Rafael Benítez on the brink of leaving Liverpool over Anfield rift

[JohnnyH]

The obvious job for Rafa if he wanted to move would be Ac Milan. A huge club under performing. Inter would be a horrible job to take now after their recent success.

 

Edit - just seeing the "bottling it" line. No chance he might actually want to stay at Liverpool? Why has everyone decided he now just wants to stay because he's greedy (despite apparantly been offfered more money at Juve and rejecting it)?

[PaulMcC]

Or maybe he wants to stay here and hasn't bottled it big time at all.

 

Mourinho has bottled it big time by not wanting come here under these owners.

[zigackly]

This all seems a bit of a pointless argument. Mourinho may not have been offered the job here to bottle it (we may not fancy paying two lots of compensation). Rafa may not be offered the Inter job to bottle it (they may not fancy paying his compensation).

 

What I will say though, is that the Inter Milan job is a fantastic one for any manager wanting to prove he is at the top of the game. The AC Milan job on the other hand is a fantastic job for any manager who thinks he has a chance of success but knows he will not be blamed if it doesn't happen for him.

[goatboy59]

Bit desperate that, Paul.

 

How many titles did Inter have when Mourinho went there? Where's he meant to be heading next?

 

If it's all wrong I haven't a clue what Ballague is up to here, the days of Rafa getting what he wants or he'll be off are over.

 

Say he wants what he sells is pretty pointless if (a) it's the ragbag of rejects that aren't going to raise much anyway (b) he bought them in the first place © he wants money from the players we actually want to keep, given his recent record I'd want to keep that well away from him.

 

"Maybe Rafa wants to stay"? Maybe Rafa wants to win the Euro Lottery and fuck all this nonsense off once and for all.

 

Either way he'll have to want.

[gkmacca]

The problem is, nobody at Liverpool is willing to guarantee him that any money he can raise through selling players will be reinvested in the team – nor is there any evidence that funds available from the board will be sufficient for the squad rebuilding that is urgently required.

 

Until the above changes I can't see any decent manager wanting to touch us with a bargepole, so all the rest of the rants don't register that much.

[Captain]

Until the above changes I can't see any decent manager wanting to touch us with a bargepole, so all the rest of the rants don't register that much.

 

Thank you, Sir. A sentence of sense in a sea of shite. Have some rep.

 

EDIT: It seems I've recently repped you, so no luck this time.

[zigackly]

Unless they are withholding funds they would release to a new manager because they either do not trust Benitez to do the job, or want him to leave so are making his job impossible.

 

I would say it's probably 50/50 whether that's the case or they are going to pay it to the banks, but I would imagine that the banks will not be demanding extraordinary payments this summer like last, since they have rolled over and agreed to sell the club.

 

I think I'm right in saying there is an increase in foreign TV rights revenue which will paper over the lack of CL money this season, so we should be able to afford our interest repayments from operating profits.

[Code]

The problem is, nobody at Liverpool is willing to guarantee him that any money he can raise through selling players will be reinvested in the team – nor is there any evidence that funds available from the board will be sufficient for the squad rebuilding that is urgently required.

 

Until the above changes I can't see any decent manager wanting to touch us with a bargepole, so all the rest of the rants don't register that much.

 

Why do we need to rebuild and more importantly why on earth would anyone allow the man responsible for the current squad which needs rebuilding to rebuild it?

[Steve Holt]

Thank you, Sir. A sentence of sense in a sea of shite. Have some rep.

 

EDIT: It seems I've recently repped you, so no luck this time.

 

I got him.

[Guest PurpleNose]

Why do we need to rebuild and more importantly why on earth would anyone allow the man responsible for the current squad which needs rebuilding to rebuild it?

 

Which is it?

 

Is the squad good or shit?

[Steve Holt]

Unless they are withholding funds they would release to a new manager because they either do not trust Benitez to do the job, or want him to leave so are making his job impossible.

 

I would say it's probably 50/50 whether that's the case or they are going to pay it to the banks, but I would imagine that the banks will not be demanding extraordinary payments this summer like last, since they have rolled over and agreed to sell the club.

 

I think I'm right in saying there is an increase in foreign TV rights revenue which will paper over the lack of CL money this season, so we should be able to afford our interest repayments from operating profits.

 

That has to be strawclutching of the highest order there. They are withholding the money cos they don't like him? They'll give it to the next manager. If you want to be that deluded go ahead and fill your boots but that is utter bullshit. 50/50? Some people are really starting to worry me.

 

Everyone should wake up and smell the shit-flavoured coffee.

 

We are in a wreck. We can't possibly compete on any level with the current owners. Getting a new manager may paper over the cracks for a few months but it wont turn things around. Even then it would have to be a top class manager who came here for no money, with no money to spend. Keep dreaming lads.

[Code]

Which is it?

 

Is the squad good or shit?

 

Did you really need to ask?

 

The squad is abysmal and the man resposnible for that is Rafa so why on earth would anyone let him "rebuild" it.

[zigackly]

That has to be strawclutching of the highest order there. They are withholding the money cos they don't like him? They'll give it to the next manager. If you want to be that deluded go ahead and fill your boots but that is utter bullshit. 50/50? Some people are really starting to worry me.

 

If you think so, but it wouldn't be the first time even for this club. I did say I only thought it was 50% likely. With-holding funds from players he sells, we are talking about. Not refusing him a budget. Telling him he cannot spend money he raises. That sounds to me like a shove towards the door.

[Guest PurpleNose]

Did you really need to ask?

 

The squad is abysmal and the man resposnible for that is Rafa so why on earth would anyone let him "rebuild" it.

 

Your post suggested that maybe the squad didn't actually need rebuilding. It looked like you were trying to have a go at the manager from two conflicting angles.

 

Both individually are valid. I subscribe to the first one. Our squad is decent, we didn't make the best of it last season.

[The Dude Abides]

This all seems a bit of a pointless argument. Mourinho may not have been offered the job here to bottle it (we may not fancy paying two lots of compensation). Rafa may not be offered the Inter job to bottle it (they may not fancy paying his compensation).

 

What I will say though, is that the Inter Milan job is a fantastic one for any manager wanting to prove he is at the top of the game. The AC Milan job on the other hand is a fantastic job for any manager who thinks he has a chance of success but knows he will not be blamed if it doesn't happen for him.

 

 

Bit like the Liverpool job before Rafa took over.

[Guest ShoePiss]

If you think so, but it wouldn't be the first time even for this club. I did say I only thought it was 50% likely. With-holding funds from players he sells, we are talking about. Not refusing him a budget. Telling him he cannot spend money he raises. That sounds to me like a shove towards the door.

 

Firstly stop pulling baseless percentages out of your arse. Secondly if we follow your mad theory the summer after we finished second you're suggesting the only reason he didn't get to use what he sold was because they wanted to give him the bullet/force him out? Madness.

[zigackly]

Firstly stop pulling baseless percentages out of your arse.

 

How about if I said I thought it was just as likely as that they are planning to spend it all on paying down the debt which the bank have decided to defer for another year? It's not baseless because it represents how likely I think it is. I think I'm possibly being a bit generous if anything.

 

Secondly if we follow your mad theory the summer after we finished second you're suggesting the only reason he didn't get to use what he sold was because they wanted to give him the bullet/force him out? Madness.

 

No, I specifically mentioned they used it to pay down the debt in response to a demand from the bank, which has now extended the loan because they are looking to sell the club.

[Guest ShoePiss]

How about if I said I thought it was just as likely as that they are planning to spend it all on paying down the debt which the bank have decided to defer for another year? It's not baseless because it represents how likely I think it is. I think I'm possibly being a bit generous if anything.

 

 

 

No, I specifically mentioned they used it to pay down the debt in response to a demand from the bank, which has now extended the loan because they are looking to sell the club.

 

Extending the loan doesn't magically provide us a transfer budget or mean we are in a position to spend what we sell, there's still debt to be serviced.

[zigackly]

Extending the loan doesn't magically provide us a transfer budget or mean we are in a position to spend what we sell, there's still debt to be serviced.

 

Which I believe we are quite capable of servicing from operating profit unless we also have to pay down £60M of it in addition to interest repayments. We're fortunate in that the TV windfall will cover the loss of Champions League revenue. I wouldn't think there will be a lot to spend, but it certainly shouldn't be negative like last season.

[shaunstrudwick]

Extending the loan doesn't magically provide us a transfer budget or mean we are in a position to spend what we sell, there's still debt to be serviced.

 

there has been no real debt servicing in the past 2 years - hence why our overal debt has grown (as per the latest figures(2009))

[Guest ShoePiss]

Which I believe we are quite capable of servicing from operating profit unless we also have to pay down £60M of it in addition to interest repayments. We're fortunate in that the TV windfall will cover the loss of Champions League revenue. I wouldn't think there will be a lot to spend, but it certainly shouldn't be negative like last season.

 

Maybe you know more about the as yet unpublished financials than I do, at this point I've no clue where money from players sold last summer went.

 

You are saying they used it to pay down debt, for some reason I'm under the impression they set up a loan to the club for that, help appreciated here.

[BexBissel]

Liverpool fans need to demonstrate the Spirit of Shankly to show potential owners how great the club is

 

By David Maddock

 

Published 16:05 18/05/10

 

 

"Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies." - W. L. George.

 

There is a civil war going on at Anfield at the moment, which has caused fan to fight against fan.

 

Take a look at some of the posts after this column if you don’t believe me, or look at the excellent Liverpool fans’ website ‘The Liverpool Way’, where you will see raging arguments between people who hold one thing in common: they love the club.

 

They say that truth is the first casualty of war, and that is certainly the case in the bickering and infighting that is going on at Anfield right now, as the fans try to outdo each other over their stated preferences.

 

Every single ‘truth’ is twisted to meet the individual arguments of the opponents, and the tragedy is that the common sense of purpose that should bind the fans together - against the wicked act that is being carried out on their club - is lost.

 

Last week, in this column, I wrote about the need – the desperate need – for Liverpool Football Club to be sold, to stop this famous, mighty, historic club falling into a fatal state of disrepair.

 

Why Liverpool fans must hold their noses and bite their tongues if they want rid of Hicks and Gillett

 

With depressing predictability, those words were twisted and misinterpreted to fit the perceptions of different people.

 

Some even suggested that I was arguing for an end to the protests aimed at highlighting the state of Anfield finances, and maintaining the pressure on the American owners to leave. Utter nonsense.

 

The last thing Liverpool fans should be doing right now is letting the Americans off the hook. Click on the link above to my column of last week to find out why Liverpool can never move forward under the financial restraints of their ownership.

 

They need new owners to get out of this dire mess, and the fans should protest as loud as possible to ensure that Tom Hicks and George Gillett know that, to ensure that there is no chance they will ever stay.

 

But what I did say, was that it would be a disaster – perhaps terminal – if they do stay, and so Liverpool fans MUST ensure they do nothing to extend what has already been one of the most disgusting ownerships in football’s murky history.

 

The Americans have backing from the banks – potentially – for another three years, and if they stay for that long, then there will be little left of the club as we know, given the current rate of growth of debts, year on year.

 

What is needed now is for everyone to come together, the fans and everyone at the club, to ensure that the Americans can’t extend their tenure any longer.

 

Protests are required to remind Hicks and Gillett that they will never now be welcome at Anfield, and they should get out as soon as possible. But at the same time, steps must be taken to ensure that the infighting which makes Liverpool look such an unattractive buy has to stop.

 

It is essential Liverpool find new owners, and the money required to even keep Liverpool afloat now, never mind take them forward, is so high that there are only very few people in the world rich enough to do it. The danger is that all the fighting will reduce that small number even further.

 

The tragedy is that just about every single fan now realises the mess Liverpool are in, having to pay interest on debts incurred when the owners bought the club. In essence, the interest is paying for their ownership.

 

It is crippling the club, it is stopping the new stadium – the key to future health and expansion – being built, and yet the fans, the club officials and the management can’t stop fighting each other long enough to stand all together against it.

 

There has been a campaign for some time by a group of fans, who call themselves the Spirit of Shankly, who have fought hard against the damage being done to Liverpool Football Club by the American owners, often alone.

 

The tragedy is that they represent only a tiny minority of all Liverpool fans. And yet when you look at their message on their website, all fans should be subscribing to their particular view on the ownership issue.

 

All fans should be uniting together with the Spirit of Shankly, with the spirit of Liverpool’s great history, to ensure not just that the Americans go, but also that the new owners realise just what a great, great club Liverpool truly is.

Why Liverpool fans need to demonstrate the Spirit of Shankly to show potential owners how great the club is - David Maddock column - MirrorFootball.co.uk

[zigackly]

Maybe you know more about the as yet unpublished financials than I do, at this point I've no clue where money from players sold last summer went.

 

You are saying they used it to pay down debt, for some reason I'm under the impression they set up a loan to the club for that, help appreciated here.

 

Wasn't it pretty widely understood that the "Alonso money" went towards the £60M debt reduction? If you know something which shows that not to be true then fair enough, but I'm only going with what is commonly held to be true on here and other forums.

 

Regardless, you might refute it but your earlier hystrionics don't make your argument any more likely to be true.

[Captain]

The Americans have backing from the banks – potentially – for another three years, and if they stay for that long, then there will be little left of the club as we know, given the current rate of growth of debts, year on year.

 

Three years? Wtf does this come from?

 

I haven't seen a single shred of evindence pointing at those two cunts being able to hold on to the club for three more years.

 

Which is of course why Broughton has come in to speed up the process.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Wasn't it pretty widely understood that the "Alonso money" went towards the £60M debt reduction? If you know something which shows that not to be true then fair enough, but I'm only going with what is commonly held to be true on here and other forums.

 

Regardless, you might refute it but your earlier hystrionics don't make your argument any more likely to be true.

 

Histrionics? Just stop it.

 

I don't know where the money went, I've already said that. I've no clue how the owners got that money, whether it was their own cash, from player sales or whether it is in the form of another loan placed on the club.