Poll - Should Rafa stay?

[Joe King]

Bollocks... He wants and always has wanted the best for our club.... By all means i'm not saying he's 'perfect' but name me someone who is?

Who's talking about a perfect manager? I'm talking about a manager who has the ability to motivate a side to win consistently and challenge for the title on a consistent basis. He hasn't delivered so far. Stylistically, the side is playing exactly like it was under Ged.

Face it, Benitez is Houllier.

[squaddie]

Who's talking about a perfect manager? I'm talking about a manager who has the ability to motivate a side to win consistently and challenge for the title on a consistent basis. He hasn't delivered so far. Stylistically, the side is playing exactly like it was under Ged.

Face it, Benitez is Houllier.

Ok, i see your point

I made the point in the 'lost the dressing room' thread. Whether Rafa has ever 'had' the dressing room... I might be wrong, (and as someone pointed out, what we managed to achieve last season, he wasn’t even involved), but i always seemed to get the impression that Paco was the man in-between... Rafa would give his short (emotionless in some respect) analysis of how a player should improve, then Paco would 'sugar coat' it as it were. There seems to be very few players (including a few we’ve got) these days that are willing to get on with their job without someone telling them how good they are/puttin an arm around them.

Rafa clearly lives and breathes football.... Its his life... But at the end of the day i get the impression he gives a player (players) far to much of a rigid plan that needs to be stuck to... Players cant express themselves, and if your team can’t do that you may as well give up.

I know there's far to many brackets in this post, and i am a bit pissed... But i love Rafa.... He loves our club, our city and our fans... He's brought me some of the best nights of my life (Istanbul , FA Final, Real etc) I would love (understatement) for him to turn this 'bad patch' around... But devastatingly I can only see two things that can sort this situation out (that don’t seem likely anytime soon).... A **** load of money and/or a new manager.
Soz for the disjointed, downer of a post but I’m ****in heartbroken our target for this season is to finish fourth in the league…. Or win the Europa…..

A champions league without Liverpool is a sin.

[javier_monsterano]

What role did alex miller have at the club?and isn't he jobless at the moment?I'm sure he lost
his job in japan.

[magicalbarnes]

I wasnt meaning whether he has faults or not, everyone has them, so it'd be a moot point to make or question to ask.

I was asking how much of our current predicament, do you blame on him?

Maybe in percentage terms.

Based on our squad, we should be in the top four, without any trouble.

We've got a better squad/team than Arsenal in fact, IMO. But we're left chasing, not only them, but Villa, Spurs and City.

We have the 3rd or 4th best team/squad IMO, yet we're 7th. It's the most obvious example of not doing what you should, with the tools available to you.

I would say its 95% the financial situation, and 5% Rafa's fault.

[Guest]

It seems Rafa still has got the majority of the fan's backing.

[carheex]

i would rather have a manager that loves the club and the fans, to have a bad season than some ambitious self publicist that just wants a better cv with no affection for the club,
because thats what you will get with hiddink and jose, and beyond them two there is no one on a par with Rafa.

Twaddle. Having "Liverpool FC Manager" on your CV is only impressive if you're a success with them, so if they were to join then they'd do their best to make us into a force again. Do you seriously think that Hiddink/Jose wouldn't try to win us the league???
I'd rather we won the league with Mourinho as manager than not win it with Benitez as manager.

[Redspin]

I was just wondering the overall feeling regarding Rafa. I dont live in Liverpool so whats the general opinion locally, should he stay or go?

I listen to TalkSport and it seems every Red who calls in says they want Rafa sacking, however im not sure all these callers are genuine as 80% of callers talk rubbish on there as do 50% of the presenters.

Talk Sport? Why not also base your views on 6-0-6 too? Only dickheads call Talk Sport so why give anything anyone says any credence?

This is a bloody stupid, pointless poll

[carheex]

That's a different question though

I'll always support any player or manager at Liverpool, and want them to succeed. That's not in question.

My doubts are about whether i think he WILL turn it around for us.

I dont ask for the league title. I just want us to see our squad producing the best results it's capable of. That's a chasm away now.

So i guess my question was, would you want him to stay no matter WHERE we finished in the league?

Or is there a level at which we'd have to sink, for you to think 'time for a change' ?

We need to be looking for constant improvement in gameplay, results and end of season achievements. Last year we came second so anything less would be disappointing this year. Throw into the equation that our gameplay sucks, Rafa is embarassing himself and the club in the press, we're no longer surprised when we don;t beat ordinary teams and that our season is pretty much over with only half of it gone.....and it's hard to argue a case for him to stay. When did we last win a trophy?

[The Erectile Banana]

Here's the Premier League table from just before Christmas for every season since Rafa has taken over.


2004-05 Pts

1 Chelsea 43
2 Arsenal 38
3 Everton 37
4 Manchester United 34
5 Middlesbrough 32
6 Liverpool 28



2005-06

1 Chelsea 46
2 Manchester United 37
3 Liverpool 31
4 Tottenham Hotspur 31
5 Bolton Wanderers 30
6 Wigan Athletic 28
7 Manchester City 27
8 Arsenal 26



2006-07
pts

1 Manchester United 47
2 Chelsea 45
3 Liverpool 34
4 Arsenal 33
5 Bolton Wanderers 33
6 Portsmouth 32
7 Tottenham Hotspur 28
8 Everton 27

2007-08

1 Arsenal 43
2 Manchester United 42
3 Chelsea 37
4 Manchester City 34
5 Liverpool 33
6 Everton 30
7 Portsmouth 30
8 Aston Villa 29


2008-09

1 Liverpool 39
2 Chelsea 38
3 Aston Villa 34
4 Manchester United 32
5 Arsenal 31
6 Hull City 27
7 Everton 26
8 Fulham 24

2009-10

1 Chelsea 41
2 Manchester United 37
3 Arsenal 35
4 Aston Villa 35
5 Tottenham Hotspur 33
6 Manchester City 29
7 Birmingham City 28
8 Liverpool 27



Being realistic, we can probably write off that first season as the squad he inherited was a mess. Since then the minimum expectation going into every league season has been that we mount some sort of challenge for the title. With the exception of last season it hasn't happened. In every other season we have been trailing distantly by Christmas?

Is this good enough?

In previous seasons our poor league form has been masked by wonderful success in Europe, but our early exit this season has highlighted our domestic struggles.

The league title is the trophy that everyone involved with this club hungers to win. One title challenge in five years does not make good reading.

[lfc]

Whats the worst that can happen?we dont finish forth,then we push on and come back next season like a giant club we are,ive got no blame for Raffa,only on some of his buys,thats if they were his!.The team needs a shake up but i just think that there is so much crap going on with the club no one can think straight,if theres no money in the club he cant buy players,hes doing the best he can with what hes got.It was not so long back when we were pushing for the title this guy was god,and now everyones slaging him well most people.Give him a chance and lets see what he can do,if were mid table next season then he will have to go,but if hes still not getting the funding how can he be blamed.You cant race a formula 1 team like Ferrari with mr bean and jerry kyle behind the wheel,but if you cant pay for button or schumey how long you going to last.If he had the millions like city and united then we would probally have two squads but we aint and things wont change over night give the guy time

[Craig_H]

It seems Rafa still has got the majority of the fan's backing.

Matchgoing fans, for sure.

I still cant quite decide what i think.

One day, my decision is made by my head, the next by my heart.

[Joe King]

Matchgoing fans, for sure.

I still cant quite decide what i think.

One day, my decision is made by my head, the next by my heart.

Doubt it. There are a lot of murmurs from matchgoing fans. They go because they support the team etc.

This site is a small fraction of fans who seemingly feel Benitez can change things but he won't

[javier_monsterano]

I missed the start of the match,were our fans holding up rafa out signs?
someone told me it was our fans,not stokes.

[Craig_H]

Doubt it. There are a lot of murmurs from matchgoing fans. They go because they support the team etc.

This site is a small fraction of fans who seemingly feel Benitez can change things but he won't

I dunno how many you get to mate, but the vast majority of match going fans certainly seem keen to keep singing his name.

I missed the start of the match,were our fans holding up rafa out signs?
someone told me it was our fans,not stokes.

I didnt see any. Sounds like nonsense.

[Shaggy]

After each and every gut-wrenching late goal and listless display in defeat, I admit to myself, with a heavy heart, that the only way out of this mess is going with the impetus that comes with a fresh face and a fresh voice as manager. Never more so than after the Reading game the other night - I was convinced the players had completely lost belief in him, they weren't putting the effort in for the boss and they would never respond until he's gone. Enough's enough, I thought.

Then they go and put in a proud and fighting performance like that today to totally blow that theory out of the water. I can't bring myself to give up on him yet.