Sunday, 27 December 2009
LIVERPOOL FC: Where's the respect for Rafa Benitez?
WHATEVER you think about Rafa Benitez's continued ability to manage Liverpool Football Club, the very least the man deserves is some respect.
Two La Liga titles, UEFA Cup, Champions League winner and finalist, FA Cup, Premier League runner-up and twice UEFA's manager of the year.
It's a record countless managers can only dream of.
Yet certain sections of the media seemed to have declared it open season on the Spaniard, even going as far as to paint a picture of him as being a 'joke'.
Take yesterday for example. First, the ever-annoying Soccer AM featured the ever-annoying Chris Kamara singing a 'witty' ditty he had allegedly penned called 'Rafa Wonderland'.
And I'd only just sewn up my sides when Gary Lineker, fresh from telling the world that Alberto Aquilani was the 'worst buy of the season', decided Benitez was ripe for a piss-take and decided to throw in his 'hilarious' impression of him into the analysis of Liverpool's game on Match of the Day.
Now before you jump down my throat for being sensitive, answer this - when have you EVER seen him do that about another manager?
Will he nurse a bottle of whisky and put on a Scottish accent and pretend to be Alex Ferguson? Will he ride into the studio on a bike with onions around his neck and pretend to be Arsene Wenger?
Of course not - he wouldn't dare. And it would be seen as disrespectful, wouldn't it?
So why is it acceptable for the former Grampus Eight striker to target Benitez? Haven't we moved on since Fawlty Towers? Aren't we more welcoming to foreign cultures these days?
If it was Manchester United suffering the run of form Liverpool are in, would Ferguson experience this type of disdain?
Not for a minute he wouldn't. There's too many media types scared of upsetting him for one. So much so they would never dare ask him a difficult question, never mind start taking the mick.
Look at Henry Winter if you want evidence. The man defended Ferguson even when he was bang out of order for questioning Alan Wiley's ability to do his job as a referee.
Funnily enough the Telegraph journalist has also been firing bullets in Benitez's direction for some time, even before the recent troubles.
Who said journalism was supposed to be fair, balanced and accurate?
Comments (18)

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Comments by IntenseDebate
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LIVERPOOL FC: Where's the respect for Rafa Benitez?
2009-12-27T17:53:00Z
robbohuyton
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night owl 21 · 793 weeks ago
robbohuyton 61p · 793 weeks ago
jig · 793 weeks ago
Deejay · 793 weeks ago
Ian L · 793 weeks ago
Anyway, Benitez isn't immune from criticism and shouldn't be, but that criticism should be confined to his decisions as a manager and not taking the piss with racist impressions.
You big-earred, perma-tanned knob. See, it's not very nice is it Gary?
That said, Rafa makes it too easy for people to get on his case.
My days of away trips are long gone in a mound of nappies and CBeebies.
But if I was one of the lads and lasses who got up at the crack of dawn to watch Rafa put out a defensive team against Portsmouth, relegation fodder whose morale must be rock bottom and wondering where their wages are, then I would be furious.
It's all unwanted pressure, surely? And it all keeps us on the back pages of the tabloids.
robbohuyton 61p · 793 weeks ago
Fully agree on everything else, can't help but think there's personal agendas going on.
Jonathan · 793 weeks ago
Robin · 793 weeks ago
Lfc4life · 793 weeks ago
Man poo have lost 5 prem games playing dreadful football and still no crisis there.....
Just goes to show!
LIVERPOOLvAJAX1966 · 793 weeks ago
I have supported/watched Liverpool for a long time and during that time I have seen a number of managers have teams who go through a bad patch - they have always come out the other side a better team. My advice to Liverpool supporters is support your team and tell the media where to go!!!!
CJ
robbohuyton 61p · 793 weeks ago
Even when it was clear Houlier’s time was up, I still had respect for what he had done, but too many fans (even long standing ones), are just “Rafa bad”, “Rafa must go”. Etc.
Some of our fans even call him a cunt (apparently, its ok because its not Rafa the person, but rafa the manager), which is well out of order as far as I’m concerned, even if you don’t think he’s the man for the job).
I try my best in work, but sometimes I make mistakes, but I wouldn’t expect to be called a cunt because I didn’t do something as well as I did previously.
Anonymous Coward · 793 weeks ago
Ian L · 793 weeks ago
I dunno really. Sometimes (well, all the time really), I think that Istanbul, Cardiff 2006 and the Yanks circus have papered over a lot of Rafa's cracks and I think he would have been left exposed a lot earlier to this type of criticism without them.
I'm sure he's a nice fella, a good dad to his kids and keeps Mrs B happy with all that jewelry but for me, he's running out of time as LFC manager.
Sometimes (well, all the time really) I think he wants to get the chop - I can't come up with another explanation for his bizarre decisions, tactics and post-match rants/moans.
The Houllier mention from Gary B is a good point. Houllier won some cups early on, got the fans really up for a new dawn but turned us into a really negative team playing some of the most boring matches I have ever seen at Anfield.
Our response as fans to GH's decline was gutless. Anyone remember the world's most polite banner telling Houllier that enough was enough? It's was like being mauled by the WI!
I suppose I must have some respect for Rafa as I haven't walked out of a match at Anfield yet like I did with Houllier.
Faiz · 793 weeks ago
Mike · 793 weeks ago
Timmy9 · 793 weeks ago
If Rafa did go what genius would come in and take us forward/
Before you start spouting out Hiddink,maureen or any other top manager forget it.Take the PS3 remote out of your hand and get with the real world.
We`d get a yes man like our friend Jurgan.Then we`d reallly be in the shite.
afaris · 793 weeks ago
Heskey'sHead · 783 weeks ago
The media and some pundits have gone too far with Benitez and he has been shown a lack of respect at times. That said he has shown a lack of respect to other teams and managers (deserved or not) so he can't have it both ways. I want the bloke to do well (obviously) and I'll steer clear of rabid criticism of him. But that said I won't defend his own histrionics or excuses either.
Finally, I love the jibes about Lineker there. You seem to be forgetting that he has played in Spain as well as Japan and has mastered the languages as well as embracing both cultures during his time there - so to try tag him as some sort of 70s-sit-com dinosaur or a pseudo-racist is pretty wide of the mark. Ex-Everton or not.