Ronnie Whelan: "Sack Rafa"In Liverpool legend Ronnie Whelan's opinion, Rafa Benitez is NOT the right man to take the club forward and guide us to our long-awaited 19th league championship.
And wait for it, the man he wants to see take the top job at Anfield is none other than the 'ever-popular on Merseyside' Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho. Hmmm, with my index finger raised to my lips, I say Ronnie shhhhhhhh.
The ex-Republic of Ireland international who played for the Reds from 1981 until 1994 believes the fact that Rafa has not delivered a trophy this season signifies a time for change. Really Ron?
Talking to Gulf News (don't ask me why?), he said:
"Everything needs to be looked at now. We don't know if the American owners will be there next season or if the Dubai group [Dubai International Capital] will be the new owners.
"Whoever is there will need to decide if they have confidence in Rafa. Personally I don't.
"I doubt the supporters will mind who the owner of the club is as long as they are winning trophies. If they give money to the manager and the manager spends it wisely, that's all the fans care about.
"I think Mourinho would be very good. Look at the players that he brought to Chelsea. He spent the same amount of money that Rafa did and those players are in the Champions League final now.
"He might be a bit unpopular with some people, but if your team is winning, you don't care if a few people don't like your manager."Oh dear. I don't think any real Red worth his salt would wilfully accept Mourinho into the club. And for a legend like Whelan to suggest it makes me wonder what must be going through poor Ron's head.
Okay, I think everyone would agree that this season's Premiership fourth place finish was ultimately a disappointment, but in the end the team only lost four league games and would have finished a lot closer to the top three if a few of the draws could have been turned into wins. And another plus saw us beating our big local rivals Everton to Champions League qualification with plenty left in the tank.
And then there's Europe. One goal away from yet another European Cup final and a third in four seasons is in my book a tremendous achievement. All this in a season massively overshadowed by the huge cloud of discontent on the terraces with the farcical action of our American "custodians".
If we could somehow resolve the boardroom squabbles - preferably by welcoming new owners who actually know a bit about football and the values of our club - and also turn some of our success in Europe into a sustained challenge for the league title next season, you're unlikely to find many Reds at Anfield complaining about Rafa's management.
Maybe in future, before Ron starts publicly questioning Rafa's ability he should take a look at his own less than impressive track record in management and think again. After all, Rafa is the "special one."
http://www.liverpoolpies.tv/2008/05/whelan_sack_rafa.html
