Rafael Benitez

[Hughesy]

Not suggesting that I have no concerns at all about us going up, but the knee jerk nature of this place is amazing.  Brighton have lost two of their last four, including a 3-0 pumping off one of the worst teams in the league, beat a crap McClaren team and suddenly they're an unstoppable juggernaut.  No reason to think that we could be 3 points clear of Brighton again this weekend given they have Leeds and we have Birmingham.

[merlin]

Not suggesting that I have no concerns at all about us going up, but the knee jerk nature of this place is amazing.  Brighton have lost two of their last four, including a 3-0 pumping off one of the worst teams in the league, beat a crap McClaren team and suddenly they're an unstoppable juggernaut.  No reason to think that we could be 3 points clear of Brighton again this weekend given they have Leeds and we have Birmingham.

Its not just this site where people have concerns...if you look at the comments on Chron articles or The Mag there are plenty of people who put worse comments than we see on this forum about the team.

Also, most people are more worried about the standard of quite a number of players in our team than they are about either Rafa or Brighton...my own concerns are more about Huddersfield than Brighton because they are only 6 points behind us with a game in hand - they also show little sign of blowing up...

No getting away from the fact that our home record has been very patchy and that is what fans see first hand. Also, the consequences of us falling at the last hurdle are only too obvious in fans' minds.

[The College Dropout]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

[Shearergol]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

[Guest reefatoon]

I think what I got out the game on Saturday was, the best way to fully enjoy having Rafa here at the club, will be to look up the score at full time, and celebrate the victory, completely skipping the 90 minutes of football.  I will get so much more enjoyment out of that. f*** me it was a hard watch again.

[The College Dropout]

I think what I got out the game on Saturday was, the best way to fully enjoy having Rafa here at the club, will be to look up the score at full time, and celebrate the victory, completely skipping the 90 minutes of football.  I will get so much more enjoyment out of that. f*** me it was a hard watch again.

... but we lost.

[TheDonis]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Up to a point Lord Copper. There's definitely an argument to say Rafa's successes have been more frequent in cups than league titles because of his ability to prepare a team and set it up tactically for one-off matches. For me, it remains his greatest strength. While random bad results are his greatest weakness

 

Re 2008/2009, you're wrong to saw we were too defensive at home. We were never too defensive at home. We dominated teams but we were unable to convert any number of chances, particularly the west ham game at home which saw us go top. Home draws sometimes happen though when teams come and park the bus, as they did.

 

But more costly were a couple of rancid aways where we didn't show up - 1-1 Wigan and a 2-0 to Boro, which summed us up - we beat Real Madrid before and after that. We finished the season very strongly but even then a 4-4 draw with Arsenal bit us on the arse. we were probably too defensive in that match ...

[The College Dropout]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

[Benwell Lad]

I think that a lot of the reaction to Saturday's defeat was not so much that we got beat but how comprehensively we were beaten.

Although poor in most of this season's defeats the opposition never turned us over until Saturday, and I think it was a shock to most, especially coming so soon after beating Brighton and Huddersfield who were generally assumed to be the best other teams in the league.

A couple of days reflection and I'm now pretty sure that it was just one of those games.

Fulham are a useful side who had a very good day even by their standards. They caught us on a bad day when the intensity of three consecutive, very difficult away games had taken it's toll and we were physically and mentally below par.

Take the hit, regroup and get on with the job.

[TheDonis]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

Another championship manager like Steve Bruce? Or Alex Neil? Norwich and Villa fans would happily swap places with you right now. At the season's start, I thought Norwich had a stronger side than you and were better suited to the Champo, fwiw.

 

But really, who? Gary Monk? I think some of you forget how on your arse you were when you went down and how downright godawful, piss-stinking, laughing-stock shit you've been for more than a decade. And that's not even considering the off the field fuckery. You could easily be where Villa are now, with 30,000 every week moaning their arse off, in absolute pieces. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that if you hadn't got Rafa, and if he hadn't got you a couple of good players like Clark and Ritchie and others, you'd be absolutely Freddie Fucked right now.

[Guest reefatoon]

I think what I got out the game on Saturday was, the best way to fully enjoy having Rafa here at the club, will be to look up the score at full time, and celebrate the victory, completely skipping the 90 minutes of football.  I will get so much more enjoyment out of that. f*** me it was a hard watch again.

... but we lost.

 

I was talking about from now and celebrating a victory when we get one.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

Another championship manager like Steve Bruce? Or Alex Neil? Norwich and Villa fans would happily swap places with you right now. At the season's start, I thought Norwich had a stronger side than you and were better suited to the Champo, fwiw.

 

But really, who? Gary Monk? I think some of you forget how on your arse you were when you went down and how downright godawful, p*ss-stinking, laughing-stock s*** you've been for more than a decade. And that's not even considering the off the field fuckery. You could easily be where Villa are now, with 30,000 every week moaning their arse off, in absolute pieces. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that if you hadn't got Rafa, and if he hadn't got you a couple of good players like Clark and Ritchie and others, you'd be absolutely Freddie f***ed right now.

 

[TRon]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Up to a point Lord Copper. There's definitely an argument to say Rafa's successes have been more frequent in cups than league titles because of his ability to prepare a team and set it up tactically for one-off matches. For me, it remains his greatest strength. While random bad results are his greatest weakness

 

Re 2008/2009, you're wrong to saw we were too defensive at home. We were never too defensive at home. We dominated teams but we were unable to convert any number of chances, particularly the west ham game at home which saw us go top. Home draws sometimes happen though when teams come and park the bus, as they did.

 

But more costly were a couple of rancid aways where we didn't show up - 1-1 Wigan and a 2-0 to Boro, which summed us up - we beat Real Madrid before and after that. We finished the season very strongly but even then a 4-4 draw with Arsenal bit us on the arse. we were probably too defensive in that match ...

 

There were people mentioning Rafa being more of a cup manager on here a few years ago even when he was the Liverpool manager. The idea being that he was too cautious against the weaker teams to take maximum points as often as he should, although he always seemed to do well going head to head against the bigger clubs.

 

TCD has just absorbed this viewpoint down the last couple of seasons and is now presenting it as his own amazing insight. Fairly standard behaviour from N-O's self appointed footy boffin.

[ohmelads]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

Another championship manager like Steve Bruce? Or Alex Neil? Norwich and Villa fans would happily swap places with you right now. At the season's start, I thought Norwich had a stronger side than you and were better suited to the Champo, fwiw.

 

But really, who? Gary Monk? I think some of you forget how on your arse you were when you went down and how downright godawful, p*ss-stinking, laughing-stock s*** you've been for more than a decade. And that's not even considering the off the field fuckery. You could easily be where Villa are now, with 30,000 every week moaning their arse off, in absolute pieces. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that if you hadn't got Rafa, and if he hadn't got you a couple of good players like Clark and Ritchie and others, you'd be absolutely Freddie f***ed right now.

 

While I agree we'd probably be f***ed without Rafa, the rest of your post makes it sound like people have been blissfully unaware that our club was a mess, when in fact there's been years and years of fan unrest since long before the last time we went down. You only have to look at the fans' reaction to Rafa's arrival and continuing support for him up and down the country to see that you're referring to a tiny minority of fans on the internet.

 

He's the right man and we're lucky to have him, but whoever is the manager, fans will vent after seeing their team get outplayed at home by a team further down the table. This is true at any club.

[Wallsendmag]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

Another championship manager like Steve Bruce? Or Alex Neil? Norwich and Villa fans would happily swap places with you right now. At the season's start, I thought Norwich had a stronger side than you and were better suited to the Champo, fwiw.

 

But really, who? Gary Monk? I think some of you forget how on your arse you were when you went down and how downright godawful, p*ss-stinking, laughing-stock s*** you've been for more than a decade. And that's not even considering the off the field fuckery. You could easily be where Villa are now, with 30,000 every week moaning their arse off, in absolute pieces. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that if you hadn't got Rafa, and if he hadn't got you a couple of good players like Clark and Ritchie and others, you'd be absolutely Freddie f***ed right now.

 

Having watched over 50 Championship games this season, 20 odd involving us and loads as a neutral on TV I think you're talking rubbish. Any team that can call on Gayle, Shelvey, Ritchie and Yedlin is going to be up at the tip end of this league even if most of the other players are pretty much run of the mill Championship standard. I've watched Brighton 6 times, twice against us and 4 times against other teams and the only time they've convinced was on Friday v a completely uninterested Derby. A team of grafters with one or two quality players, for this league. Huddersfield, not a particularly good team. 3rd in the table with a +6 goal difference. They've got loads of endeavour and their pressing game is clearly too much for a lot of teams in this league but they're not a particularly good side. Nor are we for that matter but a more attacking approach in home games and I very much doubt we would have lost/dropped points to the likes of Wolves, Blackburn, QPR & Bristol City.

 

I'm a massive Rafa fan. I got my season ticket back because of him but it's been clear since the very first home game of the season, back in August v Huddersfield that he's struggled with setting up the team at SJP. The players at times look like they haven't got a clue what they're supposed to be doing, the polar opposite to away games where we look so well drilled and organised.

 

Yes there's been the odd knee jerk reaction on here but most of what I've read had been fair and balanced. He's a terrific manager, a brilliant bloke as well, but nobody, including him, is above scrutiny when he's failed to address problems at home which can be traced right back to August.

[The College Dropout]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Up to a point Lord Copper. There's definitely an argument to say Rafa's successes have been more frequent in cups than league titles because of his ability to prepare a team and set it up tactically for one-off matches. For me, it remains his greatest strength. While random bad results are his greatest weakness

 

Re 2008/2009, you're wrong to saw we were too defensive at home. We were never too defensive at home. We dominated teams but we were unable to convert any number of chances, particularly the west ham game at home which saw us go top. Home draws sometimes happen though when teams come and park the bus, as they did.

 

But more costly were a couple of rancid aways where we didn't show up - 1-1 Wigan and a 2-0 to Boro, which summed us up - we beat Real Madrid before and after that. We finished the season very strongly but even then a 4-4 draw with Arsenal bit us on the arse. we were probably too defensive in that match ...

 

You drew 7 league games at home (no losses though). Man Utd won 16 league games at home.

 

Drew at home to Fulham, West Ham, Stoke, Hull, Man C & Everton. All 1-1 or 0-0 bar Hull. 4-2-3-1 all the time right?  Beat all the top teams at home bar Arsenal.

 

As far as I can see that's a better version of what we have here. You beat half those teams instead of draws and lose the rest and you're league champions. I reckon you probably had "control" of those games but didn't go for the kill.

 

Most of those results happened early in the season aye. Here's to ending well here too.

 

You should've won the league that season.

[Guest firetotheworks]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

[ohmelads]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

[Wallsendmag]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

 

He's best off ignored. Plenty of good, reasoned debate on here. His "contribution" isn't really worthy of a response.

[TheDonis]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

 

Tbh I think it's pretty deluded for some to think you'd be in a better position if Rafa had left last summer.

 

 

[TheDonis]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

Another championship manager like Steve Bruce? Or Alex Neil? Norwich and Villa fans would happily swap places with you right now. At the season's start, I thought Norwich had a stronger side than you and were better suited to the Champo, fwiw.

 

But really, who? Gary Monk? I think some of you forget how on your arse you were when you went down and how downright godawful, p*ss-stinking, laughing-stock s*** you've been for more than a decade. And that's not even considering the off the field fuckery. You could easily be where Villa are now, with 30,000 every week moaning their arse off, in absolute pieces. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that if you hadn't got Rafa, and if he hadn't got you a couple of good players like Clark and Ritchie and others, you'd be absolutely Freddie f***ed right now.

 

Having watched over 50 Championship games this season, 20 odd involving us and loads as a neutral on TV I think you're talking rubbish. Any team that can call on Gayle, Shelvey, Ritchie and Yedlin is going to be up at the tip end of this league even if most of the other players are pretty much run of the mill Championship standard.

 

This is madness. Gayle, Ritchie and Yedlin wouldn't be anywhere near you without Rafa. He brought them to you!!

[Minhosa]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Rafa Benitez is our manager. Our manager under a Mike Ashley regime. Predeccesors include Kinnear, Hughton, Pardew and McClaren. Just let that sink in for a minute.

 

He's a helluva problem to have.

[Wallsendmag]

I've come to the conclusion his strength isn't league management. Too cautious. Over a 38 league season he's only over managed 80 points or more once. A minimum of 12 losses or draws. Certainly the Liverpool team didn't win the title due to too many home draws.

 

But we will get promoted. If Ashley can show some ambition over the next few years we will become a top 8 side and with Rafa in charge - we should really grab some silverware.

 

Can't see Ashley matching the ambition.

 

 

I wonder who won him the two league titles in Spain with a club that wasn't one of the big 2?  He didn't win it once which you could put down as a fluke but you don't usually fluke your way to two titles. I guess he could have treated the league season as a cup competition though.

 

Won it with 70 something points twice. 1 of them Deportivo finished 2nd.

 

Neither were flukes. But it just goes to show the best seasons in his career - his team still dropped a lot of points. He regularly got similar amount of points at Liverpool but that wasn't enough to win league titles. His best ever season in terms of points was at Liverpool which they lost against a very strong Man Utd side. Again you would say being too defensive at home cost them the league. Too many home draws.

 

It's a pattern in his career. He's a fine manager but his teams have never dominated a league.

 

Is there a manager who dominates a league ready to take the job?

 

I'm not advocating that we can do better.

 

I'm saying - rafa making harder work of this league than we might have imagined isn't an indication he's not still a top manager or we should be worried long-term. It's actually consistent in his career. It's not his style to steamroller any division. Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

Another championship manager like Steve Bruce? Or Alex Neil? Norwich and Villa fans would happily swap places with you right now. At the season's start, I thought Norwich had a stronger side than you and were better suited to the Champo, fwiw.

 

But really, who? Gary Monk? I think some of you forget how on your arse you were when you went down and how downright godawful, p*ss-stinking, laughing-stock s*** you've been for more than a decade. And that's not even considering the off the field fuckery. You could easily be where Villa are now, with 30,000 every week moaning their arse off, in absolute pieces. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that if you hadn't got Rafa, and if he hadn't got you a couple of good players like Clark and Ritchie and others, you'd be absolutely Freddie f***ed right now.

 

Having watched over 50 Championship games this season, 20 odd involving us and loads as a neutral on TV I think you're talking rubbish. Any team that can call on Gayle, Shelvey, Ritchie and Yedlin is going to be up at the tip end of this league even if most of the other players are pretty much run of the mill Championship standard.

 

This is madness. Gayle, Ritchie and Yedlin wouldn't be anywhere near you without Rafa. He brought them to you!!

 

We're the biggest club in the division by some distance and we had a a large transfer pot in the summer due to player sales. To suggest we couldn't have brought in a squad player from Crystal Palace, who hardly featured last season, a Bournemouth player and a player who spent the end of last season at Sunderland and had no future at his parent club is ridiculous.

[Guest firetotheworks]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

 

A lot of the thread has posts about him not having a plan B, which just shows a lack of basic football knowledge when you think about his most famous victory.

 

Then...

Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

 

Discussing tactics is fine, and it's not that discussion that I'm referring to, it's about stepping back from one match and looking at the bigger picture. That doesn't mean that we haven't played badly, or that our home form is troubling, it's more the following:

 

Horrific owner, terrible scout, average unsuited players, no money spent in January against Rafa's wishes, and yet here we are, with Rafa Benitez as our manager, a title winning Champions League winning manager,  sitting 6 points clear in the automatic promotion places with people still finding a way to moan about the little bits in the jigsaw, when in another far more realistic alternative universe we're sitting mid to lower table with Nigel Pearson as our manager, or in our 6th year with Pardew as manager. There's looking a gift horse in the mouth and then there's just pure delusion.

 

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

 

He's best off ignored. Plenty of good, reasoned debate on here. His "contribution" isn't really worthy of a response.

 

When your contribution is anything other than links to RTG threads, let me know.

[Wallsendmag]

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

 

A lot of the thread has posts about him not having a plan B, which just shows a lack of basic football knowledge when you think about his most famous victory.

 

Then...

Another Championship manager could do a better job in this division imo. But medium/long term? He's the best man for sure.

 

 

Discussing tactics is fine, and it's not that discussion that I'm referring to, but there comes a point where you need to take a step back and look at the situation.

 

Horrific owner, terrible scout, average unsuited players, no money spent in January and yet here we are, with Rafa Benitez as our manager sitting 6 points clear in the automatic promotion places with people still finding a way to moan, when in another far more realistic alternative universe we're sitting mid to lower table with Nigel Pearson as our manager, or in our 6th year with Pardew as manager. There's looking a gift horse in the mouth and then there's just pure delusion.

 

This thread makes me understand why we get the deluded tag tbh.

 

Deluded about what exactly?

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but from what I can see, most people are discussing tactics after a bad home defeat.

 

He's best off ignored. Plenty of good, reasoned debate on here. His "contribution" isn't really worthy of a response.

 

When your contribution is anything other than links to RTG threads, let me know.

 

Less than 1% of my contribution is links to other sites. Carry on being pointless.