beejay

ManU's remaining games are similar to ours but they have a game in hand & us at home. There's a huge element of luck in winning with last minute goals, all this sh*t about them lately f***in ell you would think that Ferguson planned it that they play b******s for 89 mins then score. We had our share of good fortune earlier in the season but it has run out recently now they have had theirs and hopefully that won't last either. We seem to be at our best when the games come thick & fast (like over Xmas) but go off the boil when there is a bit of a break. Long way to go yet, if Torres gets on a roll we can still do this

I thought Skretl was excellent but Carra is a fish out of water nowadays as a full back and has to go back into the centre. Everton's only threat was down our right and in the last 10 mins it looked from where I was standing (at the other end on the kop) like Benayoun was playing right back, f*ck knows where Carra was. I'm not Arbeloa's biggest fan but he has become a better player in his absence and should start from now on with Agger or Skretl (both are good enough) partnering Carra and Aurelio/Insua at left back

We've had 2 games since the Rafa rant and in both, the refs have given us f*** all. Think it's back-fired badly, it was meant to draw attention to how the mancs receive favourable treatment by the FA & referees because Ferguson has them wrapped round his fingers yet it's actually made things worse with refs working overtime to ensure that they are not seen to be helping us

Terrific opportunity for Robbie Keane to join the party tonight. No pointing, moaning or hands in the air just work your balls off, slam in a couple before half time and take the applause from the crowd when you are subbed after 70 mins with us 5-0 up.

Can that please end all the waffle on here about this issue. How can anyone argue against the manager's right to decide on this fundamental point?

I can remember reading an article after Houllier left saying that he & Parry were often at loggerheads over control of the club. The article was supportive of Parry saying that he acted as a buffer, taking longer term decisions in the interests of the club that should not be the job of the manager. In particular, it was said that managers come & go and it was important for the club's full time executives to keep command structures in place because if a manager was poached elsewhere & took all his staff with him, the club would be in crisis. To be fair, this is different. Rafa doesn't seem to be saying he wants a blank cheque or he wants to negotiate wages, contracts etc or even that he wants full control over the academy. But he does want to have a greater say and he does want to decide on the worth of a new signing provided it is within his budget. As someone else put it - it's like giving your child pocket money and then you spend it for him. It should be capable of sorting out with manager & CEO working together in unison but I suspect it has gone too far for any chance of a reconciliation between Parry & Benitez. One of them will go and Parry is in a far weaker position at the moment.

The timeline baffles me a bit. Rafa said that his agent only received the draft contract on Monday evening. Normally what would then happen is he would take advice and send the contract back, with amendments. This process would happen 2 or 3 times until the parties reach the point where no more compromises can be agreed or the contract is approved. But in this case, Rafa rejects the 1st draft of the contract without making any amendments. Hicks then comes on TV in a matter of minutes stating that all contractual issues are "fixable" and promising to sort them out so Rafa will stay for the next 5 years. This does strike me as internal politics. Rafa & Hicks are in one camp and Parry & Gillett (probably Moores as well) are in the other and at the moment, the latter group holds the casting vote. We can probably see the dead hand of Rick Parry, as CEO, behind the lawyers drawing up the contract and I guess Rafa (& Hicks) know that there is no point trying to reach an accommodation on such a fundamental issue and they have seen fit to "go to the mattresses" and whip up the support of the fans to over-rule the board. Over to us - SOS statement?

Some rumours around that Man City want Rafa in the summer

This escape clause has to be nonsense, it's just Milan & his agent trying to get him on the cheap. It's much more likely they are using the Webster ruling as a means to lower his price but so far as I know no-one other than Webster has tested this through to a conclusion yet? Crouch tried similar tactics during last season when his agent was leaking reports that he could buy himself out of his contract for 2 or 3m yet come the summer and he went for £9-11m. That said, if Agger doesn't sign he will only have 12 months left on his contract and would have to be sold in the summer - but for considerably more than £7.5m. The club have to think this through - if we pay him what he wants we could then sell him for say £20m. If we let him run his contract down to 12 months he would only realise say £10-12m.

It's more likely that rafa, given full control of our transfer dealings, would have bought Barry, kept Alonso (once it became clear no-one would pay £15m+), swerved on Keane & Riera and bought a cheaper striker.

I expected a decent Champions League run, a strong showing in the domestic cups & a good go at the League, ending in a secure 3rd place behind ManU & Chelsea. I also expected to see the back of those 2 chumps who own us. That would have been enough for me. So, in one sense I am ecstatic so far while still being bitterly disappointed that our long-term future remains uncertain. There's a long, long way to go, however, and in 6 months time, it could be that the season has panned out there or thereabouts in line with my pre-season expectations.

All the chief execs will be responsible for negotiating the final price, salaries etc but are they the ones who decide on the value of the player within the overall transfer budget? The difference between us and the other top clubs seems to be that Rafa can only make his recommendation on which players he wants to sign. The manager should have the final say on whether to sign a player and if that means he has to economise in other areas, so be it. Provided he keeps within the transfer budget, it is up to the manager whether to meet the selling club's price even if it exceeds the value originally set aside for that player.

There is an issue about corporate governance but the problem here is clearly Rafa v Parry. Rafa believes Coco has ballsed up too many key transfers and is trying to ensure it doesn't happen again. The main point seems to be that Rafa can only recommend the players, after that Rick is the one who sets the value of the player & negotiates accordingly. The final say on whether to meet a player's valuation should rest with the manager provided he is working within the overall transfer budget.

This article sounds on the ball http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ja...-rafael-benitez Rafa's taking no sh*t at the moment

The big games have brought the best out of us this season. Everton at home means there will be no repeat of the insipid passion-less tripe served up at Stoke and it's just the sort of game we need to get us back in business. We could have a full squad (less Insua) to pick from for pretty much the first time this season which will make Rafa's selection interesting.

Kuyt had 2 good chances in the 1st half - the header wide and the close range shot saved by Sorenson

That's true but we have to include 8 locally trained players out of a 25 man squad. At the moment, this squad has Degen, Darby, Kelly, Irwin & Spearing who cannot be expected to play any conspicuous part in the latter stages of the Champions League. Replacing Pennant with Hammill would add another to that list. The final squad has to be nominated by 1st February and I'm sure Rafa would love to include Hyypia & Insua but needs to balance the locally-trained contingent. Bringing in Hammill & Heskey would allow him to add Sami as well.

Has to be Dalglish. Let Stevie G run the midfield, King Kenny & Torres would destroy defences & we would walk the league

If we are dumping Pennant we will need another "locally-trained" player to replace him in the Champions League squad so it wouldn't be a surprise if Heskey is the one, given that he is experienced & relatively cheap.

Veteran Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia is fast becoming the most wanted man in the January transfer window - Stoke, Fulham, Sunderland, Blackburn and Tottenham all see him as a cut-price option to bolster their defensive options. (Daily Star)

Wow! Go Pepe!!!

While we are on stats & half-time : We have failed to score in the 1st half of 14 of our 25 competitive games this season & only scored 14 of our 38 goals in the 1st half. Rafa's plan is always to retain possession, control the game & minimise the risk of the opposition scoring first but maybe we should step up a gear a bit earlier, it would do my beating heart a lot of good

Marseilles v Atletico will be a war and I'll be surprised if the home side don't get something out of that game, they will be well up for it & the supporters will demand they get stuck in. Rafa has mentioned knocks for Kuyt, Mascherano & Babel and that Alonso is tired so the team almost picks itself : Reina Arbeloa Carra Agger Dossena Benayoun Lucas Gerrard Riera Keane N'gog Keep it tight at the back & nick a 1-0 win, that should do us

Warnock was done by Yossi for the 2nd goal. Insua was very impressive, I was a bit concerned when the team was announced but he had a cracking game. I just wonder if Rafa is now thinking of easing in some of the youngsters, with the report about Hammill being recalled as well.

Many of us have been taking comfort in G&H's crumbling finances in the expectation that we had an alternative - DIC/Sheikh Mohammed - waiting in the wings, ready to step in with their deep pockets. Maybe this is still the case and I, for one, would not expect any new owner to operate on Abramovich or Abu Dhabi lines provided they had a workable plan to keep us competitive. But we might be facing something altogether more sinister pretty soon and I'm not sure if the fanbase realise the dangers ahead. The signs are that Dubai has hit a wall and we can no longer expect them to be in the frame, they have problems of their own. On the other hand, the revelation that Gillett found it necessary to pawn his 50% share a year ago to put up the loan guarantee to the banks and is now facing a margin call is explosive. If events continue to unfold, we may find our ownership changing again but this time to parties with a remit to recover short-term debt. We can forget about the dream team January wish-list - a far more likely scenario is a player sell-off to raise funds.