Don't forget the general fans perception that Gerrard = Liverpool. Imagine the jeers Rafa would get if he drops Gerrard to the bench for reasons other than injury.

Ditto. Like I've said, he needs to realize he is not the Gerrard he used to be and the team no longer could rely on his heroics alone. Whether or not he thinks he is bigger than Liverpool is irrelevant, but his ego is there to see. He needs to get rid of it and realize he, like every teammate is a team member. Like you've said, he may have lose his bursting pace or stamina for the years to come but he still has a brilliant technical ability and game intelligence. If he could improve those areas the transition into the 30s will be much easier.

If those 2 are the replacements I vote for Rafael Benitez thank you very much. Not to take anything from them but they're at best decent managers. Don't forget that Rafa is relatively young for a manager, in other words he's still learning.

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: May 4 2010, 03:20 PM

and if rafa would have dropped gerrard and lost, the media would have questioned his decision, i bet some of us here would have criticised him too. so its not all good when a manager make a brave decision and take risks.

btw, what do you guys think of news that we are interested in joe cole ? would you guys be okay with a chelsea player joining us ? for me, the only good thing is he's english.

how much for joe cole?

its free transfer rite? Since his contract ending next season.

Mourinho thing is interesting. Putting the interest from Spain and other continental clubs aside (and of course Inter would love to keep him), he has mentioned before wanting to come back to the English soil...

Question is to where?

Man Utd is a place where the immediate pressure will be to succeed SAF. Man for man, they are the club with best players at moment. Also, money is good. So Jose coming to Man Utd will give him a chance to maintain his winning streak, manage a club with almost unlimited amount cash and give Chelsea a run for the money...but if he fails, he will be labeled as 2nd best to SAF...

Chelsea job will be interesting. But i doubt the 2nd coming will work, especially if Roman is there. I dont think he wants to replace Ancelotti but to manage a team to conquer Ancelotti..hahahaha


....Which brings us to Liverpool. I've said it here before, why not Liverpool? Honestly, this will be the most challenging team to manage...people talk about Jose not wanting Liverpool because there is no money in the club

a. If there is cash available, Jose still has to deal with the pressure of bringing home the title, media pressure, etc etc. But if there's someone that i trust to manage Liverpool's transfer kitty (if its suddenly available) and at same time bring out the best from our current crop of players, its Jose. Yes, he is can be a bit** to the press, he hogs the limelight, he makes opposition hates him, he comes up with ludicrous excuses but as long as the boys perform on the field, who cares?

b. If there is no cash available, the job will be trickier. but what has Jose gotta lose? if he fails, he can still rely on his proud Porto, Chelsea and Inter record. but if he succeeds, he will be seen as Shankly 2nd coming....call me biased but if Jose does manage the current Liverpool squad, i think top 4 spot finish is guaranteed (the football may not be pretty though, but is our current football pretty??). In fact, any manager managing us (even if its Rafa himself), finishing top 4 next season will be seen as `improvement' after what happened this season...so there is time for Jose to build the squad..

The thing is do we have money to part with Rafa and pay the salary/contract to attract Jose...(which i dont think we have... ).

As a romantic, i still think that Jose was truly amazed by the Anfield faithful during those epic CL semis...and his pride is telling him that he wants to be seen as their god....



Anyway, i dont mind Roy coming in.....

This post has been edited by nando: May 4 2010, 03:38 PM

but he's looking for high wages and signing-on fee

you're forgetting something, Mourinho was managing Porto do you call them a top class club? no disrespect to the Portugese League but you hardly see them lighting up the Champions League do you?
yes no doubt he made his name by leading Porto to the finals and winning it and he made a name for himself once he came over to Chelsea winning the EPL on the first season. claiming that Hodgson cant handle a top club is nonsense, by the way he managed Inter and oversaw their own rebuilding at that time.

Well its all turning pear shaped for our club now tragically, its has always been leading up to this and to see it happening all in full scale glory is just sickening. Im just absolutely gutted I cant even imagine how the players would feel now

as much as i do not want to say this, but it makes me feel as though no new owner = no new manager. so mainly, liv should seek a new investor or perhaps a new owner before seeking for managers. .

For mourinho thingy, From my POV, i really think he has nothing to lose if he manages liverpool. losing his reputation if he fails to win anything on his 1st season? come on, not much manager can bring success to their newly joined club on the 1st season(on 2nd thought, he is the one who win something on his 1st season with newly joined clubs e.g chelsea, inter right?).

But If at all he brought us EPL champs on his 1st season, it will be -
- anfield faithfuls will see him as god.
- new career high for him
- his reputation will even shoot higher compare to winning trophies with any other european clubs considering he is taking over a poor liverpool with insufficient funds if no new owner.

Does it make sense? This is from my 18 years old mindset and started supporting liverpool when i witness the miraculous istanbul night at 2005. LOL

can we goggle who is amongst the highest paid manager in europe,... we'll strike those out. & yes jose is amongst the highest paid manager . I can hear echoes in the financial kitty of liverpool cause we are bleeding $$$$$

i'm for jose, I thnk his man-buddy-pal manager could work to good effect to lift liverpool. (I said this before). but i'm a realist, I have been sticking to liverpool for over 25year, I havent seen much miracle since 89 (no wait, amongst the highlists; UEFA cup under houllier, istanbul & fa cup & almost zero since the americans quibbles)



This post has been edited by koolspyda: May 4 2010, 04:09 PM

A manager must dare to make a brave move when thing is not going right.

Manager doesn't work for media, media can say whatever they like as long as the manager is working into the right direction, deliver good football and good result, then manager is delivering his job already.
Scare of criticism, scare of media won't bring the club forwards especially managing some big clubs and traditional rich club like Liv.

Little people expect Liv to lift the trophy next year or near future, no matter who is the manager, and how much the transfer fee available. But at least the team must deliver better football like currently show which players' morale looks low, dejected, no confidence.

Now even Benny also unsure of his future despite has signed contract extension.

You don't bring the best out of players with above situation mentioned.

Im not saying he is not capable to manage liverpool, Im merely saying i have no confident in roy should he manage liverpool, I did mentioned that he could be a success with liverpool as well.. its all really unpredictable. as like what u said, mourinho did come from porto (again, no offense to the portugese league) and made his name from there onwards. hodgson might or might not be the same case like mourinho but if he does come to pool, we should hope for the same rather then the other way round right? =)

I admit i have doubts on him managing a club like us, but if he really does come over, as a fan, i will give my support to him.

this is a personal opinion, but if it's roy hodgson, thank you but no.

i know people are saying he's doing a great job with limited funds, and he can do wonders with little cash. but seriously, if that's the scenario he's bringing to liverpool, then you can look at fulham's current position and decide. for all the praises going his way, his best achievement at fulham is midtable mediocrity.

yes, he's brought them to the europa cup final, kudos if they can win it, but really, fulham doesn't look like they can crash the UCL spot-chasing teams anytime in the near future.

it's so much easier to find success in managers who're leading weaker teams (no offence to fulham) compared to those managing the top teams, because the only way they can go is up and there's nothing much to lose. i still remember ipswich town's manager george burley winning the manager of the year award for leading them to 5th the season after they were promoted. great achievement? i don't know, but judge for yourself. i don't even know where burley is now (and i can't even remember his name if i don't google it up), and ipswich's going nowhere now in the championship.

burley won more manager of the year awards compared to benitez, so would that make him a better manager than benitez?

the burley and hodgson comparison is probably a bit too harsh, but the stats don't lie. hodgson hasn't won anytime since 2001, and even then the trophy he won was the danish super cup with copenhagen.

There is pre-requisite that required if want JM to manage Liv ie. transfer fund available.

Be realistic, no one can lift the trophy without spending.
I don't mean must spend hundred of million, but at least must have fund available for his prefer kind of players.
Without some funds to spend on quality players, it will take forever for the club to lift the trophy especially in league, this every managers understand well. $ does matter in modern day of football.
That's why a bigger new stadium is one of urgency Liv must have.

To be simple, if you were JM, you can almost walk in most club, you want to go to Liv which you know you have limited budget to start with?
or another similiar scenario
How about you rejected a job offer of Rm10K with ease of job, but accept to work for Rm1K one that need to work like hell.

Sentiment is one thing, realistic is another thing.

1) I don't think anyone will be foolish enough to pay 40 million for Gerrard, not now anyways. A few seasons ago there would have been an almighty auction for sure, but at his age, he no longer represents value for money... then again did Chelsea pay anything for Ballack?

2) Going from (1), I reckon Gerrard will be at Liverpool next season and beyond. And if so many are willing to give Rafa a third chance (five year plan & 4th place guarantee ) then surely Gerrard deserves the benefit of the doubt as well. Some might say Rafa's tactics won us that CL, some say its luck but EVERYONE will agree that Gerrard's heroics directly influenced the game. As well as countless others. He might have his stevie-me periods, but he has more than earned it too, imho.

3) Liverpool has had a new chairman for like 2 months now isit? And he's not met Rafa for talks yet? The only thing i remember is Rafa joking that the chairman's too busy with his day job at BA in the wake of the volcano thinggy. Honestly, methinks Rafa is no longer wanted.

4) I was at The Library with some of the myRawk boys on Sunday. When we belted out the Rafa song, it made me think of better times, times when we sang with gusto, with passion and not out of bitter irony. I can't believe that I am saying this, but let's give Rafa one last shot to make things right.

5) It's been awfully quiet on the 'Club For Sale' front.

well, I gotta admit, you are right enough that the transfer funds condition must be fullfilled if we wants JM to come. which i highlighted that no new owner/investors, no point looking for new manager. hahah.. unrealistically if he does come and make us a champ.. then.. GG

england needed capello to make them look like a decent team. he has the authoritive presence.

i cant think of anyone else then mourinho and probably hiddink

and i have lobbied mourinho for liverpool in the past

---

Added on May 4, 2010, 4:52 pmlook, mourinho tossed his first EPL medal into the crowd.

do you seriously believe he cares more about how much he is paid than his pride?

like nando said, his pride is the most important to him

and the liverpool challenge may well be the one that suits him

if inter wins the serie-A, people will only say: ok.. so what?

liverpool and mourinho, it will be so interesting

This post has been edited by Petre: May 4 2010, 04:52 PM

the yanks are taking stock of situation. the possible (arabs again? the other possible buyers/investors that seem benitez friendly were discounted recently) will play a waiting game. the longer they (or other investors) hold out the 'more affordable' the asking price.

The Longer THE wait, The least LIKELY to see the yanks injecting fresh $$$ into liverpool, the LESS $$$ to spend, the less likely to see GOOD players are brought in. The MOST LIKELY scenario WILL then be we are shafted yet again. YMCH yanks.

hurrah then we are back to the 'Leeds' fall out

This post has been edited by koolspyda: May 4 2010, 04:56 PM

the backpass fr stevieG earn him a Bosman to Liverpool, courtesy of Roman

LOL.. walaupun dia back pass to drogba, he is still my captain!

the fans in england will not let gerrard leave wan, trust me. afterall, he is still a talisman for liverpool. =)