I think Kennys time is up for numerous reasons But I can also say that I didnt want Rafa to go when he did,he had us improving yr after yr for 5 out of 6 yrs, the last year we finished 7th after Rafa had not NET Transfer spend of ZERO for 2 yrs.Stevie and Carra gettin fed up with his obsessive nature,despite Reina,Torres,Masch all being desperate for him to stay,and the moron thats was Christian Purslow where the reason for his sacking.The fans were about 50/50 , behind him and against him as I remember Its impossible to win in this game without cash and Rafa was strangled by Waldorf and Stadler, not spending cash, he did spend money but in the last 2 yrs he had make do with the money he got from selling players,which was a recipe for not succeeding I think Rafa with £30-40m NET transfer spend per year ( about the same as our operating profit), would be very dangerous.I would trust him a lot more than Kenny in the market,and I think his knowledge of the Spanish ( best football country in world by a mile ), would be invaluable.Rememeber he was sniffin around Javi Martinez 5 yrs ago.He was interested in all of Mata,Alves,Jovetic,Silva,Martinez at one point, so he defo knows a player He wouldnt be my 1st choice , but we could do a lot, lot worse
I think what did for Rafa, was the poor performance of Salif Diao and El Hadji Diouf. Both were poor choices, and both aided the decline we had that season. Also in my mind is the Yossi Benayoun story, and how badly Rafa had treated him, true or not as it may be. But I think there was an overall opinion that Rafa was very hands off with training, and didn't have much to do with the team. The polar opposite of Kenny. So while I never wanted him sacking, and I do have massive respect for how he feels about the club, I am unsure about having too strong a desire to see him return. There is also the mark II rafa, AVB. Also distant and technical, but with more years in front of him, and maybe eager to prove himself in the EPL... However bottom line, I don't want to see Kenny sacked now.
I never wanted Rafa out at all. He set up a system in which everything was built around him. Hence the problems Roy had when he took over. He also had good connections at Liverpool and good links in Spain. When Rafa got his first choice signing we got one hell of a player. Mind you too be fair he did sign a few misfits too (Though these did not cost 30 million). He also set us up to play in a lovely counter acting, fast moving, pressure in the midfield system which was simply fantastic. We got rid of him due to the fact that he wasn't seen as the manager to win us he league. The Ironic thing is look at us now! I would kill for a top 4 finish! In addition to this i think the suggestion that Rafa had a mental block in premier league was ridiculous. The problem in my eyes was strength in depth and this was due to Gerard destroying our youth academy all those years ago! The only reason why we finished outside the top 4 in his last season was the fact that we had a faulty side due to the Americans not funding it at all! I would actually make Rafa my firm first choice for next manager. The only problem is maybe he rotates the core of the team too much.
I don't think you can point to many of Rafa's genuine first choices and say they flopped. Keane and Babel maybe, but the former didn't get a great deal of time (but did score a couple of important goals) and the latter had a decent first couple of seasons. None of Torres, Mascherano, Alonso, Skrtel, Agger or Reina did or have flopped. Johnson has been ok too. It was the Rieras, the Pennants and the Dossenas - players he had to settle for - who weren't great. Arguably there are others in there who were flops who he actually wanted, but none cost us over £10m. Compare that to what we have now. None of the new players, Coates aside, were players we 'settled' for having missed out on other targets. They were all exactly who Kenny wanted. Arguably only Enrique and Suarez have flourished - and they're players I could imagine Benitez signing. If Rafa had his way when Alonso left, we'd have signed Aquilani and Jovetic to replace him. Add to that Villa, Alves and Martinez, who were targets at various times, and imagine the team we could've had. From Sports Illustrated: "As for the much criticized sale of midfielder Alonso in the summer of 2009, Benitez explains that his plan had been to bring in both Alberto Aquilani and Stevan Jovetic. "Jovetic was our target but we didn't have the money," said Benitez. "My idea was to play Mascherano, Lucas, [Steven] Gerrard, Aquilani -- two of these four players in the middle and Jovetic between the lines, but we didn't have the money." http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1196479/2/index.htm Given the money, I don't think Rafa would waste it. If he spends £20+m on a player, we'd get a player worth that and more.
A lot of people tend to say that managers deserve more time and Rafa definately deserved one more after a really poor season finishing 7th. However, I think he had lost the dressing room i.e. Carragher and Gerrard (who I feel hold too much influence).
this is comparing apples and oranges... come on guys seriously.... Rafa lost his head and made terrible decisions. like kenae, like aquilani, like the bargain bucket rubbish he brought in... like alonso. It was right we parted ways, its still right. Kenny is in the job how long? How many matches has redknapp lost at the same time... methinks a bit of being sucked in by the press is occuring here. THE REAL QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ASKING IS NOT WHY IS THE MANAGER NOT GOING BUT WHY ARE THE PLAYERS GIVING SO BLOODY LITTLE? Yes kenny ought to have huled several off at half time yes thats right but mr shelvey panicked after getting a yellow and nver put a foot in after that. Mr gerrard never tried a leg all game, he strolled, literally walked baout in central midfield while spearing ran around trying to cover him.
I've said it time and time again - Gerrard does not deserve to be starting. He has been poor bar a couple of performances over the past couple of years. Some of the fans who are happy that Adam is injured are a disgrace. They are quick to give us stats that we have won more games when Carroll starts or we haven't won many when Spearing starts but I would like to know the results of when Gerrard starts. His introduction at the start of the year has conincided with our worst run in a very long time.
No, blamed the cowboys, rather than the manager. Would like to see what Rafa could do with decent owners. Built one of the best Liverpool sides in recent memory. He bought some duds (all managers do) but generally players bought sold for tidy profit, (Alonso, Torres etc) or we at least got our money back. The season we finished second, we should have pushed on, but we where operating a sell to buy policy and we ended up going backwards. Would be happy to see Rafa back, and feel he deserves another chance. But to me it would be a real shock. They never go back, think FSG are a bit to shrewd to go down that path. As stated Rafa wanted all the top players, Silva, Mata, Alves Etc, but the cowboys did not back him.
rafa wanted a lot and perhaps some things he watned were as a result of not having an ideal set up.. i can see that for sure. I can also see how rafa went out of his way to humiliate keane, how he thought alonso was past it (injuries, a serious error) and i can see how he developed a record of antagonising owners. Valencia were never the same after he left but he won titles, but look a tthier debt profile.. where did it come from? It would be more fair to say vlaencia returned to being also rans in a 2 team spanish league but with massive debt. Under moores rafa signed morientes, he let rafa down. he signed coruch, bellamy and pennent.. they all let him down in one way of another. Under G&H he over used gerrard and torres, they startedevery game. he signed babel and was let down by him. At inter he totally antagonised the team and owner and got the sack. Bascially the thought that rafa was without fault is wrong IMO. equally the thought that he was barmy is also wrong. He did some really good things too. This has to bring us to the point that in 1.5 years kenny has won a pot, been let down really badly by two signings (downing and adam) and made on mad one that nobody can justify in carroll. I am SURE if kenny could interest a few of these top players he'd want them. I do not buy for one second that kenny only wants crapbritish players. its called suarez... the guy who inspired uraguay to the smis in the world cup and the winning of a copa. In case anyones not noticed carroll's let the side down badly by being lazy, he was a bad buy but if you pair suarez with a forlan you get a winning team.. at least let kenny try to pair the guy with a forward who can score! ........................... final point. 1990 FA cup replay. Utd won palace lost and ferguon went on to 20 years of glory. he started in 1985.. if we go down this road of sacking managers or wishing for the greener grass without putting i nthe hard work we're going nowhere. I'd like it all fixed tomorrow but reality says its not goingt o happen that way.
Love rafa, Love kenny. Personally i dont think it is time for Kenny to go yet, I think we should go another a season, get some more quality players in and see where we can go... If kenny was to leave, then I would love Rafa to come back. He is a tactical genius, he did amazing things for our youth set up and loves LFC. I never want to have a mercenary as manager at LFC, so for me ,kenny and rafa will always be two of the best names out there...... I hate our current run, but will sweat it out....Doont want to see carragher starting in front of Coates anymore though and dont think gerrard can have an impact if he is forced to start every game....... need as triker and some pace over the summer
for redbrynner... luckily i think the majority in anfield see it this way... not saying that some valued contributors like those who started the thread don't agree, jsut that the majority will back the manager. If we scrape by everton i think it'll be interesting to hear the views as well.
I was in the Rafa Brigade, Better that than a badge-wearing member of the Impatient Kneejerk Scout Troop. Rafa had a low transfer spend but had to pay big wages to attract players. Purslow had to do the same but he was listening to the internet noise from impatient kneejerk fans and put Lucas up for sale. Purslow was out of his depth and playing Football Manager by popularity poll. The kneejerk fans can make their own excuses. Kenny has cut the wage bill while signing half a team. The best managers only have a roughly 50% success rate in the market. No doubt Mourinho would be one of your first choices. His record on cheaper players is ****e and FFP is going to see the end of Mr Media Darling. So what you're discussing here is success in the transfer market. Well, the famous foray which bought us Beardsley, Barnes and Aldo is a good CV entry. Ditto the pairing of Shearer and Sutton at Blackburn. Nobody competed with us to sign Suarez. Would you have signed Craig Bellamy? I wouldn't. You can't always get instant results with new players. Ronaldo's first three seasons got him 6, 9 and 12 goals. Utd fans say, "Yeah but he was a winger." So was Kuyt and he outscored those stats in his first three seasons but was still called "not good enough for Liverpool" all over the 606 board, just like Lucas. And there's the rub. Lucas at 22: not good enough. Lucas at 24: Player of the Year. Henderson at 21: not good enough. Sterling at 17? Oh, he's good enough because he's proved it in reserve games. Thank God he's not 21. While we're at it let's throw in Adam Morgan and Suso, too. And if they doesn't work let's get on their backs until the club sell them, or they reach 24 and become Player of the Year.
the one thing i'd say is muppet just said alan shearer. Anyone rememebr aland sheaer at southamption... low goal socring rate there... took off under kenny. the point is that despite the low rate at southampton everyone could see the potential and it was a no brainer. Henerson is similar, not as good but similar. It seems kenny is getting punished (a little) for buiilding for the long term. some guys for now let him down like adam... The thing about being old enough to rememebr kenny first time round is it gives me two persepectives. 1. I fully rememebr the team of 1988 and how good it was and how it was kennys team 2. I also fully rememebr the team of 1991 with jimmy carter and other bad buys. I can see how this could go, i can see the football kenny wants us to play and i can see how having a comolli to support and guide can aid this too. I can equally see who it could go wrong. The simple message is we gotta have some sort of patience. In 2004 we had some patience, in 1998 we had some patience. If we're saying that after G&H aand all that entialed has ended our patience we may as well say we're sone as a big club.
Not read the article or responses, just the thread title... I didn't want to see Rafa leave but he had lost the dressing room and had to go. With us not having many players left from his reign, I certainly wouldn't have a problem with him returning but I would have concerns that expectations would be too high, much like with Kenny.
I really don't buy this 'lost the dressing room' talk. The first bit of truth concerning managers came from 'Arry when asked about his situation with the England job unsettling his team. He said that it didn't matter to the players who the manager was. I believe that to be true. All a player wants from a manager is to be told where and how to play. The rest is just show business. Now i know its more complicated than that but unless you have a Chelsea situation then the players will get on with it whoever the manager is.
Oh!, forgot the Rafa bit: The ONLY thing that Rafa lost was himself. I believe that he became isolated within the club and embroiled in a battle with H&G - with Purslow on the sideline ploughing his won furrow. That became the centre and the backdrop to his work with the team. Did I want him to go? NO. However I respected his decision to leave
This loss of dressing room drivel is nonsense...looking at yesterday you could say that Kenny lost the dressing room with some of the player's attitudes and reactions...it's what happens when you get bad results when you are expected to win. Same for Rafa. I never wanted Rafa to go, I didn't want Hodgeson to come in. In all fairness I didn't really want Kenny back in, mainly because I thought he had hung up his management coat up for years...I wouldn't have even though about that choice had it not been for the songs and calls for his return. Kenny could go this summer but if he had another year we should give him the chance...Henderson isn't good enough yet but we were all talking about his potential and his glimpses of class a few weeks back. Now after 6 defeats in 7 he is completely utterly useless? He's 21, he wil become good..he wont win or lose us games at the moment.
