copied this from RAWK....apparently its from his latest book....
"I can honestly say, on my kids’ lives, that I have always backed every manager I have worked under."
"Rafa Benitez is the best coach I have played for. Tactically he is very astute, he undoubtedly made me a better player and I respect him."
"I owe Rafa Benitez a great deal for my development as a player. When Rafa was appointed I had played right-back, and I had also played on the right of midfield from time to time, but I was essentially a box-to-box central midfielder. Rafa helped to make me a more disciplined midfielder and taught me how to time my runs better, which helped me get more goals. When I went onto the right flank, although I didn’t feel totally comfortable out there, he helped me become a good player there as well. I realised about the sacrifices you make for the team because at that point Liverpool were better setting up with two holding midfielders and, without sounding big-headed, I was enjoying a spell where not being in the middle did not unduly affect the level of my performances. After that, Rafa helped me become a ‘No. 10’ – someone who plays behind the striker – which I didn’t think I even had in my armoury. I think the key to my success in that position was Torres. I always need to play with someone who can run in behind defences."
"The first time I started to get uneasy was in the autumn of 2007 when rumours started to circulate that Rafa was under pressure. He had given a bizarre press conference in which he kept on repeating the phrase ‘coaching and training’, in response to a barbed request from Hicks to stop getting involved at all levels of the club and focus on what he was best at – coaching and training. Those were Rafa’s strengths, no doubt about it, but he didn’t take kindly to an American in cowboy boots telling him that. Relations became strained from there and the media had a field day as it did throughout the Hicks and Gillett tenure. I have learnt a lot in my career about how the media and the press operates. I understand briefing takes place and when your ears prick up it is usually for a reason. Stories do not come out of nothing and the idea that the club was thinking of sacking Rafa was a concern if not a huge surprise, as he had started clashing with the people above him at the club. I was equally concerned that Jurgen Klinsmann, the former Germany striker, was the man in the frame to replace Rafa. He had played at Tottenham, but what did he know about managing in English football? At the time, I was thinking, ‘We’ve just reached two Champions League Finals in three years, Rafa is a top manager, why do we even need a change?’ If you ask me now: ‘Rafa or Klinsmann?’ I would say Rafa, all day long."
"Plans for the stadium had ground to a halt, players were leaving and the money was not being reinvested. In short, it was a nightmare. A constant headache. A worrying shadow was cast over the entire club to the extent that the threat of actually going out of business hung over us. We were front-page news as much as back page. My head was wrecked. I get angry and frustrated when I think about how Liverpool Football Club lurched towards High Court battles off the pitch and slipped down the Premier League on it."
"We went out of the Champions League in the group stages and were off the pace in the Premier League once again. We were immersed in a cycle of mediocrity on the field and open warfare between the supporters and the owners off it. The situation was such that, when you are captain, you think: ‘Do I get involved in this or stick to playing?’ When you walk out of Anfield 45 minutes after a home game and there are still thousands of supporters in their seats protesting against the owners of the football club it is a desperately sad sight. Liverpool Football Club, as I knew it, felt as if it was slipping away. No one – certainly not the fans or the players – wanted Hicks and Gillett any more, but they were hanging on to the club for grim death, aware hundreds of millions were riding on whether they could sell it or not. I knew that was wrong. I knew they needed to go, but I thought long and hard, most days if not every day, about whether me coming out and saying something publicly would help the situation? I totally understand that people thought, ‘Gerrard is the captain. He should come out and say something. He knows what is happening can’t go on.’ Behind the scenes me and Jamie Carragher were constantly asking questions and saying this needs to stop, but we are not the type of players to go and do exclusives in papers and add fuel to the fire. It was a delicate situation. Apart from the fact that it’s hard to think of any other workforce around the world coming out and attacking the people who own the institution they work for, I wondered what me slagging off Hicks and Gillett in the national papers or on Sky would have achieved. Would it have brought about a solution any quicker? I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it. There was also the fact that when I was asking questions behind the scenes, people like Rafa and managing director, Christian Purslow, were telling us they were taking care of things. Players can influence matters on the pitch, not in the boardroom."
"Again there were whispers that it was the players who said: ‘Push the button. Get rid of him.’ But that just makes me frustrated and angry. It was Liverpool’s board of directors who made a decision they believed to be in the best interests of the club. All the rumours suggesting otherwise simply harm reputations and harm relationships with managers."
"I can honestly say, on my kids’ lives, that I have always backed every manager I have worked under."
"Rafa Benitez is the best coach I have played for. Tactically he is very astute, he undoubtedly made me a better player and I respect him."
"I owe Rafa Benitez a great deal for my development as a player. When Rafa was appointed I had played right-back, and I had also played on the right of midfield from time to time, but I was essentially a box-to-box central midfielder. Rafa helped to make me a more disciplined midfielder and taught me how to time my runs better, which helped me get more goals. When I went onto the right flank, although I didn’t feel totally comfortable out there, he helped me become a good player there as well. I realised about the sacrifices you make for the team because at that point Liverpool were better setting up with two holding midfielders and, without sounding big-headed, I was enjoying a spell where not being in the middle did not unduly affect the level of my performances. After that, Rafa helped me become a ‘No. 10’ – someone who plays behind the striker – which I didn’t think I even had in my armoury. I think the key to my success in that position was Torres. I always need to play with someone who can run in behind defences."
"The first time I started to get uneasy was in the autumn of 2007 when rumours started to circulate that Rafa was under pressure. He had given a bizarre press conference in which he kept on repeating the phrase ‘coaching and training’, in response to a barbed request from Hicks to stop getting involved at all levels of the club and focus on what he was best at – coaching and training. Those were Rafa’s strengths, no doubt about it, but he didn’t take kindly to an American in cowboy boots telling him that. Relations became strained from there and the media had a field day as it did throughout the Hicks and Gillett tenure. I have learnt a lot in my career about how the media and the press operates. I understand briefing takes place and when your ears prick up it is usually for a reason. Stories do not come out of nothing and the idea that the club was thinking of sacking Rafa was a concern if not a huge surprise, as he had started clashing with the people above him at the club. I was equally concerned that Jurgen Klinsmann, the former Germany striker, was the man in the frame to replace Rafa. He had played at Tottenham, but what did he know about managing in English football? At the time, I was thinking, ‘We’ve just reached two Champions League Finals in three years, Rafa is a top manager, why do we even need a change?’ If you ask me now: ‘Rafa or Klinsmann?’ I would say Rafa, all day long."
"Plans for the stadium had ground to a halt, players were leaving and the money was not being reinvested. In short, it was a nightmare. A constant headache. A worrying shadow was cast over the entire club to the extent that the threat of actually going out of business hung over us. We were front-page news as much as back page. My head was wrecked. I get angry and frustrated when I think about how Liverpool Football Club lurched towards High Court battles off the pitch and slipped down the Premier League on it."
"We went out of the Champions League in the group stages and were off the pace in the Premier League once again. We were immersed in a cycle of mediocrity on the field and open warfare between the supporters and the owners off it. The situation was such that, when you are captain, you think: ‘Do I get involved in this or stick to playing?’ When you walk out of Anfield 45 minutes after a home game and there are still thousands of supporters in their seats protesting against the owners of the football club it is a desperately sad sight. Liverpool Football Club, as I knew it, felt as if it was slipping away. No one – certainly not the fans or the players – wanted Hicks and Gillett any more, but they were hanging on to the club for grim death, aware hundreds of millions were riding on whether they could sell it or not. I knew that was wrong. I knew they needed to go, but I thought long and hard, most days if not every day, about whether me coming out and saying something publicly would help the situation? I totally understand that people thought, ‘Gerrard is the captain. He should come out and say something. He knows what is happening can’t go on.’ Behind the scenes me and Jamie Carragher were constantly asking questions and saying this needs to stop, but we are not the type of players to go and do exclusives in papers and add fuel to the fire. It was a delicate situation. Apart from the fact that it’s hard to think of any other workforce around the world coming out and attacking the people who own the institution they work for, I wondered what me slagging off Hicks and Gillett in the national papers or on Sky would have achieved. Would it have brought about a solution any quicker? I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it. There was also the fact that when I was asking questions behind the scenes, people like Rafa and managing director, Christian Purslow, were telling us they were taking care of things. Players can influence matters on the pitch, not in the boardroom."
"Again there were whispers that it was the players who said: ‘Push the button. Get rid of him.’ But that just makes me frustrated and angry. It was Liverpool’s board of directors who made a decision they believed to be in the best interests of the club. All the rumours suggesting otherwise simply harm reputations and harm relationships with managers."
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