Rafa slams LFC board

[TheBunnyman]

From the Beeb...

Inter Milan manager Rafael Benitez has launched an attack on the hierarchy at former club Liverpool.

Benitez had a strained relationship with the boardroom at Anfield and left in the summer to join the Italian club.

"The last year at Liverpool I had directors who knew nothing about soccer and you couldn't talk about soccer with them," the 50-year-old Spaniard said.

"My relationship with [Inter Milan] president Massimo Moratti is good, he is a man who knows his soccer."

Benitez took over at Liverpool in June 2004 and led them to Champions League glory in 2005 and an FA Cup victory in 2006.

606: DEBATE
What are your thoughts on Benitez's comments?

But the Premier League title eluded him and he could only lead the Reds to seventh in the top flight last season, meaning that they missed out on a lucrative place in the Champions League.

By the end of his tenure in June, Benitez appeared to have become frustrated at the lack of funds to bring in players with the club heavily in debt under the co-ownership of Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Benitez did not name names but Hicks, Gillett, club chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre sit on the club's five-man board.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

"The last year at Liverpool I had directors who knew nothing about soccer and you couldn't talk about soccer with them," the 50-year-old Spaniard said.


Shut the fuck up Rafa you chubby useless cunt....etc etc.

 

[Bazza The Kopite]

Very harsh to call him a cunt.

I like when I see him blaming the board, but then again I like when I see others blaming him. Think with all this negativity surrounding the club, and the way things have gone on the pitch, I just want someone to blame!

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Rafa4PM link=topic=41990.msg1179200#msg1179200 date=1285084132]
"The last year at Liverpool I had directors who knew nothing about soccer and you couldn't talk about soccer with them," the 50-year-old Spaniard said.


Shut the fuck up Rafa you chubby useless cunt.
[/quote]

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Rafa4PM link=topic=41990.msg1179200#msg1179200 date=1285084132]
"The last year at Liverpool I had directors who knew nothing about soccer and you couldn't talk about soccer with them," the 50-year-old Spaniard said.


Shut the fuck up Rafa you chubby useless cunt....etc etc.
[/quote]

only messing about the gif. what has happended to you? you used to be one of rafa's staunchest supporters.

 

[DHSC]

I think he was being sarcastic neil.

 

[Bazza The Kopite]

Oops, me too! I didn't wuite catch the sarcasm on first read, but on second it was pretty apparent (etc. etc)

 

[spider-Neil]

yeah, sorry rafa, totally missed the sarcasm on first read ;D

 

[Richey]

Fuck's sake. He's like an ex who keeps trying to rub it in how great their new partner is.

Yes i'm sure everything is lovely now Rafa and i'm sure getting the sack was the best thing that happened to you but please just enjoy your perfect new job quietly and leave us out of it.

 

[Atlas]

Lol at Rafa4pm
As for Rafa, well enjoy your new director who understands soccer. He might help you with your purchases and formations etc

 

[Fabio]

Fuck me, poor show from bazza and neil! Whoosh of the day for me

 

[Vlads Quiff]

Why does he keep calling it Soccer? I hope its just a shit translation

 

[kingjulian]

[quote author=Richey link=topic=41990.msg1179220#msg1179220 date=1285085242]
Fuck's sake. He's like an ex who keeps trying to rub it in how great their new partner is.

Yes i'm sure everything is lovely now Rafa and i'm sure getting the sack was the best thing that happened to you but please just enjoy your perfect new job quietly and leave us out of it.
[/quote]

This.

But i'd imagine Rafa would rub it in quite a few more times, while completely absolving himself off any blame for the plight we are in. If he had any class he would realize that he deserved to get the sack and just be happy that he was still able to get a top of the line job.....but this is Rafa.

 

[Atlas]

[quote author=Fabio link=topic=41990.msg1179229#msg1179229 date=1285085512]
Fuck me, poor show from bazza and neil! Whoosh of the day for me
[/quote]

Whoosh of the week at least

 

[TheBunnyman]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=41990.msg1179202#msg1179202 date=1285084316]
[quote author=Rafa4PM link=topic=41990.msg1179200#msg1179200 date=1285084132]
"The last year at Liverpool I had directors who knew nothing about soccer and you couldn't talk about soccer with them," the 50-year-old Spaniard said.


Shut the fuck up Rafa you chubby useless cunt.
[/quote]

[/quote]

That actually works very well, in spite of your being massively whooshed.

I like Rafa4PM much more now the real Rafa has gone.

 

[Fabio]

[quote author=Asim link=topic=41990.msg1179238#msg1179238 date=1285085748]
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=41990.msg1179229#msg1179229 date=1285085512]
Fuck me, poor show from bazza and neil! Whoosh of the day for me
[/quote]

Whoosh of the week at least
[/quote]

There was quite a good whoosh in the red helicopter thread in GC which i enjoyed, so it's got stiff competition

 

[Woland]

I did support Rafadyce but all this weird bullshit - I mean it was him who did everything he could to minimise the power of the board and to grant him full power over the squad - and we came 7th.

Is he really blaming the system that he designed for that? It seems he is, and he can fucking do one.

 

[Asbo]

[quote author=kingjulian link=topic=41990.msg1179237#msg1179237 date=1285085699]
[quote author=Richey link=topic=41990.msg1179220#msg1179220 date=1285085242]
Fuck's sake. He's like an ex who keeps trying to rub it in how great their new partner is.

Yes i'm sure everything is lovely now Rafa and i'm sure getting the sack was the best thing that happened to you but please just enjoy your perfect new job quietly and leave us out of it.
[/quote]

This.

But i'd imagine Rafa would rub it in quite a few more times, while completely absolving himself off any blame for the plight we are in. If he had any class he would realize that he deserved to get the sack and just be happy that he was still able to get a top of the line job.....but this is Rafa.
[/quote]


Yeah I mean getting us to at least a European Semi Final in everyone of his seasons here and 4-5 finals two of them European Cup Finals, his CV is shit isn't it?

 

[Fabio]

[quote author=Asbo link=topic=41990.msg1179263#msg1179263 date=1285086739]
[quote author=kingjulian link=topic=41990.msg1179237#msg1179237 date=1285085699]
[quote author=Richey link=topic=41990.msg1179220#msg1179220 date=1285085242]
Fuck's sake. He's like an ex who keeps trying to rub it in how great their new partner is.

Yes i'm sure everything is lovely now Rafa and i'm sure getting the sack was the best thing that happened to you but please just enjoy your perfect new job quietly and leave us out of it.
[/quote]

This.

But i'd imagine Rafa would rub it in quite a few more times, while completely absolving himself off any blame for the plight we are in. If he had any class he would realize that he deserved to get the sack and just be happy that he was still able to get a top of the line job.....but this is Rafa.
[/quote]


Yeah I mean getting us to at least a European Semi Final in everyone of his seasons here and 4-5 finals two of them European Cup Finals, his CV is shit isn't it?
[/quote]

wrong

year after we won it benfica knocked us out in the last 16. Simao screamer at anfield

 

[Le Chacal]

And quarters in 2009

 

[Squiggles]

Non-footballing people who saw he was crushing our first team squad with over-faith in shit players, expensive purchases which had no places first team squad. and a man who didn't watch players before buying them. 'Non-footballing people' saw him as a man who couldn't operate or build a squad even with decent funds, let alone on a tight budget - who alienated squad members and couldn't keep people happy at the club. 'Non-footballing people' saw he had tied down average players on expensive contracts which pushed the financial limitations of this club to the breaking point.

It doesn't matter if you're a 'football' person or not. What is equally important is ice cool logic, common sense, rationality, and a decent business mind. If he expects Inter to be run without these factors in mind then he better think again.

I like Rafa and respect what he has achieved in the game, but as a manager to operate in tough times with lots of power, he is not. There is no point in getting on his back here, however. He has admitted to making mistakes during his time here and that's good enough for me, and we all know he's not one for keeping his mouth shut. These quotes were inevitable and some time another.

He'll restore a reputation in Italy easy enough, but that will never convince me he was the man to continue on at this club. He had too much going against him, including his past mistakes in the market, and too many internal battles to face - so I still maintain he had to leave.

 

[RolandG]

Rafa is at Inter now so he should just shut the fuck up about Liverpool.

We're in a right old mess that he played a very active part in. Accept the responsibility that you fucked up and move on.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=41990.msg1179275#msg1179275 date=1285087154]
Non-footballing people who saw he was crushing our first team squad with over-faith in shit players, expensive purchases which had no places first team squad. and a man who didn't watch players before buying them. 'Non-footballing people' saw him as a man who couldn't operate or build a squad even with decent funds, let alone on a tight budget; who alienated squad members and couldn't keep people happy at the club. 'Non-footballing people' saw he had tied down average players on expensive contracts which pushed the financial limitations of this club to the breaking point.

It doesn't matter if you're a 'football' person or not. What is equally important is ice cool logic, common sense, rationality, and a decent business mind. If he expects Inter to be run without these factors in mind then he better think again.

I like Rafa and respect what he has achieved in the game, but as a manager to operate in tough times with lots of power, he is not. There is no point in getting on his back here, however. He has admitted to making mistakes during his time here and that's good enough for me, and we all know he's not one for keeping his mouth shut. These quotes were inevitable and some time another.

He'll restore a reputation in Italy easy enough, but that will never convince me he was the man to continue on at this club. He had too much going against him, including his past mistakes in the market, and too many internal battles to face - so I still maintain he had to leave.
[/quote]

but look what he acheived in his 6 years. we gave GH another season to restore his rep and rafa (despite achieveing more) wasn't given a similar year to turn things around.

 

[Fabio]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=41990.msg1179282#msg1179282 date=1285087637]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=41990.msg1179275#msg1179275 date=1285087154]
Non-footballing people who saw he was crushing our first team squad with over-faith in shit players, expensive purchases which had no places first team squad. and a man who didn't watch players before buying them. 'Non-footballing people' saw him as a man who couldn't operate or build a squad even with decent funds, let alone on a tight budget; who alienated squad members and couldn't keep people happy at the club. 'Non-footballing people' saw he had tied down average players on expensive contracts which pushed the financial limitations of this club to the breaking point.

It doesn't matter if you're a 'football' person or not. What is equally important is ice cool logic, common sense, rationality, and a decent business mind. If he expects Inter to be run without these factors in mind then he better think again.

I like Rafa and respect what he has achieved in the game, but as a manager to operate in tough times with lots of power, he is not. There is no point in getting on his back here, however. He has admitted to making mistakes during his time here and that's good enough for me, and we all know he's not one for keeping his mouth shut. These quotes were inevitable and some time another.

He'll restore a reputation in Italy easy enough, but that will never convince me he was the man to continue on at this club. He had too much going against him, including his past mistakes in the market, and too many internal battles to face - so I still maintain he had to leave.
[/quote]

but look what he acheived in his 6 years. we gave GH another season to restore his rep and rafa (despite achieveing more) wasn't given a similar year to turn things around.
[/quote]

achieving more? harsh indeed. Rafa wasn't given more time because the squad was blatantly falling apart, he continually sniped at the board, and began to turn us into a joke with his handling of the media. When it was clear Ged couldn't hack it he was gone. Then we had a board who were nice and worried about the club. Now we have a board who are worried about money, and here we have rafa continually having a go and asking for money. It made sense for him to go on all levels

 

[Squiggles]

Yeah, we learnt from past mistakes.

We went backwards so much in Houllier's final two years, so we had good reason for cutting our losses after one appalling season.

 

[localny]

Can we all agree Rafa made some awful mistakes and it was infuriating at times to watch his decisions unfold

Can we also agree that some of our proudest and best moments over the past 20 years came during his reign.

Can we agree that he restored us to the European Elite with regularly solid performances and year on year qualification...

Can we agree he should have done better in the league but ultimately didn't.

Can we all agree we saw him as the Rafatollah in May 2005?

(pops off soapbox)

yay or nay?

 

[Woland]

It's like getting a text a few months after you've finished a bird telling you some guy she's with now has got a fatter cock.

Whatever bitch, I hope you choke on it.

 

[Whaddapie]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=41990.msg1179282#msg1179282 date=1285087637]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=41990.msg1179275#msg1179275 date=1285087154]
Non-footballing people who saw he was crushing our first team squad with over-faith in shit players, expensive purchases which had no places first team squad. and a man who didn't watch players before buying them. 'Non-footballing people' saw him as a man who couldn't operate or build a squad even with decent funds, let alone on a tight budget; who alienated squad members and couldn't keep people happy at the club. 'Non-footballing people' saw he had tied down average players on expensive contracts which pushed the financial limitations of this club to the breaking point.

It doesn't matter if you're a 'football' person or not. What is equally important is ice cool logic, common sense, rationality, and a decent business mind. If he expects Inter to be run without these factors in mind then he better think again.

I like Rafa and respect what he has achieved in the game, but as a manager to operate in tough times with lots of power, he is not. There is no point in getting on his back here, however. He has admitted to making mistakes during his time here and that's good enough for me, and we all know he's not one for keeping his mouth shut. These quotes were inevitable and some time another.

He'll restore a reputation in Italy easy enough, but that will never convince me he was the man to continue on at this club. He had too much going against him, including his past mistakes in the market, and too many internal battles to face - so I still maintain he had to leave.
[/quote]

but look what he acheived in his 6 years. we gave GH another season to restore his rep and rafa (despite achieveing more) wasn't given a similar year to turn things around.
[/quote]

Are you really going to dance this dance again..?

Rafa had a longer tenure than any modern LFC manager other than Shanks or Sir Bob. He did some wonderful things early on. Then, it all went to pot. Some of the reasons behind our decline during his reign were out of his control, but others were of his doing. It was time for him to go. And though he will probably lead Inter to much future success, that bears no relevance to the situation he left behind at Anfield, nor does alone it mean that we should have kept him.

I think most would consider this a reasonable statement. Why can't you just agree with that?

 

[HC]

If only Rafa's teams played football the same way Rafa plays the media.

Attack is the best form of defence 'n all that.

I don't care who's on the board, he was responsible for this club and team playing decent football and winning matches, we did neither of those and he paid the price.

Having said that, I'm not privy to the ins and outs of what happened last season inside the club so unless/until last season comes properly into the light, I'm prepared to lay off the man.

 

[Fabio]

[quote author=localny link=topic=41990.msg1179288#msg1179288 date=1285087984]
Can we all agree Rafa made some awful mistakes and it was infuriating at times to watch his decisions unfold

Can we also agree that some of our proudest and best moments over the past 20 years came during his reign.

Can we agree that he restored us to the European Elite with regularly solid performances and year on year qualification...

Can we agree he should have done better in the league but ultimately didn't.

Can we all agree we saw him as the Rafatollah in May 2005?

(pops off soapbox)

yay or nay?
[/quote]

yay, but with additions. This post is all (bar the first point) a positive slant that overlooks some issues:

Can we agree rafa alienated some of our better players?
Can we agree rafa wasted a lot of money on average players?
Can we agree Rafa then moaned about a lack of funds after deciding these players weren't good enough?