Rafa rocks Liverpool: Benitez ready to walk away after rejecting new deal
By JOHN EDWARDS Last updated at 11:45 PM on 16th January 2009
Rafa Benitez will walk away from Liverpool at the end of the season unless he is given total control over transfers.
The Liverpool manager has put Real Madrid on alert after refusing to accept a condition in his proposed new contract that any deals would need higher approval before they could go through.
At a meeting on Thursday night, Benitez poured out his frustrations and made it clear he would quit rather than accept the Ł80,000-a-week, four-and-a-half year contract, even if he were to end Anfield's 19-year wait for the League title.
Co-owner Tom Hicks responded by vowing to find a solution but, worryingly for Liverpool, Real are already making moves to instal Benitez as successor to former Tottenham manager Juande Ramos.
When Hicks and fellow American co-owner George Gillett faxed a draft agreement stating all deals needed final approval from chief executive Rick Parry, Benitez officially rejected their offer and left little doubt they would have to climb down for him to stay.
'There are differences about my responsibilities,' he said.
'The owners feel the manager's decisions need to be subject to the chief executive, but I am subject to results and to our fans. They are my best judges.
'If you do not have a technical director, the manager has to have control of football decisions.
'The only person who can decide the value of a player to his squad is the manager.'
Although there have been claims of a deteriorating relationship between Benitez and Parry, the former Valencia boss would adopt the same approach with any chief executive.
There is now a serious risk of Benitez leaving, following clear signals from Real. A return to the Bernabeu, where he was once youth coach, looks increasingly likely.
Striker Fernando Torres warned there could be an exodus of players if Benitez is allowed to leave.
'Rafa has been a very important manager for me and for many other players, too,' said Torres. 'He has brought a lot of players here and put his confidence in them.
'When Rafa believes in you he is with you all the time, thinking about how you can improve, coming up with ideas, questioning you but listening, too.
'If he goes there could be five or six players looking at their future. But I'd like to stay here, and in that way maybe it does not matter if Rafa is here. I'm a Liverpool player but
I'm also assured Rafa is happy here and wants to stay, and that is what I hope will happen.'
Hicks wants to talk Benitez round but Gillett is reluctant to pander to the Spaniard.
'We understand Rafa's frustrations and are working to try and find a solution,' said Hicks. 'I'm coming over for the Chelsea game on February 1.
'I'm comfortable Rafa loves Liverpool, wants to be manager and will be. I'm not worried about it at all.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1120191/Rafa-rocks-Liverpool-Benitez-ready-walk-away-rejecting-new-deal.htmlShouldn't think Rafa is Gillett's greatest priority atm, as we all know he's desperate to sell. Unfortunately without Coco we would currently have Ł190m more in debt placed directly against the club than is the current situation. So I agree with Gedo - both owners out first, then Parry one minute (or less) later. I've bolded bits of this, because a) the sticking point may not be only Parry, but the role of any CEO and b) given that Samuels interviewed Torres for today's Mail, those Torres quotes included here are obviously straight from him, and it appears he's spoken to Rafa and been reassured.