Rafa Watch

[MrsB]

Chesterfield?










Oh my god, what have I done?!

Eh, what have you done?

Edit: ignore, it's off topic anyway.

[tsb]

Sound as though Rafa was blaiming him for almost everything.

Can't think he'd hold him in the best regards after the "mutual" departure. Purslow has built up some degree of credit due to the court case but is it all about to vanish?

Although they have done the job re: takeover, and following Broughton's next move, it's probably time for Purslow to move away from footballing decision making.

[tsb]

Nine gamblers?!?

[Will]

Can't think he'd hold him in the best regards after the "mutual" departure. Purslow has built up some degree of credit due to the court case but is it all about to vanish?

Although they have done the job re: takeover, and following Broughton's next move, it's probably time for Purslow to move away from footballing decision making.

at the end of the day we knew the yanks knew ****all about football, thought Purslow mite have. And that footballing decision Rafa is laying at his door.

[Rich]

I mentioned this in another thread. We are all in danger of seeing things purely in black and white.

Purslow certainly had a significant part in the ousting of Hicks & Gillett, and he should rightly be lauded. (Although Broughton is the man that pulled it all together IMO.)

But there's a substantial amount of evidence that Purslow on the football side of things has got plenty wrong. Worryingly wrong.

He's a finance man that seems to think he has an indepth knowledge of football - it's painfully obvious he doesn't. IF Purslow has to remain (and I'm hoping in the next 12/24 months he leaves) we need to bring in a powerful Director of Football that consults the board about footballing matters, and let's minimise Purslow's influence in footballing matters.

[Vermilion]

So one season Rafa is handed the power to deal with all football matters...then almost the next most of that power is taken from him and handed to Purslow... is i think what he's saying, from transition...to transition!

[Leyton388]

Yep thats what sky have reported him saying. Purslow changed everything. All the backroom staff, medical team, transfers the lot.

[Baracus]

In Black and White, it does not sound too good for purslow. If that is true, then the footballing results are there for all to see over the last 18 months

[the rev leeroy brown]

we cant take rafas word as gospel on this. we'll prob never know the true nature of purslow job and rafas claims. i tend to beleive rafa is misquoted or talking ****e at parts.

[SRR]

From BBC

Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has launched a cryptic attack on the club's ousted owners and current managing director Christian Purslow.

Benitez left to become manager of Italian giants Inter Milan last summer after six years in charge at Anfield.

But he hit out at former co-owner Tom Hicks's claim that he was to blame for the Reds' worst ever start to a season.

"We have a saying in Spanish: 'White liquid in a bottle has to be milk'," said Benitez.

Hicks criticised Benitez for wasting much of the money he was given to spend during the latter half of his tenure.

But Benitez has insisted the Americans were to blame, citing their appointment of Purslow in the summer of last year as the beginning of a downward spiral that ended in the Spaniard's exit.

Hicks and George Gillett lost Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) on Friday after a lengthy takeover saga.

But in a bizarre outburst, Benitez compared events leading up to his departure to a bottle of milk.

"What does this mean? It means that after 86 points and finishing second in the league, what changed?" he said.

"The Americans, they chose a new managing director and everything changed.

"So, what changed?

"The managing director is involved in all the decisions: new lawyer, new chief of press, new manager, nine new players, new medical staff, new fitness coaches - they changed everything.

"At the beginning, they changed the managing director who was talking with some players, and they changed everything that we were doing in the past.

"So, if you want to ask again what was going on, it's simple: they changed something and, at the end, they changed everything.

"So, white liquid in a bottle: milk. You will know who is to blame."

Pressed further on the matter, Benitez would only say: "White liquid in a bottle. If I see John the milkman in the Wirral, where I was living, with this bottle, I'd say, 'It's milk, sure'."

He added: "The only thing I can say is that I'm sorry for the fans."

Sunday's defeat to Merseyside rivals Everton leaves Liverpool second from bottom in the table.

[-V-]

Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has launched a cryptic attack on the club's ousted owners and current managing director Christian Purslow.
Benitez left to become manager of Italian giants Inter Milan last summer after six years in charge at Anfield.
But he hit out at former co-owner Tom Hicks's claim that he was to blame for the Reds' worst ever start to a season.
"We have a saying in Spanish: 'White liquid in a bottle has to be milk'," said Benitez.
Hicks criticised Benitez for wasting much of the money he was given to spend during the latter half of his tenure.
But Benitez has insisted the Americans were to blame, citing their appointment of Purslow in the summer of last year as the beginning of a downward spiral that ended in the Spaniard's exit.
Hicks and George Gillett lost Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) on Friday after a lengthy takeover saga.

But in a bizarre outburst, Benitez compared events leading up to his departure to a bottle of milk.

"What does this mean? It means that after 86 points and finishing second in the league, what changed?" he said.
"The Americans, they chose a new managing director and everything changed.
"So, what changed?
"The managing director is involved in all the decisions: new lawyer, new chief of press, new manager, nine new players, new medical staff, new fitness coaches - they changed everything.

"At the beginning, they changed the managing director who was talking with some players, and they changed everything that we were doing in the past.

"So, if you want to ask again what was going on, it's simple: they changed something and, at the end, they changed everything.

"So, white liquid in a bottle: milk. You will know who is to blame."
Pressed further on the matter, Benitez would only say: "White liquid in a bottle. If I see John the milkman in the Wirral, where I was living, with this bottle, I'd say, 'It's milk, sure'."

He added: "The only thing I can say is that I'm sorry for the fans."
Sunday's defeat to Merseyside rivals Everton leaves Liverpool second from bottom in the table.



He really doesn't help himself sometimes, the BBC story just looks like another bemusing Benitez incident. I can't help but laugh

[Shaggy]

Rafa Benitez proves he is Inter’s new special one

Franco Ordine
19.10.10

Football Correspondent Il Giornale

In the four months he has been manager of Inter Milan, Rafael Benitez has set himself up as the anti-Mourinho'. He has done nothing to try to be similar to the Special One and has given everyone the impression that he is a completely different person from the Portuguese.

Benitez laid down a marker in Inter's first Serie A game of the season, at Bologna. Jose Mourinho became famous at the club because he would wind up the Inter fans and the other people on the substitutes' bench to become angry at the referee.

At Bologna, two of the subs, Marco Materazzi and Dejan Stankovic, leapt off the bench at a certain point in the game to protest against one of the referee's decisions. Instead of allowing them to voice their opinions, Benitez turned to them and said: “You stay calm and sit on the bench. I'll talk to the referee and you shouldn't protest against him.”

This was an extremely important thing to do so early in his reign, because he had given a signal to everyone inside and outside the club about the right way to deal with officials.

I think Benitez is an excellent man. He came to Italy under very difficult circumstances, primarily because he joined Inter as the successor to Mourinho, who had won everything. The best he can do is match Mourinho by winning the Serie A title, the Italian Cup and the Champions League, so from this point of view, you have to admire him, because he had the courage to take on such a big challenge.

Benitez is also making Inter play far more attractive football than Mourinho did. They are playing some really nice stuff, which might come as a surprise to those who watched the way Liverpool performed towards the end of his time there.

It is also important to remember that Inter did not buy a single major player during the summer and actually lost one when Mario Balotelli joined Manchester City. Contrast that with Mourinho, who had plenty of money with which to build the squad that won everything last season.

So Benitez has had to settle for what he has got and has had to rely on two young lads — the 18-year-old Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho and the French forward Jonathan Biabiany, who is 22. Both of them played in the 1-0 victory at Cagliari at the weekend that left them third in Serie A after seven games, only two points behind leaders Lazio. With these players, Inter are still having a good season, so that proves Benitez knows what he is doing.

Many Italian journalists who follow Inter every week think Benitez falls asleep during games, because he's not explosive like Mourinho. He'll sit on the bench, speak to his assistants and won't make major pronouncements in public. He will, however, speak his mind in the dressing room.

When Cristian Chivu showed his dissatisfaction with the tactics during a recent game at Roma, Benitez gave the defender a dressing down in front of all the other players. Chivu was forced to apologise to his boss, his team-mates and the coaching staff, so people shouldn't assume his cagey public demeanour is the same as what he displays in private.

The Inter supporters still have a very strong bond with Mourinho. They will never forget him, because he was their real leader and for them, he was a unique character, whom they would bring back straight away if they could. Naturally, there was a lot of scepticism towards Benitez when he replaced Mourinho but the Inter fans are starting to appreciate him as well and I believe it is a similar story for the players.

At the start, they weren't particularly happy. Maybe they missed Mourinho's personality and his charisma but as is the case for the fans, they are starting to come around to Benitez. The first person who praised him publicly was Samuel Eto'o and Stankovic has also done so recently. So slowly but surely, the whole squad, including the captain Javier Zanetti, are starting to realise that Benitez is a very capable person.

At this moment, he is working with far fewer resources than Mourinho did and he is without Diego Milito and Esteban Cambiasso because of injury but the quality of football is still visibly better.

The general feeling in Italy is that Tottenham will be quite an easy team for Inter to overcome. Spurs don't make much of an impression on football fans in Italy. The clubs who do are Chelsea and Manchester United, as well as Manchester City since Roberto Mancini took over as manager. You will also see that San Siro won't be full and many of the Spurs fans may take the tickets that haven't been sold.

So Inter can get past Spurs and I believe they can win a trophy under Benitez this season but to repeat what happened last year will be difficult. His hardest task will be to win the Champions League again, because last season virtually every 50-50 decision went in Inter's favour in that competition. If he can stay lucky, though, who knows how well he can do?

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23889358-rafa-benitez-proves-he-is-inters-new-special-one.do

[Neil Young]

[SERVO2]

isafn

[Fredo]

Purslow's hand in the dismissal of Rafa was as significant an event as him having a hand in the dismissal of Hicks & Gillett. Seeing him being lauded as a hero for the latter, is just plain wrong.