4 in 6 years compared to Benitez's 2 in 6 years. Only 'tards would include Super Cups and Charity Shield in the trophy hauls.

Benitez's was clearly better IMO. He won the Champions League compared to Houllier's UEFA Cup. That's like comparing the league to winning the league cup. They both had 1 FA Cup win. Houllier won 2 league cups more than Benitez, while you accept a LC win it's not exactly earth shattering. And Houllier probably wouldn't have got the better of Mourinho if he'd have faced him in a LC final either.

Benitez was also runner up in a CL final as well. Benitez only had one season Liverpool looked true title challengers, but he did make LFC one of the most feared sides in the CL.

Well he has gone, I think it can only be a good thing for the club. It was time for a change but its also time for the yanks to move on ASAP


Hiddink?

Yes please

Hearing Pellegrini (sp?) mentioned.

No ta

Officially gone. I would say the only option (unless Hiddink comes which is unlikely) is King Kenny until the new owners arrive. No sane mananger would take the Liverpool job knowing that the new owners may not want to keep them.

Dalglish and Rush in temporary charge until new owners come along and appoint their own manager according to some Liverpool journalists.

It will be Sammy Lee for a while. Then it will probably be Joe Kinnear

hope so, saw Lee (in his Bolton reign) likened to a 'confused piglet in a suit

anyone got stats on his record pre his supreme 'fact' rant and post it?

Think Hodgson would be a good choice for Liverpool

Decent coach but will never be a premier league manager.

I couldnt care less, but im just interested to hear the views on the Liverpool fans who wanted him to stay, what do you think about the number of 'flops' he bought and also the amount of money that he basically was given, yet spunked away? ? ?

And?

Look at his record one bad season and he's crap, he made the semi of at least one comp every season he was here thats the kind of thing clubs like Newcastle dream of.

He made mistakes he knows it he's admitted it.

What gets me is these clueless knobs who think everything is going to be fine now.

I dont remember saying he was crap.

I was basically asking what you thought of some of his signings and the amount of money he has spunked away.

Newcastle won't be investing this pre-season, so he has been lucky with the money he has received.

I dont remember referring to his managerial prowess/lack of, etc... just simply asking about signings

He made mistakes I know that just like other managers have.

He's never been perfect but he's never been anywhere near as bad as the so called Liverpool fans and also mancs have made out.

People say net spend doesn't mean jack but I do.

Academic. He's gone. As a non-Liverpool fan I'm glad they've parted ways. With a supportive board and time to exert his influence I'm more than sure that Benitez would have had Liverpool back where they used to be, at the top of English football.

I think he would have, too. But he isn't the only person out there who could have done it. I understand our fans' disappointment, particularly towards the manner in which this was done, but Benitez isn't the greatest coach in the world, there are better out there and we've just got to hope that we're sold quick enough for the new owners to come in and bring somebody in of the requisite caliber.

If the current owners get the chance, it wouldn't surprise me to see somebody like Sammy Lee take over until they are gone. Whilst I like Sammy, he couldn't handle Bolton, so he'd crumble as manager of us.

If I could have had my choice, Prandelli and Blanc would have been two of the names right up there, as well as Hiddink. All have gone into international football which is really disappointing.


It's sad to see Rafa go, especially in such a manner. I'd rather this was decided upon earlier, so he could have had a proper goodbye and so our could supporters could show their appreciation. I'm not surprised, though, the current board and ownership is a disgrace, they continue to stoop to new lows, it wouldn't surprise me if they start publicly offering Torres out in the press - they're easily capable of such idiocy.

To quote the man himself:


Now, I'm not getting into the whole debate about how much he's spent. I doubt he would lie about his amount so you believe him or not. He has spent a lot, but we do have a valuable playing squad, with players like Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano and Reina all being valuable players, whilst I'm certain Aquilani will prove to be an extremely valuable player.

Benitez's record in the market isn't great, nobody will say that, but the figures above speak for themselves (if true). He hasn't been given a bottomless pot like some seem to believe.

Don't mention his big money flops. The Liverpool fans will go off on one. It's all about net spend, even though MUFC's net spend was around minus £70m last summer yet still mananged to challenge for the title until the final weekend of the season.

Getting into this debate, as I said, is pointless. Nobody will deny Fergie has done better than Rafa in the market, but the different circumstances, expectations and situations of the two clubs makes a comparison pretty pointless. All it generally results in is United spending less, performing better and WUM comments from you

Spending £18m on a right back after you had just finished second in the league has to go down as a major blunder? A new right back was never going see you make the jump from runners up to winners. Remember Utd lost both Ronaldo and Tevez and were reduced to signing Owen on a free. With a more appropiate signing(s) with that money last season would've been your best chance of the title for ages.

He was also a big reason he may well have left this summer...

In hindsight, you're probably right, but in hindsight, Pompey still owed us £7m (or more) for Crouch. Considering the way they've gone, I doubt we would have got that by now, so by sweeping that off and using that directly as a fee for Johnson, it probably made more sense. We needed English players, we needed a right back so when the best right back in the league is available, you generally go for him. We probably overpaid, but the biggest blunder last summer was not signing a back up striker, or, at least for me, not keeping Nemeth at the club as I believe he could have had twice the influence Voronin did. But, I'm sure Rafa wanted a striker, I'm sure when £30m was brought in directly from selling Alonso and another £4m for Arbeloa, he'd have thought '£17m on Aquilani, a good £10m or so on a good back up striker', instead he got £17m on Aquilani (potentially, there are a lot of clauses that probably won't be triggered for a while) and a £1.5m centre half that we had to scrape the barrel for.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I'm sure Rafa wouldn't have signed some players he had or spent as much as we have, but there are so many little complex things that influence stuff, it's really hard to put a 'clear' view on it.

Still spent more than Fergie(net). I think you will realise down the line that him going is a great thing for your club. Im devastated he's gone.

As much as I detest Benitez, I'd be one his side over the spending issue. It's okay pointing to Fergie spending less net or the money Benitez has wasted, but that totally ignores the fact that a lot of Fergie's spending was before the huge inflation and the freak occurrence of so many talented youngsters filling the squad. It ignores the fact that not only was he up against Fergie's Man Utd, he was up against Mourinho's Chelsea and also had Wenger to compete with at Arsenal.

Liverpool were always fighting with one arm behind their backs when up against CFC and MU, Wenger has had ten years of total support and backing from Arsenal.

Benitez has made mistakes while at Liverpool. But so has Fergie. So has Mourinho and Capello. So has Wenger.

In a way I do think Liverpool were right to get rid of Benitez. Liverpool are in a difficult position until new owners come in so it's going to be a struggle for whoever is in charge, but having a whining Benitez in charge wouldn't help in any way. They need someone who can rally the club and get the best position they can from the situation they're in, not Benitez who would be sulking because he's not getting the right tools to challenge at the top.

I'm glad that Liverpool are in this turmoil, but I'm slightly worried that they might manage to bring Hiddink in. I think Hiddink would be a huge success at Liverpool and I'm praying they don't get him. Roy Hodgson could be good, but he also could just be one of these managers who are great at smaller sides but can't perform at the top. I think Hughes or O'Neill would be a disaster, so I'm hoping it's one of them who they get.