Liverpool FC Forum

by **glenbuck patriot** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:17 pm

A Reminder to our American Friends............... Rafa Stays!, Maureen....... just watch it....... nuff said!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8DBnSriK18

by **teamleader1** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:31 pm

nobybob wrote:he is not slagging the owners off , he is only aking to be allowed to do his job and manage. He is not asking for any more money on top from what i understand , only selling players to fund any transfers and getting a player on a bosman . These are things that need to be sorted out now not when it suits G+H .How long before they start to want to pick the team we will be like chelski and mureen before u know it. Its G+H that need to keep their big american gobs shut not rafa

Spot on!
I for one think these yanks will do us a lot more harm than good,
Rafas outburst was a response to their, totally out of order, attitude to a top manager going about his business,
Their treatment of Rafa throughout this whole episode has, and still is, a fkn disgrace.
looks to me like they had already decided that Rafa has to go to make way for some yes man of their choice, why else would they treat him so shabbily over routine planning by a top manager, and I'm sure that snake in the grass Parry has been nodding in agreement all along the way,
its not like Rafa will be put on the dole, every top club in Europe would welcome him with open arms, and these no nothing fkers will drive him out.
They have already gone back on their word regarding putting their own money in, their putting the club into 600ml of debt without having to lay out a penny of their own money.
How long before they go back on their 'we wont interfere with team selection' statement?
Maybe with Rafa out of the way they can pick the team.
Its G & H who need to be fkd off, and fast, lets not only show our backing for Rafa on wed, lets let them pair know what we think of their carry on :angry:

by **Scottbot** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:42 pm

Only beating Porto can earn Rafa a stay of execution at Liverpool
By IAN LADYMAN - More by this author » Last updated at 20:00pm on 26th November 2007

Ever since his Liverpool team lost so meekly to Besiktas in the Champions League in Istanbul last month, the week they face Porto at Anfield was destined to be one which defines Rafa Benitez's season. Few suspected it could be the week which determines whether he has a future at Anfield at all.

A stubborn man, over the past five days Benitez has deliberately chosen to go to war with Liverpool's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett over the thorny issue of transfer policy.

A failure to beat Porto at home on Wednesday night will see the Spaniard losing a major — possibly decisive — battle.

As a demonstration will illustrate before kick-off, public favour on Merseyside is currently with Benitez. No surprise there. He is the coach who has brought a Champions League trophy to Anfield.

They, meanwhile, are the Americans who still have everything to prove to sceptical Scousers who require long-term evidence before being fully convinced that the owners are indeed worthy guardians of their club.

Nevertheless, the game of brinkmanship that Benitez began at his peculiar press conference last Thursday — and has continued over the weekend — has massively increased the strain on his relationship with Gillett and Hicks. It has also placed a significant question-mark over his own future.

Victory over Porto is critical. If Liverpool fail they are destined not to qualify for the second stage of the Champions League. This would blow holes in Benitez's persistent clamour for more transfer cash — failure to reach the latter stages would cost Liverpool in the region of £10million — and leave the manager more vulnerable than he has ever been.

If they win, Liverpool's season remains very much alive — they are still unbeaten in the Premiership — and Benitez can head to a December meeting with the Americans with hope that the issues which threaten the future of the club's most progressive recent manager can be resolved.

According to Anfield sources, Benitez believes he will be sacked by the Americans at some stage.

Knowing that Hicks, in particular, was not impressed by the way the Spaniard publicly appealed for transfer funds in the wake of last season's Champions League Final defeat in Athens, Benitez has interpreted recent silences about plans for January as an indication that the owners are planning a future without him.

This was the reason behind last week's farcical press conference that saw Benitez repeat 14 times that he was concentrating on 'preparing and coaching the team' and indeed why he then appeared on the touchline at Newcastle on Saturday dressed in a tracksuit rather than his usual shirt and tie.

Insiders at the club have dismissed Benitez's fears as paranoia, saying he will remain part of the fabric of the club as long as he continues to provide tangible evidence of progress on the field and restrains from embarrassing himself and his employers, as they believe he did last week.

On Monday — four days after what will become an infamous press conference — Benitez began some belated damage limitation.

In the respected and well-read Liverpool Echo newspaper, a 'source close to Benitez' revealed that the manager was still planning for the future.

'Rafa loves it at Liverpool,' said the source, believed to be a Spanish man with a beard. 'All he wants is what's best for the fans. He gets frustrated when he feels he is not able to do that.

'But he is happy with Tom and George owning the club and has enjoyed working with them since they came and has no problem with chief executive Rick Parry.

'The manager has a few transfers he wants to get done, one in January and two Bosmans in the summer, but it looks as though he is going to miss out on the first one now.

'That frustrated him because the first one was a centre half, a position he really feels we need back-up in.

'The frustration stems from the fact that communication has been so difficult with everyone being so far apart and in different time zones.'

Whatever his credentials as a coach, Benitez has never been much of a diplomat and is an equally lousy politician.

Hence this rather clumsy attempt to pin the blame on the Americans for what he clearly feels will be a failed attempt to recruit AC Milan's Georgia defender Kakha Kaladze.

Nevertheless, it is easy to sympathise with his predicament. Despite their media-savvy, open-house image — in contrast to the bunker mentality of the Glazer family at Manchester United — Gillett and Hicks are, by all accounts, not proving particularly adept at getting to grips with the unique world of professional football.

While Benitez quite rightly endeavours to plan for squad improvements in January, the club's owners seem to believe the issue of New Year transfers does not really need to be addressed until the hangovers have cleared on January 1. That, of course, is naive to the point of being ridiculous.

At Old Trafford, the Glazer family may remain unpopular and mistrusted, but their control of the club has not been allowed to alter the working relationship between manager Sir Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill.

At United, Ferguson picks the players, Gill informs the Glazers of the price and more often than not the deal gets done.

It would appear that the chain of command is longer and far more complex at Anfield. In short, Benitez believes it is costing him players.

His recent attempt to independently secure the permanent services of midfielder Javier Mascherano — negotiating with the Argentine's 'owner' Kia Joorabchian about a £17m deal to turn the loan into a fixed move — has annoyed Gillett and Hicks, but Benitez felt that he had to make a point.

It emerged yesterday that Mascherano, seen as having a key role in Liverpool's future, will not commit to a permanent move until he is convinced Benitez is staying.

by **Scottbot** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:44 pm

I8BlueNoses wrote:Same against PSV .....

Gutted i can't be there for this one

PSV last year was awesome! It was a Rafa tribute night. It's because of nights like that he turns down the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Great clubs they might be but they simply can't match us

:buttrock

by **zarababe** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:56 pm

Ciggy wrote:EXCLUSIVE: RAFA ON THE NIGHT HE WENT THE PUB
Mark Platt 11 March 2005

Rafael Benitez has spoken for the first time about the now legendary night he spent in a German bar with 200 or so Liverpudlians and described it as a 'fantastic experience'.
The Liverpool boss stunned a pub load of travelling Reds when he popped into Jameson's Irish bar in Cologne city centre the night before the Champions tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

Together with Paco Ayesteran and Alex Miller he left the team hotel with the intention of finding somewhere quiet to watch the second half of the Chelsea v Barcelona game.

But for once he misjudged the situation.

What followed has already passed into folklore, with every Liverpool fan under the sun now claiming to have been there when 'Rafa went the pub to see the lads'.

"It was fantastic. We went out to see the second part of the Chelsea game but we only ended up seeing our supporters," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv in an exclusive interview at Melwood today.

"The atmosphere was amazing and we could really feel it. Normally we only see or hear them in the stands so it was fantastic to meet them close up.
"I was not expecting there to be so many Liverpool fans in Germany. Just before going into the Irish bar we thought there might be some fans in there but not that many!

"We tried to sneak in without anyone noticing and I said to the first fan 'ssshhhhh ?be quiet', but next thing the whole place erupted and everyone was singing 'Rafa-Rafa-Benitez'.

"I stayed for about 50 minutes but it was impossible to watch the game after that. All the fans gathered around me, singing, shaking my hand and taking photographs with their mobile telephones. I told them to forget about me and watch the game but it was impossible.

"The singing continued all the time I was there. It was great. The fans of this club are totally different to those in Spain. In my third year at Valencia the fans began to sing but here they have been singing since I arrived. They are always singing. And to experience it at close hand in the pub was just fantastic."

So will a tripto the pub now be part of Rafa's regular pre-match routine, especially as it was followed by a memorable win on the pitch?

"Oh no," he laughs. "Normally we will be in the hotel concentrating. It was only because there were important games on the TV and we couldn ?t watch them in the hotel."

The high esteem in which Benitez is held by the Liverpool fans has certainly reached new heights following the midweek trip to Cologne.

But his soaring popularity was best illustrated prior to the Carling Cup Final in Cardiff when a group of supporters paraded through the streets holding a giant framed picture of the 'Rafa-tollah'.

"Yes, I have seen the pictures," he says with a beaming smile across his face. "I must say I was both surprised and impressed.

"It is not normal in Spain, maybe Iran but not Spain! It's a kudos thing and for me as a manager it was fantastic to see the fans showing their support for me in such a way.

"It was just a pity we couldn't have won the final for these supporters and all of our other supporters but I can assure them that we are doing all we can to give them some trophies to celebrate in the future."

How could anyone sack this man?

I was thinkin the same thing the other day doll ...

I won't be at the match but I'm gonna be cherrin the boss on loud and clear ..

I'm also gonna find the 'Joint Chairman's' email contact and email them what Rafa Benitez means and what he has done .. If I get any luck in finding it I'll post it on here and may be all of you can email them .. passion and history - they don't know what they've bought in to - we ain't know Chelsea this is Liverpool FC..

And I still ask where is that pric.k RICK? Coward where is he :angry:

by **Reg** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:58 pm

A message of support from Maureen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcUiWEo5P5k&feature=related

by **lakes10** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:33 pm

not for me to be a bit down on this, but i dont give Rafa my full support....he needs to earn that

by **lakes10** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:37 pm

lakes10 wrote:not for me to be a bit down on this, but i dont give Rafa my full support....he needs to earn that

and heres why

Blackburn 0-0 Liverpool

Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal

Besiktas 2-1 Liverpool

Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham

Liverpool 0-1 Marseille

Liverpool 0-0 Birmingham

FC Porto 1-1 Liverpool

Portsmouth 0-0 Liverpool

this is why i dont give Rafa my full support.

by **metalhead** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:44 pm

He is why I give Rafa's full support

EXCLUSIVE: RAFA ON THE NIGHT HE WENT THE PUB
Mark Platt 11 March 2005

Rafael Benitez has spoken for the first time about the now legendary night he spent in a German bar with 200 or so Liverpudlians and described it as a 'fantastic experience'.
The Liverpool boss stunned a pub load of travelling Reds when he popped into Jameson's Irish bar in Cologne city centre the night before the Champions tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

Together with Paco Ayesteran and Alex Miller he left the team hotel with the intention of finding somewhere quiet to watch the second half of the Chelsea v Barcelona game.

But for once he misjudged the situation.

What followed has already passed into folklore, with every Liverpool fan under the sun now claiming to have been there when 'Rafa went the pub to see the lads'.

"It was fantastic. We went out to see the second part of the Chelsea game but we only ended up seeing our supporters," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv in an exclusive interview at Melwood today.

"The atmosphere was amazing and we could really feel it. Normally we only see or hear them in the stands so it was fantastic to meet them close up.
"I was not expecting there to be so many Liverpool fans in Germany. Just before going into the Irish bar we thought there might be some fans in there but not that many!

"We tried to sneak in without anyone noticing and I said to the first fan 'ssshhhhh ?be quiet', but next thing the whole place erupted and everyone was singing 'Rafa-Rafa-Benitez'.

"I stayed for about 50 minutes but it was impossible to watch the game after that. All the fans gathered around me, singing, shaking my hand and taking photographs with their mobile telephones. I told them to forget about me and watch the game but it was impossible.

"The singing continued all the time I was there. It was great. The fans of this club are totally different to those in Spain. In my third year at Valencia the fans began to sing but here they have been singing since I arrived. They are always singing. And to experience it at close hand in the pub was just fantastic."

So will a tripto the pub now be part of Rafa's regular pre-match routine, especially as it was followed by a memorable win on the pitch?

"Oh no," he laughs. "Normally we will be in the hotel concentrating. It was only because there were important games on the TV and we couldn ?t watch them in the hotel."

The high esteem in which Benitez is held by the Liverpool fans has certainly reached new heights following the midweek trip to Cologne.

But his soaring popularity was best illustrated prior to the Carling Cup Final in Cardiff when a group of supporters paraded through the streets holding a giant framed picture of the 'Rafa-tollah'.

"Yes, I have seen the pictures," he says with a beaming smile across his face. "I must say I was both surprised and impressed.

"It is not normal in Spain, maybe Iran but not Spain! It's a kudos thing and for me as a manager it was fantastic to see the fans showing their support for me in such a way.

"It was just a pity we couldn't have won the final for these supporters and all of our other supporters but I can assure them that we are doing all we can to give them some trophies to celebrate in the future."

and ofcourse the glory of the Champions League.

by **Sabre** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:55 pm

Wrong thread. Edited

by **lakes10** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:05 pm

metalhead wrote:He is why I give Rafa's full support

EXCLUSIVE: RAFA ON THE NIGHT HE WENT THE PUB
Mark Platt 11 March 2005

Rafael Benitez has spoken for the first time about the now legendary night he spent in a German bar with 200 or so Liverpudlians and described it as a 'fantastic experience'.
The Liverpool boss stunned a pub load of travelling Reds when he popped into Jameson's Irish bar in Cologne city centre the night before the Champions tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.

Together with Paco Ayesteran and Alex Miller he left the team hotel with the intention of finding somewhere quiet to watch the second half of the Chelsea v Barcelona game.

But for once he misjudged the situation.

What followed has already passed into folklore, with every Liverpool fan under the sun now claiming to have been there when 'Rafa went the pub to see the lads'.

"It was fantastic. We went out to see the second part of the Chelsea game but we only ended up seeing our supporters," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv in an exclusive interview at Melwood today.

"The atmosphere was amazing and we could really feel it. Normally we only see or hear them in the stands so it was fantastic to meet them close up.
"I was not expecting there to be so many Liverpool fans in Germany. Just before going into the Irish bar we thought there might be some fans in there but not that many!

"We tried to sneak in without anyone noticing and I said to the first fan 'ssshhhhh ?be quiet', but next thing the whole place erupted and everyone was singing 'Rafa-Rafa-Benitez'.

"I stayed for about 50 minutes but it was impossible to watch the game after that. All the fans gathered around me, singing, shaking my hand and taking photographs with their mobile telephones. I told them to forget about me and watch the game but it was impossible.

"The singing continued all the time I was there. It was great. The fans of this club are totally different to those in Spain. In my third year at Valencia the fans began to sing but here they have been singing since I arrived. They are always singing. And to experience it at close hand in the pub was just fantastic."

So will a tripto the pub now be part of Rafa's regular pre-match routine, especially as it was followed by a memorable win on the pitch?

"Oh no," he laughs. "Normally we will be in the hotel concentrating. It was only because there were important games on the TV and we couldn ?t watch them in the hotel."

The high esteem in which Benitez is held by the Liverpool fans has certainly reached new heights following the midweek trip to Cologne.

But his soaring popularity was best illustrated prior to the Carling Cup Final in Cardiff when a group of supporters paraded through the streets holding a giant framed picture of the 'Rafa-tollah'.

"Yes, I have seen the pictures," he says with a beaming smile across his face. "I must say I was both surprised and impressed.

"It is not normal in Spain, maybe Iran but not Spain! It's a kudos thing and for me as a manager it was fantastic to see the fans showing their support for me in such a way.

"It was just a pity we couldn't have won the final for these supporters and all of our other supporters but I can assure them that we are doing all we can to give them some trophies to celebrate in the future."

and ofcourse the glory of the Champions League.

so if Steve McClaren had gone to the pub with all the England fans before the last England game he would still be the boss.......never its down to results mate and right now they are not as good as they could or should have been, I like Rafa as a pesron but he needs to sort a few things out as a manager.

by **lakes10** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:08 pm

I hope you all dont do the back rafa stuff and it backfires on us and we get beat.

by **NANNY RED** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:16 pm

lakes10 wrote:not for me to be a bit down on this, but i dont give Rafa my full support....he needs to earn that

gobsmacked at your post lad and yer im calling you lad cause your most proberbly a lot younger than me.

What more has the man got to do 3 of the greatest years we have had for a long time and he has to earn your support .

I dont wanna offend you lad but we can do without supporters like you

by **Emerald Red** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:43 pm

heimdall wrote:I'll be 100% behind the team for this game, we have to win this one and I think we will, we're on a good roll at the moment.
I do think you guys are being a bit harsh towards Hicks and Gilett though, wouldn't you guys be a bit off if your employee went out and publicly slagged you off??
In any case we all need to unite and make some serious noise on Wednesday.

What the f*ck?! I seriously think you're a WUM now. Remind us all exactly why it is you post on a Liverpool forum by backing up two pr*cks that bought us over who have no clue about football, and now more recently no clue as to what is for the good of our football club. You've made it clear that you insistently want a man that has done more good for our club than any manager since the dark days of the 90's out, so it's no surprise that you'll back two clueless Yanks who share your view. If they sack Rafa, it will go against everything this club has stood for. Shankley would turn in his grave knowing we have owners like H&G and having supporters like you who back their ideals.

by **hello_red** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:04 am

lakes10 wrote:not for me to be a bit down on this, but i dont give Rafa my full support....he needs to earn that

off and support Chelsea! In a situation like this we do not need your kind here.

:down:

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