Sunday, 27 December 2009

LIVERPOOL FC: Where's the respect for Rafa Benitez?

Football - Liverpool v Sunderland Barclays Premier League

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?
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Posted by robbohuyton at 17:53

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night owl 21's avatar

night owl 21 · 794 weeks ago

100 per cent right i would go further and say there seems to be a campaign against rafa.man ure have strugled lately with injurys everybody have made excuses for them our injurys have been just has bad but were rubbish no excuses allowed by rafa. just look at talk sport there so against liverpool and rafa and whats worse is some so called liverpool fans believe everything they say and ohone up slaging rafa of .i think rafas a great manager whos done a better job than anyone should expect one half of a bad season shouldnt see us fans turn against him i thought we were better than that. nightowl21
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robbohuyton 61p · 794 weeks ago

Agree. When we had injuries it was an excuse, when United have them it's a reason. Look at Sky Sports' coverage of the Mancs today - they even mocked up United's injuries into an edition of Casualty! It was like they were setting the scene to say if it goes wrong today, this is why.
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jig's avatar

jig · 794 weeks ago

pity old jug ears was not as sharp in mexico 86 he needs to mind his manners and remember what happened to big ron who had not rehearsed his racist remarks or tried to dress them up as humour maybe he is still sour at not being able to fool the spanish tax offices
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Deejay · 794 weeks ago

Couldn't agree more. I think the treatment Rafa has suffered at the hands of the media in this country is a disgrace. It's sad that some reds are taken in by it.
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Ian L's avatar

Ian L · 794 weeks ago

Jeez, we have hit rock bottom! Prem runners up? Come on! Barrel. Bottom. Scraping. Of!!!

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.
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robbohuyton 61p · 794 weeks ago

Hardly see finishing runners up as scraping the barrel, but there you go, each to their own.

Fully agree on everything else, can't help but think there's personal agendas going on.
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Jonathan · 794 weeks ago

Well said. It's disgusting how the media are treating Rafa. You'd think he'd deserve some respect after such a wonderful record, but sadly the media seems to ignore it. Pfft Lineker doesn't know shite about what he's talking about. He can only dream about winning the Champions League in his first season managing a new club. Aquilani the worst signing of the season? I don't think so. Not with that performance against Wolves. YNWA
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Robin · 794 weeks ago

So right, especially about Henry Winter! After Rafa questioned Graeme Suness' managerial record he tweeted the following: "Souness' managerial record: 4 Scottish titles. 1 FA Cup. 1 League Cup. Cup in Turkey. Cup in Portugal. 3 Scottish Cups - and that's a fact" Pity he himself doesnt know his stuff as Rangers never won the Scottish Cup in Souness' time there, it was the League Cup they won 3 times, or is that just nit-picking from me? But let's look at it another way, he was manager of the biggest club in Turkey and could only win the cup, no league glory, he was manager of one of the 2 biggest clubs in Portugal and, again, could only win the cup, no league title glory. His last league title was won in 1990! 7 of his 11 trophies won came at Rangers, he's won a grand total of 4 trophies in 18 years, and they are all knockout cups! So yeah, Rafa is right to question his managerial record when you look at it like that!
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Lfc4life · 794 weeks ago

Even when we were slaughtering teams back end of last season, they were at him so its no surprise... They have been rubbing there hands!!

Man poo have lost 5 prem games playing dreadful football and still no crisis there.....

Just goes to show!
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LIVERPOOLvAJAX1966 · 794 weeks ago

I can't really believe that anybody is taken in by the ongoing campaign of anti-Rafa propaganda. Because propaganda is what it is. No basis in fact - why let the truth get in the way of a good dig. It appears for the media that Liverpool FC is the team to slag off - rotation, Zonal marking, Rafa's budget, Rafa's Goatee, Rafa's shoe size. It may be because they don't like the fact that Liverpool has won so much and their own teams have won SFA. Someone told me they watched the game the other day on a video streamed site and the commentary was in Japanese and it was far easier to understand the analysis than when listening to the 'Grey' automatons on SKY - sorry didn't me to slip in the advert.
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
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robbohuyton 61p · 794 weeks ago

Gary B (via email): When a lot of our fans have no respect for Rafa anymore, then its not surprising he’s fair game for everyone else.

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.
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Anonymous Coward's avatar

Anonymous Coward · 794 weeks ago

Agree with your sentiments Robbo. It makes me sick to the back teeth to see this kind of behaviour, especially your comment above about "too many fans (even long standing ones), are just “Rafa bad”, “Rafa must go”. You should see the garbage being posted in the discussion forum of a popular newspaper associated with the City. It's difficult to not conclude there is an orchestrated agenda being played out.
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Ian L's avatar

Ian L · 794 weeks ago

Hmm. It's an interesting one. I want Rafa to go tomorrow and have for a long time. But do I have respect for him as a manager?

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.
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Faiz's avatar

Faiz · 794 weeks ago

Hey you guys..did you remember how long Alex Ferguson took the time to win a league title when he manages man utd?..it was 7 years..and he always celebrating when manutd got the goals on that time even his team is crap whereas Rafa was different..trust me,liverpool will be a great team again under Rafa's hand..it is just a matter of time..the true liverpool supporters are always analyse before do the talking n always backing the team when we are in crisis time..stop ranting,just do our job as a supporter..YNWA..
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Mike's avatar

Mike · 794 weeks ago

I can understand even if it isn't right that most papers are in london and they would side with chelsea and arsenal. But why do they love manure and even everton more than us. No team gets treated like us in the press its a joke. Only one way to shut their fucking southern faces is to win the league so we need one of these billionaires who want to play football manager in real life.
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Timmy9's avatar

Timmy9 · 794 weeks ago

Ian M,you my friend are the kind of "supporter" mentioned in the above article who is brainwashed by the media.

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.
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afaris's avatar

afaris · 794 weeks ago

yeah, people really need to put that xbox controller down before spouting out names like mourinho, hiddink, and the like...not to mention stop making idiotic groups at facebook (rafa out,lippi for lfc)..there seems to be an infinite amount of 'fans' who like nothing more but to moan and complain.its a shame really when most of the 'critical' fans who oppose rafa are ill-informed ignorants who cling to make-belief 'facts' and ignore well made research by real fans like tomkins and the like.if you want to diss rafa, please back it up with real facts. nad no, 'lucas is a cunt' is not a fact.
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Heskey'sHead's avatar

Heskey'sHead · 784 weeks ago

Maybe I'm too old or just tired of all of the spoiled personalities in football but as a Liverpool supporter but I don't think that Benitez should be either immune from criticism or praise. He is merely a custodian of the club that will remain with us long after he has gone.

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.

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