KNIVES OUT FOR RAFA - BUT WHO COULD DO BETTER?

THE knives were drawn for Rafa Benitez from the moment Liverpool lost to Spurs - and after the defeat to Villa at Anfield on Monday the Spaniard must be able to smell the steel of the blade.

The bookies, not content with stirring the shit with ANOTHER cock and bull story about betting being suspended on the Liverpool manager getting the axe, have now installed the Spaniard as favourite to be the next manager to get the chop in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, forums, blogs and newspaper reports are all beginning to circle Benitez, seemingly smelling blood.

And all this three, THREE, games into the season.

Yes, the first defeat at home in the league since December 2007 - and against a team aspiring to crack the top four - and that's it, time for a new manager.

Well I don't buy the culture of right now, or knee-jerk, as it is so often, and annoyingly, referred to as on the Internet.

It takes time, a shed-load of money and, more often than not, a string of nearly-but-not-quites to build a team capable of winning the league - just ask Alex Ferguson.

Once upon a time, before his every move was lauded as genius, plain old Alex was in a similar boat to Rafa - chasing the coat tails of a club that year after year was enjoying success and monopolising the league.

And like Rafa, the former Aberdeen boss had to cope with huge expectation, intensive media scrutiny and a support lacking patience.

It took Fergie SEVEN YEARS to land the league - and in that time he spent big money on a lot of players, and, like Benitez, not all of them were successful.

In the first three years under the Scot, United finished 11th, 2nd, 11th and come the 89-90 season, Fergie spent big again, smashing the British record to sign Gary Pallister for £2.3million (!).

But United went on to lose 5-1 to Man City before enduring an early season run of six defeats and two draws which led to a banner at Old Trafford saying: "Three years of excuses and it's still crap. Ta ra Fergie."

It's widely accepted that a Mark Robins goal in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest saved Fergie's bacon (face).

And from there on, well it's painful reading for any Red - you know what's happened since.

If Rafa is sacked now - or walks - Liverpool go back to square one, new manager, new ideas.

Instead, Benitez should be given time and money - and a little respect for his record so far, in trying circumstances, wouldn't go amiss.

Some might say he's had the time and money after five years in the job and £250million spent.

But that doesn't tell the whole story. Yes, he's spent big - but he's also clawed back a big chunk of that figure (approximately £134m).

So that's a net spend of £116m - or an average spend of £19.4m per season.

When you consider United have regularly forked out for £30m players - Veron, Rooney, Ferdinand, Berbatov, it's peanuts.

And of course, they started from a position of power when Benitez arrived - so while he had to overhaul the whole squad (of which just Gerrard and Carra remain), United strengthen when they need to - and almost always from the top end of the market.

On Monday, after returning from Anfield, and against my better judgement, I flicked open the lap top and began to read the reports, the blogs and the forums.

And there it was, the old chestnut: "Get Mourinho in".

Putting aside the fact that he is a attention-hungry media whore, the man is obviously a good manager.

But ask yourself this - given the constraints ANY manager of Liverpool will now have to work under thanks to Tom Hicks and George Gillett saddling the club with millions of pounds of debt, what difference would a change make?

There's no money to spend, Rafa is quite literally at the "haven't got to pot to piss in" stage.

We can't even get in a free or a loan to boost our attacking options (Eidur Gudjohnsen, anyone?) because there's nothing left to pay the additional wages.

Just think how useful that £40m blown on paying interest on loans the Yanks used to buy the club would be now.

But back to Mourinho.

Let's ignore the pay off to Inter Milan, the golden goodbye to Rafa for sacking him and the self-proclaimed Special One's wages, a reported £5.2million a year at Stamford Bridge.

Without the money to burn (he spent £70m on arrival at Chelsea to add to a team that was already in the higher reaches of the Premier League), what would the Portuguese motormouth do?

Don't get me wrong, I know Rafa makes mistakes - and his worse trait is being stubborn, almost shooting himself in the foot at times to prove his own point (not playing Crouch, and, at times Pennant, sticking with Lucas etc).

But I truly believe, given the right backing, and shown the faith, he will get it right.

Last season, we were close, so close. Record points total, top scorers in the league and blowing away the top teams.

This season, OK, so far it's a disappointment. But again, we're not helped by the Yanks - they're not football men, they're businessmen (along with many other things, that even in a blog, I don't think I can get away with...)

If they were football men, they could see we are crying out for reinforcements.

And no matter who you like to blame for that position, why aren't they finding the cash from somewhere to fund a couple more forays into the transfer market before the window closes?

As it is we're in the middle of a breakdown but Rafa's the man to get the engine purring again - and, don't forget, he'll soon have the AA to help him too...(sorry).

But seriously, keep the faith, lay off Rafa - oh, and stick this in your window...

* Spending figures from transferleague

IS FERGIE CRACKING UP?

Mail on Sunday, March 22, 2009

FORGET a squeaky bum - after watching Liverpool destroy Aston Villa 5-0 without ever reaching top gear, Alex Ferguson's rear end will be parping like a Mersey ferry.

The sour Scot could body double for a Ribena berry right now - the more it goes wrong, the purpler he gets.

Gone is the yawning seven-point advantage his Manchester United held over Liverpool just over a week ago. Gone is the goal difference - from plus 11 in favour of Fergie's side, to plus two in favour of Liverpool.

And the best is - gone is Fergie's focus. The pressure is getting to him and his players - big time.

Ferguson's gone from nonchalantly shrugging off Rafa's 'rant' to ordering staff at United to check whether he's spent more than the Spaniard.

He's also childishly revealed his list of the best Premier League managers - omitting Benitez.

And, best of all, he is refusing to speak to the media after matches. Cracking up? Think so!

On the pitch, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are behaving like a pair of spoilt brats, officials are finally giving decisions against United (a consequence of the Rafa 'rant' perhaps?!) and they look highly beatable.

And how nice to see super Danny Murphy rolling back the years to sink Man United - he even found time to seek out Fergie at the end and shake his hand - nice touch!

It's time Fergie showed some respect for Rafa

Meanwhile, at the right end of the M62, life couldn't get much better for Benitez and every Liverpool fan right now. The manager's contract signed, Rick Parry on his way out and 13 goals in three games against quality opposition.

Aside from a magnificent result, there were lots of positives to take from the latest display of Liverpool's hot streak of form.

BERTIE GLEE: Riera celebrates his spectacular strike

Albert Riera had his best game for the club, visibly growing in confidence, tormenting the Villa defence all day and hammering in a thunderous finish for Liverpool's second.

Pepe Reina pulled off a world-class save and yet again demonstrated what a powerful weapon his flawless distribution can be while Steven Gerrard - well he was just Steven Gerrard - world class.

And all this without the usual contribution from Fernando Torres who had a very quiet game.

So after 12 days of bliss, we're daring to dream. Not even the most optimistic of Reds could have predicted the last three results. And not even the most pessimistic could fail to be impressed by them.

Now we can only hope this devastating form isn't interrupted by an ill-timed international break.

It's still up to the Mancs to throw the title away of course, but if they do, we've got to be there to catch it. And what better way to knock them off balance than by returning to league action against Fulham a week on Saturday and claiming all three points?

That would put Liverpool top - two points clear - with United then having two games in hand and first off facing Villa at home on the Sunday.

Seeing the Reds top again would really have us dreaming of number 19 but how realistic are our chances?

As ever it's hard to say - but it seems Fergie isn't the only one with a sweaty rear end right now.

No, twitchy bookmakers are also staining their shorts at the prospect of the Reds getting back on their perch.

After the 4-1 mauling of the Mancs was followed by the 5-0 thumping of Villa, the odds for Steven Gerrard getting to grips with the Premier League trophy were slashed from 20-1 to just 3-1.

But what I want to know is - what price a Murphy own goal giving Liverpool victory at Craven Cottage?

That really would send Fergie's blackcurrant tribute act into overdrive!