Rafael Benitez

[nyblue23]

Can we just go back to the part where he said we were getting “bigger and bigger”? For a club whose most famous chant talks about knowing your history, and whose supporters pride ourselves on having been one of the biggest clubs in England for almost 150 years, that comment just feels all wrong. We’re not getting bigger-we’ve been big.

[Cornish Steve]

12 hours ago, Romey 1878 said:

Can anyone just summarise it? Because I won't be watching or reading any of his interviews

Summary: "I will try."

In more detail: "I will try to do my best every single game, and I will try to compete against anyone... we will try to be sure that we can do better... hopefully everyone will be happy."

[Hafnia]

I thought he was spot on.

Never tried to take easy way out when asked about small club comments.  Basically it's a case of "yeah I said them and I'll say the same type of things about other clubs as an Everton manager.

Good!!! 

FFS so many people look for offense from him.  We had David Moyes earning the 4th highest wages in world football and said "7th place is a good for a club like Everton" or something to those words.  ...... 

I couldn't give a shit if he has blue Christmas trees, whether he knows about Dixie Dean or whatever else some managers could try and use as a means of winning over some fans.  If he understands our club is saddled with half arsed merchants and knows how to sort it out then that's all I care about. 

[pete0]

Find it weird that more fans are getting behind Rafa than they did Alladyce, they even took more issue with Sammy Lee. Both play negative football but at least the latter builds good foundations and can get teams to play.

[MikeO]

49 minutes ago, pete0 said:

Find it weird that more fans are getting behind Rafa than they did Alladyce, they even took more issue with Sammy Lee. Both play negative football but at least the latter builds good foundations and can get teams to play.

Maybe because Allardyce is an obnoxious personality who's never won a thing in his life and Benitez is a decent human being who has many domestic and European trophies to his name?

Just maybe.

[Shukes]

4 hours ago, pete0 said:

Find it weird that more fans are getting behind Rafa than they did Alladyce, they even took more issue with Sammy Lee. Both play negative football but at least the latter builds good foundations and can get teams to play.

I didn’t until I saw Sam pick a team and them,….. err stand on the pitch. That did it for me

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

5 hours ago, Hafnia said:

I thought he was spot on.

Never tried to take easy way out when asked about small club comments.  Basically it's a case of "yeah I said them and I'll say the same type of things about other clubs as an Everton manager.

Good!!! 

FFS so many people look for offense from him.  We had David Moyes earning the 4th highest wages in world football and said "7th place is a good for a club like Everton" or something to those words.  ...... 

I couldn't give a shit if he has blue Christmas trees, whether he knows about Dixie Dean or whatever else some managers could try and use as a means of winning over some fans.  If he understands our club is saddled with half arsed merchants and knows how to sort it out then that's all I care about. 

Maybe Moyes was right, plenty of managers have come in since he left on much more money and with bigger budgets and yet we’ve gone down hill since then

[Hafnia]

1 hour ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Maybe Moyes was right, plenty of managers have come in since he left on much more money and with bigger budgets and yet we’ve gone down hill since then

Earning the 4th highest wages in football - talking about penknives to gunfights, one of the worst records away at the top 4 and then saying 7th place is good for a club like Everton?

That very club who made him extremely rich...... No. Complete and utter bollocks from a bloke who is one of the reasons mediocrity has become expected at the club. 

I will concede he did a good job with the transfers etc but his methods were Southgate esque.

Bottled nearly every big game we had. 

[Hafnia]

7 hours ago, pete0 said:

Find it weird that more fans are getting behind Rafa than they did Alladyce, they even took more issue with Sammy Lee. Both play negative football but at least the latter builds good foundations and can get teams to play.

What's weird is we hired Allardyce - a man sacked from the England job after one fucking game for taking a bung.

A man who puts money above anything else. 

A greedy, windup merchant with no shame who crawls out from his rock every sacking season to fatten his already bulging bank account.  Fucked off from West Brom after taking them down 

Absolute twat of a man who isn't fit to lace Rafas shoes.  Rafa stayed and took Newcastle back up after joining them in a precarious position. 

[Goodison Glory]

I thought the interview was solid. Though like others words are just words at this stage. You can certainly screw up an interview but not really get any credit as it's expected you will say the right things.

what was most telling for me was the high standards he will have for himself.

I also loved the way he said he knows something is missing and so did the senior players - he didn't say it directly but heart and fight seemed to be on his mind.

[pete0]

18 hours ago, MikeO said:

Maybe because Allardyce is an obnoxious personality who's never won a thing in his life and Benitez is a decent human being who has many domestic and European trophies to his name?

Just maybe.

I wouldn't say Benetiz is any less obnoxious. 

Most his success came from teams already built for him, he's left worse sides than he started with at Newcastle and Liverpool.

[RuffRob]

20 hours ago, MikeO said:

Maybe because Allardyce is an obnoxious personality who's never won a thing in his life and Benitez is a decent human being who has many domestic and European trophies to his name?

Just maybe.

agree totally, Benitez is superior to Allardyce in any every department mention. 

I am convinced that Benitez will fight tooth and nail for Everton now he is here. You can tell he really wanted this job, despite some of the negativity that's thrown his way. He definitely has a strong affinity with the people of Merseyside, which he has made his home. Think he has be very brave taking it to be honest, and has definitely put himself up for close scrutiny.

Having read up on him in a lot more detail this past few weeks, he does seen a decent, honest and hardworking fella, so I wish him nothing but the best now. 

[Hafnia]

20 hours ago, pete0 said:

I wouldn't say Benetiz is any less obnoxious. 

Most his success came from teams already built for him, he's left worse sides than he started with at Newcastle and Liverpool.

There is no manager on the planet anywhere remotely as obnoxious as Allardyce.

One mean spirited, greedy, aloof, arrogant upstart. Doesn't give a fuck about anyone other than himself and his pockets 

Rafa isn't about making friends, but you only need to look at the charitable work he has done on Merseyside and Tyneside.  Once you do you will realise you are a million miles off. The Geordies loved him not just for the job he did. 

[pete0]

9 hours ago, Hafnia said:

There is no manager on the planet anywhere remotely as obnoxious as Allardyce.

One mean spirited, greedy, aloof, arrogant upstart. Doesn't give a fuck about anyone other than himself and his pockets 

Rafa isn't about making friends, but you only need to look at the charitable work he has done on Merseyside and Tyneside.  Once you do you will realise you are a million miles off. The Geordies loved him not just for the job he did. 

His support to the 96 charity is great, but I wouldn't be surprised if Alladyce gives to charity either. 

His actions/attitude at Liverpool with the small club comments and the treatment of Alonso are worse than anything Alladyce done whilst he was here.

[Hafnia]

31 minutes ago, pete0 said:

His support to the 96 charity is great, but I wouldn't be surprised if Alladyce gives to charity either. 

His actions/attitude at Liverpool with the small club comments and the treatment of Alonso are worse than anything Alladyce done whilst he was here.

I don't see the problem with the small club comments.  He was managing Liverpool and we parked the bus. It was fighting talk.

Ferguson did stuff like this all the time 

The Alonso piece .... It's hardly like taking a bung and ridiculing a fellow managers speech impediment is it?

Give him more than 6 months here and he would have done more 

[Shukes]

2 hours ago, pete0 said:

His support to the 96 charity is great, but I wouldn't be surprised if Alladyce gives to charity either. 

His actions/attitude at Liverpool with the small club comments and the treatment of Alonso are worse than anything Alladyce done whilst he was here.

I k ow your a fan,… don’t understand why… but that’s your prerogative and I respect that mate.

But a throw away comment and standing his ground with a player isn’t in any way comparable to cheating mate. 

[Bailey]

There isn't a lot you can work out from these training games but in both of them we have seen some deep third man runs leaving an easy through ball. Those runs are some of the most difficult to defend so I am hoping that continues as the quality of the games increases!

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

On 15/07/2021 at 21:25, Hafnia said:

Earning the 4th highest wages in football - talking about penknives to gunfights, one of the worst records away at the top 4 and then saying 7th place is good for a club like Everton?

That very club who made him extremely rich...... No. Complete and utter bollocks from a bloke who is one of the reasons mediocrity has become expected at the club. 

I will concede he did a good job with the transfers etc but his methods were Southgate esque.

Bottled nearly every big game we had. 

Why is his wage even remotely relevant , unless of course you were expecting him to buy the players and pay their wages out of his own pocket? 

Out of interest can you name any Everton manager who has done better or even equalled him since he left?
 

 

[StevO]

3 hours ago, Bailey said:

There isn't a lot you can work out from these training games but in both of them we have seen some deep third man runs leaving an easy through ball. Those runs are some of the most difficult to defend so I am hoping that continues as the quality of the games increases!

And if you can get James on the ball to play these easy through balls I’d expect them to turn into many many goals. 

[Hafnia]

4 hours ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Why is his wage even remotely relevant , unless of course you were expecting him to buy the players and pay their wages out of his own pocket? 

Out of interest can you name any Everton manager who has done better or even equalled him since he left?
 

 

Depends how you look at it.  He spent 10 years here to win fuck all, the rest achieved that in a shorter timeframe.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

10 hours ago, Hafnia said:

Depends how you look at it.  He spent 10 years here to win fuck all, the rest achieved that in a shorter timeframe.

So no then!

I know you won’t budge on this but Moyes inherited an ageing side that was constantly fighting relegation and he transformed it into a young side constantly challenging for Europe and did it on a shoestring budget. Yes he failed to break through that perceived glass ceiling but I’m still convinced he would have smashed through it if he had the money to go and get someone like Lukaku

Everton under Moyes were widely regarded as the best of the rest every manager we have had since then has failed to get anywhere near that standard despite all being given a ton of money to throw at it

[pete0]

33 minutes ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

So no then!

I know you won’t budge on this but Moyes inherited an ageing side that was constantly fighting relegation and he transformed it into a young side constantly challenging for Europe and did it on a shoestring budget. Yes he failed to break through that perceived glass ceiling but I’m still convinced he would have smashed through it if he had the money to go and get someone like Lukaku

Everton under Moyes were widely regarded as the best of the rest every manager we have had since then has failed to get anywhere near that standard despite all being given a ton of money to throw at it

Moyes had his chance to get a Lukaku when he spent big on Beatie, Johnson, and Yakubu. Moyes simply didn't know how to use strikers. 

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

29 minutes ago, pete0 said:

Moyes had his chance to get a Lukaku when he spent big on Beatie, Johnson, and Yakubu. Moyes simply didn't know how to use strikers. 

All three had varying degrees of success none were anywhere near Lukaku level at any point in their careers

[pete0]

15 minutes ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

All three had varying degrees of success none were anywhere near Lukaku level at any point in their careers

They were all more successful before joining Everton. Doesn't matter how good Lukaku is as Moyes would have had him running the channels. I missed out Saha and Rooney, they were both better than Lukaku yet didn't close to him goal scoring wise. 

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

54 minutes ago, pete0 said:

They were all more successful before joining Everton. Doesn't matter how good Lukaku is as Moyes would have had him running the channels. I missed out Saha and Rooney, they were both better than Lukaku yet didn't close to him goal scoring wise. 

Not really. James Beattie was a gamble that never really paid off, his career was already going down hill way before we signed him. He was wasting away on Southampton’s bench and the Southampton fans I knew at the time couldn’t believe they managed to get £6m for him. Moyes managed to revive his career at Everton and he had a great season in 2005/06 that saw him only just miss out on the World Cup squad

AJ made his name at Palace by winning and scoring penalties but as soon as he signed for us the Refs had his card marked and he couldn’t buy a pen, some of the decisions were ludicrous against him and he could have been decapitated on the penalty spot and still not got one. But his record of scoring from open play improved and his form for us got him into the England squad regularly for the only time in his career. He only moves on, for a profit, because he was getting forced out wide to accommodate Yakubu

The Yak was a journeyman who did at Everton exactly what he did at every other club he played for, banged goals in for fun in his first season then couldn’t be arsed abs became a waste of space . But guess who he played for when he recorded the most goals he ever got in a season playing in England (21) ? Yep Everton

Anyway we are hijacking the thread to go over old ground so I will leave it there

[Hafnia]

3 hours ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

So no then!

I know you won’t budge on this but Moyes inherited an ageing side that was constantly fighting relegation and he transformed it into a young side constantly challenging for Europe and did it on a shoestring budget. Yes he failed to break through that perceived glass ceiling but I’m still convinced he would have smashed through it if he had the money to go and get someone like Lukaku

Everton under Moyes were widely regarded as the best of the rest every manager we have had since then has failed to get anywhere near that standard despite all being given a ton of money to throw at it

 

Moyes is seen as a manager who did a decent enough job and got a long stint because he got us to an average league finish of 6/7 for a few years.

I would argue he did well despite a low transfer budget but would also argue his wage budget enabled him to keep players who would leave lesser clubs.

The long and short of it is that he pretty much earned £30m for his time here to keep us in the league.  A frustrating manager but decent fella.

 

All very much meh for me.  Represents a very frustrating time as an Everton fan where he combined with a chairman specialising in mediocrity and poor decision making. 

[Bill]

Jeez Haf your like a dog with a bone, just won't let go. The Moyes period has been the best period we've had since the eighties but you still manage to Slag him off and somehow describe it as the worst period in our History.

I feel sorry for Rafa, if he doesn't win us two Cups and entry into Europe your going to tear him to pieces.

[pete0]

3 hours ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Not really. James Beattie was a gamble that never really paid off, his career was already going down hill way before we signed him. He was wasting away on Southampton’s bench and the Southampton fans I knew at the time couldn’t believe they managed to get £6m for him. Moyes managed to revive his career at Everton and he had a great season in 2005/06 that saw him only just miss out on the World Cup squad. 

AJ made his name at Palace by winning and scoring penalties but as soon as he signed for us the Refs had his card marked and he couldn’t buy a pen, some of the decisions were ludicrous against him and he could have been decapitated on the penalty spot and still not got one. But his record of scoring from open play improved and his form for us got him into the England squad regularly for the only time in his career. He only moves on, for a profit, because he was getting forced out wide to accommodate Yakubu

The Yak was a journeyman who did at Everton exactly what he did at every other club he played for, banged goals in for fun in his first season then couldn’t be arsed abs became a waste of space . But guess who he played for when he recorded the most goals he ever got in a season playing in England (21) ? Yep Everton

Anyway we are hijacking the thread to go over old ground so I will leave it there

He got 23 and 14 goals in the two seasons before signing for us. Top English scorer over the period or thereabouts. We broke our record fee to bring him, and Moyes ruined him. Barely got in double figures for us, never looked close to matching his soton record. He had a very respectful goal every 214 minutes at Soton (skewed by his early years so it's better than that if you discount his early years), compared to every 340 minutes under Moyes.

How can you win a pen when your never in the box? He weren't forced out wide, Moyes liked his players to work hard and defend, he didn't like a striker to keep up top in the goal scoring positions.

In season. How many in the league? How many after Christmas? Embarrassing when people include cup goals.

Did Moyes do any wrong in your eyes?

[Hafnia]

1 hour ago, Bill said:

Jeez Haf your like a dog with a bone, just won't let go. The Moyes period has been the best period we've had since the eighties but you still manage to Slag him off and somehow describe it as the worst period in our History.

I feel sorry for Rafa, if he doesn't win us two Cups and entry into Europe your going to tear him to pieces.

Did I describe it as the worst period in our history? No.  That belongs to the Walter Smith pembridge, gemmil, gazza, Mark Hughes shite 

Which is why Moyes impact felt more than it actually was. 

Finishing at an average 7th spot and describing it as a good period is why the club has waited 25 years for a trophy.  

It's the pinnacle of accepting mediocrity. 

 

[StevO]

After the last few years I’d kill for an average finishing position of 7th.