Does Rafa deserve one last throw of the dice?

[kingfunk]

Interesting stuff mate.

How do the players take a stand though?

This is the kind of thing I am talking about all of this crap has the club in turmoil, how the hell can anyone manage in the envoirnment Rafa is in at LFC.

How can we accurately judge his performace as a manger without the full facts.

I think every single player should hand in a transfer request at the end of the season unless the yanks agree to sell up.

[Craig_H]

Pure conjecture.

And what ? you wouldn't like Rafa IF you met him

Rafa has won at Old toilet, he just smiled, didn't need the big I am, class.

Rafa is still our manager and has done us proud, he's up against it at the moment but he deserves to have our support. Okay it's not working out well this year and you keep reinterating you want him out but have the decency to wait until he's gone before telling us how wondeful his replacement will be.

Your bumming up of Mourinho is laughable but also predictable as your postings on here are a constant tirade against the Liverpool manager.

Give it a rest and support our team, through thick and thin and not just when we win.

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh

Just to spell it out to you - i was having a bit of a joke with Shaggy, it was all tongue in cheek as every man and his dog would've been able to tell. Not you though.

Never mind, your little rant was amusing.

As for support, you have no idea about my levels of support. I'm not one for being competitive about being a 'bigger fan' than anyone else, but seeing as you brought it up, i'd wager that my levels of support probably go further than yours. But then, what would you know about me? Not even enough to fill a postage stamp

[Fan65]

Oh I see I missed the point, you were only having a jolly jape about replacing Rafa with Mourinho... I see now how silly of me.

A postage stamp? that's a bit small isn't it, Oh I dunno though I could easily get a couple of words on there and that's all I'd need.

[Vermilion]

Oh I see I missed the point, you were only having a jolly jape about replacing Rafa with Mourinho... I see now how silly of me.

A postage stamp? that's a bit small isn't it, Oh I dunno though I could easily get a couple of words on there and that's all I'd need.

[Craig_H]

I'm sure you'll enjoy writing on your postage stamp tonight, while watching the game on ESPN and telling yourself how i'm not a proper supporter. Maybe you'll even spot me on the box, not being a proper supporter.

[Vermilion]

I'm sure you'll enjoy writing on your postage stamp tonight, while watching the game on ESPN and telling yourself how i'm not a proper supporter. Maybe you'll even spot me on the box, not being a proper supporter.

Oh Craig, you do sarcasm so very well.

[Craig_H]

I dont do having my support questioned very well, especially via such an uninformed opinion.

[carheex]

The players don't want to play for him anymore. That much is obvious.

I can't see how he can be given another year.

They they should be sacked! They are highly paid professionals who are VERY privileged to be playing for a club like Liverpool. Most of them don't deserve to wear the shirt but they least they can do is give 100% for LFC, regardless of who the manager is.

[Craig_H]

Back in the real world though carheex, when does a squad of players ever get sacked?

[The Birdman]

The more I've thought about this the more I am creeping towards giving Rafa another year, I now believe that the owners have sucked the spirit from out of the club, you can see it when we play that the heart, spirit and belief has gone.

You can imagine Rafa telling Gerrard and Torres (or whoever) in the summer that Alonso was going because he has asked for a transfer but that it's all right because he'll have all the money generated from his sale, the Keane money and other player sales to revamp and strengthen again, what happens he gets ****in shafted, the money goes into debt repayment and we all start blaming Rafa.

Now if he had 'lost the dressing room' (which by the way is another **** sky sports phrase trotted out by people who have never been in a dressing room in the 1st place) then we would have players criticising Rafa either through indirect quotes or in newspapers from their respective countries when they go off for internationals closely followed by the old lost in translation excuse but we haven't had that.

Yes the performances have been insipid but this is 90% the same group of playes and exactly the same system that produced thrilling football towards the end of last season, the difference?? - Belief, belief that they were playing for a proud club, belief they were playing for a club that had aspirations, ambitions to get to the top of the English game again, belief that the finances would be there to strengthen when required (within excepted constraints)

I've been a big critic of Gerrard this season but think how soul destroying it must be for him, finishing 2nd, having a right go, him and Torres missing large chunks of the season then the Mancs losing Ronaldo, the Chavs with yet another new manager, Arsenal always underachieving thinking **** me this could be our year, my year to bring the PL back to Anfield then being stabbed in the back by H&G.

Rafa must be given more time because he (or any other manager) won't be given more money so we need stability to try to bring younger players through (you don't santion £1million plus for a 15 year old if you are planning on walking away, you do it because you think you'll be able to pick him in a couple of years) Rafa brought in the guy from Barca, revamped the ressies and youth set up in the summer so the club cannot afford (in every sense of the word) even more upheval.

[carheex]

Back in the real world though carheex, when does a squad of players ever get sacked?

Not often enough, obviously.

[Mattshark]

The more I've thought about this the more I am creeping towards giving Rafa another year, I now believe that the owners have sucked the spirit from out of the club, you can see it when we play that the heart, spirit and belief has gone.

You can imagine Rafa telling Gerrard and Torres (or whoever) in the summer that Alonso was going because he has asked for a transfer but that it's all right because he'll have all the money generated from his sale, the Keane money and other player sales to revamp and strengthen again, what happens he gets ****in shafted, the money goes into debt repayment and we all start blaming Rafa.

Now if he had 'lost the dressing room' (which by the way is another **** sky sports phrase trotted out by people who have never been in a dressing room in the 1st place) then we would have players criticising Rafa either through indirect quotes or in newspapers from their respective countries when they go off for internationals closely followed by the old lost in translation excuse but we haven't had that.

Yes the performances have been insipid but this is 90% the same group of playes and exactly the same system that produced thrilling football towards the end of last season, the difference?? - Belief, belief that they were playing for a proud club, belief they were playing for a club that had aspirations, ambitions to get to the top of the English game again, belief that the finances would be there to strengthen when required (within excepted constraints)

I've been a big critic of Gerrard this season but think how soul destroying it must be for him, finishing 2nd, having a right go, him and Torres missing large chunks of the season then the Mancs losing Ronaldo, the Chavs with yet another new manager, Arsenal always underachieving thinking **** me this could be our year, my year to bring the PL back to Anfield then being stabbed in the back by H&G.

Rafa must be given more time because he (or any other manager) won't be given more money so we need stability to try to bring younger players through (you don't santion £1million plus for a 15 year old if you are planning on walking away, you do it because you think you'll be able to pick him in a couple of years) Rafa brought in the guy from Barca, revamped the ressies and youth set up in the summer so the club cannot afford (in every sense of the word) even more upheval.

Excellent post mate.

[Craig_H]

Not often enough, obviously.

It's not remotely feasible mate.

[dww]

I think that the talk of the long term is the key. I'm not sure that any incoming manager will have more commitment or knowledge of how to build the club from the base of young players etc. We have no choice but to think of that as the backbone of any future success at the minute.

I've never gone along with the critics of Rafa as too inherently negative to win the league. However at the minute we have bunkered down and taken the worst parts of the way Rafa sets up teams - we keep the ball to no purpose at the minute and players movement seems constrained by not wanting to be the one to make a mistake rather than looking to make things happen.

It might be that we need to make some changes to the coaching staff beneath Rafa. This season has seen a lot of fitness problems and we seem to not have built a season the way we have before.

[Taxi]

The more I've thought about this the more I am creeping towards giving Rafa another year, I now believe that the owners have sucked the spirit from out of the club, you can see it when we play that the heart, spirit and belief has gone.

You can imagine Rafa telling Gerrard and Torres (or whoever) in the summer that Alonso was going because he has asked for a transfer but that it's all right because he'll have all the money generated from his sale, the Keane money and other player sales to revamp and strengthen again, what happens he gets ****in shafted, the money goes into debt repayment and we all start blaming Rafa.

Thats pure speculation though isn't it? Anyway, Rafa spent most of Alonso's money on Aquilani didn't he? He also brought in £18m Johnson.

Now if he had 'lost the dressing room' (which by the way is another **** sky sports phrase trotted out by people who have never been in a dressing room in the 1st place) then we would have players criticising Rafa either through indirect quotes or in newspapers from their respective countries when they go off for internationals closely followed by the old lost in translation excuse but we haven't had that.

Yes the performances have been insipid but this is 90% the same group of playes and exactly the same system that produced thrilling football towards the end of last season, the difference?? - Belief, belief that they were playing for a proud club, belief they were playing for a club that had aspirations, ambitions to get to the top of the English game again, belief that the finances would be there to strengthen when required (within excepted constraints)

Installing belief and motivating a team are what top managers do. The fact that this is mostly the same squad as last season is more the reason to question Rafa.


I've been a big critic of Gerrard this season but think how soul destroying it must be for him, finishing 2nd, having a right go, him and Torres missing large chunks of the season then the Mancs losing Ronaldo, the Chavs with yet another new manager, Arsenal always underachieving thinking **** me this could be our year, my year to bring the PL back to Anfield then being stabbed in the back by H&G.

Rafa must be given more time because he (or any other manager) won't be given more money so we need stability to try to bring younger players through (you don't santion £1million plus for a 15 year old if you are planning on walking away, you do it because you think you'll be able to pick him in a couple of years) Rafa brought in the guy from Barca, revamped the ressies and youth set up in the summer so the club cannot afford (in every sense of the word) even more upheval.

This is his 6th year, and unlike Wenger (who's spent far less), we are looking like we will fall out of the top 4. If we were within touching distance of the top then there would be no question in my mind, but this is not just an average season, its been an absolute disgrace with this group of players. Its poor that some people (not you) are saying that this is all down to a poor squad when we took Man U to the final day last season, and this year they've replaced Ronaldo with Valencia (weakened). Fergie changed things and reshaped the way his team play, Rafa changed nothing when almost all of us new/know that Mascher and Lucas do not work and he's persisting with it even now in March.

Time to go I'm afraid.