You got the contract, the training and the position on the field you wanted - I hope you are fucking happy, and that goes for any gobshites who wanted him gone last season as well.
Its very sad what has happened. Players are great at playing, but you need someone who can distance themself from the game and make crucial decisions on what needs to be done.
This is something Rafa could do and did well, he may not have been the players mate, he may not have pandered to the desires of certain players or told them what they needed to hear, but he did his job and because of the distance he created, he could make decisions he felt best for the club not any individual.
The thing is, you are always going to have problems when you have massive egos, and highly arrogant individuals. Its also wrong to expect such individuals not to be arrogant and selfish. They have fans screaming their name, dressing their kids in the shirt with your name on the back, paying sums of money to watch you play and adore you. You have man up and down the country dreaming to be in your position, you have women desperate to be wit h you, and you are surrounded by people who agree with every word you say, bar your best friends and family, and sometimes even they become yes men.
Players think they are the big man, they think that their opinion matters more than anyones, and when they speak people listen. If you then get into a situation where a paper prints your thoughts and your musings and backs them up, whether they believe them, or just to continue to get you to talk to them, the player believes what he says, and continues it.
Whether a comment is made in the heat of the moment, by reading it in the papers tomorrow and having a desperate journalist back it up, with nothing more than opinion dressed as fact, you start to believe it. Then everyone round you says it to you, either because they believe it, or because they want to be in common, and think the same as the big player.
Its a viscous circle and if you dont have the ability to step back and analyse it with a cool head it can escalate to an irreparable situation.
This is what happened, and when you have Broughton admit the press played a role in a managers dismissal you can assume that the press were fed by the certain player.
This certain player was coming to the end of his career, a top career where he has constantly played beyond his ability, and with up and coming top players in the position you battle for, Agger, Skrtel, Kelly, Ayala.... you realise that you have to do all you can to maintain your position.
These things can all happen and because of the place, clubs, media and fans put a player in, it can not be said that the player does not have the clubs best interest at heart, just that their thoughts on whats best for the club may not be necessarily right.
The club is now in the balance, it has been on the brink financially now for well over 18 months, but now the playing side of the club is in a similar precarious position.
Whats certain is if some of the players want out, and try to engineer moves in the Summer, or in January, there are few clubs that will be interested in the odd one or two of our players, but a lot more will struggle to command a fee with other teams questioning their ability.
Right now, I feel the only players who want to play for the club, whatever happens, are Lucas, Agger, Skrtel, Pepe and Kuyt.
Others seemingly have more on their mind than on the pitch performances and it is really showing.
Our club is in a turmoil very similar to the one we all laughed at when it was happening to newcastle, players far more talented than their teams position suggests, but with such inherent problems that they could suffer the same fate, though only the relegation side. Currently there is no fight, no passion.
Football is a matter of opinion, we all have one and we all can vent our own and give it credence, however the best managers opinions are right more often than not.
Rafa may not have been everyones cup of tea, but no one can question whether he did what he thought was best for the collective.