very interesting from balague:
http://www.guillembalague.com/blog_desp.php?titulo=Benitez%20contract%20talk%20is%20more%20than%20a%20game&id=191 17/01/2009
Benitez contract talk is more than a game
The news that Rafa Benitez has rejected Liverpool’s latest contract offer has prompted a lot of very worried Liverpool fans to get in touch asking for my opinion on the situation.
I’m going to be honest here. When I was told by someone close to the negotiations at the beginning of the season that the issue of Rafa’s contract renewal looked bleak; at first I didn’t really believe it. I thought, back then, that this was perhaps the Benitez camp playing games: a negotiating tactic.
However, since then, there has been talk within footbal circles of other clubs following those contract developments very closely, and it became increasingly apparent that there was substance to those earlier claims. For example, it is believed that intermediaries, acting on behalf of Manchester City, approached Benitez’ representatives prior to the appointment of Mark Hughes.
You’ve all asked for my honest opinion and are maybe seeking reassurance, but I have to say that, at the moment, things are not looking great.
As I had previously reported on this website, the length of Rafa’s contract and the financial element of it was not going to be a problem. I also said that there was one final hurdle – the issue of control over football matters at the club – that was proving to be a major stumbling block.
While everyone had hoped that issue was going to be resolved, I cannot say I was surprised when the news broke yesterday that Rafa had rejected the latest offer.
As the Liverpool manager was quoted in the Liverpool Echo yesterday: "I have a lot of experience in football at different clubs and if you do not have a technical director and you are the manager you have to have control of the football decisions.
"But always within the confines of a budget which is controlled by the owners and the club. In this scenario the manager knows the amount money he has available to him and can decide how much he should spend on each player according to the needs of the team.
"The only person who can decide the value of a player to his squad is the manager because he knows what elements are needed to improve the squad."
Certain reports have taken this to mean that Rafa does not want to have to work with Rick Parry, while some have even suggested that he wants Parry removed from the scene altogether. That is completely wrong. They may not be the best of friends, but Rafa understands that there is mileage in the manager working alongside his Chief Executive: with Rafa deciding on sporting matters and transfer targets and Parry working to get the best deal from those transfers, while overseeing other financial matters within the club.
However, it is the grey area where those responsibilities overlap that is causing all of the problems. I don’t believe that Rafa is aiming to be involved in the minutiae of transfer and contract negotiations, but he would like to be given a budget within which he – and he alone –identifies the targets and prioritise accordingly, while deciding what those players are worth to him. In other words, he would like to be in a similar position to Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger. And if, in the past, he wanted to spend his budget on the likes of Vidic, Malouda, Ramsey, Anderson, Walcott or Barry: then he should have been allowed to do so.
People shopuld not read into this, however, that Rafa is particularly unhappy with his current squad. The side only needs 2-3 three players to lift it to another level, and Rafa knows that there is a wealth of young talent there with plenty of room for improvement. If Rafa is allowed to sell the players he wants to sell – something else that he would like to have control of – then that money, alongside another £10 -15 million would ensure Liverpool are competing for top honours in all competitions next season as well.
Since Eduardo Macia joined the youth set up, the names of Nabil El Zhar, Emiliano Insua, Damien Plessis, David Ngog and Krisztian Nemeth have all broken through, while the names Pacheco, Mikel, Bruna, Kelly and Ayala are all expected to become familiar ones in the future.
So the Liverpool academy is healthy, but Rafa is entitled to want a say on how the future stars of the club are developed. It’s not just about producing players, but about moulding the right kind of players: Liverpool players; players who, if Rafa is going to sign a long contract, fit in with his plans and share a philosophy. As Benitez said yesterday: "I know the academies of Ajax, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Valencia and they are producing players regularly.The way the system works there means the manager has an input into development and I think this could be the way forward here and we would hope that this would help us make better use of local talent."
Yet there was something else that was quite revelaing in Rafa’s interview yesterday. He told the Echo: “My relationship with the owners is better than people think. I have regular contact with them and especially with Tom Hicks who has always been very supportive.”
Rafa's failure to mention George Gillett leads me to ask: what is George Gillett’s role in all of this? What is his position?
Notice how it was Hicks who, as we have come to expect, came out with the positive comments after Rafa had spoken. "I will be working with Rafa to get this resolved - and I am just not worried about it at all," Hicks told Sky Sport News.
So Hicks will be working with Rafa to get things resolved, but what is Gillett doing? Why is Gillett happy to be seen as the one who appears to favour the status quo at the club? As Rafa said, he has been telling them what it is that he wants and they have been talking for some time now; yet they haven’t been able to work things out, compromise, or offer Rafa what he requires.
Hicks says he isn’t worried. Are they listening, do they think nothing is wrong? If that is the case, they may find they are looking for another manager in the summer.
