Rafa to finally pen 5 year deal next week?

[ToxtethTerror]

SpeedyG what makes you an expert on English Law? Rafa wouldn't contravene any Corporation Law so long as someone else "signs" the cheque. If he has it in contract then it is permissible by law so long as he isn't signing the cheques himself.

[ToxtethTerror]

I still can't see Rafa getting 100% final say on how the money gets spent.

 

I'm sure he'll have limits with the sale price of some players, based on what we paid, what we owe, any pay-off due to the player and any sell-on clauses.

 

I'm sure the board will still be able to veto a bid for a player who is clearly not - in their view - right for us. That might be a good decision on their part, it might not, but if Rafa wanted to swap Torres plus £20m for a 38-year-old with a history of back injuries it will not happen.

 

If it was as extreme as that, Rafa would probably find the note vetoing his plans attached to a note telling him to pack his stuff.

 

What happened with Keane and Barry is something he doesn't want to see happen again. Whatever it was that really happened. But if he can see that it's looking unlikely he can have both of his main targets because sales aren't going as planned, it's got to be his call what happens next.

 

If that means risking losing out on the deal to buy the forward, it's his decision and it's him who'll be judged by it. Whatever happened with Keane, he's always criticised now whether it was him at fault or not.

 

If it means he scraps the deals for both players then again, it's his choice. If he decided to split the money on two lesser players, or pick a more all-round player, whatever it is he chooses - he lives and dies by his own decision.

 

The board can question his decisions. They can veto them if they like (after all, no deal will actually be done anyway until someone at that level signs the paperwork). But what they won't be able to do is tell Rafa that he's got to have a player he no longer wants.

 

I think Rafa should be able to have final say on who is in his squad - that is a minimum requirement for any manager in England. (He wouldn't get that in Spain or Italy). What I don't think should happen is for Rafa to choose the DoF, or choose the scouts... the club need to surround him with experts that he respects not a team of yes men who will nod in approval if Rafa wanted Gary Neville.

[Cardie]

It was Pako being friendly with Mourinho, not interviewing for other jobs as far as I know. Him ignoring Pako's suggestions is what pissed Pako off big time, don't think we've won a trophy since then.

 

Haven't one a trophy since Kromkamp and Morientes left, that's the reason (unless you class the charity shield as a trophy).

[ToxtethTerror]

Poor signings overall since we finished a point behind United has been our undoing.

[dennis tooth]

If anyone cant see that Rafa is a worse manager without Pako than he was with him when it is so obviously staring you in the face then you cant be helped

 

Well since Pako left we have had better starts to the season, looked fresher, fitter and improved our attacking play no end. We have also been able to beat decent teams now seeing as Pako is not around to pass our tactics off to other managers.

[WaltonRed]

Page 19? jesus.

[Red Nick]

Poor signings overall since we finished a point behind United has been our undoing.

 

 

Nail hit firmly on the head

 

Only Torres since then has substantially improved the team

 

Bellamy was a good signing IMO better than Keane, Kuyt and Crouch but Rafa was never the manager to get the best out of him.

 

Good man managers in Bobby Robson and Mark Hughes have got the best out of him

[ToxtethTerror]

Nick you were doing so well until you mentioned Robson.

[ToxtethTerror]

We're not in Spain or Italy, and maybe Rafa's long-term plan is to show clubs in Spain or Italy that his way of doing things is THE way of doing things, ready for when he wants to move somewhere warmer.

 

Rafa should get to choose his own staff, subject to approval by the board. The question there is which roles come under his control.

 

Nobody actually wants a DoF as far as I know. Some stories suggest Rafa / the club are considering a new role combining various roles currently done by various people at the club.

 

If we did get a DoF, and Rafa is as bad as some make out, it's only a matter of time before he finds that he's met his match and leaves after being stabbed in the back.

 

I don't think a CEO or DoF are "His Staff" - they are people he needs to work with - which is another area is poor at. The scouts should also report to the DoF who then works with the manager to get the players needed. It doesn't matter if its a DoF or a CEO - Rafa needs to either work with someone or have a boss who recognises that his weak point is signing attacking players of good quality.

 

As for "showing the Italian and Spanish teams how it's done" - yeah I am sure the Chairmen there will change their clubs for Rafa....

[Red Nick]

Nick you were doing so well until you mentioned Robson.

 

He got Bellamy playing the best football of his career it was Shearer who got Robson sacked as he despised Bellamy. lets not forget the season Newcastle finished 3rd when Bellamy and Shearer were almost as unplayable as Torres and Gerrard

[dennis tooth]

Yes Bellamy, that's the answer. Clearly that 1 in 5 strike rate over the top Sly Stallone football is what we need away to the Mancs at Old Trafford.

[ToxtethTerror]

I trust him with the coaching and management of the first team, of advising on the type of players he needs. I even trust him to give youth a chance if they are good enough. Where I don't trust him (transfers of attacking players) and developing an academy I feel he should have help. He isn't perfect. If he doesn't agree then we should part ways, otherwise a 2 year extension is fine by me.

[one dude abides]

Fuck has a "c" in it.

 

you should be on Mastermind.

[Paul]

And I don't but then it's all about performance vs. expectations isn't it. And let's face it the owners expectations are as much financial as they are footballing, so I don't think you will get your wish.

 

 

 

You see it that way, I see it that he fails at only one thing. Beating teams who park the bus. And thats become even more of a problem because as we've got better we've faced it even more because teams know it's their only hope.

 

I can assure you that that is pretty fucking far from being my wish. My wish is that Rafa pours a farm's worth of eggs all over my face by having a wonderful end to this campaign, a successful transfer window that addresses our need for a player who can unlock a tight defence and goes on to win the league. I have merely been stating that the evidence of the last two and a half years has been far from encouraging in that regard. Hopefully what we've seen this week come to be regarded as the end of a mere blip in a career that is eventualy viewed as unequivocally legendary. I'm still not convinced, but I certainly feel better after seeing two massive clubs humiliated by us in two very different but equally brilliant ways this week.

 

He knows who the right attacking players are, he went after them and didn't get them (Berbatov, Alves, etc). More importantly to me he needs to be told NO MORE SQUAD BUYS. Incremental improvement is not an option anymore transfer money is to be invested in the starting lineup only. You now have a squad, you have a fully seeded reserve team, a fully seeded academy. First team buys only.

Been saying that since the FA Cup win. I thought he'd got the message last summer, but now I'm not so sure. Time will tell.

[Red Nick]

Today showed Rafa at his best and FUlham away will show Rafa at his worst

[Paul]

Today showed Rafa at his best and FUlham away will show Rafa at his worst

Come on Nick. I've got as many doubts as the next man (unless the next man is Baz tramp bloke), but if you can't enjoy a week like this, you deserve all the misery you get. The odds remain very much against us, but we have dealt out two huge psychological blows to the very biggest of opponents in the two key competitions this week. Furthermore, we've done so just as we've reached the business end of the season and in so doing, possibly created a self-fulfilling prophesy for ourselves.

 

These two games have shown us at our very best, with our awesome defensive platform as a launching pad for the best attacking pair in the world right now. As most of us said from the outset, that was always going to be the key to a successful campaign. So now we've got that key in our hands, unlikely as it may be that we'll unlock both doors, let's actually enjoy the possibility, eh mate?

[Thants]

RN, cheer up you miserable bastard. If you can't enjoy football, don't bother watching it.

[WhiskeyJar]

Come on Nick. I've got as many doubts as the next man (unless the next man is Baz tramp bloke), but if you can't enjoy a week like this, you deserve all the misery you get. The odds remain very much against us, but we have dealt out two huge psychological blows to the very biggest of opponents in the two key competitions this week. Furthermore, we've done so just as we've reached the business end of the season and in so doing, possibly created a self-fulfilling prophesy for ourselves.

 

These two games have shown us at our very best, with our awesome defensive platform as a launching pad for the best attacking pair in the world right now. As most of us said from the outset, that was always going to be the key to a successful campaign. So now we've got that key in our hands, unlikely as it may be that we'll unlock both doors, let's actually enjoy the possibility, eh mate?

 

What a great post.

[hamstrung]

Nick eats poo.

[INTORRESTING]

This week shows we can play the all out attack required to kill teams off and the patient game where you have to pick teams off and we have won big games without key players. This week shows we can do everything but blitz the smaller teams.

 

A couple more players and a fully fit gerrard and torres and we can start killing off the lesser lights and assert ourselves as the dominant force.

 

United thought they had it wrapped up so did their fans lets not make it easy for them but lets also not forget about chelsea!

[INTORRESTING]

Today showed Rafa at his best and FUlham away will show Rafa at his worst

 

attention seeker

[one dude abides]

Today showed Rafa at his best and FUlham away will show Rafa at his worst

 

you're a real bundle of laughs at wedding parties, I bet.

[Code]

Sorry for a long post with a lot of numbers. :P

 

But I`m still coming back to the 05/06 season and how things have changed since then and if maybe things could have been a bit different if we had used our money otherwise.

 

Lets take a look.

 

Overall 05/06:

1. Chelsea 38 29 4 5 72 -22 91p

2. Mancs 38 25 8 5 72-34 83p

3. Liverpool 38 25 7 6 57-25 82p

4. Arsenal 38 20 7 11 68-31 67p

Big four mini league 05/06:

1. Chelsea 6 5 0 1 12-2 15p

2. Mancs 6 3 2 1 4-3 11p

3. Arsenal 6 1 1 4 2-7 4p

4. Liverpool 6 1 1 4 3-9 4p

Dross league 05/06:

1. Liverpool 32 24 6 2 54-16 78p

2. Chelsea 32 24 4 4 60-20 76p

3. Mancs 32 22 6 4 68-31 72p

4. Arsenal 32 19 6 7 66-24 63p

 

I`d like to know how those going by the money argument will explain the difference since our results against the dross in the league has changed for the worse while our results against the other top four clubs have really improved?

 

Overall 08/09:

1. Mancs 28 20 5 3 49-16 65p

2. Liverpool 29 17 10 2 49-21 61p

3. Chelsea 28 17 7 4 48-16 58p

4. Arsenal 29 14 10 5 45-26 52p

Big four mini league 08/09:

1. Liverpool 5 4 1 0 10-3 13p

2. Arsenal 3 2 1 0 5-3 7p

3. Mancs 5 1 2 3 7-9 4p

4. Chelsea 5 0 1 4 2-9 1p

Dross league 08/09:

1. Mancs 23 19 3 0 42-7 61p

2. Chelsea 23 17 6 0 46-7 57p

3. Liverpool 24 13 9 2 39-18 48p

4. Arsenal 26 12 9 5 40-23 45p

 

The results between the big four teams the two seasons.

 

Liverpool 05/06:

Liverpool-ManU 0-0

Liverpool-Chelsea 1-4

ManU-Liverpool 1-0

Chelsea-Liverpool 2-0

Liverpool-Arsenal 1-0

Arsenal-Liverpool 2-1

6 1 1 4 3-9 4p

 

Liverpool 08/09:

Liverpool- ManU 2-1

Chelsea-Liverpool 0-1

Arsenal-Liverpool 1-1

Liverpool- Chelsea 2-0

ManU- Liverpool 1-4

5 4 1 0 10-3 13p

 

Mancs 05/06:

Liverpool-ManU 0-0

ManU-Chelsea 1-0

Arsenal-ManU 0-0

ManU-Liverpool 1-0

ManU-Arsenal 2-0

Chelsea-ManU 3-0

6 3 2 1 4-3 11p

 

Mancs 08/09:

Liverpool-ManU 2-1

Chelsea-ManU 1-1

Arsenal-ManU 2-1

ManU-Chelsea 3-0

ManU-Liverpool 1-4

5 1 2 3 7-9 4p

 

Chelsea 05/06:

Chelsea-Arsenal 1-0

Liverpool-Chelsea 1-4

ManU-Chelsea 1-0

Arsenal-Chelsea 0-2

Chelsea-Liverpool 2-0

Chelsea-ManU 3-0

6 5 0 1 12-2 15p

 

Chelsea 08/09:

Chelsea-ManU 1-1

Chelsea-Liverpool 0-1

Chelsea-Arsenal 1-2

ManU-Chelsea 3-0

Liverpool-Chelsea 2-0

5 0 1 4 2-9 1p

 

Arsenal 05/06:

Chelsea-Arsenal 1-0

Arsenal-Chelsea 0-2

Arsenal-ManU 0-0

Liverpool-Arsenal 1-0

Arsenal-Liverpool 2-1

ManU-Arsenal 2-0

6 1 1 4 2-7 4p

 

Arsenal 08/09:

Arsenal-ManU 2-1

Chelsea-Arsenal 1-2

Arsenal-Liverpool 1-1

3 2 1 0 5-3 7p

[coop]

This week we have seen what Liverpool can achieve when they attack teams and thats without the need to go two up or the fact that only Babel in the Madrid game gave us any impact from out wide.

 

We attacked two very good teams and outclassed them in every department and ended up scoring 4 goals when it could have been more.

 

If we can add another world class match winner to the team then who knows what glory this team could achieve.

[philyhamann]

We show more respect, th at is honestly what I think and when we stop doing it, we'll win the league. Hopefully with the Keane money we have, and getting rid of Voronin for a decent price now he is doing well we can get a quality, pacey right winger and stick with N'Gog/Kuyt/Nemeth/Torres upfront.