Do you want Rafa back?

[Cormack74]

FLMAO unless someone is saying the sun shines out of Rafa's arse you will always dismiss it

I thought it was pretty balanced view myself

Very balanced IMO.

[Neil Young]

Rafa would want total control but IF he was to get the job back (and again I think it is hugely unlikely) he would have to give some concessions

Cant see him coming back on the same terms he had when he was sacked

NESV wouldnt allow that and I seriously doubt Rafa would expect that

Lets face it the ball is well and truely in NESV's court regarding any negotiations

Aaargh, you're Andy Gray.

Other than the choice of adverb, I entirely agree with you, as usual.

[Exiled_red]

I had major admiration for Benitez for having the guts to take on the Inter job, but this IMO is very true.

Absolutely

[Cormack74]

Wonder if Rafa will take in a game (assuming he's back on the Wirral) over Xmas.

Rafa being Rafa he'd go and sit in the Kop.

[Eric Swindler]

In no way is Rafa Benitez the right man to take us forward. How can we go forward by going backwards? Time to move on people, never going to happen.

[Roboklopp]

FLMAO unless someone is saying the sun shines out of Rafa's arse you will always dismiss it

I thought it was pretty balanced view myself

Aye, the only thing I'd take up on was that "quite another message is emerging" on tinternet. It's split here too, not all anti-Rafa as that indicates.

He certainly does divide opinion though, it's amazing.

[The Erectile Banana]

I know, his transfer dealings were ****ing terrible, remind me, how much money did he recoup for our then owners?

I'm not getting into this net spend crap. Too much time has been wasted on it already in countless other threads. I will simply point you to the major transfers Rafa made in his last two seasons

Riera
Keane
Dossena
Aquilani
Johnson
Kyriagkos
Maxi
Ngog

That's around £80M worth, give or take. The question I ask is did it improve the first team?

[Roboklopp]

In no way is Rafa Benitez the right man to take us forward. How can we go forward by going backwards? Time to move on people, never going to happen.

Cos we've been going the wrong direction since (& immediately before) he left. We need to back the **** up!

[Neil Young]

I'm not getting into this net spend crap. Too much time has been wasted on it already in countless other threads. I will simply point you to the major transfers Rafa made in his last two seasons

Riera
Keane
Dossena
Aquilani
Johnson
Kyriagkos
Maxi
Ngog

That's around £80M worth, give or take. The question I ask is did it improve the first team?

Riera - no
Keane - no
Dossena - no
Aquilani - looks like he would have done this season
Johnson - yes
Kyriagkos - definitely improved the squad
Maxi - yes
Ngog - definitely improved the squad

I'd guess that would compare reasonably well against any other manager's transfer dealings.

[The Erectile Banana]

Riera - no
Keane - no
Dossena - no
Aquilani - looks like he would have done this season
Johnson - yes
Kyriagkos - definitely improved the squad
Maxi - yes
Ngog - definitely improved the squad

I'd guess that would compare reasonably well against any other manager's transfer dealings.

IMO Ngog, Maxi and Kyriagkos definitely improved the squad. I don't think Maxi is good enough to be a first team regular. He's an awfully static player. As for Johnson, he's shown flashes of what he's capable of, but overall his performances have been no improvement on Arbeloa's.

Our entire team has gone backwards since 2009, due, in large part, to Rafa's transfer dealings. I don't want to get into a debate about it, as it's already been done, many times, but that is one of the many reasons I don't want him back.

[Craig_H]

No.

You'd have more chance of 'wasting' money if you were shopping in a pool of average/mediocre players.

That isnt what 'margin for error' means though.

"Each and every transfer implies a risk, especially when your margin for error increases as you're forced to shop in a pool of lesser players."

Having increased margin for error, is a good thing. It's when you have no margin for error, that it becomes much more difficult. With our budgets, Rafa had very little margin for error.

[The Erectile Banana]

Cos we've been going the wrong direction since (& immediately before) he left. We need to back the **** up!

Too many posters seem to be voting yes for Rafa because he is better than Hodgson. That is not a good enough reason to take him back in my eyes. A dead skunk has displayed more managerial aptitude than Hodgson, but I wouldn't want it managing Liverpool.

[danperkins]

Too many posters seem to be voting yes for Rafa because he is better than Hodgson. That is not a good enough reason to take him back in my eyes. A dead skunk has displayed more managerial aptitude than Hodgson, but I wouldn't want it managing Liverpool.

And i agree with your views on Rafa's transfers in his last 2 years at the club, appalling no question. People have short memories.

[Kenneth]

Riera - no
Keane - no
Dossena - no
Aquilani - looks like he would have done this season
Johnson - yes
Kyriagkos - definitely improved the squad
Maxi - yes
Ngog - definitely improved the squad

I'd guess that would compare reasonably well against any other manager's transfer dealings.

It would but I disagree with Johnson, who is inferior to the player he replaced, and Aquilani, who did nothing significant even in his best performances. Pushes it into the 'compares quite poorly' category personally.

[Craig_H]

And i agree with your views on Rafa's transfers in his last 2 years at the club, appalling no question. People have short memories.

You been hanging around with redspin?

Another piece of hyperbolicism.