If Everton win their game in hand we are all of 4 points behind you. Not bad when you consider Rafa has probably had a £300m head start on Moyes during their respective reigns.

Whoa give the bloke a medal he's not going to get one anywhere else unless he get another LMA award.

Moyes joined in what 2002? whats he done? even Pompey have won the FA Cup in that time.

I don't like Benitez. I think he's a fat **** and I'm enjoying the problems he's having. I like the position Liverpool are in. I want Liverpool to keep him because I think he's done as a manager there.

But never in a million years should he resign when he has the contract he has.

Zamora > C Cole > Heskey

You mention the contract and that is the only thing keeping him there, from both sides. He would have been months if not years ago had it not been so expensive for them to do it.

But his reputation is taking an absolute battering through this period. He looks farcical with his, how did the Romanian's put it..."different silhouette " and his LFC bubble jacket. He is turning himself from some sort of coaching guru into something of a joke figure in European football.

You have to applaud the Liverpool fans ability to not turn their frustration straight onto the manager like all other clubs fans do. But even as an Everton fan I can see they deserve better than Benitez. He doesn't seem to have any idea what he's doing. He doesn't have a consistent style of player in the team, the squad just seems to be a random assembly of average overseas players with no cohesion and very few strong characters. He's done a terrible job in the last few years.

As for his comments tonight, laughable, "I am disappointed with the result but really pleased with the effort of the players. They were fantastic today".

So to clarify Liverpool's players were fantastic on Channel 5 against the French equivalent of Fulham, when yesterday Manchester United and their old boys were beating AC Milan 4-0 in the Champions League?

Yeah but what does that matter?:

Rooney > Defoe > Crouch > Zamora > C Cole > Heskey

They were second last year. They should have probably won the league. So to say he's done a terrible job in the last few years is clearly nonsense.

The wheels have fallen off this season and it's been an awful season for Liverpool, but just as last season was probably a slight over achievement, this season is a massive under achievement. Last season has probably knocked everyone's heads for six because they may realise they won't achieve what they are so desperate to. But this season isn't conclusive proof that Benitez is finished. It could just be a disastrous season which is followed by a decent season.

As an Everton fan under Moyes, surely you have plenty of examples of good seasons followed by bad ones? Benitez is just doing what Moyes has done a few times. But the major difference is that when Moyes has a bad season you flirt with relegation for a while. A similar season for Liverpool is a failure to finish with a European qualification.

It's not that simple and you know it's not. Liverpool back the manager with money to spend. He's spent way more per season than Manchester United have. Everton only have a fraction of that so our mediocrity is inevitable. Liverpool are supposidly one of the greatest football clubs in the world and have a great history and have bankrolled themselves into massive debts searching for that elusive title. Despite the history and the backing Benitez has failed miserably in their quest for the league title.

Benitez's squad development and his eye for a signing are simply not good enough for a manager of an elite club.

That's a gem, even for you. In order to win the title, Rafa would need some pretty serious investment, we're talking over £100m in the transfer kitty without player sales, that's the kind of investment needed for us to make the big step, at least that was the kind of step up needed last summer, now it's probably more, he hasn't been given that. Our fans will always expect the title to be won, but I don't think the board have ever expected him to win the league.

Or
Rafa would need to spend his £ms on quality players rather than guff that would struggle to make the bench at a real top club

Benitez has been up against Ferguson, who has been at United for 25 years and had absolute fortunes to spend. He's been up against Wenger, who has been at Arsenal for 15 years and given the time and opportunity to mould Arsenal into exactly what he wants. He's been up against Mourinho, who has had a couple of hundred million to win the title.

When up against those three, the money that Benitez has had has not been anywhere close to being enough to take the title.

All four of the managers have bought utterly fantastic players. All four of them have bought players that turned out to be utter failures.

Benitez's signings are hardly 'fantastic'. Torres and Reina (If he signed him, I can't remember) fine, but the rest of them?

Honestly, you defy belief. Just the other day you were heralding Leighton Baines as part of the best left side in the league, yet you can only claim two players signed by Benitez as 'fantastic'.

IMO, these have been the best of Benitez's signings:

Reina
Torres
Alonso
Mascherano
Agger
Skrtel
Aurelio
Sissoko
Arbeloa
Benayoun
Crouch
Luis Garcia

Maybe I've forgot one or two, maybe some of you will disagree but I have no doubts than any of those above who are still here would bring a profit, whilst the ones already gone brought in a profit except for maybe Luis Garcia.

Also, if you rate Baines so highly then you can throw Glen Johnson in there, he's not had much chance to prove himself as a great signing yet but there's no doubting he's a top player, even with the hapless Dirk Kuyt in front of him.

Not really. Liverpool have spent more money per season since the inception of the Premier League than Man United have and considerably more during the time Benitez has been manager of Liverpool. Johnson, Insua, El Zhar, Ngog, Lucas, Voronin, Reira, Arbeloa, Degen, Krgyiakos, Babel, Josemi, Nunez, Pellegrino, Morientes, Gonzales, Bellamy, Kuyt, Kronkamp, Skrtel, Aurelio, Pennant, Dossena, Sissoko, Leto, Zenden, Palletta, Carson, Cavilieri, Keane, Aquilani.

That is a quarter of a billion pounds worth of footballing talent. None of that did much for Liverpool. Keane is a reasonable player, now in the English D5 (SPL), but what about the rest of them? Take that £200m+ and replace it with 6 or 7 top quality players instead.

Another thing Benitez should be criticised for is his lack of ability/willingness to bring players through the system. Since Gerrard, who have they brought through? Where are his Jack Rodwell's, Wayne Rooney's, Aaron Ramsey's? Where is the next Stevie G? Or the next Robbie Fowler? I went to watch Liverpool's reserves a few years back and saw a random collection of Argentinian, Spanish and French kids destroy Everton. The likes of Rodwell, Gosling, Anichebe, Coleman and Duffy are now involved in the first team for Everton. I don't think any of the Liverpool players have made it through.