Rafa Watch

[Shaggy]

No way Wenger's going to PSG IMO.

[Shaggy]

I suppose this thread is as good any - this summer's gonna be insane. United, City and Chelsea all changing managers, so are Real Madrid and maybe Barca, the top clubs are all gonna spend big, plenty of class players moving including loads of ins and outs at LFC.

[Chazza]

No way Wenger's going to PSG IMO.

Yeah he will stay at Arsenal but they really want him don't they.

Maybe get in a manager for a year then have another go for him when his contract is up next season.

[RichC]

Aye, this summer is going to be very interesting with all the potential moves.

[Icon]

I've been saying year after year that next year will be big.

Have to say it again - truly believe it. And the spinning around of other clubs will only help us.

[G]

I'm quite excited about next season,that ****** retiring and the Moyesiah getting the job was the icing on the cake.

Coutinho and Sturridge looking sharp and Suarez to come back has me giddy

[Chazza]

Rafael Benitez wants to continue managing in the Premier League

Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez's hunt for his next job has already started and he admits staying in England is the priority.

Benitez, 52, who will leave Stamford Bridge in the summer, has guided Chelsea into Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica in Amsterdam.

"It is started already, the agents are working," the Spaniard said.

"The priority is still England, but if you cannot find a club, maybe you have to go abroad."

The 53-year-old has been unpopular with some Blues fans since he took over from Champions League-winning manager Roberto Di Matteo in November.

Benitez, winner of the manager of the month award for April, has confirmed he will leave the club at the season end after being appointed on an interim basis.

Jose Mourinho, 50, has been widely tipped to leave his post with Spanish giants Real Madrid at the end of the season and return to the club where he was manager between 2004 and 2007.

But having done enough to ensure a Champions League place for the Londoners next season with Saturday's 2-1 win over Aston Villa, former Liverpool boss Benitez has his eyes on a quick return after his Chelsea exit.

He said: "The Premier League is a fantastic league. My family still live in England, so it would be easier. If not, I will go abroad. I have no problem with the Spanish, Italian or French (leagues).

"When I was not working, some people said, 'he cannot get a job' - but I had a lot of offers.

"There are two options for the future - to get a project, two or three years to build a team like at Liverpool.

"Or maybe a top side with money, where you can buy some players and challenge for trophies from the beginning."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22506736

[Imy]

Interesting that he would consider managing in France.

[Phoenix07]

Pretty obvious who he means when referring to the French league. PSG would be the only one capable of challenging for titles consistently, has money and is in the limelight. Ancelotti went there and is now a certainty for the Real Madrid job.

[RedReet]

Pretty obvious who he means when referring to the French league. PSG would be the only one capable of challenging for titles consistently, has money and is in the limelight. Ancelotti went there and is now a certainty for the Real Madrid job.

Still can't believe Chelsea gassed him so quickly. United wouldn't be sitting on 20 titles if he was still there.

[Shaggy]

http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8697162/Benitez-Will-Leave-A-Lasting-Legacy-At-Chelsea

Despite the fact that Rafael Benitez felt his 'interim manager' title was a mistake - even a personal slight - the very temporary nature of his role may well have played a crucial part in driving the club through a difficult period of transition. Critically, imposing an experienced and successful manager with such a strong sense of self on the club, while also removing from him any power over the future of the playing squad, has helped Chelsea make overdue personnel changes on the field of play and break unhealthy player power off it.

Benitez's 'don't waste your bile and time on me, I'm going anyway' message to fans delivered so memorably at Middlesbrough in February could just as well have been directed at certain members of the playing staff. Players who had become more and more powerful in the fabric of the club as manager after manager was shown the door. Constants in a volatile environment, they were also some of the club's greatest ever representatives - legends in their own playing careers, revered by paying customers and increasingly feared by managerial fodder. By the time Andres Villas-Boas arrived to try and take the club in a different direction, this cadre of footballers truly had the power to make or break the manager.

If they didn't fancy you, they wouldn't play for you and they would counsel (internally and externally) against you. Young AVB - a serious threat to their cabal - felt the full force of their displeasure. His inexperience, combined with player intransigence and the lack of support from those above him, saw the 35-year-old driven from the club just nine months into a three-year contract for threatening to upset the old order.

His replacement, the more pliable Roberto Di Matteo, was much more to the players' liking. Free to do as they pleased, the power brokers switched off from Premier League duty and went in search of cup glory. That they won both the FA Cup and the Holy Grail is certainly to their credit - but the fact that they could no longer compete over a full league season suggested that their influence on the field no longer matched the power off it. A sixth-place finish in the Premier League showed that serious change was required, and Di Matteo, the players' friend, was not the man to deliver it.

With Roman Abramovich apparently setting his long-term sights on Pep Guardiola - the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar the apparent bait - he needed someone to temporarily fill the breach until the summer. Benitez, on the lookout for work and redemption, took the job. His later railing at the interim title, when surely he knew the score, may suggest that the Spaniard doubted that Guardiola would come and thought that if he performed well, he might get the hot seat long-term.

An unrealistic hope perhaps, but Benitez has managed as if he were there for the long haul. After all, the easiest thing to do would have been to play the likes of Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry in every game and glide into the summer before making a quick getaway. Instead, Benitez has made waves and has played a fundamental role in breaking their grip on power. Rafa's Chelsea is New Chelsea, built round David Luiz, Ramires, Mata and Hazard. His selections reflect Chelsea's future and not their past.

Without any sentimental ties to the club or the players, Benitez was well-placed to do what Chelsea had needed for some time. The old guard still may have roles to play, but they can no longer dictate the terms.

So whether it was by accident or design, the temporary appointment of Benitez should prove to be a positive for the club. And whether or not Chelsea experience glory in Amsterdam and/or a top-four finish, the Spaniard will still leave a lasting legacy - the long, overdue and essential groundwork to a brighter, more competitive future

[Arn]

and this is most probably the only reason that he got the job.

An unrealistic hope perhaps, but Benitez has managed as if he were there for the long haul. After all, the easiest thing to do would have been to play the likes of Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry in every game and glide into the summer before making a quick getaway. Instead, Benitez has made waves and has played a fundamental role in breaking their grip on power. Rafa's Chelsea is New Chelsea, built round David Luiz, Ramires, Mata and Hazard. His selections reflect Chelsea's future and not their past.

Without any sentimental ties to the club or the players, Benitez was well-placed to do what Chelsea had needed for some time. The old guard still may have roles to play, but they can no longer dictate the terms.

So whether it was by accident or design, the temporary appointment of Benitez should prove to be a positive for the club. And whether or not Chelsea experience glory in Amsterdam and/or a top-four finish, the Spaniard will still leave a lasting legacy - the long, overdue and essential groundwork to a brighter, more competitive future

[Daniel 7]

This one Chazza posted - they can't even decide how old he is.

Rafael Benitez wants to continue managing in the Premier League

Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez's hunt for his next job has already started and he admits staying in England is the priority.

Benitez, 52, who will leave Stamford Bridge in the summer, has guided Chelsea into Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica in Amsterdam.

"It is started already, the agents are working," the Spaniard said.

"The priority is still England, but if you cannot find a club, maybe you have to go abroad."

The 53-year-old has been unpopular with some Blues fans since he took over from Champions League-winning manager Roberto Di Matteo in November.

Benitez, winner of the manager of the month award for April, has confirmed he will leave the club at the season end after being appointed on an interim basis.

Jose Mourinho, 50, has been widely tipped to leave his post with Spanish giants Real Madrid at the end of the season and return to the club where he was manager between 2004 and 2007.

But having done enough to ensure a Champions League place for the Londoners next season with Saturday's 2-1 win over Aston Villa, former Liverpool boss Benitez has his eyes on a quick return after his Chelsea exit.

He said: "The Premier League is a fantastic league. My family still live in England, so it would be easier. If not, I will go abroad. I have no problem with the Spanish, Italian or French (leagues).

"When I was not working, some people said, 'he cannot get a job' - but I had a lot of offers.

"There are two options for the future - to get a project, two or three years to build a team like at Liverpool.

"Or maybe a top side with money, where you can buy some players and challenge for trophies from the beginning."

[Chazza]

That is by our old mate Ben Smith

[red g]

you havr to admire that even in a short term post, He took a long term vision......Quite the opposite to most managers specially Mourinho