A warning for Rafa

                  

With Newcastle showing Sam Allardyce the door at St. James’ Park, will Rafael Benitez be next? It’s hard to understand how a man who has been in the Champion’s League final twice in the last three years can be on the hot-seat for his job. He won it all in 2005 and followed it up with a European Super Cup. He took a team that was under-performing and has finished 5th, 3rd, 3rd and currently has the Reds in 5th. How many clubs around the country would kill for that kind of record?

Benitez has a stable of players with talent to burn, yet they never seriously challenge for the Premiership title. Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett only bought the club a year ago and their patience seems to be wearing thin quickly. And the Spaniard has definitely tried to exert his power.  Rafa has spent a lot of money in the last couple of years because he constantly complaining about not having the players to compete. I guess with Jose Mourinho moving on earlier this season Benitez is staking his claim as designated whinger for the League.

Liverpool is a plum management opportunity with good fans and lots of potential. So there are some heavy hitters that will be working behind the scenes to get his job. Gillett and Hicks will be spoiled for choice if they want to make the move to change the manager. If the team was good enough to win the Champions League and be runner-up two years later with the same base of talent, then there is very little excuse for not being able to challenge in the Premiership. Unless Rafa….YOU are the weakest link!

                                      

JOB OPENING!!!!!!!!!!

            

Newcastle have shown Big Sam the door. I took Allardyce to task in an earlier post for blaming his players for the team’s woes. For some reason there is a cult of personality around him, even though he has never really achieved anything. His best winning percentage as a manager was 43% at Blackpool. Yes, that perennial powerhouse Blackpool. Hey Sam, maybe they have an opening.

Owner Mike Ashley may take a bit of flak for not giving Sam longer than 24 matches. But, I think he was smart when he took over the Geordies. He didn’t seclude himself in the owners box watching the action from a bubble. He got out into the stands. He could hear and feel the tone of the crowd. After spending 134 million pounds to buy the club then cutting cheques right away for about 26 million pounds he might have expected to beat the likes of Derby, Wigan and Stoke City.

Newcastle United have good players. With Martins, Viduka and Smith up front they should be scoring, but in the last nine games they have only scored eight goals while giving up twelve. At some point the Toon Army had to expect that Allardyce would make the tactical changes that he was supposed to be known for. It just never happened. Sir Bobby Robson has expressed surprised at the news of the sacking, I knew when Newcastle drew at Stoke that the axe was falling.

                                            

Early reports on this saga are saying that Alan Shearer will not be taking over the Tyneside club. I know that the Newcastle fans have been calling for him to take over as their manager. Did they learn nothing in the last eight months? Shearer was a hero on the pitch when he played, but as Roy Keane is showing at Sunderland, that doesn’t always translate to success from the bench. I don’t have any guesses as to who Mike Ashley will bring in. Some of the names that are being thrown in early are Martin Jol, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klinsmann even Steve McClaren. I can’t see Mourinho or Klinsmann taking this job as there are better opportunities opening up. Jol is a good guy who was fired too soon at Tottenham, but would the Newcastle supporters give him a bit of space to fix Sam’s mess? They aren’t really known for patience. McClaren??? Well they’re not my club so go ahead.