At least he's stubborn and has a nerve of steel to handle the pressure from the owners.

Anyway I was thinking about it yesterday, half of our first teamers - Lucas, Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson - are actually his signings. Throw in Maxi, Kuyt, Shelvey, Bellamy and you have half a team that fits his criteria. Perhaps if we bring him in, the rebuilding won't be as extensive as we initially thought required? I'm sure by sitting in front of the telly for the past few months, surely he would have already drafted a new blueprint and plan for Liverpool?

I mean, it's quite disappointing that none of these newer rumours actually contain Rafa's name. Sure he might not be the suitable manager and FSG may find others who are better in line with their own vision. But really, they have nothing to lose by bringing him in and hearing his plans & demands.

Gus Poyet? Are we building a mini Uruguayan team now?

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Added on May 19, 2012, 12:37 amOh for what it's worth solstice818, most of us here are probably more than familiar with people calling for Rafa's head back then eh?

I do not think any LFC fan will leave KD to walk alone.  What is happening now is some of us question his 2nd return. That's all.  i hv never agree to KD taking fulltime.  KD carry with him a history that can divide the club.  Section of supporters is turning against FSG for KD departure.  We would have been in administration or worst, in the hand of Peter Lim.  I don't know how true is this but he also own the Manu theme chain restaurant Red Cafe in Asia.  In another word, we turn against our saviour, blinded by our sentiment.

I think bringing Rafa will not improve the team further. Most of the players he brings in are flops and then resell back for a much lower value. He won the CL last time using the players that Gerard Houlier bought

Some mediocre players during gerard houlier times like igor biscan were groomed by rafa and they perform during the 2005/2006 season ... but the real heroes were bought by rafa .. mascherano, xabi alonso, luis garcia, harry kewell ... and players like daniel agger, skrtel, torres, kuyt .. they are real quality players ... and the important one .. LUCAS

Some mediocre players during gerard houlier times like igor biscan were groomed by rafa and they perform during the 2005/2006 season ... but the real heroes were bought by rafa .. mascherano, xabi alonso, luis garcia, harry kewell ... and players like daniel agger, skrtel, torres, kuyt .. they are real quality players ... and the important one .. LUCAS

I think bringing Rafa will not improve the team further. Most of the players he brings in are flops and then resell back for a much lower value. He won the CL last time using the players that Gerard Houlier bought

pep , rogers and klopp have already reject the interview..so now fav is still martinez, i heard rafa is invited to the interview as well

SOS..

Alonso, Agger, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Torres, Mascherano, Lucas, Garcia, Reina, Crouch, Kuyt, Benayoun, Sissoko .. all these guys turned out to be great players and all bought for pretty decent prices and sold for bigger amounts.

Furthermore, he made Gerrard and Carragher better players.

Have you ever thought of the fact that why alot of signings in his last few years were "average"?

Hicks and Gillett is your answer.

Rafa Benitez worked under difficult constraints and what he achieved here, he over achieved. Four finals in his first 3 years is remarkable.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...p.html?ITO=1490

http://www.kopsource.com/liverpool-make-benitez-approach/

now it seems the AVB is interested in liverpool after his chances of landing roma job has been taken by Montella while some source say FSG will not turn to benitez

"Associates of former Liverpool manager Rafa Benítez have also approached the club to request an interview with the American owners, Fenway Sports Group. Liverpool insist there is no prospect of Benítez returning."

In an interview in the latest edition of the official UEFA Champions League magazine, Gerrard insists the pair now have “the perfect relationship.”
He says: “Rafa is obsessed with football 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“You have to take your hat off to him. He’s one of the best managers there is.
“Rafa is the type that when you finish a game as man of the match having scored three goals, he won’t even mention it. Instead, he’ll mention that you never used your left foot at a certain point!
“But Rafa does it right. When I need a pat on the back I get it.
“I have had lots of ‘well dones’ from him, but when I need a kick up the backside I get it too.
“He can also make me laugh, but you don’t see that side of him — or me — from the outside.
“We spend a lot of time together on the training ground, travelling to matches and he joins in. We’ve got a great team spirit here and my relationship with him is perfect at the moment.”

Gerrard in his book: My Autobiography
Henry Winter

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has hailed Rafa Benitez as an "outstanding" manager, lauding the Spaniard's "clever" handling of Jose Mourinho's mind games and his "tactical masterstrokes" against Chelsea and Barcelona in Europe.

One of the performances of last season came at the Nou Camp on Feb 21, 2007, when Liverpool tore into the then European champions. "Rafa's game plan was to shock Barcelona," Gerrard writes in the paperback update of his autobiography out next week. "Barcelona felt Liverpool would be really negative. Rafa did the opposite."

Benitez's command to his players was simple: "Go for the jugular." The Liverpool manager ordered his team to attack Barcelona down the flanks, and use Bellamy's pace to embarrass the hosts' centre-backs, Carles Puyol and Rafael Marquez. Bellamy and Riise both scored in a famous victory.

Gerrard claims that the media fuss over Bellamy's spat with Riise "fuelled our motivation" to excel in the Nou Camp.
Barcelona were greeted with "another tactical masterstroke from Rafa" as Liverpool sat deep, stifling Ronaldinho and company. Eidur Gudjohnsen scored late on, but little was seen of Barcelona's vaunted attacking strength.

Liverpool's semi-final with Chelsea was preceded by a rare outburst from Benitez, attacking Mourinho's presumption that he was the 'Special One'. "Straight in. Bang. Take that, Jose. He went to town on Jose. By stating that Liverpool's fans were the real Special Ones, Rafa was being really clever."

The Kop was at its fervent best when Mourinho's men visited. "Chelsea walked into a wall of noise," Gerrard adds. "And a classic sting." Benitez had worked his players on a special free-kick routine, and when Gerrard cut a free-kick back to Daniel Agger, Chelsea were caught out.

"Rafa had really done his homework on Chelsea," Gerrard writes. "While watching tapes of them, we noticed that when defending set-pieces in wide areas, they backed off. If you piled a lot of bodies into the box, distracting John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien, the pull-back was on. The manager drills us on dead-ball situations, day in, day out."

Agger's goal, and subsequent penalties, took Liverpool to the European Cup final against AC Milan. "Rafa came up with the right game-plan in Athens," recalls Gerrard, citing the manager's decision to swamp Milan's midfield with a 4-5-1 formation.

I beg to differ that we turned against our 'savior' ie FSG. The cowboys were taunted as saviours as well when they first bought us from the Moores. The lesser of 2 evil is still evil. It makes it better but it doesn't guarantee goodness.

I as a Liverpool fan am not too concerned about the sacking of King Kenny. Targets were set and agreed upon by both parties and I fully understand FSG's decision. Having said that, their inexperience in dealing with footballing matters and their lack of clear concise direction is definitely worrying. Pardon me for sounding a bit xenophobic, but they are trying too hard to force their USA sporting franchise business model into the LFC organisation. Everything feels a bit too black and white and too much emphasis is placed upon specialisation. They need to understand that in order to be a successful 'product' (Yes, I cringed as much as you did), LFC needs to be an institution first and a business second. To me they have it the other way around. I hope I am very wrong though.

And you know what is polarising us? Results. Win and there are no complaints. Lose and suddenly everyone has an opinion. And you know what people say about opinions and arseholes.

Not gonna happen with Yankees...EVERYTHING is 4$ and cents......keepo yer traditions in yer pockets.
Never liked Yanks involved, never will from the first two goons and was hoping FSG maybe a bit different.
But i dont think so.....look...they dont even bother with representation in Liverpool.
That tells something.

Everything to them will be goals, objectoives and results.....by hook or by crook.

“The difference between players is not always the quality but their mentality,”

"People can talk about having a lot of money to buy players but we've just signed a player with a passion and a heart for this club that no amount of money can buy."

"But we have a saying in Spain that you never sell the house to buy a window. You don't spend more money than you have."

"It's easier if you've got the money to go into the transfer market. Imagine if you want to buy a jacket, if you have £1000 you can buy a good jacket, but if you have £10,000 you can buy the best"

“Seeing these smiling faces is the greatest pleasure. They have been magnificent all season. They have been our 12th man. I have always said our fans are the best in England. Now I know they are the best in Europe too.”

“Luis said to me that as he turned away, he was right on the line, and he said the ball was over the line. And after the game my secretary Sheila, who was sitting right in line in the main stand, said to me that the ball had crossed the line. She is a very honest person and that was good enough for me. It was a goal.”

"We are preparing a special weightlifting plan for Gerrard's shoulders because we want him to lift a lot of trophies for us in the next few years."

"Just because I've added one more trophy to that list, it doesn't mean my job is done. It's only just started."

"I know being in the top four of the Premiership is very important, but you will never see any club honours list recording an historic fourth place in the Premiership."

Mr Alex Ferguson said Liverpool play only for five minutes to win a match. But Benitez said: "If we play five minutes and beat sides, if we play for another 85 it would be terrible, no?"

"Now my relationship with Steven is good- with my wife it is better!"

Interviewer: Were you confident when you saw their team sheet
Rafa: I was confident when i saw my teamsheet

“You cannot be a genius if you do not have good players. You can have the best tactics, but if I put all you journalists on the pitch, I’m sure we will lose.“

And Benitez said: “I was pleased with Peter Crouch. He have been talking to him, before and after his nose operation, to show more confidence with his heading.
“Now it seems to have worked. Lets say that if he has a few games without scoring again, maybe we should arrange to break his nose again!”

'Mr.Benitez,' he said. 'The last time I saw you was at the 2005 Champions' League final, and your, erm, silhouette seems to have changed since then. Why is that?'
Breaking out into a grin, Benitez responded: 'It is the stress of having to answer so many questions from the press. Thank you and goodnight.'