Rafael Benitez

[Odear]

Reading that Rawk thread, why do they hate Villa so much?

 

Rafa was linked with them a few years ago and the fans turned their noses up at the idea of him taking charge. At least that's what I think it's about

 

They seem to think that whatever it is that his wages are will be far cheaper to relegate Sunderland than the 32 million they paid to have Villa relegated.

 

Had a good read of their forum, seem a decent bunch actually. They worship Rafa and want him to have the same rapport with us. Which I reckon he will. We've had dreary journeyman after dreary journeyman for so long now at this club, which to be honest, was as much of my frustration than Mike Ashley's mistakes or plain stupid decisions.

 

We now have a manager who most definitely will not tow the party line or let anyone at the club make decisions that will tie his hands.

 

It's taken so long but I reckon the penny has finally dropped with Mike that he could get far more out of this club by not employing an absolute clown to run it. It's such a drastic change of ethos. He has to be commended for that. He said he would invest and he did.. they made the wrong call in hiring Shteve and sticking to that structure that was obviously not working. But I think the overall thing to pick up on is that they have learned, learned to stay the fuck out of things and let a professional take care of it.

 

Rafa knows his stuff when it comes to the organisation of a club.

 

On his website he wrote a piece about the structure of a football club.. it's a very interesting read.

 

 

 

here hare here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have always maintained that those of us who work in football are privileged. And that’s because we get paid for a job we love and are passionate about. And in my case, I have been lucky enough to have worked in different countries, to have observed different cultures and ways of working, to have benefited from those experiences and this gives me, I believe, some idea of being able to analyse things from a different perspective, from the outside.

 

When certain people talk about signings, and how to go about them, the market value of players, the reasons why you buy or sell a player, you can see that some of them don’t really know the true situation which can be very confusing for the fans. So in this article I will try to explain my point of view based on my experience.

 

Obviously I will try to focus on my area of responsibility in the club. That is the football, the playing direction given by the manager or the coach as the case may be.

 

Club Structure

 

What you first need to establish when you go to a new club are the aims of the club and the resources available to achieve them. So it is essential to analyse in depth the club organisation, its management structure and their different functions especially if you are in a foreign country.

The rules, the fixture list, the squad, the staff at the club and their roles, the situation regarding players contracts, the environment, the culture, the club tradition… knowledge of all these are essential to being able to take the right decisions. At least for those who are depending on you.

 

In Spain or Italy there is usually a ‘Director of Football’ or ‘Chief Scout’ who in theory is responsible for signing the Coach and putting the squad together. In the majority of cases, though not all, they usually consult the man in charge at the time, but in many other cases the President or owner, who is in charge of everything, has the last say.

 

 

 

 

(The 2 diagrams are only examples as there are many different structures).

 

In England though, it is the Manager who, also in theory, is responsible for the football, and therefore has the authority to decide how to put the squad together.

 

 

 

 

In practice, both types of structure depend on one premise: the money available for transfers and salaries. The ‘Manager’ on the one hand, or the Coach on the other, will have to consider the inescapable fact that they can sign only the three or four players on their list. That’s how it is. At least in the case of the ‘Manager’ he can choose the ones he wants.

 

Make-up of the Squad

 

As the man in charge of the technical side, you have to decide on the model of play, how you want the team to express itself on the pitch, or at least how you would like them to play. It is important to get to know your players, to talk to them so they can give you information on the composition of the squad and then you have to try to complement it with players who can enhance it and put in to practice what you want to do on the pitch. If you can’t do this, you will have to adapt and trust that they will give you support when you need it.

 

Then you have the rules governing contracts in each country, and they are also different for teams competing in International competitions. There are leagues where it is compulsory to play at least 5 players from that country, others where there is a limit on foreign signings, and others where there is an ‘A’ and ‘B’ list of players…In the end, each country, each league, has its own peculiarities and you have to know them thoroughly and above all digest them quickly before you put the squad together and / or tweak it.

 

This is where the plan, the football project, comes in to play, and with owners from the world of business coming in to football, you can only call it a Business Plan. Again I will refer to my own experience. When I went to Italy there was no ‘business plan’. I was only told about it on the last day of the transfer window, when they suddenly and surprisingly said that we were going to follow the ‘Financial Fair Play’ initiative. I will leave it there. In Spain, the continuous dialogue with club officials keeps you up to date on the economic constraints so you know where you are. Although once, I found myself with a surprise signing of a striker by the President on the last day in August because, as he was on loan, he was cheap.

 

In England, specifically at Liverpool during my first 3 seasons, the Chairman and the Chief Executive kept me informed of the restrictions and options that we had. Later on though, the club structure changed, and over time, ‘business plans’ became more and more important than any football project when it came to making decisions.

 

Something that should not be forgotten is the analysis of the Academy. Incorporating local players always gives more affinity with the club and sensibly reduces costs. In Italy and Spain the organisation depends on the ‘sporting director’ and the Coach has little input in to it. Nevertheless, in England it can be the case, as happened at Liverpool in my last year, that the Manager has control over the youth system and can follow a style of play in all age groups and with more continuity. Barcelona’s model is popular right now. There is no better or more evident example.

 

If there are no players at youth level in the club who have the requisite ability, you have to resort to the transfer market.

 

The ‘sporting director’ or the Manager has to manage a transfer Budget, and on top of that, take players’ wages in to account. A good scouting system is necessary and essential, although not infallible, and the money available in both cases will affect the market you can access. The income from selling and net spend are more important for the Manager than the Coach. The former tries to consider the future of the club and win at the same time. The latter, the way football is going, only tries to win and cost has less importance.

 

Rules and specific types of organisation

 

What also has to be considered are different International regulations. Usually the required list of available players is restricted to 25 for the first team and in some countries, like Spain, you can use youth players for up to 5 matches, after which the player has to be included in the first team squad.

In England, you can use the Reserves, which we used to try to develop youngsters by gaining experience so they could move up to the first team. Then you have the U18s. Some of these players, especially if they are coming from abroad, must have professional contracts or you run the risk of losing them to other clubs. This was what people often talked about when I was at Liverpool, either through ignorance or ‘bad faith’, that we signed a lot of players when in actual fact many of them were for the younger age groups and some of them I did not know. In Spain, these signings who join the second team or the youth teams are not considered signings for the first team. And it is the same in Italy.

 

Champions League Rules and Regulations

 

Another set of rules that, unfortunately, we always had to take in to account was the local players and home country players for Champions League list. This number has now reached 4 players brought through the club Academy and 4 players of the home country. If you have spent 3 years at the club before you reach 21, you are considered local.

 

 

Again there are differences. As Coach, if you can, you plan for your team and the sporting director plans for the squad. But as a Manager you have to plan for the future of the club. At Liverpool one of our priorities was to bring players from abroad and sign them 3 years before they reached 21, like Ayala, Pacheco or Insua. In that way, under the rules at the time, they would be considered local players, saving money in transfers and contracts, with the possibility of including them on the Champions League list. In Spain and Europe in general, as a coach, you are only involved in future planning if you keep winning and you are allowed to stay a few years. Few manage to do it.

 

 

As always, these are opinions emanating from my experience and they look to provide football fans and people who follow our website with views from a different perspective, another point of view which maybe they have not been aware of. Finally, a thought that keeps occurring to me is that although you hear something repeatedly, it is not necessarily the truth.

[McLoven11]

Spoke today with Napoli fan about Rafa, his first sentence was: ''He will relegate Newcastle''

[Sho Time]

Spoke today with Napoli fan about Rafa, his first sentence was: ''He will relegate Newcastle''

 

Hope you gremmed in his face and set him on fire.

[Teasy]

We're perfectly capable of relegating ourselves thanks..

[McLoven11]

Spoke today with Napoli fan about Rafa, his first sentence was: ''He will relegate Newcastle''

 

Hope you gremmed in his face and set him on fire.

 

Can't remember properly but he critizied him last year with something about playing with players out of their positions and without natural full backs, something like this. One thing I am sure, he can't wait to see Rafa out of Napoli.

[Stifler]

Been at work since this was announced so I haven't kept up with the thread. Anyway there is an image going round which shows his points total for the first 10 games of each club he has managed. The lowest points total was 17 I believe.

[McLoven11]

Spoke today with Napoli fan about Rafa, his first sentence was: ''He will relegate Newcastle''

 

Hope you gremmed in his face and set him on fire.

 

Can't remember properly but he critizied him last year with something about playing with players out of their positions and without natural full backs, something like this. One thing I am sure, he can't wait to see Rafa out of Napoli.

 

He is He's in Newcastle...via Real. Tell your mate he won them a cup and I hope he never tastes a win again

OK, ok, I see now the mistake, sorry. This is not my first language.

 

 

 

[Jill]

Spoke today with Napoli fan about Rafa, his first sentence was: ''He will relegate Newcastle''

 

Hope you gremmed in his face and set him on fire.

 

Upvote for "gremmed" which I haven't heard for years.

[Stifler]

Been at work since this was announced so I haven't kept up with the thread. Anyway there is an image going round which shows his points total for the first 10 games of each club he has managed. The lowest points total was 17 I believe.

 

I'd be ecstatic with that. Well, as long as Norwich and Sunderland don't get anywhere near that

It's actually only from his time at Valencia onwards.

[Crumpy Gunt]

Can I be the first to say....

 

RAFA OUT.

 

(before the badness starts)

[Paulie Walnuts]

The guy is class

[Yorkie]

The guy is class

 

:|

[thomas]

You shoulda seen it T;  he told the guy he'd have his other guy smack him. I could hardly believe it.

[Ronaldo]

[Charlies]

I've genuinely not stopped smiling since like 3pm,  feeling wrong

[Paulie Walnuts]

Leicester

[Yorkie]

:|

[Ronaldo]

[Kanj]

Crumpy needs to be sent to an asylum

[Stifler]

Sky have pulled parts of their advert for Monday's night game which showed McClaren. I wonder how long it will take for them to knock up a Rafa version.

[Jaqen]

Peter Schmeichel ‏@Pschmeichel1

 

What makes Newcastle think that Rafa Benitez will get them out the predicament they're in? If I were them, I'd go for Nigel Pearson.

 

Honestly man, how can you be that thick?

[Holloway]

Some decent craic on the Rawk site, the visit to Anfield 23rd April should be a rousing occasion. They fucking hate Hippoheed,like 

[merlin]

Delighted that the club have at last appointed a manager who has the sort of record the club and fans deserve.

 

All the upside will become apparent if he keeps us in the PL because it seems there is an escape clause in his contract should the club go down. If we survive AND he gets the budget for players HE wants, a good future could lie ahead. The only worry I have(apart from the usual one about the club once again pulling defeat from the jaws of victory)is that a study of his record shows that he rarely stays at a club more than 2-3 years...the longest spell was with Liverpool, 6 years. However, if he manages 3 years at NUFC and we end up with one of the Cups at the end of it, the whole thing will have been worth it ; even when he has been with clubs for a short spell, he has often won a trophy.

 

The downside is that as we have said, the club has taken far too long to bring him in....KK had from Feb 5 1992 until May 1992 to keep us up and he had a better basis to work with in that level of football than Rafa has now unless he can really put a bomb up the players' backsides. We have to play some difficult matches, not least starting on Monday and every game is vital. The derby is probably the most important game since WHU at the end of last season because all the pressures of a derby - at home - coming after a series of defeats to the Mackems and with both clubs separated by a single point  - are magnified by the fact that it is Rafa's first home game as manager and the expectation will be tangible. Win this and the whole morale of the club will lift and the side will get terrific backing for the remainder of the season together with a renewed belief in themselves.

Losing is unthinkable unless it is because of very bad luck etc.

Huge pressure on the guy, but he has the pedigree and experience to handle it...the big question is whether the players do..

Nevertheless a really good appointment and I wish him every success - everything will be crossed until we are safe.

 

 

[Ketsbaia]

About five random Rafa Benitez conversations were taking place on the nightbus. There's such a buzz and it's a phenomenal feeling. By some distance the greatest day at NUFC for years. Goosebumps.

 

I feel like I've fallen back in love with this club and football in general. It all feels so Keegan-esque right now..... I was out tonight and the girl I'm seeing instantly noticed my giddiness. I'm gobsmacked. There's a been a noticeable fan split in recent times, with so much miserable apathy. Benitez will drag this club up from its knees. He's a winner, a world-class manager and even our players will raise their game for him. All this talk of an improved defence sounds class. Let's just stay up and start a new, happy era in the history of this special football club. We have all the potential in the world - Rafa sees it. He is a God.

[toontownman]

Load of pics up

 

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/News/Gallery/0,,10278~5413065,00.html

 

No Aarons in training?