Rafa Watch

[magicalbarnes]

Redknapp has been a cunt to Rafa since the day he got his job at sky. He was always sniping at him since day one.

At the time (around about 2006) i thought it was Jamie just trying to be controversial, and prove to doubters that he's totally neutral to get the viewers on his side. However he just got worse every week, towards the end of Rafa's reign Jamie was so personal with his criticism that it bordered on un-professional. Week after week he was like 'this great club needs to sack Rafa, he's wasted so much money'. Interestingley he never once mentioned at the time that ManU & Chelsea had £20m players just twiddling their thumbs on the bench.

He made the ultimate cock of himself when he said that LFC should never have sold Alonso and that he was awesome in the 1-4 at Old Trafford, he was pinging balls around all day long to Gerrard & Torres. Rafa's response was simply

“I was surprised to see some comments by some experts talking about how they could see Alonso playing in the 4-1 win against United he didn’t play,”, barely able to conceal his sarcasm.

“This expert said he (Gerrard) cannot play on the left but he is playing with the national team on the left.

“He was playing here on the right and scoring 23 goals so Gerrard can play everywhere.

“It depends on the team. He can help and that is the main thing.”

If we're going to have ex-reds on Britains biggest sports channel before games, at least have one that knows his football. As much as i hate to say it, Neville provides such better analysis than Jamie.

[Shaggy]

It's not even close. Neville is brilliant; insightful and thoughtful analysis. Redknapp is an utter, utter moron.

[Icon]

Who'd have thought eh?

[Lee]

Redknapp.

[Leyton388]

Redknapp is a prick. I've never liked him even when he played for us.

[Icon]

Daddy's got QPR now...

[Daniel 7]

He's contemptible. The opinion pieces he is asked to do are even more laughable than the vacuous inanities he dribbles out of his puckered bumhole in the name of analysis. He's the Daily Star of pundits, painfully unintelligent and basically a boring blowhard.

And no, I was never that impressed with him as a player either. I still can't remember what he actually did for Liverpool. What was he actually good at?

Worst captain I can remember. His dad speaks more respectfully of Liverpool than he does, something is wrong there.

[Leyton388]

He's contemptible. The opinion pieces he is asked to do are even more laughable than the vacuous inanities he dribbles out of his puckered bumhole in the name of analysis. He's the Daily Star of pundits, painfully unintelligent and basically a boring blowhard.

And no, I was never that impressed with him as a player either. I still can't remember what he actually did for Liverpool. What was he actually good at?

Worst captain I can remember. His dad speaks more respectfully of Liverpool than he does, something is wrong there.

He kept our medical team in a job for a long time mate. Thats about it IIRC

[Liverpel]

Rafael Benitez has swiftly responded to Alex Ferguson's criticism of him by saying that Arsene Wenger is the Premier League's best ever manager.

Benitez and Ferguson have never been close and Chelsea's new interim manager said, without much prompting, that he had always thought Wenger was a superior leader.

"There are a lot of good managers in the world, many who have won trophies," Benitez said. "I don't like to talk too much about other managers. When I came to England I knew the other managers here. Arsene Wenger is the best manager there has been here for a while. But I cannot talk about these things every day."

Benitez had only been Chelsea manager for a few hours when Ferguson (right) said he was "lucky", and he asserted his right to respond to criticism.

"I like to talk about my team, about football," he said. "But if some people push you, if you want to win, maybe you have to push back."

Benitez and Ferguson fought a tight Premier League title race in 2008-09, in which the latter triumphed, and Benitez said that acrimony was a natural result of competition. "You're playing to win trophies, and only one can win it," he explained. Some managers in the middle of the table can be friendly, but only one wins it. People try to win in different ways. I like to respect people, but the problem is sometimes I cannot because they push you."

In spells at Valencia, Liverpool and Internazionale, Benitez has won the Champions League, UEFA Cup, World Club Cup, Spanish title and FA Cup, and he insisted that he has a winning mentality.

“I was over 20 years in the Real Madrid academy,” Benitez said.

“To be first is the only thing I understand. To be second is to be unhappy. I want to be first, to challenge, and I want to compete to win trophies. You can improve teams, but that is not the same as winning trophies. I like to win trophies.”

Benitez hopes that this will endear him to the Chelsea supporters. “All fans, around the world, know the manager wants to win. They prefer a manager with a winning mentality rather than one who finishes seventh or eighth.”

Fernando Torres was one of the stars of Benitez’s Liverpool team but he has lost form at Chelsea.

Benitez sounded relaxed about his hopes of getting the best out of him. “You don’t need too much time talking with Fernando,” he said. “I know him, but he knows me and what we’re looking for. I have to spend more time with the others. Fernando is easy.”

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/benitez-bites-back-after-ferguson-jibe-3304409.html

[chadrtc]

Rafael Benitez has swiftly responded to Alex Ferguson's criticism of him by saying that Arsene Wenger is the Premier League's best ever manager.

Benitez and Ferguson have never been close and Chelsea's new interim manager said, without much prompting, that he had always thought Wenger was a superior leader.

"There are a lot of good managers in the world, many who have won trophies," Benitez said. "I don't like to talk too much about other managers. When I came to England I knew the other managers here. Arsene Wenger is the best manager there has been here for a while. But I cannot talk about these things every day."

Benitez had only been Chelsea manager for a few hours when Ferguson (right) said he was "lucky", and he asserted his right to respond to criticism.

"I like to talk about my team, about football," he said. "But if some people push you, if you want to win, maybe you have to push back."

Benitez and Ferguson fought a tight Premier League title race in 2008-09, in which the latter triumphed, and Benitez said that acrimony was a natural result of competition. "You're playing to win trophies, and only one can win it," he explained. Some managers in the middle of the table can be friendly, but only one wins it. People try to win in different ways. I like to respect people, but the problem is sometimes I cannot because they push you."

In spells at Valencia, Liverpool and Internazionale, Benitez has won the Champions League, UEFA Cup, World Club Cup, Spanish title and FA Cup, and he insisted that he has a winning mentality.

“I was over 20 years in the Real Madrid academy,” Benitez said.

“To be first is the only thing I understand. To be second is to be unhappy. I want to be first, to challenge, and I want to compete to win trophies. You can improve teams, but that is not the same as winning trophies. I like to win trophies.”

Benitez hopes that this will endear him to the Chelsea supporters. “All fans, around the world, know the manager wants to win. They prefer a manager with a winning mentality rather than one who finishes seventh or eighth.”

Fernando Torres was one of the stars of Benitez’s Liverpool team but he has lost form at Chelsea.

Benitez sounded relaxed about his hopes of getting the best out of him. “You don’t need too much time talking with Fernando,” he said. “I know him, but he knows me and what we’re looking for. I have to spend more time with the others. Fernando is easy.”

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...e-3304409.html

Is he talking about us here, or am I reading into things too much?

[dom9]

How thick is Jamie Redknapp?

[RedReet]

Redknapp has been a cunt to Rafa since the day he got his job at sky. He was always sniping at him since day one.

At the time (around about 2006) i thought it was Jamie just trying to be controversial, and prove to doubters that he's totally neutral to get the viewers on his side. However he just got worse every week, towards the end of Rafa's reign Jamie was so personal with his criticism that it bordered on un-professional. Week after week he was like 'this great club needs to sack Rafa, he's wasted so much money'. Interestingley he never once mentioned at the time that ManU & Chelsea had £20m players just twiddling their thumbs on the bench.

He made the ultimate cock of himself when he said that LFC should never have sold Alonso and that he was awesome in the 1-4 at Old Trafford, he was pinging balls around all day long to Gerrard & Torres. Rafa's response was simply

“I was surprised to see some comments by some experts talking about how they could see Alonso playing in the 4-1 win against United he didn’t play,”, barely able to conceal his sarcasm.

“This expert said he (Gerrard) cannot play on the left but he is playing with the national team on the left.

“He was playing here on the right and scoring 23 goals so Gerrard can play everywhere.

“It depends on the team. He can help and that is the main thing.”

If we're going to have ex-reds on Britains biggest sports channel before games, at least have one that knows his football. As much as i hate to say it, Neville provides such better analysis than Jamie.

I loved this bit...

He came back from 3-0 down in the Champions League against AC Milan, because the players dragged Liverpool back into it (Gerrard again).

I can remember saying at half time that I hope Benitez laces up his boots and comes out for the second half. Oh no, fat ****er just sends out the players expecting them to do it for him, then laps up all the praise. Typical

[Tee]

Personally I find this post a little over celebratory about what another club are going to do. Not having a go like, but I really can't imagine any scenario where I'd be 'ing over anything another club in the same league as us does.

[McDermotX]

Classy

London hotel mocks Chelsea coach Rafa Benitez with re-naming of suite

A Premier Inn hotel in west London has changed the name of its top floor suite to Rafa Benitez to 'honour' the new Chelsea coach - saying the room is 'perfect for short stays'.

A Premier Inn hotel in west London has changed the name of its top floor suite to Rafa Benitez (Picture: Jimmy Nsubuga/Mail on Sunday)
The hotel, which is located in Kensington, mocked the Spanish manager's tenuous position as Blues coach.
Owner Roman Abramovich has had eight managers in his time at Chelsea and it seems the bosses at the Premier Inn are not convinced Benitez will last long in his job.
The hotel's manager Stephen Luck said: 'We’re perfectly located for a short stay.
'If he’s nervous of buying a house in the area, Rafa’s welcome to check in anytime and we will give him a great night's sleep.'

The former Liverpool boss replaced Blues legend Roberto Di Matteo at Stamford Bridge this week - a change that wasn’t well received by supporters.
The Earls Court branch of the hotel is located just a stone's throw away from the Champions League winners' stadium but fans are unlikely to be too annoyed with the new name as they probably share the hotel owner's sentiments.


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddball...#ixzz2D93ZpI70

[Imy]

Is he talking about us here, or am I reading into things too much?

Could well be, because thats what we've been primed to accept as a decent season.