[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=40105.msg1099774#msg1099774 date=1273093724]
[quote author=Bradley link=topic=40105.msg1099766#msg1099766 date=1273093550]
I've been unsure for a few seasons but still gave him his dues last season when he nearly pulled off winning the league.
But his dealings with Alonso pissed me off, trying to sell him, then trying desperately to keep him the next season, followed by not playing Aqua when he got fit.
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alonso has to take 'some' of the blame with rafa trying to shift him out.
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You're mental - Xabi did exactly the right thing, did exactly what every employee who gets shafted by their employer dreams of doing and I imagine that he only wishes he could have come out and said more about it. The only part of it I am upset about is that I just wish, somehow, Xabi could have put aside his detesting of Rafa and looked to the fans. Would have been excruciatingly hard given he had to put up with Rafa 6 days a week and find the fans only once in 7 days but I sorely wish he could have found a way.
As for Rafa; it's been a strange, almost surreal, reign. Despite so many here finding it much easier to crucify Owen I was disgusted by Rafa's blatant effort to get rid from the very begining - the fact he had Morientes lined up from the start as the replacement simply compounded the disbelief since every man and his dog knew Morientes would never make it happen in this league. The CL run, that amazing night in Istanbul and ironically - given future transpirings - the form of Alonso had me overlooking my objections.
I was sickened by our form in the 05/06 season and I said multiple times during that season our manager just doesn't seem to learn; he refuses to go out and win games for fear that he could lose them. The final against West Ham didn't cover it but in Steven Gerrard he had a player who could distract us - or at least me - from the reality. That performance tempered my distrust, the last 4 months - where we were the form team of the competition - had me trying to believe that he had learned the lessons of how to play. He even went 3 at the back on a couple of occasions and I started to think "He's truly worked it out".
The season of 06/07 I decided Rafa wasn't going to win the league. It's remembered as our CL runner up in Athens but domestically it was a nightmare with every promising performance destroyed by the next outing. I remember having plenty of discussions with GrumpMonkey and others that season of Rafa threatening to deliver but always proving a false dawn and another groundless hope. I vowed that I wouldn't be fooled by yet another promising run.
07/08 started like we were unstoppable; top of the league and plenty of posters couldn't see how anyone could stop us. Then we started to grind out some matches, try to strangle the opposition and we slipped alarmingly off the pace. Plenty of posters declared that they were done with believing in Rafa - we performed when there was nothing to play for but became exceptionally negative when the opportunity was there. Once again we finished very strongly though were never a hope of challenging the top 3. I was convinced he couldn't do it in England, congratulated myself on not "falling" for yet another promise and the only thing that stopped me wanting rid was I couldn't see a better, realistic alternative.
2008/09 - so many of the Rafa devotees rest their souls on this season but the reality is it was no different to the previous 3 seasons. We were given every opportunity by the mancs and Chelsea from October to January but we played horrible football and let them stay with us. Then the mancs went ahead and it looked like the chance was gone when, exactly as in previous seasons, we started performing. It was a glorious run and I struggled mightily to stick to my vow but found myself wondering "what if"? "What if" he's actually, somehow, worked it out and makes this happen. But we were always behind from then on and only produced our best at the time we had basically said the chance was gone. For some it was proof that Rafa was the promised one but for me it just confirmed his previous seasons were the norm and he could not take us to the summit.
Outstanding in cup competitions and a genius in Europe but never the manager of a title holder in England. It's been a conviction borne of a thousand cuts but, bit by bit during 05/06, 06/07 and 07/08 he convinced me he was not the man and that like every Liverpool supporter who wants the title I should be looking elsewhere.
