Rafa is gone.(mod warning @ post 762)

Headshot

looks like the news we all feared the most , rafa could be gone

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/02/rafael-benitez-liverpoo-quit

Liverpool have given the clearest indication yet that Rafael Benítez's six-year spell in charge is drawing to a close by offering their manager £3m to leave Anfield. It is believed the Spaniard, entitled to £16m if sacked this summer, has been offered the lesser sum to quit with immediate effect.

Benítez's position has been in serious doubt since January when Juventus targeted the 50-year-old to replace Ciro Ferrara. The Liverpool manager allowed that opportunity to pass in the hope of staying at Anfield, providing he obtained assurances over the club's transfer budget and search for new investment. However, with the club unable or unwilling to provide Benítez with those guarantees, the Liverpool board has presented Benítez with a shock exit route.

The former Valencia coach has held several rounds of talks with the Liverpool chairman, Martin Broughton, in recent weeks, where he outlined his strategy for restoring the club's fortunes following a dispiriting campaign involving an early exit from the Champions League and a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

He is understood to have stressed that Liverpool cannot recover without an end to Tom Hicks's and George Gillett's calamitous ownership or without a commitment to reinvest in the squad should Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard decide to leave this summer. Liverpool's best two players have both said they will consider their futures after the World Cup and Marca, the Spanish sports paper with close ties to Real Madrid, yesterday announced that Gerrard is the principal target of Real Madrid's new manager, José Mourinho.

With no takeover imminent, and Hicks revealing last week that it could take until next year to find an investor willing to meet his £600m-£800m price for Liverpool, Anfield officials have reacted to Benítez's demands with a counter-offer that suggests they accept the impasse cannot continue and renders his position untenable. The Liverpool manager was unavailable for comment on the club's move last night.

Under the terms of the lucrative contract signed last year, Benítez is entitled to a full payout if the deal is terminated by the club. With four years remaining on the deal, Liverpool would have to find £16m to sack the man who has won a European Cup and FA Cup since his arrival in 2004. Their offer of less than a quarter of that sum is a further indication of the financial constraints at a club that, for the year to 30 July 2009, was £350m in debt and posted the biggest annual loss in its history, £55m.

Liverpool's compromise package could be a means to encourage a takeover by removing a manager whom a potential new investor does not want for a reduced fee. However, with Hicks and Gillett holding out for a substantial profit on a club that has yet to begin work on a proposed stadium on Stanley Park, and no offer for a total sale on the table, it is more likely a sign that Benítez's conditions cannot be met. The manager has had to sell players before he could buy during recent transfer windows and, in the absence of a new investor or monies from the possible sales of Gerrard and Torres, will be in a similar position this summer.

Should Benítez accept the payoff, and there are no indications at present that he will do so, he is unlikely to struggle to find employment despite Juventus, having lost patience in their pursuit of the Liverpool manager, appointing Luigi Del Neri as coach and Real Madrid, another former suitor, replacing Manuel Pellegrini with Mourinho. The president of the reigning European champions Internazionale, Massimo Moratti, is a confirmed admirer of the Spaniard and has seen his hopes of enticing the England manager, Fabio Capello, back to Italy after the World Cup dashed.

Where Benítez's departure would leave Liverpool, meanwhile, is open to conjecture. Two potential candidates, Roy Hodgson and Martin O'Neill, have reiterated their commitment to Fulham and Aston Villa respectively since the end of last season and, as the circumstances behind Liverpool's offer to Benítez suggest, substantial funds are unlikely to be available at Anfield this summer.

The Liverpool careers of Gerrard and Torres are not intrinsically linked to the presence or departure of Benítez. Both players, along with their manager, have been awaiting evidence from the Anfield hierarchy that the club can strengthen the squad and compete for honours next season before making a decision on their futures.

there's even some reports that he has been sacked

**** it anyway what will I do with all my Krap shirts


jokes aside it looks like liverpool have lost that stability

Qwerty27

According to newstalk and sky sports news.......

brianrcarney

hail mary full of grace....:D

_blank_

nothing on SSN website

Eire-Dearg

Thank you.

This is Anfield (Just £3m): http://tinyurl.com/3yxuncj

The Mirror (sacked): http://bit.ly/9ZSYkX

Telegraph (Negotiations, £15m): http://bit.ly/9ZSYkX

Sky Sports News: Just in talks over his future.

Talk of the town is he is more or less gone, probably off to Milan.

Sammy Lee will take over as caretaker manager for now.

Edit: Telegraph already talking up suspected replacements: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7798075/Who-are-the-favourites-to-replace-Rafa-Benitez-as-Liverpool-manager.html

everdead.ie

Start boards.ie meltdown.....

I wonder how a manager(if one is to come in and replace him) is supposed to create his own squad though with no money.

mayordenis

everdead.ie wrote: »

Start boards.ie meltdown.....

I wonder how a manager(if one is to come in and replace him) is supposed to create his own squad though with no money.

Simple answer is no manager will be able to do so, huge failure on the part of Broughton, Hicks, Gilette and whatever other tossers are now ****ing over the club.

Headshot

nice work mod

dreamers75

bet this thread hits 5 pages by midnight.


Mad doing it now , should have done it after the last game of the season.


if pool sell garrard and Torres, new manager has a reasonable warchest.

Should give to Whelan just to shut him the **** up.

Dr Galen

nothing on SSN or football365 yet

everdead.ie

dreamers75 wrote: »

bet this thread hits 5 pages by midnight.


Mad doing it now , should have done it after the last game of the season.


if pool sell garrard and Torres, new manager has a reasonable warchest.

Should give to Whelan just to shut him the **** up.

They won't be able to replace them with the seriously inflated market at the moment

mayordenis

Dr Galen wrote: »

nothing on SSN or football365 yet

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7142868.ece

Times are the only ones worth looking out for.

Rafa should in no way take this ****e 3million offer tell them to **** off and demand his full whack.

Frisbee

Headshot wrote: »

nice work mod

Ninja Stylez.

I have a feeling it may be a busy night...

Eire-Dearg

Dr Galen wrote: »

nothing on SSN or football365 yet

Times, Telegraph, Mirror various sources close to Liverpool (Buxton at the Echo for example.

Ush1

United fans getting their digs in early I see.

everdead.ie

mayordenis wrote: »

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7142868.ece

Times are the only ones worth looking out for.

Rafa should in no way take this ****e 3million offer tell them to **** off and demand his full whack.

He does that and Liverpool have no transfer funds and Gillet and Hicks blame him for taking all the transfer funds he could do a curbishly and sue them if he wants though makes his position untenable/constructive dismissal

Dr Galen

agreed on Times and the Echo, but if he was Actually gone, as per The Mirror, who seem pretty sure, then you'd imagine the others would have something on it by now too. Ah well, I've a feeling this might be it, a feeling in the waters

Melion

I feel sorry for the mods here tonight.

And 5 pages by midnight? Its going to be 20 by 10.30

dreamers75

everdead.ie wrote: »

They won't be able to replace them with the seriously inflated market at the moment

Rafa would get at least 43 players for that money.

Market is only inflated cos City Real and Chelsea buying.

For arguments sake Arteta, Bent and Owen would cost a fraction of the possible sale of the above but would add greatly to the current squad.

jaykay74

If he goes it will be a good manager gone. Wonder if he will end up at Inter.

Peyton Manning

Bring in Maradona I say.

Stevecw

Hope its true. His time there is well up...living off that CL win in 05 for far too long. The man went a bit mad there last year with his team selections and especially the subs he made. Liverpool are going nowhere with him. Need a change.

Fizman

Archimedes wrote: »

Bring in Maradona I say.

"Send in the clowns".......as Krusty once sang.

Ush1

Stevecw wrote: »

Hope its true. His time there is well up...living off that CL win in 05 for far too long. The man went a bit mad there last year with his team selections and especially the subs he made. Liverpool are going nowhere with him. Need a change.

*sits back with popcorn*

Should be a fun night...:pac:

Eire-Dearg

Well I've done my bit.

*reverses back into the shadows*

Enjoy your fun.

Stevecw

Archimedes wrote: »

Bring in Maradona I say.

Steve Staunton is the man, ex player and all!! Plus he is out of a job, so no compensation to be paid. Its a win win situation...well at least until its comes to the actual games.

Dr Galen

It's up on SSN now. Story appears to be growing some legs

Frisbee

Lads before this all kicks off can we try and have a bit of cop on in here tonight please.

Think before you post.

Leiva

Ush1 wrote: »

United fans getting their digs in early I see.

Close the Gate !

Bad news for united fans then

Peyton Manning

Best of luck Laura.

This is gonna be a clusterfúck.

everdead.ie

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Well I've done my bit.

*reverses back into the shadows*

Enjoy your fun.

Once you come out with a story of Lucas to xyz then it'll be real manic:pac:



Dreamer75:
I don't think that it would be possible to replace Gerrard and Torres with players of equal class because City and Real are overinflating the market I'm sure they could bulk out the squad with the money they got but they would still be stuck trying to get another Torres or Gerrard they're the type of players that come around once a generation. Although I think it would be easier to replace Gerrard as he hasn't been as good as previous seasons.

eagle eye

I gotta stock up on popcorn for this.

I'll wait until he is officially gone to post my pic.:)

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Frisbee wrote: »

Lads before this all kicks off can we try and have a bit of Kop on in here tonight please.

Think before you post.

FYP.:pac:

Sorry, Laura.:P

Bad news for Liverpool moreso than United, imo. I have a feeling that Liverpool will have a merry-go-round of shít managers until the finances are sorted out.

MisterAnarchy

Headshot wrote: »

looks like the news we all feared the most , rafa could be gone

I'm sure alot of people will be happy if he is leaving ,none more so than Liverpool supporters

hitman79

£3m to get rid of Rafa?? Anyone wanna help me raise £3m to keep him there

jaykay74

sonehow don't think he will walk for 3m when he is due a lot more in his contract.

uberwolf

hmmm. Not sure how I feel about this.

Would have been pro Rafa, and could justify his net spend as well as the next guy.

I can't see an alternative, I don't see any money for that alternative.

So let me get this right.

Liverpool are offering Rafa 3m to quit now, but if waits and gets sacked he gets 16m ?

Hmmmm

Aidric

Fizman wrote: »

"Send in the clowns".......as Krusty once sang.

And Dunphy.

opr

I see the Telegraph list Blanc as a possible replacement. Was he not confirmed as taking over the French national team after the WC ?

Opr

monkey9

Frisbee wrote: »

Ninja Stylez.

I have a feeling it may be a busy night...

Consider this thread your initiation!! :)

Stevecw

opr wrote: »

I see the Telegraph list Blanc as a possible replacement. Was he not confirmed as taking over the French national team after the WC ?

Opr

Yep Blanc is talking over as French boss after WC. So thats bullsh!t from them.

syngindub

unusual for something like this to happen this late in the day

happyoutscan

He lost the team this year so I'm glad he's (hopefully) going to go.

jaykay74

opr wrote: »

I see the Telegraph list Blanc as a possible replacement. Was he not confirmed as taking over the French national team after the WC ?

Opr

Blanc is going to be french manager after the WC. not great research by the Telegraph

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8685345.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7131676.ece

monkey9

opr wrote: »

I see the Telegraph list Blanc as a possible replacement. Was he not confirmed as taking over the French national team after the WC ?

Opr

He was

bijapos

Not sorry to see him go tbh. The screw up with Alonso didn't help and his excuses for not playing Aquilani did it for me. That along with his attitude to not playing Keane or Pacheco and on the other hand giving Ngog so much time is something I fail to understand.

He was too cautious, playing defensively away to teams where we should be going and winning 3-0. Along with this his failure to look within these islands for a replacement, always looking to Spain, Italy and South America will not always work. We need players who fought for Pool in the playground or at least understand what the club stands for.

I've been supporting Liverpool since around 1975 when I was 5, I grew up with Keegan, Dalglish Rush, Barnes, Beardsley and so on. We need an attacking team, Benitez wasn't the man I'm afraid. Its all down to attitude and man management. This past season there was a different attitude in the squad, you could see the negativity and frustration in some of the players esp Torres.

Pool need a manager who will strike fear into opponents when they walk down the steps and see the "This is Anfield" sign. Been a while since decent opponents felt that. I think he has taken the team as far as it will go. Important thing now is he makes his mind up quick so we have a new manager before the end of the World Cup to bring in some stability. If Torres and gerrard play well other clubs will go loopy. If they go there could be a domino effect (Mascherano and so on).

Thanks for the memories Rafa but it didn't work out. Sorry.

Columbia

Deserves to go. Most Liverpool fans seem to support Rafa more than their own club at this stage, it's actually kind of creepy.

He needs to hold out for the full amount though, no way should he accept £3m. There are already rumours of him going to Inter, they may be happy enough to pay whatever severance fee is agreed so it doesn't necessarily have to come from Liverpool's accounts.

GLaDOS

OFFICIAL: RAFA LEAVES

bUILDERtHEbOB

happyoutscan wrote: »

He lost the team this year so I'm glad he's (hopefully) going to go.

Where did he lose them?