Mullah_Owen

For those of you who wanted Rafa to get sacked (and there were quite a few of you) there it is, served on a f*cking silver platter for you. Hope you all f*cking enjoy it. I am ashamed to be calling myself a supporter of this club after this latest debacle. The longer the two f*ckwits remain in charge the worse it will get. They have dragged the name of the club through the mud and pissed all over it.

There is no point trying to back Rafa on here. Some people on here have already made their decision regardless of the circumstances and what happens between now and the end of the season.

Who says we are the best fans in the world? We seem to think we are but it is absolute tosh. We are happy to line the streets when we win trophies but are quick to call for the manager's head the moment things do not go the way we expect. If we stuck together through the highs and lows then yes we can be called the best fans in the world. But we far from it judging by the comments on this forum. 'Best Fans In The World'? My f*cking ars*.

And I am sure Maurinho would have us playing attractive attacking football that you all crave.

There is a spring in the Luton side.

Luton's keeper is brill. Not sure how we are going to get past him.

Finally someone who talks sense.

And that is your justification for sacking Rafa. He didnt say the things you wanted to hear at the start of the season and therefore should be sacked. Genius. Best get on the phone to G&H, they will need you when they look for a new manager after taking your advice and sacking Rafa.

Bullsh*t post. Its you who cant see the wood from the trees.

How about the players not performing to their ability and making schoolboy mistakes like with Wigan's freekick.

Good post my man. It sickens me the amount of criticism Rafa has to take. I admit I have had a go at him but that is usually during the match when I am a little p*ssed off. But this is unreal. I dont think Fergie would have lasted 3 seasons at Utd in this day and age given the results he got in his first 3 seasons in charge at the club. I mean he won f*ck all in his first 5 seasons. F*ckin hell guys, give Rafa some slack. The owners are also playing on this. They tighten the purse strings so Rafa cant buy anymore players and has to make do with what he has. He cant challenge for the title with the players he has as some of them are simply not good enough which means he is on a hiding to nothing. Blame the players and blame the owners. But leave Rafa alone.

Thats just match day anger. I love him really. He is a legend.

Boll*cks. It really pisses me off when people say things like 'Rafa has had a lot of money to spend'. Yes has spent money but it is nothing compared to what Chelsea and Utd have spent over the same period. Rafa had to buy first teamers and squad players. He was put in this situation because of the sh*t that Houllier bought and also the fact that he had to buy his own players. I dont think Rafa gets a fair deal as he is always compared to Arsenal, Utd and Chelsea who have either spent more money than Rafa or have had managers who have been there longer than Rafa and therefore have had more time to build what they have. Also not forgetting the fact that Fergie and Wenger are actually very good managers in their own right. But better than Rafa, I am not too sure. Rafa has spent something like £90-£100m in 4 years since he has been here which is around £25m per year or one Essien. He has also recouped close to £30m over the same period. Utd on the other hand have spent over £150m over the same time not forgetting the fact that Fergie had been spending well before that to lay the foundations. And it is also worth pointing out that despite Fergies outlay prior to last season he had won f*ck all for 3 seasons other than the league cup. Hmm nice. And I seem to remember that Fergie won 1 FA Cup in his first six seasons at Utd despite spending huge amounts in that time. Wenger has been at Arsenal for 11 years but inherited a fairly polished side when he took over. He has brought young players through but he has had 11 years to put that in place. How many youngsters did he bring through prior to last two seasons that made a really big impact. Not many is the answer.

Name the time and the place if you've got the balls. Pr*ck.

One simple response to that. F*ck off. He maybe a squad player at f*cking hell. We lost today because those f*ckers had the luck and we made one mistake in the game and were punished for it. They made 3 mistakes and werent punished. That is the is difference in these games, nothing to do with Rafa. On the whole our defence dealt with everything they threw at us. How many f*cking saves did Reina make. That is what pisses me off about playing the scum. The media will start bigging up their darlings but to be honest with they showed f*ck all going forward. A bit like us.

Like I said we need to find out if Capello is still available.

Has Capello signed the England contract. If not we should make a move.

We are out of it. They will hammer us in the 2nd half. F*cking bast*rds. How many f*cking times will we lose to these c*nts. Rafa's record against the top teams is f*cking s***. F*ck me. F*ck, F*ck, F*ck, F*ck.

I think we will lose today. I have a bad feeling about it. Against Marseille I was confident but not against these lot.

There is criticism and there's one sided criticism. What Toshack said was completely one sided particularly when he said that Rafa has not shown anything on the pitch for the money spent. Well let me point out a few facts to Toshack: i. We have the best squad we've had in 15 years - FACT ii. We have been in four finals and won two in the last three years - FACT iii. We have never been closer to challenging the league than we have this season - FACT To say Rafa has not shown anything for the investment made is utter tripe. As is the point about the owners being right to slam on the brakes. They didnt just slam on the f*cking breaks, they turned the car off, locked the doors and ran off with the f*cking keys leaving Rafa stuck in neutral. As for calling Toshack a c*nt, I remember threads where Dalglish and Hansen were slagged off on here and they made much bigger contributions than Toshack. In summary Toshack is a c*nt.

What he did in the past does not make up for what he is doing now. It is ok to criticise the manager but you have to have a constructive balanced criticism. Toshack's isnt. He slams Rafa in public by saying he needs to deliver before asking for more money. F*ck me, has not already delivered 4 finals having won two of those. I said it before and I say it now, Toshack is a c*nt for coming out with those quotes.

I read this article in the Echo. Pisses me off when ex-players think they know better. Success now a must for Rafa Benitez - John ToshackDec 11 2007 Liverpool Echo FORMER Liverpool great John Toshack believes it is time for Reds manager Rafael Benitez to start delivering before tackling the club’s owners about transfers again. Benitez had a high-profile disagreement with Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks over a perceived lack of support in his attempts to bring in new players. However, Toshack has sided with the co-chairmen in their stance of wanting success on the field first. Liverpool’s first priority is to beat Marseille tonight to secure passage into the knockout stages of the Champions League. “The Americans are well within their rights to slam the brakes on,” said the Wales manager. “This is Rafa’s fourth season and I guess he’s getting near to having signed 50 players - many of whom are now not even with the club. “The unfinished business he and Liverpool have in front of them is to finally win the Premier League.”

Reasonably balanced article. Cant disagree with much of that. Hindsight may be a wonderful thing but it can still provide perspective on a crisis. Take this from Jim Lites, president of the Dallas Stars ice hockey team when he assuaged concerns that selling Liverpool FC to a Texan who made his billions through leveraged buy-outs might bring a more ruthless approach to decision-making at Anfield. "You guys are in for a treat and I'm sure the fans will come to appreciate Tom's style," was Lites' description of the new Liverpool co-chairman, Tom Hicks, in February. "He doesn't meddle. At Dallas we are always fighting near the top and Tom will take advice from the general manager, question the whys, and he will take a long-term view. He won't buck the trend in the short-term at Liverpool. Rafa will be the guy who makes the decisions." Lites is an employee of Hicks. So is Rafael Benítez, although he is unlikely to bestow the same compliments on the man who has become a powerful adversary. Hicks, the more vocal of Liverpool's two US owners, and George Gillett will be the focus of discontent tomorrow when fans loyal to their European Cup-winning manager turn a must-win Champions League fixture into a pro-Benítez rally. This afternoon the Spaniard will emphasise the need for concentration on the performance, but it is what he says regarding a drama he has inflamed that will have as much influence on his immediate future as the outcome against Porto. The Liverpool manager let it be known through "close sources" yesterday that he is prepared to offer an olive branch to Gillett and Hicks, having risked his future at a club he undoubtedly cherishes by raging against their transfer restrictions and lack of faith this past week. Yet the Americans believed that would be the case last Friday, 24 hours after Benítez first brought their dispute into the public domain, and the following afternoon at Newcastle he courted the sack by stirring the nest once more. A contrite message today will confirm the manager's belief that he has a future, plus a belated understanding that he has picked the wrong fight, although the final judgment call is not his to make. Benítez's predicament mirrors events that preceded his departure from Valencia and Jose Mourinho's drawn-out exit from Chelsea, not that he would care for comparisons with his old enemy. Last week he was instructed to cool on a £4m approach for the Milan defender Kakha Kaladze ahead of the January window plus two free transfers for next summer and responded with unconcealed rage at what he perceives as continual dithering on signings by his paymasters. The Spaniard is believed to have been informed by Javier Mascherano's third-party owner, Kia Joorabchian, that the Argentinean's £17m transfer to Liverpool will not proceed in the current uncertain climate. What effect that might have on the intended olive branch remains to be seen. As so often in a dispute between two stubborn parties, there are merits in their respective arguments. Reading through a transcript of the interview with Lites and Jeff Cogen, president of Hicks' Texas Rangers baseball operation, several opinions stood out for their prescience. Both suggested Hicks would revise Liverpool's stadium plans and return with a bigger, bolder proposal that would "make sure the fans have the best experience". He has done so, and planning permission is now in place for a futuristic 60,000-stadium with the potential to rise to 76,000. Yet that has come at a considerable cost to the club, £400m the latest estimate, and loan repayments will impact on a manager's spending until the stadium opens as an Emirates-like cash cow in 2011. The stadium is a necessity to close the gap on Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, and represents a vision the club has often lacked. But Benítez is not a man to wait patiently for the builders to leave and signings of the calibre of Fernando Torres to arrive with increased frequency. "If there are revenues available then, rest assured, Tom will spend what he needs to be competitive," was another point made by Lites. If there are revenues available. The Liverpool manager's "bigger picture" differs to the business model of Gillett and Hicks and understandably so, but to be denied access to Bosman transfers illustrates the lack of confidence in Benítez. For a proud man responsible for winning the European Cup with a mediocre squad in 2005, who almost claimed a second last season and has also lifted the FA Cup, Uefa Cup and two Spanish league titles, this is nothing less than an insult. Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League and while progress has at times been painfully slow, it is there. Benítez has made mistakes in the market, too, but, fortunately for his owners they have been quickly shipped out of a squad whose overall value has risen significantly with the Spaniard in charge. Both sides now have a duty to find some common ground before it really is too late.

All I want to know is when the f*ck did Rafa openly criticise the clubs transfer policy as most papers seem to be implying. What is wrong with saying 'maybe they dont understand the European transfer system, it is different from America.' The papers are sh*t stirring. F*ck me, they are all absolute c*nts. There has been a massive w*tchhunt ever since Rafa took over because they all know that he is the one manager who can deliver the Premiership. They cant bear the thought of their darlings Scum not winning the title.