performances this season. I've accepted we will not win the PL under Rafa. I'm actually ok with that. I don't even care if we challenge for the title. My expectations have been lowered as he has asked us to do. Top four finish is all we can expect. I also accept that Rafa will be with us for a long time. Fine.

However, the least I expect is for us to play decent football. It's appalling stuff to watch and I challenge anyone to tell me they love the way we play. Apart from the blip at the end of last season that people are claiming is the norm, we set out to keep games tight and not to concede. The games against Sunderland and Debrecen were two of the worst performance I've seen in my 33 years watching us. Dire stuff.

We are football fans too, we need to be entertained by flowing football now and again.

The team is having a bad patch. That happens to every team and it is not a question of if, but when the team will improve again. I agree that last year the team over performed, and now they are under performing. That happens.

[SK]

if anyone, i'd want hiddink to replace rafa if it would come to that. i accept we've had terrible luck with injuries and that coupled with rafa's stubborness and lack of pragmatism - late substitutions, failing to see his thought out plan isn't working,.. we came to a point where we are now, and that is fighting for 4th with the FA cup and Europa league our only chances of "glory".

Rafa isn't perfect but no-one is, his mistakes are more highlited because we haven't won the league in 20 years, and are too big a club for that to be the norm. expectations are too high for our financial strenght, but rafa could have bought a few more creative players instead of tacticaly obedient ones, and we might have unlocked a few more of those tight defences.

on the pitch our players currently look like they've been training together for about a week and not for the best part of 5 years. they're not positioning right on the pitch, not forming triangles when in attack, not making runs, because team mates don't spot then etc. simply we're failing where a team under such good a coach should not be failing, and that is a worry for me.

[DannyMan2006]

As to the original question, no.

I'd assess things at the end of the season.