Benitez's political management

[d.k.E.]

Very few apologies for the new thread, because apart from the poor purchases made and negative tactics, this is for me the reason most dont want Benitez here any more (and one of the reasons we have so much discussion on the forum:

 

Rafael Benítez's long goodbye leaves Liverpool in danger of big sleep | Paul Hayward | Football | The Guardian

 

Rafael Benítez's long goodbye leaves Liverpool in danger of the big sleepAfter six years of politics at Anfield, Rafael Benítez could be heading for the exit door with the club in turmoil

 

Rafael Benítez has invested so much energy in politics since he arrived at Anfield six years ago that he must be caught between accepting the Juventus job and making a late run in Thursday's general election. He can manage the news and public opinion in the red half of Merseyside but he cannot manipulate the results that point to a farewell.

 

The longest goodbye in Liverpool's normally straightforward managerial history has featured feuds with warring owners, a campaign to seize total control of first‑team affairs, a staff clear-out at an academy that was under-achieving partly because Benítez offered so few chances to its recruits, and numerous flirtations with other big European clubs, which the manager has used, sometimes not unreasonably, to consolidate his power in the face of two American speculators who seek a huge profit on their borrowed buck.

 

No wonder, then, that exhaustion pervades Anfield, where the club's spirit has traditionally been trained on the 11 men sporting the Liver bird. Kenny Dalglish's stress-induced departure was traumatic, and the Graeme Souness three-year reign induced tremors, but there has not been instability on this scale since before Bill Shankly's time. In that context, many Liverpool fans who might have felt a reflexive loyalty to Benítez for the miracle of Istanbul, where the club won their fifth European Cup five years ago, now consider the Spanish martinet's personal future less important than the restoration of order before Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City consign the boys in red forever to the comparative oblivion of the Europa League, or worse.

 

Regression is a hard fact on the road to Hull for Sunday's final Premier League game. There is no longer any need for Liverpudlians to flail at one another on phone-ins over the team's deterioration and who deserves the blame. To slide from losing two Premier League matches in 2008-09 to 11 a year later provides incontrovertible proof of an unravelling. Equally Liverpool will be absent from the Champions League for the first time since 2002-03 and there are no funds to burn in the fight to peg back Spurs and City, never mind rejoin the old conflict with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

 

For a growing swathe of Kopites there is no need to cast Benítez's probable leave‑taking as a tragedy. As Everton make relentless progress across Stanley Park and Fernando Torres doubtless questions his willingness to dirty his knees in the Europa League again there is an unmistakable sense that the end of a cycle has been reached. In spin city, as red Liverpool has become, the blame game has obscured the reality that Anfield's fortunes began to slip when the club was sold to speculators who regarded a great social institution as a leveraged "investment" opportunity in an expanding market.

 

In that setting, Benítez beat his chest and demanded carte blanche in the dressing room, as any right-thinking Liverpool manager would. Can anyone picture Shankly deferring to Tom Hicks and George Gillett? But Benítez's efforts to barricade his office have also caused damage. As Rick Parry, the previous chief executive, was driven out of town, Benítez negotiated a long contract that locked both sides into a failing marriage and has turned his departure into a game of attack-and‑retreat over the issue of compensation.

 

Thus the British Airways head honcho, Martin Broughton, who was drafted in to sell a club that were already for sale, has his second big volcano problem in a month. True to form, even the goodbyes are politicised.

 

"Someone said we needed four of five players. I would more or less agree with that," Benítez said after the Europa League semi-final defeat to Atlético Madrid, neglecting to mention that the Liverpool first- and reserve-team squads teem with men many fans have barely heard of, never mind seen play.

 

Finding a buyer willing to hand Hicks and Gillett the golden egg they believe they are nesting on is Liverpool's most daunting challenge. Until that day the Chelsea‑supporting Broughton will need all his persuasive powers to sell Benítez's old job to an A-list coach, whose first task will be to purge the squad of bored backwoodsmen and then restore the output of an academy that stopped producing stars after Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler.

 

Benítez would face the same conundrum of having to rectify his own mistakes with a meagre budget while estate agents show potential buyers round and five clubs ahead of him in the table (perhaps not Aston Villa) continue to invest and progress. A lone wolf who has cold-shouldered a succession of expensive acquisitions, from Robbie Keane to Peter Crouch to Xabi Alonso and Ryan Babel, Benítez has radiated a determination to advance on his own terms and not allow the reputation he established at Valencia to go up in English smoke.

 

Installing Spanish expertise at the academy and acquiring Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton and Raheem Sterling from Queens Park Rangers spoke of a desire to tough it out and still be there when new owners ride in. But since Benítez asserted his dominion with his new contract the season has turned to dust and the supporters have been gripped by the fear that this is not a dip but a plunge.

 

A new manager could only play the long game: hope Torres and Gerrard can be persuaded to stay, and gamble that under new owners Anfield will leave the politics where they belong.

[Magellan06]

Shanks said it was all about the fans, the players and the manager, that directors just sighn the cheques. But that also means the manager keeps is nose out of the politics involved in running the club.

 

If rafa bought 5 players, with his track record 3 of them would be shite, even if he got his money back at a later date (net spend and all that) we would still play for a time short three much needed players. That, I think sums rafas time here, 5 steps forwards 3 backwards whilst the rest move 3 or 4 steps forwards.

 

He should face the facts and go, though I would be very suprised if he left under his own steam.

[me1]

Hicks' and Gillette's insistence on a golden egg is the crux of the matter.

All of the mess has stemmed from this insistence - all the broken promises from the stadium to the joke of a transfer kitty.

If only the directors would sign the bloody cheques.

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

Rafa's transfer history continues to be denigrated, here's his transfers in from LfcHistory, considering he was trying to rebuild the club, and the amount he has spent (net :o). Should Torres and mascherano go in ghe close season, we may have Rafa's net spend down to 0, for this we have had 1 X champions league, 1 x champions league runner up, 1 x fa cup, 1 x carling cup runner up. All the while ploughing shit loads in buy consistently qualifying for the champions league.

 

The man may be on his way, but fuck me there's too much bitterness and bile on here for a man who has tried every which fucking way to build a team worthy of the name Liverpool while having his hands tied financially compared to his main competitors - think back to chelseas splurging all the time early on, unarted dropping big licks for kids, or 30m on berbatov, lately city, tottenham, villa overtaking our spending.

If he goes he goes with his head held high as far as I'm concerned, i love the club, always will, but watching those pair of counts destroy it from across the pond almost has me wanting to walk away. I can understand why a man who does this as a job, can get a job elsewhere and does not have the same emotional ties to the club / city may look elsewhere. I believe he'd always have been more than happy to have left the politics out of things, can anyone remember why he started getting political?? Similar to Shankly handing in his notice on a number of occasions in order to get the board to accede to him

 

Transfers for the 2004-2005 season

*

 

In

*Date*Player*From*Amount

*01.07.2004**Djibril*Cissé**Auxerre**£14,500,000*

*26.07.2004**Josemi*Rey**Malaga**£2,000,000*

*17.08.2004**Antonio*Nunez**Real Madrid**Cash(+ Player Exchange)*

*20.08.2004**Xabi*Alonso**Real Sociedad**£10,700,000*

*20.08.2004**Luis*Garcia**Barcelona**£6,000,000*

*05.01.2005**Mauricio*Pellegrino**Valencia**Free*

*13.01.2005**Fernando*Morientes**Real Madrid**£6,300,000*

*21.01.2005**Scott*Carson**Leeds United**£1,000,000*

 

Cisse - not rafa's buy, made it clear he wouldn't play him up front on his own

Josemi - shit looked good on his debut, gave finnan a new lease of life, didn't break the bank, got a swap out of him

Nunez - stitch up part of the welsh rats move

Xabi - not a bad player, heart of the midfield for 5 years, won trophies, trebled investment

Luis - smart little player, could be frustrating but also sublime, one of the mid range successes

Pellegringo - shite, cost fuck all but wages for 6 months,

Morientes - first mid range failure, big fucking shock for fans and manager

Scott Carson - punt taken on up and coming goalkeeper, turned out a wise investment

 

Transfers for the 2005-2006 season

*

 

In

*Date*Player*From*Amount

*04.07.2005**Antonio*Barragan**Sevilla**£240,000*

*04.07.2005**Boudewijn*Zenden**Free Transfer**Free*

*04.07.2005**Jose*Reina**Villareal**£6,000,000*

*14.07.2005**Mohamed*Sissoko**Valencia**£5,600,000*

*20.07.2005**Peter*Crouch**Southampton**£7,000,000*

*15.08.2005**Miki*Roque**Lleida**Unknown*

*18.08.2005**Jack*Hobbs**Lincoln City**£150,000*

*22.08.2005**Besian*Idrizaj**LASK Linz**£190,000*

*20.10.2005**Mark*Gonzalez**Albacete**£1,500,000*

*01.01.2006**Paul*Anderson**Hull City**Player Exchange*

*04.01.2006**Jan*Kromkamp**Villareal**Player Exchange*

*12.01.2006**David*Martin**MK Dons**£250,000*

*12.01.2006**Daniel*Agger**Brøndby**£5,800,000*

*27.01.2006**Robbie*Fowler**Man City**Free*

 

Barragan, Roque, Hobbs, Idrizaj, Anderson, Martin - all young players bought as punts - all moved on bar Martin, total cost around a million

Bolo - our regular shite free transfer,

Fowler - excellent free transfer, boosted the team and the fans (no doubt paid his own wages in shirt sales)

Reina - mid range success - arguably the greatest keeper playing currently, worth a lot more than paid for

Sissoko - great spirited player, mid range success, snatched from everyone, had a rough patch along with some sublime performances - profit made on transfer to juve

Crouch - mid range success, I'd have him at a similar level of influence as luis, where we may have ended up if he'd have found his shooting boots earlier?? should have started athens, again sold for profit

Gonzalez - hell of a punt for a winger - 1.5mil, ended up a low range turkey, how many other top clubs have a 1.5 mil winger tho? would have been the bargain of the decade if he'd had the bottle / skills

Kromkamp - swap for josemi - definite improvement - but still shite, later sold for a loss on what we spent on josemi

Agger - mid range success, had a shit time with injuries, but arguably our most footballing centerback

 

 

Transfers for the 2006-2007 season

*

 

In

*Date*Player*From*Amount

*01.07.2006**Craig*Bellamy**Blackburn**£6,000,000*

*04.07.2006**Gabriel*Paletta**Club Atlético Banfield**£2,000,000*

*05.07.2006**Fábio*Aurélio**Valencia**Free*

*26.07.2006**Jermaine*Pennant**Birmingham**£6,700,000*

*18.08.2006**Dirk*Kuyt**Feyenoord**£9,000,000*

*21.08.2006**Nabil*El Zhar**St Etienne**£200,000*

*11.01.2007**Astrit*Ajdarevic**Falkenberg**£750,000*

*12.01.2007**Daniele*Padelli**Sampdoria**On Loan*

*24.01.2007**Jordy*Brouwer**Ajax**Undisclosed*

*30.01.2007**Francisco*Durán **Malaga**£66,000*

*31.01.2007**Álvaro*Arbeloa**Deportivo**£2,500,000*

*20.02.2007**Javier*Mascherano**West Ham**On Loan*

 

 

El Zhar, Ajdarevic, Brouwer, Duran - another seasons spare change gamble on youth

Bellamy - mid range success, not a great goal score for us, but gave his all, pity he attacked the leftback with a golf club - could have still been here otherwise, profit turned once again tho

Aurelio - freebie - somewhere between fowler and deign on the freebie level, great when he plays which is roughly 1 in 10

Pennant - mid range failure, who knows what went wrong, he showed a fair amount of faith in pennant, similar almost to the backing he gave crouch, pennant played a blinder in athens, got injured, shit was never the same - fair loss made on him

Dirk - hi-mid range success - love him or loathe him, we've had our money's worth out of dirk, I rank him similar to crouch / garcia (skills wise etc) and believe he plays to much due to a lack of other options in the squad

Arbeloa - low range success, the quiet man (until his kick off with carra), Albert came from nowhere to be a solid dependable right back with raiding runs up the right hand side, could cover in the centre or at left back, real turned his head, and we doubled our money

 

 

Transfers for the 2007-2008 seaso

*

 

In

*Date*Player*From*Amount

*11.05.2007**Lucas*Leiva**Gremio*

*£5,000,000**25.05.2007**Krisztián*Németh**MTK Hungaria**Undisclosed*

*28.06.2007**Mikel*San José Domínguez**Athletic Bilbao**£270,000*

*01.07.2007**Sebastian*Leto**Club Atlético Lanús**£1,800,000*

*04.07.2007**Fernando*Torres**Atletico Madrid**£20,200,000*

*06.07.2007**Andriy*Voronin**Leverkusen**Free*

*12.07.2007**Yossi*Benayoun**West Ham**£5,000,000*

*13.07.2007**Ryan*Babel**Ajax**£11,500,000*

*09.08.2007**Charles*Itandje**Lens**Undisclosed*

*26.08.2007**Emiliano*Insúa**Boca Juniors**£1,300,000*

*11.01.2008**Martin*Skrtel**Zenit St Petersburg **£6,500,000*

*29.02.2008**Javier*Mascherano**Media Sports Investment**£18,600,000*

*17.09.2009**Daniel*Ayala**Sevilla**£160,000*

 

Lucas - lo-mid range success, no replacement for Xabi, but at 5 mil in current market he has some good attributes, doesn't give up, half a dirk kuyt seems about right

Nemeth, San Jose, Ayala - the regular punt on young untested players - nemeth and Ayala looking to make it with big teams

Leto - another attempt to get a left winer on the cheap, lo-range failure

Torres - Hi End success, when e's not injured he's arguably the greatest striker in the world, unfortunately he's taken every close season by spain, and getting run into the ground, likelihood if sold of at least trebling in value

Voronin - return to the shite free transfer, load of bollocks, big arse ukrainian fail

Yossi - lo-mid range success, similar to Luis, little less inconsistent and sublime as garcia, but good value, offers believe to have been made doubling his cost

Babel - Hi-Mid range failure, babel appears like all three characters in the wizard of oz - no heart, brain, or courage - hopefully there is still 8mil in the market for him - is he a striker or a winger?? no one appears to no

Itamdje - bag of wan back up keeper

Insua - another young punt, lo-range success I reckon, still young, still developing, can swing in a great cross, but has buckled under some pressure this year, hopefully he learns from that and progresses

Skrtel - mid range success, looks like a 6.5 mil centreback, has been prone to the odd lapse, but still a young defender, Carra had a few lapses in his youth as well

Mascherano - Hi end success, works his arse off, captain of argentina, natural replacement for hamman in a faster playing team, woud move at a decent profit if he chooses to fuck off

 

 

Transfers for the 2008-2009 season

*

 

In

*Date*Player*From*Amount

*03.07.2008**Philipp*Degen**Dortmund**Free*

*04.07.2008**Andrea*Dossena**Udinese**£7,000,000*

*11.07.2008**Diego*Cavalieri**Palmeiras**£3,500,000*

*24.07.2008**David*N'Gog**Paris St Germain**£1,500,000*

*28.07.2008**Robbie*Keane**Tottenham**£19,000,000*

*31.08.2008**Albert*Riera**Espanyol**£8,000,000*

 

Degen - shite free transfer, may actually be a half decent player but constantly injured, rumoured to be on anywhere from 25000 a week to 80000, a propaganda tool

Dossena - mid range gamble, never paid off, too slow for the league, never really got going, made a definite loss when he was sold

Cavalieri - back up keeper, not a lot to say, pretty steep for a backup, but when you have the worlds best keeper you want pretty fucking good backup

N'Gog - punt on a kid as a backup striker, not the worst in the world, but still learning and not ideal as sole backup to torso, but that's watt 1.5 mil gets you

Keane - abomination of a transfer, big loss made on the player, would he have been sold knowing money was not going back in the transfer pot?? could have offered some backup this season,

Riera - At last we move for an out and out left winger at somewhere approaching hi mid range, Alberto has been more inconsistent and less effective than either luis or yossi, real frustrating for someone who shows flashes of real talent

 

 

Transfers for the 2009-2010 season

*

 

In

*Date*Player*From*Amount

*26.06.2009**Glen*Johnson**Portsmouth**£17,500,000*

*07.08.2009**Alberto*Aquilani**AS Roma**£17,100,000*

*21.08.2009**Sotirios*Kyrgiakos**AEK Athens**£2,000,000*

*12.01.2010**Maxi*Rodriguez**Atletico Madrid**Free*

 

Glen Johnson - Hi End…impossible to say success or failure due to injuries this season, early on he seemed like the missing link, contributed a few goals, then the injuries came, Gerard certainly seemed happy to have got him at the time tho

Aquilani - hi end…. this season definitely a failure, with his injury being known before we bought him he can't be given the same leeway as johnson, could turn out to be pretty good next season tho provided he gets a decent preseason etc

Big Greek Bastard - Lo End success, definitely considering he was pretty much an unknown brought in at the last minute with coinage found down the side of the couch, steles gives his all, commands his area and gets stuck in, shame we were shopping in neat again, but we unearthed a bargain to go with the 2 packets of brokies from harrods

Maxi - freebie - could go either way, shown flashes of the player he used to be, interesting how he goes next season, handy addition

[Guest the boy]

That, I think sums rafas time here, 5 steps forwards 3 backwards whilst the rest move 3 or 4 steps forwards.

 

Don't muddle this season with the past 5. Who are 'the rest'? United? Because every other club in the league has seen a diminution in trophies and success during Benitez' time here. Until this season, Chelsea have steadily deteriorated. 30 points ahead of us in Benitez' first season; behind us last season. We have been their superiors in Europe, despite the cash spent. Arsenal have won nothing: they haven't been utterly superior compared to ourselves domestically. Certainly not to the extent so as to compromise a European Cup, European Cup final and FA Cup. They haven't reached 86 points in Benitez' time here. City, Spurs, Villa et al. haven't been on a radar until this season.

 

United are the only team to have moved forward at a faster pace than ourselves. A team built almost wholly upon players acquired expensively before Benitez arrived here.

 

Most definitely we've unravelled this season, but don't get caught up in the myth that Benitez has taken us '5 steps forwards 3 backwards whilst the rest move 3 or 4 steps forwards'. It's not true.

[The Dude Abides]

Until this season, Chelsea have steadily deteriorated.

 

Apart from the two league titles they won under Mourinho of course.

 

------

 

I love all this "up until" jargon. Last season it was "progression" year on year, now it's "up until" spin.

 

I don't know why people have such a problem saying that simply, he's failed massively, this season. Net spend, injuries, owners....bollocks. How about mismanagement on Rafa;s part?

 

I could buy the being hamstrung by the owners argument, if say we'd narrowly lost out on the League title, because we were maybe lacking in one or two positions, like United this season.

 

But to put an entire season where we've been completely and utterly shit down to net spend? Nah!!

 

And worryingly, we're likley to go into next season with a man in charge who has already given up if he isn;t given £50+m to spend? Is that smomeone we really want at the helm going into next season?

 

Maybe someone with some actual belief in this squad he's assembled over the last six years would be the way to go?

[Wor Horse]

We're seventh.

[Magic Sponge]

We're seventh.

 

And totally on our knees as a football club.

[d.k.E.]

and need - in his own words - at least 4 or 5 players to compete (but at least the books balance, hey)..

[Guest the boy]

I could buy the being hamstrung by the owners argument, if say we'd narrowly lost out on the League title, because we were maybe lacking in one or two positions, like United this season.

 

 

Cavalieri - 3.5

Johnson - 17.5

Aquilani - 17.1

Agger - 5.8

Gerrard - 0

Torres - 20.2

Riera - 8

Aurelio - 0

Benayoun - 5

Kyrgiakos - 1.5

Maxi 0

Kuyt - 9

Babel - 11.5

Mascherano - 18

Lucas - 5

Insua - 1.3

Carragher - 0

Ngog - 1.5

Riena - 6

Degen - 0

Plessis - 0

El Zhar - 2

Kelly - 0

Irwin - 0

Skrtel - 6.5

Ayala - 160k

Hansen - 0

Pacheco - 0

 

Total Cost = £139,560,000

 

Fifteen players at £2m or less and five players costing over £10m. £90 million more has been invested into United's squad than ours. They deserve no claim to be lacking in any position: certainly not compared to ourselves. I don't deal in 'jargon', and I don't wish to derail the thread further.

[Red Nick]

Its the politics that piss you off,

 

Obviously coaching the football team isnt enough for him

[Hermes]

Its the politics that piss you off,

 

Obviously coaching the football team isnt enough for him

 

I've been saying that for 5 years. Look at his record at his other clubs, the same story of stubborn control seeking.

[redrosetints]

Can anyone point to any politicing at LFC prior to teh Yanks arrival ?

 

And since then, can anyone point to politicing that wasnt about hte team as much as the man himself.

 

Yes he wants more money for better player, but isnt that what the players and fans want too ?

 

The fella took us to two Cl finals in 3 years and we failed to invest followed by him finding out his job was being offered to Jurgen fin Klinsman, not Jose Mourinhio or Gus Hiddink, but Jurgen Klinsman.

 

i know some feel his stuff goes to far, but the majority of it seems to stem back directly to the Owners pledges, hence why Raf and the Fans wants and needs are in alignment.

 

Prior to C&A it was dissapointment at not singing the likes of Alves and Eto which, again, i think most fans would have agreed with Rafa on. Id certianly hoped that we'd be able to sign Alves and Eto at teh times Rafa wanted too.

[Vulmea]

the angriest site around and most of it directed in the wrong bleedin direction

 

the two yanks take £200milion out of the club in interest, arrangement fee's, 'enabling works(remember them?) , expenses, designs and redesigns and most of you are just arsed about whether a fucking italian international fullback was up to snuff

 

the idea that benitez's playing politics is to blame and not the lying cheating bastards in charge would be laughable if so many didn't believe it

 

hicks's motto is dont give a sucker an even break and you lot bury your heads in the sand and concentrate on exactly what the twat wants you to concentrate on -

 

sure when benitez leaves everything in the garden will be great, there will be no need for the new manager to hassle the owners, they'll give him everything they promised him, we'll have money coming out of our ears and everything will be sweetness and light

 

hodgson will calm everybody down and he'll get the best from the players - we'll get 6th next year no danger and that'll pay the cancers another 30 million and we may be able to get 7th the year after and then be grateful for 8th, maybe pick up a league cup

 

some deluded fools dream slag off Benitez for boardroom battles and then want Mourinho ffs

 

benitez isn't important in the grand scheme of things - the club is and ignoring the two leeches and fucking around with one manager or another wont make the slightest bleedin difference

[stringvest]

the angriest site around and most of it directed in the wrong bleedin direction

 

the two yanks take £200milion out of the club in interest, arrangement fee's, 'enabling works(remember them?) , expenses, designs and redesigns and most of you are just arsed about whether a fucking italian international fullback was up to snuff

 

the idea that benitez's playing politics is to blame and not the lying cheating bastards in charge would be laughable if so many didn't believe it

 

hicks's motto is dont give a sucker an even break and you lot bury your heads in the sand and concentrate on exactly what the twat wants you to concentrate on -

 

sure when benitez leaves everything in the garden will be great, there will be no need for the new manager to hassle the owners, they'll give him everything they promised him, we'll have money coming out of our ears and everything will be sweetness and light

 

hodgson will calm everybody down and he'll get the best from the players - we'll get 6th next year no danger and that'll pay the cancers another 30 million and we may be able to get 7th the year after and then be grateful for 8th, maybe pick up a league cup

 

some deluded fools dream slag off Benitez for boardroom battles and then want Mourinho ffs

 

benitez isn't important in the grand scheme of things - the club is and ignoring the two leeches and fucking around with one manager or another wont make the slightest bleedin difference

 

But noone is ignoring them Vulmea. If they're in charge all next season, we're in deep shit (I don't think they will be btw). But that doesn't excuse Benitez's performance this year, and lifting his skirt up and waving his minge at Juventus doesn't go down too well with a lot of fans either.

[Vulmea]

But noone is ignoring them Vulmea. If they're in charge all next season, we're in deep shit (I don't think they will be btw). But that doesn't excuse Benitez's performance this year, and lifting his skirt up and waving his minge at Juventus doesn't go down too well with a lot of fans either.

 

But there are 50 threads slagging off benitez and none on the owners.

 

benitez board room politics compared with being screwed over by the cancers and you think the perspective is right?

 

200m in interest and fees and they haven't even touched paying off their loan, thats not the clubs thats theirs for buying the club and the main concern is rafa and juventus?

 

The anger should be concentrated on the two leeches - sucking the club dry before they move on somewhere else - benitez has been atrocious this season but it pales into insignificance next to what those two twats are up to

 

most on here think a couple of signings and a new manager and everything is ok - really? bring a new manager in and what is the expectation - no investment, best players leaving, freebies and youngsters brought in and a new manager who knows the owners will be gone in 12months - recipe for success if ever there was one.

[King Emlyn]

It is my dearest wish that they all fuck off, from the horrendous owners to the weirdo manager and the Chelsea fan chairman, horrible, horrible ,horrible.