Bookies: Benitez to go by Sunday

redout

Bookmakers have suspended betting on the next Premier League boss to leave his job after a huge amount of money was placed on Rafael Benitez to be the ninth manager to go this season.





On Tuesday night the Spaniard was a 20/1 outsider to be next out of his job, but an enormous flurry of betting activity saw the price cut to evens before the markets were suspended at 9.30 on Wednesday morning.
"We are slightly jumpy after being turned over by the recent 'Weymouth coup'," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams. "But the level of interest on Rafa getting the sack is unprecedented.

"We would be very surprised if Rafa is still the Liverpool boss by midnight on Sunday."

The Reds visit Real Madrid on Wednesday night for the first leg of their last-16 Champions League encounter with the Spanish champions - and should they get knocked out, Benitez faces the reality of a trophy-less season.

After setting the pace for several months earlier in the season, Liverpool now trail Manchester United by seven points in the league following a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City.
Since bringing in the new year at the top of the table, Benitez has since watched his side drop points against City, Stoke, Wigan and Everton, who also knocked them out of the FA Cup a few weeks ago.

Benitez's now-infamous outburst towards Sir Alex Ferguson just before the goalless draw at Stoke prompted many to question whether the Spanish manager could handle the pressure of a genuine title challenge.
Early betting markets on his successor quote Kenny Dalglish as 3/1 favourite to take over at Anfield, with Jose Mourinho at 10/1

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25022009/58/premier-league-bookies-benitez-sunday.html

Quint

Fergie probably stuck 100k on him. It would be money well spent to unsettle him

Killme00

Gareth Southgate is a better bet to lose his job next imo.

joe123

As much as Benitez annoys me sometimes I would HATE to see him go. This season isnt even over! And no matter what lets see how another season under him goes. No matter what people say we have improved as we can beat the top 4 now. Even though we still struggle to finish off the lesser teams...

Savman

One can hope...

death1234567

joe123 wrote: »

No matter what people say we have improved as we can beat the top 4 now.

Yeah but ye haven't improved sufficiently given the huge amount of money he has spent/wasted over he years. £110million net spend I read somewhere recently...:eek:

Mr Alan

considering the teams that were above us when he arrived have spent the same or more than that, and the teams behind us have massively increased their spending.....how are you arriving at the conclusion he shoulda done better?

whatawaster

death1234567 wrote: »

Yeah but ye haven't improved sufficiently given the huge amount of money he has spent/wasted over he years. £110million net spend I read somewhere recently...:eek:

well don't believe everything you read then

Melion

My head hurts with all the shít thats flying around here today

bullpost

Come to think of it might not be a bad idea for Rafa to bet against himself to force through contract talks

Quint wrote: »

Fergie probably stuck 100k on him. It would be money well spent to unsettle him

RasTa

Good riddance if he goes, happy days if he stays. At least go after the final meet with Sir Alex.

zing

RasTa wrote: »

Good riddance if he goes, happy days if he stays.

Comfortable on that fence is it ?

PiE

Sky Sports News understands it is 'business as usual' for Liverpool following rumours about Rafa Benitez's future.

Leading bookmakers had suspended betting on the next Premier League manager to go market amid speculation Benitez could leave his position as Reds manager after Wednesday night's UEFA Champions League tie at Real Madrid.

Benitez is also odds-on not to be in charge at Anfield for the start of next season as talks regarding a contract extension continue to stall.

The Spaniard's current deal expires at the end of next term and he has yet to agree a control to prolong his tenure on Merseyside.

Speaking ahead of the first leg of the last 16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu, Benitez stated that the game against Real would have no bearing on his future.

Reports claimed that knocking Real out of the Champions League would strengthen his position, but Benitez suggested it would be wrong to judge a manager on the basis of two games.

And Sky Sports News sources understands that Liverpool's final preparations for the game, which can be seen live on Sky Sports 2, have continued as normal.

No direct quotes but if Sky Sports are actually playing a rumour down, it's fair to say there's nothing in it.

Sizzler

http://www.setanta.com/uk/Articles/Football/2009/02/25/Exclusive-McManaman-on-Benitez-future/gnid-41897/

wrote:

Steve McManaman has exclusively told setanta.com that rumours of Rafa Benitez’s imminent exit are totally untrue.

Wednesday morning saw leading bookmakers stop taking bets on Benitez being Liverpool’s manager at the start of next season, with rumours even suggesting he would leave after the Champions League trip to Real Madrid.

However, former Liverpool ace McManaman still keeps close contact with the club he loves, and he is adamant there is no truth to the stories.

In fact, McManaman revealed that Benitez’s contract talks are still progressing, and he insists the Spaniard is more likely to extend his stay than leave before the start of next season.

“Benitez won’t be going anytime soon,” McManaman told setanta.com.

“Rafa will stay as Liverpool manager, Rafa loves Liverpool he loves the area, his wife’s very happy, his kids are happy…he wants to stay.

“As I understand it, the contract talks only have a little hitch in them, the terms are fine, the length of the contract and salary are all fine…it’s just this thing with the Academy.

“It will all be ironed out soon and I expect he will be here for a while yet.”

The former Real Madrid star did have a word of caution for Liverpool's owners though, telling them they are making it extremely difficult for The Reds to win trophies whilst off-the-field activities cloud big games.

"I think it’s crucial that they get everything sorted out, there seems to be so much unrest emanating from Anfield at the moment," McManaman added.

"As soon as the manager ties his future down, and as soon as the ownership is sorted, there’s nothing to talk about. But until these issues are sorted, people are always gonna talk about it.

"It certainly doesn’t help the football side when you’re in the papers and you’re top story for all the wrong reasons. You can guarantee tonight, if the result doesn’t go right, the Rafa situation will be partly to blame for it in tomorrow's papers."

redout

If they beat Madrid tonight or get a score draw then there is no way I see him resigning by the weekend.

Spud83

PiE wrote: »

No direct quotes but if Sky Sports are actually playing a rumour down, it's fair to say there's nothing in it.

Is anybody actually believing this at this stage.

This thread needs a poll for who is actually believing the rumor as there is a lot more noise regarding people arguing about he should stay, or should go, or who could replace him etc etc, that I have no idea if this is being taken seriously.

Boggles

redout wrote: »

If they beat Madrid tonight or get a score draw then there is no way I see him resigning by the weekend.

I'd be shocked to see him go before the end of the season, I hope for goodness sake he doesn't, because if he does we will have Scouse supporters on here next season saying "if Rafa had stayed til the end we would have won the quadrouble, etc" - I couldn't bare it.

SlickRic

Boggles wrote: »

I'd be shocked to see him go before the end of the season, I hope for goodness sake he doesn't, because if he does we will have Scouse supporters on here next season saying "if Rafa had stayed til the end we would have won the quadrouble, etc" - I couldn't bare it.

of course we would :rolleyes:

Spud83

Boggles wrote: »

I'd be shocked to see him go before the end of the season, I hope for goodness sake he doesn't, because if he does we will have Scouse supporters on here next season saying "if Rafa had stayed til the end we would have won the double, etc" - I couldn't bare it.

fixed your post, we are talking about rafa walking not fergie.

Boggles

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

fixed your post, we are talking about rafa walking not fergie.

No I ment it.

el rabitos

we're in recession because the banks loaned rafa too much money. true story.

time he moved on. for all our sakes.

Highsider

death1234567 wrote: »

Yeah but ye haven't improved sufficiently given the huge amount of money he has spent/wasted over he years. £110million net spend I read somewhere recently...:eek:

Done to death. The net spend is 77m over 5 years. Peanuts TBH in today's market and Rafa's has worked miracles with that kind of money to rebuild the squad. Also to add over the last 2 years Rafa's net spend is 24m quid..Surprise surprise since the yanks took over. The man in a genius

Raskolnikov

In the weird world of football, I think this speculation over Benitez could cause the players to perform tonight and beat Real.

Highsider

PiE wrote: »

No direct quotes but if Sky Sports are actually playing a rumour down, it's fair to say there's nothing in it.

Very true indeed

Guy:Incognito

Boggles wrote: »

No I ment it.

Yes of course. Sure right now over on the Liverpool thread there is a discussion about how Rafa is organising for us to get back into the Carling cup and the FA cuip.:rolleyes:

event

Raskolnikov wrote: »

In the weird world of football, I think this speculation over Benitez could cause the players to perform tonight and beat Real.

i seriously doubt they even know about it

they are in madrid, and would be training or having a team get together.

_blank_

event wrote: »

i seriously doubt they even know about it

They'll know alright. All players talk to journos.

Sure, the rumour is that Rafa told them he was going :pac:

event wrote: »

they are in madrid, and would be training or having a team get together.

RasTa

zing wrote: »

Comfortable on that fence is it ?

Yeah very, it means I don't care either way btw.

Quint

Highsider wrote: »

Done to death. The net spend is 77m over 5 years. Peanuts TBH in today's market and Rafa's has worked miracles with that kind of money to rebuild the squad. Also to add over the last 2 years Rafa's net spend is 24m quid..Surprise surprise since the yanks took over. The man in a genius

From f365:
According to the excellent and thorough TransferLeague.co.uk, since Benitez took charge of Liverpool in 2004, he has spent an impressive £215,490,000 on players, receiving £98,030,000. Our rudimentary maths tells us that amounts to a net spend of the not inconsiderable sum of £117,460,000.

If one is to be fair - and we are nothing if not fair - one should knock off the £14million paid for Djibril Cisse in 2004, as that was Gerard Houllier's deal, but even then Rafa's net spend tots up to £103,460,000.

By way of comparison, those big money bullies Chelsea have a net spend of £131,150,000 in that time, while Manchester United - have splashed £93,300,000.

zing

Rafa Benitez answers Liverpool FC quit rumours

Feb 25 2009 by Tony Barrett in Madrid

LIVERPOOL FC manager Rafael Benitez has no intention of leaving Liverpool Football Club.

The Reds boss intends to stay put at Anfield - as he has always maintained - and remains hopeful of concluding agreement over the remaining details of his new contract which have yet to be resolved.

The Spaniard has been at the centre of a day of fevered rumour and wild speculation about his future - with some bookmakers announcing they have suspended bets on his imminent alleged 'departure' from Anfield.

But it can be revealed none of it has any foundation whatsoever as far as he is concerned. Benitez wants and intends to remain at the helm.

He insists he has no intention of quitting a club he has managed for almost five years now, leading them to European Cup and FA Cup success in his first two seasons.

Benitez is known to be particularly concerned that the rumours and media attention which have circulated widely today came just hours before he led his side into one of the biggest European ties in their hsitory.

Liverpool face Real Madrid in the last 16 knockout stages of the Champions League. The first leg tie tonight is the Reds first ever visit to the Bernabeu and comes 28 years after Liverpool defeated Madrid in Paris in 1981 to lift the third of their five European Cups.

Benitez has made no official comment on today's speculation and is instead concentrating fully on preparing his team for tonight's match, which kicks off at 7.45pm.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/02/25/rafa-benitez-answers-liverpool-fc-quit-rumours-100252-23011784/

As close as you'll get to being from the man himself until after the game at least. No doubt he'll be asked about it by all the media.

_blank_

Number of quotes from Rafael Benitez : 0

in fairness, a couple of bets of 50+ quid on some of them manager markets and it gets suspended. Probably some everton fan with multiple online bookie accounts !

dfx-

What's Carragher said to Bascombe this time...

mike65

Say what you see

ctrl-alt-delete

Sky Sports reporting Parry claims its "complete and utter drivel"

mike65

Pat Dolan making a tool of himself.

zing

Des wrote: »

Number of quotes from Rafael Benitez : 0

Absolutely but given the journalist in question it is - as I said - about 'as close as you'll get to being from the man himself' for now. I'm happier for him to have spent the day concentrating on the game rather than entertaining the worlds media over the latest rumour surrounding his future even if is was for a single direct quote - if he's going to comment on it then he should do it once the game is behind us. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the events on the pitch tonight took a back seat with the media post match.