Kanji Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Bobby to Souness was an outrageous downgrade. At least that was a legitimate football decision though, rather than whatever the Bruce appointment was. Was the legit football decision to get a disciplinarian in? Because all it did was become chaotic and break up the Bobby team. When Liverpool went to Rafa, Chelsea sacked Raineri and went to Jose Mourinho and a few months later we turned to Souness and I don't think we ever recovered. Because that to me, hiring of Souness, never felt like a sound football decision and more like a completely odd one given the previous hires were Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit. I think as nutty as Gullit as he was sacked in Feb 98 when Chelsea were 2nd or 3rd in the league. When SBR was sacked Freddie went for Souness...a man with 1 decent finish with Blackburn 2 season prior and after that not much to write about other than earlier in his career. Genuinely asking. Because after Souness it was Roeder and Fat Sam then MA bought us. In any case, I always felt FS had a plan and was trying to be successful, despite the criticism he gets for "getting rich" off the club, he still at the end of the day was a fan and wanted the club to succeed - even in his own way. So not trying to split hairs here. So do agree with you in the main.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlito Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Bobby to Souness was an outrageous downgrade. At least that was a legitimate football decision though, rather than whatever the Bruce appointment was. Was the legit football decision to get a disciplinarian in? Because all it did was become chaotic and break up the Bobby team. When Liverpool went to Rafa, Chelsea sacked Raineri and went to Jose Mourinho and a few months later we turned to Souness and I don't think we ever recovered. Because that to me, hiring of Souness, never felt like a sound football decision and more like a completely odd one given the previous hires were Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit. I think as nutty as Gullit as he was sacked in Feb 98 when Chelsea were 2nd or 3rd in the league. When SBR was sacked Freddie went for Souness...a man with 1 decent finish with Blackburn 2 season prior and after that not much to write about other than earlier in his career. Genuinely asking. Because after Souness it was Roeder and Fat Sam then MA bought us. In any case, I always felt FS had a plan and was trying to be successful, despite the criticism he gets for "getting rich" off the club, he still at the end of the day was a fan and wanted the club to succeed - even in his own way. So not trying to split hairs here. So do agree with you in the main.... I still cringe when I think back to us going for Souness when I think Keegan would have took the job if approached. Kind of ironic when you think about it I suppose. If we'd gotten Robson after Keegan left we could have done great things with that team. If we'd gotten Keegan when Robson left, again we could have done great things with that team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 It was incorrect but at least it was based on the team and the squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Bobby to Souness was an outrageous downgrade. At least that was a legitimate football decision though, rather than whatever the Bruce appointment was. Was the legit football decision to get a disciplinarian in? Because all it did was become chaotic and break up the Bobby team. When Liverpool went to Rafa, Chelsea sacked Raineri and went to Jose Mourinho and a few months later we turned to Souness and I don't think we ever recovered. Because that to me, hiring of Souness, never felt like a sound football decision and more like a completely odd one given the previous hires were Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit. I think as nutty as Gullit as he was sacked in Feb 98 when Chelsea were 2nd or 3rd in the league. When SBR was sacked Freddie went for Souness...a man with 1 decent finish with Blackburn 2 season prior and after that not much to write about other than earlier in his career. Genuinely asking. Because after Souness it was Roeder and Fat Sam then MA bought us. It was an appalling, staggering decision but that was the logic, yes. Bobby supposedly couldn't manage the egos in the squad. Souness' methods were far worse, of course, as he continually alienated our most mercurial players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribesman Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Whatever he taught the players during his time at the club is now well and truly gone under Bruce. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Miss u. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samptime29 Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Literally let go for having too much ambition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I would name my firstborn Rafa if he came back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Bobby to Souness was an outrageous downgrade. At least that was a legitimate football decision though, rather than whatever the Bruce appointment was. Was the legit football decision to get a disciplinarian in? Because all it did was become chaotic and break up the Bobby team. When Liverpool went to Rafa, Chelsea sacked Raineri and went to Jose Mourinho and a few months later we turned to Souness and I don't think we ever recovered. Because that to me, hiring of Souness, never felt like a sound football decision and more like a completely odd one given the previous hires were Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit. I think as nutty as Gullit as he was sacked in Feb 98 when Chelsea were 2nd or 3rd in the league. When SBR was sacked Freddie went for Souness...a man with 1 decent finish with Blackburn 2 season prior and after that not much to write about other than earlier in his career. Genuinely asking. Because after Souness it was Roeder and Fat Sam then MA bought us. In any case, I always felt FS had a plan and was trying to be successful, despite the criticism he gets for "getting rich" off the club, he still at the end of the day was a fan and wanted the club to succeed - even in his own way. So not trying to split hairs here. So do agree with you in the main....Shearere I always got the feeling that Shearer might have been a big factor in Souness getting the job. Neither Gullitt or Robson treated him as untouchable, and as soon as Souness landed, he made it clear that Shearer was his main man. Bellamy and Kluivert were pretty quickly downgraded in comparison. Freddie Shepherd was also in thrall to Shearer, pretty sure he was lauding him as a future Newcastle manager at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Bobby to Souness was an outrageous downgrade. At least that was a legitimate football decision though, rather than whatever the Bruce appointment was. Was the legit football decision to get a disciplinarian in? Because all it did was become chaotic and break up the Bobby team. When Liverpool went to Rafa, Chelsea sacked Raineri and went to Jose Mourinho and a few months later we turned to Souness and I don't think we ever recovered. Because that to me, hiring of Souness, never felt like a sound football decision and more like a completely odd one given the previous hires were Keegan, Dalglish, Gullit. I think as nutty as Gullit as he was sacked in Feb 98 when Chelsea were 2nd or 3rd in the league. When SBR was sacked Freddie went for Souness...a man with 1 decent finish with Blackburn 2 season prior and after that not much to write about other than earlier in his career. Genuinely asking. Because after Souness it was Roeder and Fat Sam then MA bought us. In any case, I always felt FS had a plan and was trying to be successful, despite the criticism he gets for "getting rich" off the club, he still at the end of the day was a fan and wanted the club to succeed - even in his own way. So not trying to split hairs here. So do agree with you in the main....Shearere I always got the feeling that Shearer might have been a big factor in Souness getting the job. Neither Gullitt or Robson treated him as untouchable, and as soon as Souness landed, he made it clear that Shearer was his main man. Bellamy and Kluivert were pretty quickly downgraded in comparison. Freddie Shepherd was also in thrall to Shearer, pretty sure he was lauding him as a future Newcastle manager at some point. Shearer was in the interview room for the job according to Allardyce. Shearer and Souness also worked together for Sky on their CL coverage the season before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chopey Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 So every one of Bruce's signings have been worse than Rafa's budget buys, imagine what would happen if Rafa was given one of Ashleys dingbat manager budgets Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 So every one of Bruce's signings have been worse than Rafa's budget buys, imagine what would happen if Rafa was given one of Ashleys dingbat manager budgets Not sure about including ASM in that tbf but the rest... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chopey Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 So every one of Bruce's signings have been worse than Rafa's budget buys, imagine what would happen if Rafa was given one of Ashleys dingbat manager budgets Not sure about including ASM in that tbf but the rest... Perez was better Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 So every one of Bruce's signings have been worse than Rafa's budget buys, imagine what would happen if Rafa was given one of Ashleys dingbat manager budgets Not sure about including ASM in that tbf but the rest... Perez was better Rafa didn't buy Perez though? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 As if Bruce would ever have played Perez anyway, would have sold him for peanuts if he'd been in charge last few seasons Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Holden Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 So every one of Bruce's signings have been worse than Rafa's budget buys, imagine what would happen if Rafa was given one of Ashleys dingbat manager budgets Are they actually Bruce's buys though? Isn't the point of Bruce being here is because he'll accept any garbage chucked his way from Charnley & Nickson as long as he gets to stay in the managers job in return? No denying they're crap, though. But that's hardly surprising given the staff we have managing them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raconteur Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Story posted on Australian football website The World Game: Rafael Benitez insists it is not true he tried to teach Cristiano Ronaldo how to take free-kicks while head coach of Real Madrid. Benitez was in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu for an ill-fated seven months between June 2015 and January 2016 before he was replaced by Zinedine Zidane. The former Liverpool manager struggled to win over the fans and reportedly had a difficult relationship with some of Madrid's first-team stars, most notably Ronaldo. Benitez is said to have encouraged the Portugal star to review footage of his own past performances in order to improve and, according to some reports, even attempted to instruct Madrid's record goalscorer how best to shoot from dead-ball situations. However, Benitez, now coach of Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang, has offered his side of the story. "That's a lie. At no time did I tell him how he had to take them," Benitez told Marca. "The only conversation I had with Cristiano about free-kicks was in Australia, during pre-season. "I told him we had analysed, together with my goalkeeper coach, the free-kicks he took when he was at Manchester United and the trajectory of the ball in relation to the position of the wall. "Our idea then, as Liverpool coaches, was to try to counter their [united's] free-kicks. But that's it. At no time, as coach of Madrid, did I tell CR7 how free-kicks should be taken." Benitez also denied trying to persuade Luka Modric to stop passing the ball with the outside of his right foot, insisting he merely encouraged the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner to use his instep for short, simple passes. "I only told him that, of course, when you have a simple pass, you have to hit it with the inside [of your foot] because then it's easier for your team-mate," Benitez said. "When I played, I also used the outside, but in 10-15-metre passes. "Anyone who knows me knows this is a lie [that I told Modric to stop]. However, it's very easy to release lies and make them appear true." Benitez remains reluctant to talk publicly about his short-lived spell in charge of Madrid, which ended with a 2-2 draw at Valencia on January 3. "I went a long time without talking about the club. In one moment, it occurred to me to say something... and it seemed as though I couldn't say what I thought," Benitez said. "Therefore, what I do is not talk about Madrid. I focus on the future, which is Dalian. "We were able to sign Lucas [Vazquez], Casemiro and [Mateo] Kovacic. Two of them are still there, and at a good level, but I don't want to talk about that. "In six months, they let me do what they let me do. For whatever reason, there wasn't interest to do more. And that's it. I don't want to say more." Benitez was a far more popular figure during his three years in charge of Newcastle United before he moved to China. The 59-year-old says he turned down several offers from other lucrative leagues before taking the Dalian role, as he felt the other clubs did not represent the same meaningful challenge, although he is not discounting a return to Europe. "I'm not thinking of coming back now," he said. "We want to develop this Chinese project. Before coming here, I had offers from different places, but they didn't meet the conditions we were looking for. "We could have gone to other countries. There was a lot of money from several leagues where they pay a lot. But they were teams that didn't have the capacity to compete, to win. "Here, in addition to a good contract, there's a project where nobody demands that you win titles, but to improve and leave something for the future, a legacy. And we're doing that." He added: "The important leagues always attract me. The essential thing is that people know we are up-to-date with everything. We never stop, my team and I." https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/the-only-conversation-was-in-australia-benitez-slams-ronaldo-free-kick-lies?fbclid=IwAR2kQmgaltMIzJmdRsOmokUlSvg9mDCvtKa2Bcwuuv38kO1TkZdVUNzrI1E Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandamninator Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Story posted on Australian football website The World Game: Rafael Benitez insists it is not true he tried to teach Cristiano Ronaldo how to take free-kicks while head coach of Real Madrid. Benitez was in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu for an ill-fated seven months between June 2015 and January 2016 before he was replaced by Zinedine Zidane. The former Liverpool manager struggled to win over the fans and reportedly had a difficult relationship with some of Madrid's first-team stars, most notably Ronaldo. Benitez is said to have encouraged the Portugal star to review footage of his own past performances in order to improve and, according to some reports, even attempted to instruct Madrid's record goalscorer how best to shoot from dead-ball situations. However, Benitez, now coach of Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang, has offered his side of the story. "That's a lie. At no time did I tell him how he had to take them," Benitez told Marca. "The only conversation I had with Cristiano about free-kicks was in Australia, during pre-season. "I told him we had analysed, together with my goalkeeper coach, the free-kicks he took when he was at Manchester United and the trajectory of the ball in relation to the position of the wall. "Our idea then, as Liverpool coaches, was to try to counter their [united's] free-kicks. But that's it. At no time, as coach of Madrid, did I tell CR7 how free-kicks should be taken." Benitez also denied trying to persuade Luka Modric to stop passing the ball with the outside of his right foot, insisting he merely encouraged the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner to use his instep for short, simple passes. "I only told him that, of course, when you have a simple pass, you have to hit it with the inside [of your foot] because then it's easier for your team-mate," Benitez said. "When I played, I also used the outside, but in 10-15-metre passes. "Anyone who knows me knows this is a lie [that I told Modric to stop]. However, it's very easy to release lies and make them appear true." Benitez remains reluctant to talk publicly about his short-lived spell in charge of Madrid, which ended with a 2-2 draw at Valencia on January 3. "I went a long time without talking about the club. In one moment, it occurred to me to say something... and it seemed as though I couldn't say what I thought," Benitez said. "Therefore, what I do is not talk about Madrid. I focus on the future, which is Dalian. "We were able to sign Lucas [Vazquez], Casemiro and [Mateo] Kovacic. Two of them are still there, and at a good level, but I don't want to talk about that. "In six months, they let me do what they let me do. For whatever reason, there wasn't interest to do more. And that's it. I don't want to say more." Benitez was a far more popular figure during his three years in charge of Newcastle United before he moved to China. The 59-year-old says he turned down several offers from other lucrative leagues before taking the Dalian role, as he felt the other clubs did not represent the same meaningful challenge, although he is not discounting a return to Europe. "I'm not thinking of coming back now," he said. "We want to develop this Chinese project. Before coming here, I had offers from different places, but they didn't meet the conditions we were looking for. "We could have gone to other countries. There was a lot of money from several leagues where they pay a lot. But they were teams that didn't have the capacity to compete, to win. "Here, in addition to a good contract, there's a project where nobody demands that you win titles, but to improve and leave something for the future, a legacy. And we're doing that." He added: "The important leagues always attract me. The essential thing is that people know we are up-to-date with everything. We never stop, my team and I." https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/the-only-conversation-was-in-australia-benitez-slams-ronaldo-free-kick-lies?fbclid=IwAR2kQmgaltMIzJmdRsOmokUlSvg9mDCvtKa2Bcwuuv38kO1TkZdVUNzrI1E Considering Ronaldo's record with free kicks, maybe he should have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Four years ago today :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Bet he didn't own that scarf unlike local lad Steve Bruce who brought his own cause he loves the toon and always dreamed of managing the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huss9 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 don't, just don't. it's too hard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Holden Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 He's gone, he's not coming back. Forget it. Forget him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samptime29 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 What's crack with his Chinese club? Will he even go back? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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