Liverpool FC Forum

[bigmick]

Very soon the original question could potentially look like it's a bit out of context. Over the next three or four matches if we don't hit a bit of a purple patch, we are going to be out of it quick smart by the look of it. Man Utds next four games are Everton (H), West Ham (A), Fulham (H) and Blackburn (H). Now I know we failed to beat both West Ham and Everton at home (Fulham as well since we mention it), but I've a sneaking suspicion they won't to be honest. There's every chance they could win all four, and obviously us drawing every game is going to see them viewable only through the most powerful of binoculars pretty quickly.

Just for reference we've got Wigan away tonight, Chelsea at home, Portsmouth away and Man City at home. Definately not the easiest run of games, but we're goign to have to at the very least get within a point or two of matching the Mancs haul I reckon.


Just to throw a spanner in the works, what if it does go pearshaped? What if the Mancs do win it at a canter?

Should Rafa be sacked if we finish 3rd, 14 points off the top of the table?   That's the question.

[Raffmaker]

Rafa should go if we get beat at home to Chelsea. a point....he just about survives.

[Effes]

Rafa should go if we get beat at home to Chelsea. a point....he just about survives.

What fuckin use is a point now?

[alanricouk]

Let him stay his contract. Don't renew it. Then bye.

[*_Ruthless_*]

I dont think we will ever win the league under Rafa so my answer to the question is YES!

[lakes10]

the Chelsea has always been a non event in my eys, its been the smaller clubs that we needd to beat to pick up the points, then that make the Chelsea game an event, as it stands now even a win will not do much(apart from giving the "in rafa we trust" lot something to use.

[teamleader1]

Without a doubt he should go 

Dont you think hes fkng up this season with his negativity, crazy substitutions & line ups? 

Utd are 3pts clear now and Villa are level!
A pound to a fkn penny that Fergie wouldnte have thrown away the advantage we had.
Lets get real here Rafa is NOT a great manager, he fks up far to many times to be considered as one!
Even in the cup game he brought in Babel & Dossena totaly fking up our left side by playing 2 players who are completely off thier game at the moment! WHY? what fkn sense did it make?
Hes been here long enough to know better, Im being honest when I say I think the title has already gone 

Shhhh sweetheart - the boys are talking football. Nothing to concern you.

Fetch us some beers, will you?

Your coming across as a right gobshyte lad!
Didnte you see the game tonight
Are you going to the chelsea game?
if so, do you feel confident?

[lakes10]

Very soon the original question could potentially look like it's a bit out of context. Over the next three or four matches if we don't hit a bit of a purple patch, we are going to be out of it quick smart by the look of it. Man Utds next four games are Everton (H), West Ham (A), Fulham (H) and Blackburn (H). Now I know we failed to beat both West Ham and Everton at home (Fulham as well since we mention it), but I've a sneaking suspicion they won't to be honest. There's every chance they could win all four, and obviously us drawing every game is going to see them viewable only through the most powerful of binoculars pretty quickly.

Just for reference we've got Wigan away tonight, Chelsea at home, Portsmouth away and Man City at home. Definately not the easiest run of games, but we're goign to have to at the very least get within a point or two of matching the Mancs haul I reckon.


Just to throw a spanner in the works, what if it does go pearshaped? What if the Mancs do win it at a canter?

Should Rafa be sacked if we finish 3rd, 14 points off the top of the table?   That's the question.

"Should Rafa be sacked if we finish 3rd, 14 points off the top of the table?   That's the question. "


easy......yes....but is there a manager out there that is good and not happy at their club right now?   no

[REDTILLDEAD]

Nice and simple if we dont win the league should Rafa be sacked or do you want Rafa sacked if he fails to win the league ?

For me its no - as i feel we will end up a lot closer to the winners if its not us and that to me shows improvement and something to build on a give us a platform to have a go next season .

Where have i heard those words from before?  building?, platform? next season?...i have been hearing the same drivel coming from rafa for the last 5 seasons!.....for fukks sake whats wrong with some of you lot on this site?...cant you face up to reality we are never gonna win the prem with this spanish waiter get rid i say and stop clinging to a dream that has well gone down with the sun. Rafa spouts the same drivel season after season.

[Penguins]

No, for 2 simple reasons

1. What else is available?
2. When you set the expectation before the season you stick to them. After the season you evaluate what you believed before the season and go from there. No knee jerk reactions
during the marathon that is the season itself, because there are bound to be ups and downs.

But..
No matter what Rafa better learn how things work in the PL because so far he has not.
Slow players must have skill in aboundance or they will not survive in the PL. Kuyt= OUT!
Thinking a 1-0 will be as easy to protect in the PL as La Liga= WRONG.
Playing a slow paced game like in la liga when 90% of the
teams park the bus= BIG NO!
A defensive mindset will never win you a title in the PL= TRUE!
Hard work with no end product will get you nowhere= TRUE!

[boodiddy1]

Not winning the league this year will not be a disaster. I never thought we could to be honest. However, if rafa can't learn from his mistakes, or his unwilling to change his ideas, then yes, he must go.

personally, i've had enough. The teams play is getting to be just as poor as houlliers was. He must get rid of the duds and embrace 4-4-2 with gerrad in the middle.

[oakton]

The major problem with Rafa is that he does not put the best team on the pitch and we are continuing to not winning games like this.  If he keeps doing this (which he has for 2-3 years now), he really needs to go.

[Owzat]

You have to wonder how many starts he needs, or if he has the ability to maintain more than the odd sprint or half-marathon. Many fans have their ideas on how long a manager should get, some think the "fergie template" is a good one (reminds me of the Houllier "five year plan" myself), but I'm of the view that if a manager can't take a side close inside five years then the chances are he never will. The longer he gets without achieving his goal, the less likely it is he ever will.

IF circumstance changes ie the amount of money and kind of players you can buy changes, then you start from scratch. But if someone gave Rafa a £300m budget with no interference on transfers, I'd simply say if he can't make a title challenge in a couple of years then the chances are he never will ie the time given is shorter due to the goal being made bigger/easier. Rafa has had plenty of money to spend, the smokescreen about Rafa only getting his 3rd, 4th or 5th choice player is just that - I'm sure O'Neill isn't exactly fielding his dream team and they're right up with us without spending nearly as much.

I'm almost tempted to suggest we get shot of Rafa now and go for a manager like Josie, as little as I like him, to try and salvage the decent start. Cause I can only see it panning out the same as any other season, we're picking up points where we dropped them last season but dropping them this where we didn't drop them last season eg Wigan away, Everton home, villa away, Tottenham away, West Ham home, Fulham home....................... Still some fans seem reluctant to accept we're not much better off in the corresponding fixtures this season, perhaps because we beat Man Utd and Chelsea.

We are three points better off after 23 games than in any previous season. BUT that's still a long way off where we need to be, because other seasons were poor and not anywhere near good enough. I'm unconvinced "not good enough" + 3 points = title contenders. Have we made progress? Not really, not in any significant amounts or visibly. Tactics are questionable, transfers are questionable, man management is questioned and results are disappointing. In five years Rafa has added good players to the team, but he signs half a dozen or more players a season and over five years you might hope that means we have a squad capable of a title challenge. Do they need to be absolutely the best players around? No. Rafa certainly needs to get something like the best out of each of them a lot more than he does. You can't tell me that Benayoun, Riera, Torres, Gerrard, Carragher, Kuyt, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Alonso, Keane and maybe one or two others, aren't good players. The same squad that beat Man Utd, that beat Chelsea, that won 8 out of 10 games at the start of the season and has lost only once.

I'd maybe set Rafa an ultimatum, win 8 of the next 10 league games or you're out. That's pretty much what we need to do, maybe it's the kick up the b-side Rafa needs

[tubby]

This season he has himself to blame by throwing the club out of focus with his contract business. If it were a player he would say wait till the summer to discuss it yet he maks a point to let everyone know he has rejected it midway into a season. You could argue that he he knew that would destabalise the team and he is showing the owners what happens if he doesnt get his way. Sounds like a crazy idea doesnt it but Rafa is a calculating man so I think he knew this would happen and wanted it to happen this way.

[Ciggy]

This season he has himself to blame by throwing the club out of focus with his contract business. If it were a player he would say wait till the summer to discuss it yet he maks a point to let everyone know he has rejected it midway into a season. You could argue that he he knew that would destabalise the team and he is showing the owners what happens if he doesnt get his way. Sounds like a crazy idea doesnt it but Rafa is a calculating man so I think he knew this would happen and wanted it to happen this way.

Thats a possibility, but it would be very selfish of Rafa to do such a thing its not out of the question though.