by account deleted by request » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:26 am
From The TimesJanuary 15, 2008
Rafael Benitez struggling to walk on
Oliver Kay
Rafael BenÍtez will battle on as Liverpool manager, despite having his position undermined further yesterday when Tom Hicks, one of the club’s owners, admitted that he had attempted to line up Jürgen Klinsmann to replace the Spaniard.
The news did not surprise BenÍtez, who had already learnt of the meeting that Hicks and George Gillett Jr held with Klinsmann in California in late November, but he is understood to be aghast at the co-chairman’s willingness to make the information public. Hicks defended the approach by saying that the former Germany coach was targeted as “an insurance policy” against BenÍtez’s departure for Real Madrid or another club, but that casual admission has caused astonishment even within Liverpool, where some believe that the manager has effectively been rendered a lame duck.
The threat from Klinsmann has since evaporated, with the former Tottenham Hotspur forward signing a contract on Friday to succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld as coach of Bayern Munich from July 1, but, despite the insistence of Hicks that BenÍtez has his “support” after a clear-the-air meeting last month, there is a feeling within the club that the Spaniard’s position is untenable in the long term and perhaps even in the short term after another damaging blow to his credibility.
In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, Hicks said: “In November, when it appeared we were in danger of not advancing in the Champions League, weren’t playing well in our Premier League matches and we were having communication issues [with BenÍtez] over the January transfer window, George and I met with Jürgen Klinsmann to learn as much as we could about English and European football.
“He is a very impressive man. We attempted to negotiate an option, as an insurance policy, to have him become our manager in the event Rafa decided to leave our club for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the UK press, or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason.”
BenÍtez chose not to respond to Hicks’s comment, but, upset as he may be, he has no plans to resign from his position. Manuel GarcÍa Quillon, his agent, last night told The Times: “Rafa wants to stay at Liverpool. He is happy with the club, with the supporters and with the city. He does not want to leave.” Cynics may feel that BenÍtez is merely holding out for a payday, with Liverpool likely to have to provide £6 million in compensation if he is dismissed, but the Spaniard has not abandoned all hope of staying on as manager, even if it appears that he has little or no chance of surviving under the present regime.
There have been indications in recent weeks that Hicks and Gillett may be forced to sell Liverpool, with the American tycoons under serious pressure to refinance the £270 million loan that they used to buy the club last February. Doubts about their financial strength increased with Hicks’s admission that they had held talks in October with Dubai International Capital, the private-equity arm of the Arab state, about selling a 15 per cent stake in the club for £150 million, but that meeting did not come to fruition.
Hicks added that no further talks were planned, while there were indications from Texas last night that Hicks expects to secure a successful refinancing package “this week”, which would enable them to proceed with their troubled bid to build a new 70,000-capacity stadium in Stanley Park.
Regardless of their long-term plans, though, Hicks and Gillett face an immediate battle to win back the trust of the supporters, having plotted to replace the popular BenÍtez. A protest of some kind is expected at this evening’s FA Cup third-round replay at home to Luton Town.