Rafa's pre match interview

[owenthomas]

now, before i'm lambasted, i want to explain that i was slightly pissed when i saw this and i could be reading something into it that's not there but i have to post this and get some feedback from you's..

 

the pre-match interview with Rafa last night.. he was standing in his suit, looking relaxed and was asked about his contract again and he said there had been contact with the owners.. the interviewer then said something like "do you feel you are at the right club for you footballing wise" and Rafa said "i think we can win lots of trophies for this club"..

 

now i love Rafa's cryptic responses in interviews and at press conferences but there was no need for it here - am i reading too much into this? reading it back it doesnt sound THAT bad but when he said it i kind of felt deflated.. anyone else see it and think similar or am i chatting hungover nonsense!?

[matty]

Rafa looked monumentally uncomfortable to me in that interview.

 

ITV had decided to do something 'a little different' and it failed. I wouldn't take anything Rafa said in that too seriously.

[Stevie H]

ITV should resurrect the tactics truck for interviews with rafa. they might learn something.

[MFletcher]

There are two things. One is what Rafa says to the media. The second is what he actually thinks.

[Des]

ITV should resurrect the tactics truck for interviews with rafa. they might learn something.

 

Andy Townsend sells ice creams out of it now during the summer.

[jimmylibel]

Didn't see the interview but given Rafa's responses when there's previously been speculation about his future that is a remarkably candid response from him I'd have thought.

[Dan]

You've missed out the bit where he said "so yes" at the end of his sentence about winning trophies.

[Red Lecter]

You've missed out the bit where he said "so yes" at the end of his sentence about winning trophies.

 

Well, he did admit at the beginning that he was slightly pissed - the OP, not Rafa . I suggest more than slightly....

[JRC]

Perhaps not worth an extra thread, and a little perverse considering the joy of last night, but did anyone catch the Talksh*te drive time program? They set up a Rafa-bashing session based on his 'respect' interview, and seriously misrepresented it - they pretended not to know where his claim that we were the no 1 Team in Europe came from (suggesting Rafa himself had worked some statistics up to prove his point, no reference to UEFA rankings), argued about he would have to win the League to get full respect (when his comments were about respect for what we have acheived in Europe), tried to imply he was saying he deserved the same Respect for our acheivements as SAF (he didn't, a classic if transparent Straw Man for them to knock down), denied that he doesn't get respect (cue quizzical comments - 'I've never heard any disrespect..'; Ray Houghton had the gall to concur), then undermined their whole position with comments like - 'Of course he got commended for winning in Istanbul - even though he got the team wrong, and was lucky'.

 

Tbh, it was standard TS sensationalist confrontational b*ll*x, and Wright wouldn't recognise a self contradiction if it gave him a parking ticket, but they tried to spice it up by playing the 'race card', throwing in allegations that he had said in Spain that he didn't get respect because he was Spanish, and they tried to make a big deal out of it, encouraging the lowest common denominator callers to comment. But when a Red caller asked where they got this Spanish angle from (afaik the original respect comments came in a televised interview, so there's little suggestion of 'mistranslation' or 'misquotes') they (Durham and Wright) dismissed him and said that they 'spoke with people in Spain that know Rafa'. No other outlet has claimed that Rafa made the 'because I'm Spanish' suggestion - and following the call mentioned, they effectively dropped the Rafa phone-in question like a hot brick in favour of a discussion about - I kid you not - 'What's your favourite font?'. Did they overstep the mark legally, and did they get a warning? A normal Rafa-questioning would easily generate an hour of calls, but this just disappeared off the radar. I'm no lawyer, but if their claim was demonstrably untrue, I think Rafa would have a case, and as Rob Beesley knows, he's not afraid to consult his lawyers - not that he would have been listening to TS at 5:30.

[owenthomas]

You've missed out the bit where he said "so yes" at the end of his sentence about winning trophies.

sound mate, missed that.. that'll do me..

[owenthomas]

I suggest more than slightly....

you'd be right of course!

 

for the first time in about 15 years i had roomspin.. fkin horrible feeling!

[Chili Palmer]

Perhaps not worth an extra thread, and a little perverse considering the joy of last night, but did anyone catch the Talksh*te drive time program? They set up a Rafa-bashing session based on his 'respect' interview, and seriously misrepresented it - they pretended not to know where his claim that we were the no 1 Team in Europe came from (suggesting Rafa himself had worked some statistics up to prove his point, no reference to UEFA rankings), argued about he would have to win the League to get full respect (when his comments were about respect for what we have acheived in Europe), tried to imply he was saying he deserved the same Respect for our acheivements as SAF (he didn't, a classic if transparent Straw Man for them to knock down), denied that he doesn't get respect (cue quizzical comments - 'I've never heard any disrespect..'; Ray Houghton had the gall to concur), then undermined their whole position with comments like - 'Of course he got commended for winning in Istanbul - even though he got the team wrong, and was lucky'.

 

Tbh, it was standard TS sensationalist confrontational b*ll*x, and Wright wouldn't recognise a self contradiction if it gave him a parking ticket, but they tried to spice it up by playing the 'race card', throwing in allegations that he had said in Spain that he didn't get respect because he was Spanish, and they tried to make a big deal out of it, encouraging the lowest common denominator callers to comment. But when a Red caller asked where they got this Spanish angle from (afaik the original respect comments came in a televised interview, so there's little suggestion of 'mistranslation' or 'misquotes') they (Durham and Wright) dismissed him and said that they 'spoke with people in Spain that know Rafa'. No other outlet has claimed that Rafa made the 'because I'm Spanish' suggestion - and following the call mentioned, they effectively dropped the Rafa phone-in question like a hot brick in favour of a discussion about - I kid you not - 'What's your favourite font?'. Did they overstep the mark legally, and did they get a warning? A normal Rafa-questioning would easily generate an hour of calls, but this just disappeared off the radar. I'm no lawyer, but if their claim was demonstrably untrue, I think Rafa would have a case, and as Rob Beesley knows, he's not afraid to consult his lawyers - not that he would have been listening to TS at 5:30.

 

My wife was watching the interviews after the game last night and she made a good point, she said that in any interview or discussion she sees about Rafa they complement him but can't do it without a critisizm attached to the end, kinda like that Houghton comment you mentioned. The one she picked up on was 'well done for beating Madrid but why can't you beat Hull'

 

I know its a fair enough question, but straight after a great win like that? Mourinho or Ferguson would have told the reporter to f*** off.

[Bailo]

I know its a fair enough question, but straight after a great win like that? Mourinho or Ferguson would have told the reporter to f*** off.

It's precisely because Rafa doesn't do that that gives them the freedom to ask s**** like that and to treat him as a comedy figure.

[smithdown]

My wife was watching the interviews after the game last night and she made a good point, she said that in any interview or discussion she sees about Rafa they complement him but can't do it without a critisizm attached to the end, kinda like that Houghton comment you mentioned. The one she picked up on was 'well done for beating Madrid but why can't you beat Hull'

 

I know its a fair enough question, but straight after a great win like that? Mourinho or Ferguson would have told the reporter to f*** off.

 

You could see him looking p*ssed off with that. If we beat someone 10-0 in the final they'd be "Rafa? Rafa? Can we have a quick word? Thanks. Its a big cup you've won but what about that draw against stoke?"