Liverpool FC Forum

[JohnBull]

If you want something kept private you do not tell the biggest Spanish reporters mate without wanting it to come out, on your other point, you do not spend half the night in the bogs in The Newz Bar and the rest of the night swiggin Crystal with a nose running like a glass blowers @rse.

[metalhead]

Ballague has done exactly what Raffa wanted him to.
It's all getting to be like an American soap opera. "Nothing is as it seems Agent Moulder".

I'm still not convinced mate, I still don't believe Rafa wanted to.

[account deleted by request]

I don't think Rafa says ANYTHING without thinking about it first, if he has told people, its because he wanted them to know, and if he told or allowed someone to tell Balague it was because he wanted it to come out. I think it was to maybe put pressure on Parry rather than the owners in this instance, but I think it was deliberate, or else why would he have also said what he did at the news conference yesterday?

I noticed today when he was asked about Alonso, he still wouldn't confirm that Alonso is staying (maybe its not up to him?)

[rafa09]

WHY do you believe anything that the press say? Liverpool echo are the only media to take seriously. The rest are FULL OF SHTIE

[maguskwt]

Rafael Benitez has distanced himself from claims that he has been close to resigning as Liverpool manager - and once again made it clear to his club's power brokers why Gareth Barry was his principal summer transfer target.

The Spaniard's interest in the Aston Villa midfielder has been this close season's longest-running transfer saga, and one which some reports suggest brought Benitez to the brink of leaving Anfield.

But having watched his side record a fortunate 1-0 win over Sunderland in their Barclay's Premier League opener at the Stadium of Light, with a trademark Fernando Torres strike the difference, he reiterated his complete commitment to the Reds.

He said: 'I don't read headlines on the day of the game, but my commitment is 100% - with the fans, with the players and with the club in general. I say 100 times my family is happy here - we want to win trophies at this club because it is a massive club.

'If we have problems because we are not doing things which, in my opinion as a manager we could do, I will work as hard as I can for the club.'

While Benitez refused to overtly name Barry as the source of the recent discontent at the club, he was as clear as he could be that he wants the versatile England international to join his squad sooner rather than later.

'I will not talk about any player - but in April I was talking about this (behind the scenes),' he recalled.

'We tried to do things in confidentiality, but sometimes you cannot and you need to explain before the end of the transfer window. If the manager has an idea and it is not a question of money, then we have to make the right decisions in terms of whom we bring in. That has to be the decision of the manager.'

The Spaniard was also quick to emphasise the need for greater speed in his club's dealings.

Barry has already played for Villa in the UEFA Cup - meaning he would be ineligible for the Champions League group stages - a situation Benitez is clearly unhappy about.

'We have to be quicker,' he said.

'I thought this four years ago and I think it now. If you are quicker it is easier to sign the target you have.'

Benitez also confirmed he has been given the green light by co-owner Tom Hicks over the availability of funds - but his refusal to name George Gillett or chief executive Rick Parry may only fuel talk of a deep rift between the club's major players.

'I was in contact with Tom Hicks, and he told me we had the money. We have sold players for more than £20million in the summer, and he told me 'if you sell players you can buy with that too'.

'I have the support of at least one of the owners. I sent emails to all of them, but he [Hicks] was clear we had the money.

'It is not something that I can explain. You have to analyse it - but to me it is clear: they were supporting me if we had money, and we do have money.'

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news....cc=4716

*********************************************

I am behind rafa in all of this... he is the one with the best interest of the club in the heart... the club is soo poorly run right now that it's embarrassing with factions not willing to communicate with each other... and sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get things moving... and that I think is just what rafa did...

[The_Rock]

Last season when a british journalist wrote sh1t about rafa, he opening called him a liar.

Just checking.......But does he have anything to tell about Guillem balague ?

If rafa is serious, he should publicly distance himself from Guillem balague.....

[Number 9]

Ballague can fuc'k off..this is LFC!
Who does he think he is peddling dirt..I dont care what he said when he said it or who he said it to!Bottom line is he's a shi'te chucking ratbag like every other journo that ever tried to entertain this club!
ONLY ONE THING FOR IT..WIN and keep winning..its the only way to silence them!!

[Owzat]

I don't like the way this is going.  I don't think Benitez will be with us by the end of the season.  If this doesn't tip him over the edge, it's a matter of time before something else does.

If we are not challenging for the premiership then its very unlikely he will be.

I think that's more than likely the case. Despite criticism over lack of funding, I find it hard to sympathise with Rafa having spent £20m on Torres, £20.3m on Keane, £11.5m on Babel, £18.6m on Mascherano, £5m on Benayoun, £6m on Skrtel, £7m on Dossena etc in the last three transfer windows. Now we're to believe he wants to quit because he can't have ONE player. I agree with anyone who says GB isn't worth what villa are asking, maybe instead of thinking about quitting he should be discussing it with those who are (reportedly) blocking it.

IF it is because they've blocked a whole host of moves for good players then let Rafa name them and I'll consider if I sympathise, I'm not just going to blast Parry and the owners when their stance is the same as quite a few Liverpool fans. There's little supporting evidence that Rafa's purse strings are tied, he's spent enough even if some think that selling means he's not. We're not Chelsea, the owners aren't Abrahamovich, perhaps some are getting carried away with the previous spends and expecting us to load up the team with £18m+ footballers. Considering the amount of times it's been claimed we need to spend, our current squad cost only £14m less than the mancs and you don't hear them bitching about having less money than Chelsea.

Do I want Rafa to leave? I don't care one way or the other, what I want is a manager who can make a title challenge. No good complaining about what players you can and can't afford, no point hoping that funds will become unlimited. The situation is as it is, he should get on with it. If he's a top manager then he shouldn't need to outspend the other managers to make a title challenge, he should be able to do better than 3rd at least once (Houllier did)

[Igor Zidane]

I don't like the way this is going.  I don't think Benitez will be with us by the end of the season.  If this doesn't tip him over the edge, it's a matter of time before something else does.

If we are not challenging for the premiership then its very unlikely he will be.

I think that's more than likely the case. Despite criticism over lack of funding, I find it hard to sympathise with Rafa having spent £20m on Torres, £20.3m on Keane, £11.5m on Babel, £18.6m on Mascherano, £5m on Benayoun, £6m on Skrtel, £7m on Dossena etc in the last three transfer windows. Now we're to believe he wants to quit because he can't have ONE player. I agree with anyone who says GB isn't worth what villa are asking, maybe instead of thinking about quitting he should be discussing it with those who are (reportedly) blocking it.

IF it is because they've blocked a whole host of moves for good players then let Rafa name them and I'll consider if I sympathise, I'm not just going to blast Parry and the owners when their stance is the same as quite a few Liverpool fans. There's little supporting evidence that Rafa's purse strings are tied, he's spent enough even if some think that selling means he's not. We're not Chelsea, the owners aren't Abrahamovich, perhaps some are getting carried away with the previous spends and expecting us to load up the team with £18m+ footballers. Considering the amount of times it's been claimed we need to spend, our current squad cost only £14m less than the mancs and you don't hear them bitching about having less money than Chelsea.

Do I want Rafa to leave? I don't care one way or the other, what I want is a manager who can make a title challenge. No good complaining about what players you can and can't afford, no point hoping that funds will become unlimited. The situation is as it is, he should get on with it. If he's a top manager then he shouldn't need to outspend the other managers to make a title challenge, he should be able to do better than 3rd at least once (Houllier did)

Feck me , i didn't realise it was so simple . Just get a manager in who can challenge for the title . One game in to the new season , with the owners we have ,the CEO we have , and fans like you giving there full support(not). Well it should be a piece of p!ss for anyone to come in and challenge for the league. Why didn't i think of that?  

[JohnBull]

I think it's a pretty shrewd move by Raffa.

The Yanks won't last much longer and the most likely incomers will be DIC and they will want a happy and successful ship. That sees the end of Parry and Moore & Co (who will be laughing all the way to the bank). It's an excellent time to put a bit of distance between them and yourself. Nice one Raffa.

On a better note I was having a drink last night with some of the Academy coaches. They do know their football and listening to them they are VERY optimistic about the long term future of the Reds. They have the same puzzlement as I do about some of the first team selections but overall they think that the club is far far better with Raffa than without him. They believe that given a couple of years the youth policy brought in by Benitez will result in a great first team.

[Igor Zidane]

I think it's a pretty shrewd move by Raffa.

The Yanks won't last much longer and the most likely incomers will be DIC and they will want a happy and successful ship. That sees the end of Parry and Moore & Co (who will be laughing all the way to the bank). It's an excellent time to put a bit of distance between them and yourself. Nice one Raffa.

On a better note I was having a drink last night with some of the Academy coaches. They do know their football and listening to them they are VERY optimistic about the long term future of the Reds. They have the same puzzlement as I do about some of the first team selections but overall they think that the club is far far better with Raffa than without him. They believe that given a couple of years the youth policy brought in by Benitez will result in a great first team.

That's good to hear that John ,about the ressies. Hopefully your right about the yanks aswell.

[Sabre]

I think it's a pretty shrewd move by Raffa.

The Yanks won't last much longer and the most likely incomers will be DIC and they will want a happy and successful ship. That sees the end of Parry and Moore & Co (who will be laughing all the way to the bank). It's an excellent time to put a bit of distance between them and yourself. Nice one Raffa.

On a better note I was having a drink last night with some of the Academy coaches. They do know their football and listening to them they are VERY optimistic about the long term future of the Reds. They have the same puzzlement as I do about some of the first team selections but overall they think that the club is far far better with Raffa than without him. They believe that given a couple of years the youth policy brought in by Benitez will result in a great first team.

That's good to hear that John ,about the ressies. Hopefully your right about the yanks aswell.

When you don't buy, it's time to use the youth system, and fortunately it seems we have a work of years with it. It was good that both Plessis and El Zhar had minutes. Plessis didn't do a great game? perhaps, but some patience is required aswell.

[RedBlood]

what i buzz off is when people like tim sherwood say on setanta that rafa has spent this much so should be challenging for the prem, if money is the reason we should be challenging tim then why shouldnt teams like man u chelsea and arsenal be finnishing 10 points ahead of us because they espeacially chelsea and man u have spent millions upon millions more then us and thats without taking net spending into account, fu,ck me tottenham, villa and mancity are in our net spending bracket so surely they must be challenging us??

[red37]

Shour Grapes Shocker on S.hitanta - w@nker of a channel. Apart from Kelly 

[aCe']

what i buzz off is when people like tim sherwood say on setanta that rafa has spent this much so should be challenging for the prem, if money is the reason we should be challenging tim then why shouldnt teams like man u chelsea and arsenal be finnishing 10 points ahead of us because they espeacially chelsea and man u have spent millions upon millions more then us and thats without taking net spending into account, fu,ck me tottenham, villa and mancity are in our net spending bracket so surely they must be challenging us??

chelsea and manuts are winning it.. spending and winning.. we on the other hand....