Sack the bored

[coop]

When it comes to Rafa Benitez, my message is simple – “Sack the Bored”.

 

I’m not talking about those clueless Yanks who cling on to power along with Rick Parry at the expense of the club’s ambition.

 

No, I’m talking about those nasty Rafa bashers who are just so plain boring, boring, boring

 

There have been a lot of comments around this weekend after Liverpool staged their remarkable comeback against Portsmouth.

 

Incredibly it put Liverpool top of the Premier League on Saturday evening. If you have the privilege of analysing football and potentially influencing opinion, you have a moral responsibility to be fair.

 

When I picked up one of the Sunday papers, when it came to reporting Liverpool’s fight back at Pompey, everything continued along the lines of ‘Liverpool in Crisis’ theme. It was a fairytale – a disgusting manipulation of the truth.

 

If this is a crisis for a football club that hasn’t won the league title for nearly 20 years, then my name is Hans Christian Andersen.

 

Recent headlines have included lots of ‘Rafas lost the plot’ rants, with words and phrases such as meltdown, crazy days, Reds are a Joke featuring prominently.

 

These are all agendas driven and they were all exposed as a myth by the character of Benitez’s team on Saturday evening.

 

This is a manager who doesn’t even have full control of who he brings in and out of Anfield.

 

He works for people who sometimes don’t even go to the games and who promised the fans a new stadium which would provide the revenue to compete with Manchester United and develop Liverpool and their brand in a global sense.

 

They have failed spectacularly and Rafa continually cops it for their sins.

Just take the Robbie Keane situation. The headlines told us how on Keanes return to Tottenham he ‘stuck the boot in’. The strongest term he used was that it was ‘baffling’. Another cheap headline to grab attention, and another distortion of the truth.

 

Ian Rush was a legend when he played for Liverpool but exactly what does he know about management? Fans can be gullible and when they hear an ex-favourite such as Rushie speak they are going to listen – even when he is talking tripe. So let’s analyse what Rushie told us.

 

When it came to team selection he told us that when he was in Italy he played in a game where he scored four goals. He was then taken off when he felt if he had stayed on he would have scored a couple more.

 

The next game Juve lost 1-0 and Rushie’s conclusion was that they lost the game and he didn’t score because he had lost confidence having only scored four in the previous game and not six. You couldn’t make it up!

 

Some of the ex player brigade at Liverpool make a good living out of criticising Rafa but they do a disservice to the fans and it’s a slur and stain on the great service they gave the club on the pitch.

 

Robbie Keane showed immense dignity in dealing with questions from journalists looking for the next Benitez attack. The sale of Keane will not define Liverpool’s season because even the player admitted that the move did not work out.

 

Keane made 21 starts for Liverpool and the bottom line is he didn’t score enough goals. Keane is a good player but he wasn’t good enough for Liverpool. His goal return is irrefutable evidence of that. In the last two matches at home to Chelsea and away to Portsmouth post-Keane, Liverpool have got six precious points.

 

Yet if you picked up the paper during this period, Rafa Benitez selling the striker was the football equivalent of shooting Bambi. Keane was sold for economic reasons – that’s the way life is at Anfield. And the reason that Liverpool cashed in was because the Americans needed the money. Come the next window, Keane’s price would have come down. That’s why he had to go when he did.

 

One thing not reported in the thousands of column inches devoted to the Keane sale is one undeniable fact – it was Keane’s choice to go. Keane was protected by his contract. He could have stayed, fought for his place, looked to have improved form and score some goals that would have seen his boyhood heroes miraculously snatch the title.

 

He chose to leave and go back to Spurs. In the modern game, every transfer is the player’s choice. That truth does not suit the agenda of the football pundits.

 

Benitez is the prince of Anfield and whilst Alex Ferguson concentrates on one thing – nurturing the empire he has been given so much support to build – Benitez has been fighting on so many different levels.

 

Undermined from within, attacked by the British press who hate the idea of a little Spaniard putting manners on them, he has sorted out a dressing room that was in disarray after the Gerard Houllier implosion.

 

And yet they crank up the pressure, Benitez just goes into overdrive. He has the courage of a lion and Liverpool fans who want to bring the club that SHankly built back to the glory days should get down on their hands and knees and thank him for being prepared to Walk Alone for the cause.

 

It is an abomination that pundits try and tell the football public that Liverpool should win the league. Manchester United are far stronger. Each season Benitez has made Liverpool stronger. That’s called building. It’s called management.

 

He has two top players because of the clubs transfer policy, a club history that has suffocated some of his predecessors and yet they are still in there fighting. Anyone can listen to the pundits who categorise Liverpool as a team in crisis. But the truth is that as long as the Reds have the great man at the helm, they have hope.

 

Benitez, take a bow. And shame on you who run from the truth of his greatness

 

Pat Dolan – The Star mail: pat.dolan@thestar.ie

[Little Sammy]

I'm sorry but I fail to be fooled by your rose-tinted analysis of our current predicament. At one point we were on top of the league with a three point advantage and level on games. Now we are five points below Man Utd (let's face it, they will win their game in hand) who are on a run of 13 clean sheets in a row.

 

We have to face them at Old Trafford.

 

We haven't won a league title in 20 years, barely challenged in those 20 years.

 

If they win the title, we can start saying we are the joint record holders with Man Utd.

 

I'm sorry mate but until we are up there above them, my pessimism will continue. I am sick and tired of Benitez's baffling team selections, his seemingly "fuck you, I do what I want" arrogant team selections when it is blatantly obvious that Lucas is nowhere near Liverpool standard and although Kuyt scored last time, he is obviously not even a decent right winger.

 

I can't get myself to think about our situation had we dropped points again vs. Pompey, a shite team on a terrible home run.

 

So while I believe Benitez has got us further than probably no one would have given our limited resources, his behaviour both on and off the pitch during the past month or so has really got me thinking about whether he has lost the plot.

[Yerma'satexan!]

When it comes to Rafa Benitez, my message is simple – “Sack the Bored”.

 

I’m not talking about those clueless Yanks who cling on to power along with Rick Parry at the expense of the club’s ambition.

 

No, I’m talking about those nasty Rafa bashers who are just so plain boring, boring, boring

 

There have been a lot of comments around this weekend after Liverpool staged their remarkable comeback against Portsmouth.

 

Incredibly it put Liverpool top of the Premier League on Saturday evening. If you have the privilege of analysing football and potentially influencing opinion, you have a moral responsibility to be fair.

 

When I picked up one of the Sunday papers, when it came to reporting Liverpool’s fight back at Pompey, everything continued along the lines of ‘Liverpool in Crisis’ theme. It was a fairytale – a disgusting manipulation of the truth.

 

If this is a crisis for a football club that hasn’t won the league title for nearly 20 years, then my name is Hans Christian Andersen.

 

Recent headlines have included lots of ‘Rafas lost the plot’ rants, with words and phrases such as meltdown, crazy days, Reds are a Joke featuring prominently.

 

These are all agendas driven and they were all exposed as a myth by the character of Benitez’s team on Saturday evening.

 

This is a manager who doesn’t even have full control of who he brings in and out of Anfield.

 

He works for people who sometimes don’t even go to the games and who promised the fans a new stadium which would provide the revenue to compete with Manchester United and develop Liverpool and their brand in a global sense.

 

They have failed spectacularly and Rafa continually cops it for their sins.

Just take the Robbie Keane situation. The headlines told us how on Keanes return to Tottenham he ‘stuck the boot in’. The strongest term he used was that it was ‘baffling’. Another cheap headline to grab attention, and another distortion of the truth.

 

Ian Rush was a legend when he played for Liverpool but exactly what does he know about management? Fans can be gullible and when they hear an ex-favourite such as Rushie speak they are going to listen – even when he is talking tripe. So let’s analyse what Rushie told us.

 

When it came to team selection he told us that when he was in Italy he played in a game where he scored four goals. He was then taken off when he felt if he had stayed on he would have scored a couple more.

 

The next game Juve lost 1-0 and Rushie’s conclusion was that they lost the game and he didn’t score because he had lost confidence having only scored four in the previous game and not six. You couldn’t make it up!

 

Some of the ex player brigade at Liverpool make a good living out of criticising Rafa but they do a disservice to the fans and it’s a slur and stain on the great service they gave the club on the pitch.

 

Robbie Keane showed immense dignity in dealing with questions from journalists looking for the next Benitez attack. The sale of Keane will not define Liverpool’s season because even the player admitted that the move did not work out.

 

Keane made 21 starts for Liverpool and the bottom line is he didn’t score enough goals. Keane is a good player but he wasn’t good enough for Liverpool. His goal return is irrefutable evidence of that. In the last two matches at home to Chelsea and away to Portsmouth post-Keane, Liverpool have got six precious points.

 

Yet if you picked up the paper during this period, Rafa Benitez selling the striker was the football equivalent of shooting Bambi. Keane was sold for economic reasons – that’s the way life is at Anfield. And the reason that Liverpool cashed in was because the Americans needed the money. Come the next window, Keane’s price would have come down. That’s why he had to go when he did.

 

One thing not reported in the thousands of column inches devoted to the Keane sale is one undeniable fact – it was Keane’s choice to go. Keane was protected by his contract. He could have stayed, fought for his place, looked to have improved form and score some goals that would have seen his boyhood heroes miraculously snatch the title.

 

He chose to leave and go back to Spurs. In the modern game, every transfer is the player’s choice. That truth does not suit the agenda of the football pundits.

 

Benitez is the prince of Anfield and whilst Alex Ferguson concentrates on one thing – nurturing the empire he has been given so much support to build – Benitez has been fighting on so many different levels.

 

Undermined from within, attacked by the British press who hate the idea of a little Spaniard putting manners on them, he has sorted out a dressing room that was in disarray after the Gerard Houllier implosion.

 

And yet they crank up the pressure, Benitez just goes into overdrive. He has the courage of a lion and Liverpool fans who want to bring the club that SHankly built back to the glory days should get down on their hands and knees and thank him for being prepared to Walk Alone for the cause.

 

It is an abomination that pundits try and tell the football public that Liverpool should win the league. Manchester United are far stronger. Each season Benitez has made Liverpool stronger. That’s called building. It’s called management.

 

He has two top players because of the clubs transfer policy, a club history that has suffocated some of his predecessors and yet they are still in there fighting. Anyone can listen to the pundits who categorise Liverpool as a team in crisis. But the truth is that as long as the Reds have the great man at the helm, they have hope.

 

Benitez, take a bow. And shame on you who run from the truth of his greatness

 

Pat Dolan – The Star mail: pat.dolan@thestar.ie

 

I totally agree with that mate. Imagine it was Man Utd who had come back against Portsmouth, the tabloids and pundits would be creaming themselves.

[JK1980]

I'm sorry but I fail to be fooled by your rose-tinted analysis of our current predicament. At one point we were on top of the league with a three point advantage and level on games. Now we are five points below Man Utd (let's face it, they will win their game in hand) who are on a run of 13 clean sheets in a row.

 

We have to face them at Old Trafford.

 

We haven't won a league title in 20 years, barely challenged in those 20 years.

 

If they win the title, we can start saying we are the joint record holders with Man Utd.

 

I'm sorry mate but until we are up there above them, my pessimism will continue. I am sick and tired of Benitez's baffling team selections, his seemingly "fuck you, I do what I want" arrogant team selections when it is blatantly obvious that Lucas is nowhere near Liverpool standard and although Kuyt scored last time, he is obviously not even a decent right winger.

 

I can't get myself to think about our situation had we dropped points again vs. Pompey, a shite team on a terrible home run.

 

So while I believe Benitez has got us further than probably no one would have given our limited resources, his behaviour both on and off the pitch during the past month or so has really got me thinking about whether he has lost the plot.

 

Surely you see the ingratitude?

At one point we were three points clear at the top of the table.

At this point in our previous 4 seasons (and a few more including Houlliers last few terms) we were nowhere near challenging for the title. At THIS point of the season we're the main challengers to a far superior United team.

 

Things could be a lot better and Rafa has clearly made mistakes. But things could also have been a lot worse and Rafa's mistakes haven't cost us the title YET.

 

So maybe untill we are mathematically out of the race, we should have some patience with the greatest manager we've had in 20 years.

[coop]

For a starters mate it was not me who wrote that piece it was Pat Dolan like it said at the bottom and if you think he is rose tinted towards Rafa then i think you should do your homework regards who Pat Dolan actually is.

 

I will give you a clue he normally slates Rafa just as much as anyone on here does.

 

I am not foolish enough to think that Rafa is faultless but what i am capable of doing is realising the job Rafa is doing.

 

Im also not going to turn into an Everton fan and start by if's and but's as regards winning the games we had drawn because Man United supporters could quite easily turn round and say look at all them points Liverpool have dropped yet they are only 2 points behind us, if only we had won so and so game we could have the title sewn by now.

 

I want us to win the league, infact im desperate for us to win the league but i also know of a little thing called progression and at the moment we have gone from struggling to qualify for the Champions League to being genuine title challengers and who knows we may go on and win it because i have to watch a Man United game this season and be in awe of them, far from it.

 

Keeping both Torres and Gerrard fit is paramount to our challenge but the same could be said of Man United regards Rooney and Ronaldo.

 

At the start of the season this is what we all wanted wasn't it, a challenge for the title, to be involved in until the end.

 

Now we are having this people are raising the bar and if Rafa does not win the title he is a cunt, infact if he does win the title he is still a cunt.

 

No pleasing some people.

[JohnnyH]

Ha ha. Folks, coop is posting from an irish paper. Thus why he links to Pat Dolan at the bottom.

 

Fat-Pat is quite the apologist for Rafa. He can go a bit overboard at timesand does a bit in the his piece above, but for the most part he is spot on. We are 2 points behind a fella who has free run of his team, who gets to choose who he wants in and out, who has as much money as he wants at is disposal and who has had 20 years more preperation with his team. Rafa on the other hand has to battle owners, a clueless CEO and now some fans also. It's a fucking miralce we are where we are given the shambles our club is, and with a lesser strong-willed man, we'd be mid-table at best.

[redrosetints]

Fanzine Fanzone - Times Online - WBLG: Lucky, lucky Liverpool

 

February 09, 2009

Lucky, lucky Liverpool

 

I think we all knew what the headlines were going to be as soon as Fernando Torres nodded in that 92nd minute winner. As the men on the pitch and the fans in the stand celebrated in the way only a last minute winner can be, the hacks in the press box had already written their match reports; and there's no way they were re-writing their critical words of the manager and his selections just because of a late winner.

 

"Late Torres winner gets manager off the hook"

 

"Rafa the rotator strikes lucky"

 

The lazy press, bar the odd few exceptions, seem to have a typecast of each club and report on that typecast no matter what.

 

For Arsenal they are brilliant to watch, producing flowing football and have some of the best youngsters around. Yet Wenger is never criticised, despite going without silverware for over 5 years and currently 12 points off the pace in the league and in grave danger of missing out on a Champions League slot for next season.

 

Chelsea have spent incredible sums of money, yet are currently sat 4th in the league, dropped yet more points at home over the weekend and have won only 4 of their last 11 matches. But they are known as a brilliant counter attacking side and one of Europe's best. A handful of fans may have unfurled a "Scolari Out" banner over the weekend, but you won't find the nation's press and media asking questions of him. I put that banner and the booing down to the small time "new fan" Chelsea have following them these days. A side with only 3 league titles and no European Cup wins in their entire history now trying to hound out a manager halfway through a season as they've dropped a few points.

 

Anyway, back to the point being made.

 

Every time Liverpool concede a goal from a set piece it's put down to zonal marking. The pundits hark on about it in every post-match analysis, stating how they don't like it and it doesn't work. Yet non of them have enough of a brain to realise that Liverpool have had the best defensive record in the league over the past 3 or 4 years using that system. Non of them ever question the man marking system when another side concedes a goal from a set piece do they? It's lazy and it's all part of the typecast associated with each club.

 

They state we are nothing without Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard and will struggle in a big way without them. Yet somehow we've managed to sit top of the league for large parts of the season, with Torres spending most of that time sitting in the stands through injury. We managed to beat United at home without Torres or Gerrard in the side. We beat Chelsea away without Torres in the side. We beat Portsmouth on Saturday without Gerrard in the side. All of which is ignored when reverting to type in writing those reports or asking questions at a press conference.

 

Where Alex Ferguson rests his players and keeps his players fresh, Benitez rotates or drops them; damaging their confidence and ruining all chance we have of winning the league. When Man Utd win by the odd goal away from home despite hardly having a shot on target, they are deemed unstoppable. When Liverpool win by the odd goal away from home, despite having chances to score 6 or 7 goals, we are deemed lucky.

 

The side Benitez sent out at the weekend surprised everyone. We can argue the rights and wrongs of it until Lescott's wife comes home, but he got the result, came home with 3 points and the key players were only required for the last quarter of the game at most. Job done. The game could have been, and should have been, over long before then. We had enough chances to win it before the introduction of the so called rested stars. That was always the plan. To try and win the game with the side put out, and if not, then the others were on the bench to come on and change things if needed. It worked, and yet the manager is still grilled post-match over his selection and policy of resting players.

 

Torres, Alonso and Kuyt all had gruelling games in midweek against Everton and left the field on their knees. All will be turning out for their countries this week, and I think Rafa knows that they will play for the majority of those games, so wanted to give them a chance to rest. Even if they play the full 90 minutes for their countries, they will have had a rest this weekend, and then have another week or so off until our next game, returning with batteries recharged.

 

That result put us back top of the league, albeit for only 24 hours, yet the manager was being interrogated in the way he would if we'd just drawn away from home at relegation candidates and looked in grave danger of missing out on the lucrative top 4 finish; a little bit like Arsene Wenger maybe? I wonder if he was dragged over hot coals yesterday afternoon after falling further behind in the race for 4th place, never mind the race for the title.

 

The media treatment of Rafa Benitez is a disgrace.

 

I was critical of him after the Wigan game, mainly for his removal of Steven Gerrard and the defensive approach to those games. And I still think that criticism was justified, as is all constructive criticism when required. But when the criticism is constant, no matter what the result, then it starts to become a little tedious.

 

On Saturday we may have started with a different system and players in unfamiliar positions, but for me, it was an improved performance from other recent games on the road. We attacked, and even when we went 1-0 and 2-1 down, I still thought we were going to win the game. We went forward, attacked in numbers and I just knew it was a matter of time before we scored again. That's something I couldn't say about the games at Stoke and Wigan, and it was a refreshing change. We ended the game with Torres, Kuyt, Babel and Benayoun playing upfront and going for it, which is exactly the way we need to be finishing those games, as there is no margin for error anymore. Every game is a must win.

 

Is it too much to ask for games to be reported on, without letting a vendetta against a manager dictate the tone of that report?

 

Paul Jones

[Tom R]

some stuff

 

I agree with parts of it, but most of it made me feel a bit sick.

 

Negged for having the word "agenda" in your post.

[redrosetints]

I'm sorry but I fail to be fooled by your rose-tinted analysis of our current predicament. At one point we were on top of the league with a three point advantage and level on games. Now we are five points below Man Utd (let's face it, they will win their game in hand) who are on a run of 13 clean sheets in a row.

 

We have to face them at Old Trafford.

 

We haven't won a league title in 20 years, barely challenged in those 20 years.

 

If they win the title, we can start saying we are the joint record holders with Man Utd.

 

I'm sorry mate but until we are up there above them, my pessimism will continue. I am sick and tired of Benitez's baffling team selections, his seemingly "fuck you, I do what I want" arrogant team selections when it is blatantly obvious that Lucas is nowhere near Liverpool standard and although Kuyt scored last time, he is obviously not even a decent right winger.

 

I can't get myself to think about our situation had we dropped points again vs. Pompey, a shite team on a terrible home run.

 

So while I believe Benitez has got us further than probably no one would have given our limited resources, his behaviour both on and off the pitch during the past month or so has really got me thinking about whether he has lost the plot.

 

You say ;

 

"We haven't won a league title in 20 years, barely challenged in those 20 years."

 

And yet now we are, your baffled by Rafa and his team selections etc etc given what I quote above and the fact that we are, now, actually challenging doesn't that suggest Rafa knows more about how to win the league than you do ?

[El Rojo]

With regard to the Sunday papers, given that the match was a late kick off I'd imagine the tone of the article was set before Kuyt's 86th minute goal, not to mention Torres' late winner.

 

Cue cursing scribes, a few amendments to the opening paragraphs and a hastily filed piece.

 

Let them write us off, it will take pressure off the players.

[coop]

Good article that redsrosetints mate.

[redrosetints]

I agree with parts of it, but most of it made me feel a bit sick.

 

Negged for having the word "agenda" in your post.

 

You're really not coping very well with this "being 2nd and challenging united" are you Tom ?

 

Come on, just imagine Rafa touching your bum, possibilities, for sure !

[05 Milan]

Some good writing in this thread. I'm sure many on here will attack the points being made, but at least we're reading articles from the other end of the spectrum. It adds a bit of balance.

[Crazyhorse7778]

Good article, despite being a little over the top in place.

[JMARKH]

When it comes to Rafa Benitez, my message is simple – “Sack the Bored”.

 

I’m not talking about those clueless Yanks who cling on to power along with Rick Parry at the expense of the club’s ambition.

 

No, I’m talking about those nasty Rafa bashers who are just so plain boring, boring, boring

 

There have been a lot of comments around this weekend after Liverpool staged their remarkable comeback against Portsmouth.

 

Incredibly it put Liverpool top of the Premier League on Saturday evening. If you have the privilege of analysing football and potentially influencing opinion, you have a moral responsibility to be fair.

 

When I picked up one of the Sunday papers, when it came to reporting Liverpool’s fight back at Pompey, everything continued along the lines of ‘Liverpool in Crisis’ theme. It was a fairytale – a disgusting manipulation of the truth.

 

If this is a crisis for a football club that hasn’t won the league title for nearly 20 years, then my name is Hans Christian Andersen.

 

Recent headlines have included lots of ‘Rafas lost the plot’ rants, with words and phrases such as meltdown, crazy days, Reds are a Joke featuring prominently.

 

These are all agendas driven and they were all exposed as a myth by the character of Benitez’s team on Saturday evening.

 

This is a manager who doesn’t even have full control of who he brings in and out of Anfield.

 

He works for people who sometimes don’t even go to the games and who promised the fans a new stadium which would provide the revenue to compete with Manchester United and develop Liverpool and their brand in a global sense.

 

They have failed spectacularly and Rafa continually cops it for their sins.

Just take the Robbie Keane situation. The headlines told us how on Keanes return to Tottenham he ‘stuck the boot in’. The strongest term he used was that it was ‘baffling’. Another cheap headline to grab attention, and another distortion of the truth.

 

Ian Rush was a legend when he played for Liverpool but exactly what does he know about management? Fans can be gullible and when they hear an ex-favourite such as Rushie speak they are going to listen – even when he is talking tripe. So let’s analyse what Rushie told us.

 

When it came to team selection he told us that when he was in Italy he played in a game where he scored four goals. He was then taken off when he felt if he had stayed on he would have scored a couple more.

 

The next game Juve lost 1-0 and Rushie’s conclusion was that they lost the game and he didn’t score because he had lost confidence having only scored four in the previous game and not six. You couldn’t make it up!

 

Some of the ex player brigade at Liverpool make a good living out of criticising Rafa but they do a disservice to the fans and it’s a slur and stain on the great service they gave the club on the pitch.

 

Robbie Keane showed immense dignity in dealing with questions from journalists looking for the next Benitez attack. The sale of Keane will not define Liverpool’s season because even the player admitted that the move did not work out.

 

Keane made 21 starts for Liverpool and the bottom line is he didn’t score enough goals. Keane is a good player but he wasn’t good enough for Liverpool. His goal return is irrefutable evidence of that. In the last two matches at home to Chelsea and away to Portsmouth post-Keane, Liverpool have got six precious points.

 

Yet if you picked up the paper during this period, Rafa Benitez selling the striker was the football equivalent of shooting Bambi. Keane was sold for economic reasons – that’s the way life is at Anfield. And the reason that Liverpool cashed in was because the Americans needed the money. Come the next window, Keane’s price would have come down. That’s why he had to go when he did.

 

One thing not reported in the thousands of column inches devoted to the Keane sale is one undeniable fact – it was Keane’s choice to go. Keane was protected by his contract. He could have stayed, fought for his place, looked to have improved form and score some goals that would have seen his boyhood heroes miraculously snatch the title.

 

He chose to leave and go back to Spurs. In the modern game, every transfer is the player’s choice. That truth does not suit the agenda of the football pundits.

 

Benitez is the prince of Anfield and whilst Alex Ferguson concentrates on one thing – nurturing the empire he has been given so much support to build – Benitez has been fighting on so many different levels.

 

Undermined from within, attacked by the British press who hate the idea of a little Spaniard putting manners on them, he has sorted out a dressing room that was in disarray after the Gerard Houllier implosion.

 

And yet they crank up the pressure, Benitez just goes into overdrive. He has the courage of a lion and Liverpool fans who want to bring the club that SHankly built back to the glory days should get down on their hands and knees and thank him for being prepared to Walk Alone for the cause.

 

It is an abomination that pundits try and tell the football public that Liverpool should win the league. Manchester United are far stronger. Each season Benitez has made Liverpool stronger. That’s called building. It’s called management.

 

He has two top players because of the clubs transfer policy, a club history that has suffocated some of his predecessors and yet they are still in there fighting. Anyone can listen to the pundits who categorise Liverpool as a team in crisis. But the truth is that as long as the Reds have the great man at the helm, they have hope.

 

Benitez, take a bow. And shame on you who run from the truth of his greatness

 

Pat Dolan – The Star mail: pat.dolan@thestar.ie

 

Doesn't say nothing about his disgraceful treatment of academy players which is the main reason why myself personally wants him sacked. Yes Parry is a cunt and wherever he is there is a problem but that does not excuse the amount of money Rafa is wasting and the chances he is denying players just to get one up. He is not thinking about the club and what is best for its future as it is clear that no parents in their right mind will send any potential future stars to Liverpool and we will miss out. There should be more pressure on Rafa to explain why he is doing this as it cannot go on. A more intelligent manager would integrate players from the academy into the squad and use the money to improve the squad to challenge. It is so clear to see but Rafa can't and before anyone says they might not be good enough well I would ask them if the players he and marcia have signed are any better and the answer is no.

[Tom R]

I also agree that the media treatment towards Rafa and us has, for a few years now, been shocking and unfair. Zonal marking, rotation etc blah blah

 

However, in recent months much of the criticism has been more than fair in my opinion.

 

Also agree that the quality of writing in both articles above is excellent by the way. It's almost persuading.

[redrosetints]

I also agree that the media treatment towards Rafa and us has, for a few years now, been shocking and unfair. Zonal marking, rotation etc blah blah

 

However, in recent months much of the criticism has been more than fair in my opinion.

 

Also agree that the quality of writing in both articles above is excellent by the way. It's almost persuading.

 

*heart flutters and skips a beat*

 

almost, you mean, like, a thawing of the anger ?

 

its the thought of Rafa and your bum isnt it !

[Catch22]

Doesn't say nothing about his disgraceful treatment of academy players which is the main reason why myself personally wants him sacked. Yes Parry is a cunt and wherever he is there is a problem but that does not excuse the amount of money Rafa is wasting and the chances he is denying players just to get one up. He is not thinking about the club and what is best for its future as it is clear that no parents in their right mind will send any potential future stars to Liverpool and we will miss out. There should be more pressure on Rafa to explain why he is doing this as it cannot go on.

 

 

The Academy situation is a complete mess but it has actually cost us very little so far.

 

You are right though that it may cost us in the future as "no parents in their right mind will send any potential future stars to Liverpool and we will miss out."

 

However is that any different at any other big English club?

 

A talented kid is far better off avoiding a v top PL side & i don't see us as especially different to anybody else nor much to do about it.

[moxter]

Doesn't say nothing about his disgraceful treatment of academy players which is the main reason why myself personally wants him sacked.

 

Very strange priorities in what you want from a manager. "Not winning enough games" or "awful tactical decisions" or "has not brought the club on far enough since he took over" sound like main reasons why you might want a manager sacked - "treatment of academy players" is truly a bizarre reason to want someone's head. Unless your name is Jay Spearing.

 

Oh, and just to nip into pedant's corner for a second, it's "I", not "myself".

[hamstrung]

If you take a handful of the positive stuff, and mix it with a handful of the negative stuff, then bake it gently for an hour, you end up with the pie of truth.

[RedinSweden]

I'm sorry but I fail to be fooled by your rose-tinted analysis of our current predicament. At one point we were on top of the league with a three point advantage and level on games. Now we are five points below Man Utd (let's face it, they will win their game in hand) who are on a run of 13 clean sheets in a row.

 

We have to face them at Old Trafford.

 

We haven't won a league title in 20 years, barely challenged in those 20 years.

 

If they win the title, we can start saying we are the joint record holders with Man Utd.

 

I'm sorry mate but until we are up there above them, my pessimism will continue. I am sick and tired of Benitez's baffling team selections, his seemingly "fuck you, I do what I want" arrogant team selections when it is blatantly obvious that Lucas is nowhere near Liverpool standard and although Kuyt scored last time, he is obviously not even a decent right winger.

 

I can't get myself to think about our situation had we dropped points again vs. Pompey, a shite team on a terrible home run.

 

So while I believe Benitez has got us further than probably no one would have given our limited resources, his behaviour both on and off the pitch during the past month or so has really got me thinking about whether he has lost the plot.

 

is that Kuyt the right winger who has scored as many as Berbatov the striker?

[RedinSweden]

If you take a handful of the positive stuff, and mix it with a handful of the negative stuff, then bake it gently for an hour, you end up with the pie of truth.

 

Mmmm, truth pie.

[Salte]

I am sick and tired of Benitez's baffling team selections, his seemingly "fuck you, I do what I want" arrogant team selections...

So you want a manager who takes the fans opinion into consideration when selecting the team?

Maybe you should apply for the job and set up a poll on here for each game, so we could all give our expert opinions. Only downside would be that you'd have to take all the blame when it went tits up. I could live with that.

[redrosetints]

Doesn't say nothing about his disgraceful treatment of academy players which is the main reason why myself personally wants him sacked. Yes Parry is a cunt and wherever he is there is a problem but that does not excuse the amount of money Rafa is wasting and the chances he is denying players just to get one up. He is not thinking about the club and what is best for its future as it is clear that no parents in their right mind will send any potential future stars to Liverpool and we will miss out. There should be more pressure on Rafa to explain why he is doing this as it cannot go on. A more intelligent manager would integrate players from the academy into the squad and use the money to improve the squad to challenge. It is so clear to see but Rafa can't and before anyone says they might not be good enough well I would ask them if the players he and marcia have signed are any better and the answer is no.

 

Mate, while I agree there is a major issue there, when has, in the history of Liverpool football club, the academy been a bigger issue than the 1st team ?

 

In modern football, the stakes are so high, that unless a player is an absolute cert, they generally wont make it at a big four club, its not unique to us.

 

Potter, Mellor, Warnock, Welsh, Guthrie, Raven all played for us, but didnt quite cut it. *

 

Take Arsenal, for all Wengers mastery at bringing through youth and getting them playing, how many home grown Arsenal boys has he brought through ? Hoyte ? Even going back to Pennants days, he generally bought in lads to train and bring through.

 

At United, apart from the golden generation of the Nevilles, Beckham, Giggs and Scholes, they've not really brought anyone through bar O'Shea, Brown and Fletcher. Brown and OShea made their debuts around the time Carra and Gerrard did, Fletcher been around 5 years now. Yes, Johhny Evans is playing a bit at the moment, even Wellbeck has had a couple of games but the rest are and have been foriegn talent.

 

And Chelsea, well, even their England u21 captain is at Wolves on loan.

 

My final point is, you want Rafa gone because of his treatment of the academyyet you want Jose to come in a replace him a man who didnt bring one sinlge player through their academy hen he was there.

 

Liverpool exist to win trophies and while Id agree as a club we have a social and moral obligation to provide footballing facilities and education for the cream of the local crop, we, in no way, can guarantee that it will make them LFC stars especially in this day and age.

 

*Guthrie has clearly slipped through the net, but given our central midfield and the fact we signed Lucas (who, however its turning out, on paper was a worthwhile gamble) was perhaps just unlucky but that said, would he be as good as he is now, had he been playing just a handful of games as Lucas has, isnt it probably true that he needed the year on loan at Bolton to make him who he is and he'd never have got that with us due to Stevie, Masch and Xabi ?

 

At the end of the day, those who are good enough, will make a career as a professional somewhere else as Mellor and Guthrie has done. 5 years ago everyone screamed on about John Welsh being wasted, Ged and Rafa had a look and moved him on, where is he now ?

[HJohal]

Totally pointless looking for a new manager until there is some stability at board level, this probably means when the Yanks, Parry etc have moved on.

 

Can anyone else think of a team who are obviously in civil war challenging for the big prizes?