Trouble at Anfield: the Battle of Benitez vs. Hicks/Gillett
It’s all going Pete Tong behind the scenes at Anfield at the moment. Rafael Benitez has openly criticed his superiors in a blatant display of insubordination, with issues revolving around how much investment will be made into squad development: the Liverpool boss has clearly expressed his unhappiness about the perceived lack of a transfer activity at Anfield, as he chases targets in the January transfer window. Benitez complained that Liverpool owners Hicks and Gillet “do not understand’ the transfer system in Europe“. What’s happening to the Liverpool Buccaneers then!?
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Transfers
Benitez’s main gripe is about not being able to get deals in place before the start of the winter transfer window. There is a problem between both sides here the information would suggest.Firstly Rafa wants to get the Bosman signings of two unnamed Brazilian youngsters. Now the only problem I can see with this from the owner’s point of view is the extra few grand on the wage bill and the few grand shelled out as a signing-on fee for agents. The fact that the Gillet and Hicks won’t sanction the signings shows a blatant misunderstanding of the European Transfer Window system and then Benitez has some cause to gripe (in private at least).
Secondly Benitez wants £15m to secure the signing of Argentine Starlet Ezequiel Garay. Now my problem is with Benitez here; okay Sami Hyypia isn’t as quick as he used to be and the defence has clearly suffered in the absence in the absence of Dan Agger, but if he wanted to get some more cover in at centre-half why didn’t he eat into his main budget in the summer to do so, instead of paying over the odds for players such as Ryan Babel, who seemed to have a deal in place with Arsenal for £6m, half of what the ‘Pool paid for him.
Also the big surprise for me was the fact that Javier Mascherano is not actually a Liverpool player. I would’ve made him my first signing of the summer, without a doubt. The man is the complete midfielder, he tackles, he passes, he covers ground excellently, he’s top dollar and at £17m he would be a bargain. The fact that Benitez though has spurned his war chest and now needs more is incomprehendible. He spent £25m (or £22.5m, or £19m which rises to £27m, or £27.5m, it just depends on who you believe) on the mercurial Fernando Torres, undoubtedly a great buy. Then we have the £12m on Ryan Babel, £6m on Lucas Leiva, and £5m on Yossi Benayoun. That’s over £50m on players, and yet he wants another £32m to spend on Mascherano and Garay. It’s ridiculous.
The Moolah
Okay so it doesn’t help that your gaffer has spent £50m and his still a bit behind in the title race, but when your £100m overbudget with the new digs your trying to build down the road your money problems get worse one feels. And now Gillet and Hicks are going to have to back on their word; they will have to borrow against current and future assets of Liverpool Football Club, which is risky for a club which is reknowned for producing sporadic form at best each year. For example when Malcolm Glazer did the same with Manchester United, he did so on the basis that they are a Top 2 club and they will take some shifting. Okay they are still £600m in the red but they are in decent positions in major competitions to win it back over the next few seasons.
Another major problem is the very real possibility that Liverpool may not make it into the Super 16 of the Champions League, which would cost the club upto £30m, depending on how far they could have gone.
Benitez Himself
The so-called ‘Liverpool Way’ doesn’t involve washing your dirty linen in public. This was a very bold move by Benitez to come out and complain outright about the ownership of the club. He should have kept everything in-house instead of creating the view of the club being torn apart. Obviously now we look destabilized and it may give Sir Alex the mind-games boost he needs when United visit Anfield.
Another bad mistake by Benitez was attempting to conduct the transfer business with one of the Brazilian youngsters off his own back, without the consultation of Rick Parry, the chief exec, or the owners themselves. Again, another act of blatant insubordination and it may well cost Rafa his job come the crunch meeting in mid-December.
To Sum Up…
Although Benitez is wrong in the way he has gone about things he shouldn’t be sacked. There has already been overwhelming support from fans and players - namely Torres, Babel and Mascherano - alike for Benitez and it definitely would not be the Liverpool Way. Liverpool just don’t sack managers, they persuade them to leave more often than not, or they jump before they are pushed (Houllier aside of course). The only situation in which Benitez should be sacked is if it is clear that the club hasn’t made a clear step forward. So we’re talking Top 3 Finish and less than 10 points behind the leaders - should we not win the Title that is.
Roll on December, it’s sure to be a huge month for Liverpool Football Club.
[Editor’s note: see also Benitez, Hicks and Gillet - Power Struggle at Liverpool? by Arvin]
- Trouble Brewing At Liverpool
- Benitez whines but Liverpool still favourites against Bolton
- Liverpool and Benitez need to improve, desperately
- Fabio Aurelio To Move To Liverpool
- Liverpool have no one to blame but Benitez
Discussion - 11 Responses
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Change the bloody record will ya!
Another boring piece of shit.
It might help if your were accurate - Rafa may well have spent £50m but recouped more than £20m in player sales. Add the extra £20m from increased TV revenue and the money from reaching the CL final (again) and I think you’ll find the owners paid fuck all out of their own pockets for players in the summer. The whole issue wasn’t about money for transfers either - it was about Rafa being able to a) work on transfer and b) get them sorted as quickly as possible.
You forget the amount recouped from player sales, increased TV revenue and mo0ney from Champion’s league. When you blabber out numbers please be accurate as far as possible.
man u and chavski spend more than £50m every year but u ask them if there team is finished (i bet not).
Shaun, Just one fact you missed out. One of your main issues with Beniz was not securing cover at the back in the summer. Most people thought Heinze was coming, so he did try and as it was nearly nailed on he was coming Benitez did not need to look elsewhere. Because that fell through he then needed cover.
All you so called columnists or whatever you call yourselves always going on and on about the money he spent…rotation..etc..Its amazing how Ferguson “rested” Ronaldo against Bolton and another 20 million planned on another sporting lisbon player in January….Play another tune will you.
I think its an anti reds thmes coming from alot of sources but the reality is that we have a good chance of now getting to the knockout states in champs league and we are sitting nicely in the league for a real push. Dont forget we are only 3 points behind the “hard to shift…..” mancs and if we win that game we go above them. Terrible times at Anfield, hey. The bottom line is we need cover at the back and a manager should always look to keep strenghtening or the club goes backwards.
Another site to add to bullshit deflector … this guy should be a panelist on Sly sports!
Mark, Ronaldo had a knock from the last game with Portugal so he did need the time off to recover. That’s not comparable to benching fit players.
You mention Fergie at United yeah? why does his squad need bolstering when he spends £18m on Hargreaves, a combined £32m on Anderson and Nani, and he is ready to complete the £20m for Carlitos. Thats £70m, why on Earth should he need more?
I’m making this clear now though, I am NOT criticising Benitez for his current assembled squad, and I do believe we can win the title.
Rafael Benitez is attempting to bring Liverpool FC up to the standards in their history. And what does that mean?
You are always looking for the best players on the planet, period. Sometimes they pan-out sometimes they don’t. And Rafael is an extremely shrewd negotiater, he is beating all the giants to the young players, even before the transfer windows begin. He brought the apathy of the owners out in the open due to his frustration at trying to make LFC the greatest club in the world.
Gillete and Hicks should first apologize for not understanding the way Football works, for not having a f***g clue on what Liverpool FC means,and they should come out publicly and state that they will do exactly as Benitez says. As far as LFC “only” being in the top 3 last year, that is because his squad had nowhere near the quality of Chelsea and ManU. LFC is still a few years from building a squad that can compete with them. 18 months if the yanks can rectify. The fact that Benitez has managed to get LFC to win what they have is already a miracle.
Oh and one thin, Hicks, Gillete … tatoo this on your forehead …. “YOU DIND’T BUY LIVERPOOL TO MAKE $$$”, if you wanted to make money, invest in the Oil industry or the NFL or NHL or any other American Circus.
CIAO
One point i like to point out is that as businessman, Hicks etc are worried at the amount of money being spent. I mean, just 3 months and you are askign another 30 mil? It is not much but i think the owners are worried what will happen in the future.
Anyway, a new football mangement game for you guys, this is more in-depth and best of all, goes on forever with no reset!
http://www.trophymanager.com/index.php?ref=101203