The Rafa Show in Dublin

[Rosco]

It's on tonight and I declined to go in the end because I thought it would be ridiculous. Anyway Stulikesdrums is there and sent the following text half an hour ago:

"This Rafa thing is fucking painful. you'd be laughing your head off"

Then a couple of minutes ago:

"he's just had 8 people on stage to demonstrate zonal marking. Bibs and everything"

 

[gkmacca]

Gawd, Rafa, just get a job!

 

[gene hughes]

You're a big chicken Rosco.

 

[the count]

You're a big chicken Rosco.

Betcha he wouldn't have told Rafa that he was clueless and that he knew more than him about football

 

[gene hughes]

If Rafa and Rosco got in a fight I betcha Rafa would pull Rosco's jumper over his head.

 

[peterhague]

Spoon and I are going to the London equivalent of this next Tuesday. I can't wait for the zonal marking bit!! Yay!

 

[the count]

 

[Fallon]

Is it a Q&A at all? I'd love to grill him over Alonso.

 

[Cerberus]

He did an interview for phantom fm the other morning and after 5 minutes of listening to him squirm around any good questions he was asked I just had to turn it off. It reminded me of his cringe worthy post match interviews after we'd lost. I loved/hated Rafa in equal measure but he just cuts a bit of a sad figure these days.

 

[Rosco]

Is it a Q&A at all? I'd love to grill him over Alonso.

Stu said he slates Xabi in a sly way during it

 

[Fallon]

Here's hoping someone transcribes it. Alonso has never struck me as anything but professional, I'd love to know (from both sides) what happened.

 

[peterhague]

Here's hoping someone transcribes it. Alonso has never struck me as anything but professional, I'd love to know (from both sides) what happened.

I think the suggestion is that Alonso refused to play in the CL qualifier against Standard Liege in 2008.

But IMO the most pertinent unanswered question in the whole Alonso saga is actually favourable to Rafa, namely that he's quoted in that book by Brian Reade as saying in 2007 that Alonso aready wanted to go back to Spain. If that is true then it surely casts a whole new light on what happened the following summer in trying to arrange his sale.

 

[Fallon]

Wasn't that so he could be at the birth of his child?

Interesting, if true, about Alonso wanting to go back to Spain. In more recent times, players who have wanted that have had no qualms about making it known, and managers with that problem are usually transparent regarding it.

 

[gkmacca]

If he's in Ireland and he starts that 'moving around the salt and pepper' tactics talk I just hope some sensible person stops him and says, 'Now look: THIS one is for your steak, and THIS one is for your chips. Now behave!!!!'

 

[Rosco]

Has any other manager ever had to engage in this kind of nonsense before?

 

[peterhague]

Wasn't that so he could be at the birth of his child?

Interesting, if true, about Alonso wanting to go back to Spain. In more recent times, players who have wanted that have had no qualms about making it known, and managers with that problem are usually transparent regarding it.

Well the quote is from around Dec 2007, so predates the incident with the birth by a few months. I agree, if it's true, it's very interesting indeed. It's right there in the book, wholly unremarked upon there, and anywhere since, as far as I know, but is potentially highly significant.

 

[Bradley]

Has any other manager ever had to engage in this kind of nonsense before?

Rafa is the Alex Higgins of football. Going around playing trick shots against amateur snooker know it alls.

 

[gkmacca]

He also keeps referring to himself as 'we'. I know he wants to encourage the view that he is surrounded by a huge team of specialists, but it sounds ridiculous.

 

[LarryHagman]

I hope the dole stop his Job Seeker's Allowance.

 

[StevieM]

Has any other manager ever had to engage in this kind of nonsense before?

Well sure, everything they do at a football club is irrelevant, so they may as well go on tour for jollies. 🙂

 

[moron]

Seriously I cannot believe that someone like him is not being offerred a job by a top club with good resources. What the fuck happened at Inter ? - for all his faults the man won La Liga and uefa cup, plus CL and FA cup with us, also bringing us second, and taking us to another CL final. Why are the top clubs not going for him ? and if they are why is he not taking any of the jobs. He is cutting a sad figure like you guys are pointing out. Could it be the LFC effect ? - once an LFC manager who has the Kops support, and experiences the European nights - will it ever match up ?

I am getting the feeling that he is going to make a come back and is waiting for BR to fuck it up.

 

[Hyena]

IMO It's a combination of the following:
(1) His tainted record at Liverpool / Inter & his strong personality, which means that no top club wants him
(2) Having been at the top of the game for a while, he's not willing to take up a role at a lesser club
(3) A lack of hunger on his part for a new project. Everyone knows his ideas on football and what he brings to the table. He doesn't think he extend his record, or prove anything.

 

[localny]

Well said Moron. His achievements at Valencia alone are phenomenal. Never mind with us. Plus the loyalty he showed to us when RM came knocking makes the man one of a kind despite his well documented faults. Yes he's a little too self promoting but just because his record was tarnished by H G and Inter, making him a tad defensive. How many other clubs have won La Liga except Barca and RM in the past 20 years. There's your answer. And twice he managed it. Great post by Hyena above.

 

[StevieM]

Tainted - tainted in what way?

He was talked about for the Chelsea job, but there's only about 3 jobs he'd be interested in.

Montse probably arranged the whole tour to stop him moping around the house setting the garden gnomes in defensive formations all round the garden.

You can just see her asking him what he would like for dinner.... He'd be straight into his pocket and out with his notebook - complete with stats on all the meals she's ever cooked and comments on the meals performance.

 

[LarryHagman]

I wouldn't hire Rafa to mow my lawn.
He'd complain that my mower was a Flymo when he wanted a Black & Decker, he'd cry bad tools/lack of funds when I handed him some shears instead of a strimmer, he'd try and flog my favourite secateurs around the neighbourhood without even mentioning it, he'd concentrate on trying to cultivate some European grass totally unsuitable for the environment I live in then finally I'd find him negotiating to do the lawn of some bloke down the road leaving mine looking threadbare as fuck, taking years to repair.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Tainted - tainted in what way?
Montse probably arranged the whole tour to stop him moping around the house setting the garden gnomes in defensive formations all round the garden.

Ha! Top quality that.

 

[juniormember]

I wouldn't hire Rafa to mow my lawn.
He'd complain that my mower was a Flymo when he wanted a Black & Decker, he'd cry bad tools/lack of funds when I handed him some shears instead of a strimmer, he'd try and flog my favourite secateurs around the neighbourhood without even mentioning it, he'd concentrate on trying to cultivate some European grass totally unsuitable for the environment I live in then finally I'd find him negotiating to do the lawn of some bloke down the road leaving mine looking threadbare as fuck, taking years to repair.

But your lawn would then be ranked number 1 in Europe. One of the top 5 lawns in England for half a decade, too.
Not bad for a moaning gardner.

 

[moron]

But your lawn would then be ranked number 1 in Europe. One of the top 5 lawns in England for half a decade, too.
Not bad for a moaning gardner.

LOL - No 1: Lawn in Europe !!! - champion !!!!

Larry - I don't get why everyone is so upset with Rafa, the only player he ever got that did not impact our team much (who is worthy of note due to their price) is Aqualani. Once could argue that he hardly had the chance to work with the player due to his injuries at the time. His dispute with the owners and the financial situation was obvious for all to see at the time - and his quote about him becoming a 'Bank Manager' is probably not far from the truth. We all know how dodgy those previous American owners were. As far as I can remember - our team was not in that much of a decline - we were hampered by injuries in his last full season with us, and never had the adequate backup on the bench to meet that shortfall - thats why I think the season before or the one before that where we lost big against Arsenal in the Carling Cup he had that rant about not having the funding for developing talented youngsters. As some have already argued the man pretty much funded himself during the good years with us by qualifying in the CL and getting past the group stages. I dread to think what would have happened had he not qualified in one of those seasons considering our owners who seem to be running the club on debt.

For those of you who argue about his stint with Inter - it was pretty obvious why he left, and even as someone who followed that Inter team madly when Brazil Ronaldo was playing for them, that team he inherited from Jose was a very aging team who had their last hurrah in winning the CL. In many ways one could describe it as the same as Chelsea were last season, but Inter were probably not ready to make the necessary investment to replace the many aging players they had. Jose was clever and knew when to get out and probably realized the end. For f*cks sake Zanetti was still playing for them (he is 39 now) when they won that CL. Before any of you say it - if Jose came against Rafa that year in the CL, I think we all know who would win.

Bottom line is - he was a top manager for us, and like many of you I think it got a little too much in the last few years with him in charge - but I think the problem was that he got too involved with trying to deal with the owners which detracted from his main duty as the coach/manager of LFC. I have no doubt that Rafa still cares about this club, and it's supporters and if he had had the current owners who have been very good since taking over - then I believe Rafa would still be at this club and perhaps we would be a top 4 team and Europe would shake at the thought of facing us in CL competition.

 

[keniget]

It must be weird to live in that 2005-06 bubble. It seems that a lot of what he does these days trades off that.

Personally I don't get the appetite for all this stuff. I had a great time during that first season and the CL win was genuinely the stuff of fairy tales, but it's been over 6 years now and I'm long since done with it.

 

[localny]

I wouldn't hire Rafa to mow my lawn.
He'd complain that my mower was a Flymo when he wanted a Black & Decker, he'd cry bad tools/lack of funds when I handed him some shears instead of a strimmer, he'd try and flog my favourite secateurs around the neighbourhood without even mentioning it, he'd concentrate on trying to cultivate some European grass totally unsuitable for the environment I live in then finally I'd find him negotiating to do the lawn of some bloke down the road leaving mine looking threadbare as fuck, taking years to repair.

Just say thanks for Istanbul and for building a great team., and one of the best nights in 20 years. Leave it at that. He brought us to heights, I thought we would never see again. We're a classier club that such comments (not just you, but others).