Rafa - Let Me Stay!

We don't have much of an option do we??

How many better qualified coaches in the world are available? Not many. Mourinho is the only one I'd love to see at SB, but Rafa's experience speaks for itself.

@djdutts...6years at Liverpool.....1 CL, 1 Super Cup and 1 FA...clearly show the quality of experience rafa has as far as the BPL...definitely not good enough..and results so far have not shown that he has changed his ways or improved in anyway...'ll rather take a bit of risk with a younger manager who has not won much, has the tactical ability and a strong will to succeed (thank God our squad is a lot younger) than see rafa here beyond the summer...Moyes, Laudrop, Simeone and of course Mourinho are all far better coices in my eyes...Rafa definitely out!

I just hope he leaves in May. I really do. I can't even imagine Chelsea with him next season. No way.

u are welcomed as long as u win us sthing dis season and cement a winning team.4 now let the result do the talking.its now evident that cfc funs contribute sacking of managers at some point then blame Roman if strike the whip.its soo embarrasing for good mngs driven away by foolish words said ages ago.

Rafa said when he arived the he would win the fans over by winning titels and trophies. Cant say he have won many over

Bet Mq is like this. His tactician master mind

What do I have to say about this feck off Tubby.

Merlin where is the part where he spoke about preseason??did u throw that line away??...

oh please! Rafa gabbed the job cos he'd been idle for how long? RDM was thrustinto it facing a 3-1 first leg deficit, the rest is history, he never feckin whined like this ***** we have now!

Oh please!! Rdm has been with the team since the very 1st day of preseason albeit assistant coach,he was involved in the bad and good of avb regn,he is blue through and through,he had the support of 99% bluenation.so he felt more at home but same cant be said of rafa

Rafa wasnt idle like some coaches would,he spent the better part of 2 years gettin involved in the game as a pundit

Oh i thought we gone over this before...what he said at liverpool was to protect his employers and now he would do same for us..since he came here has he called us plastic fans??..

His result have not been great,yes,but we all accepted that we are in transition hence a top4 finish is the priority with 1 or 2 trophies as a bonus and the last time i checked,we are 3rd on the log with the possibility of winning 3trophies(am not guaranteein we win it all),so we are stil on track for our season goal and stop soundin like its doomday already...u are boycottin merchandise??oh really,then jog on,for every one of u there is are 5 who jump at the chance to buy our merchandise

Desmond,as i said in bracket 'am not guaranteein that' but its a possibility.however our priority is the top4,trophies are bonus

I'd sooner he went with immediate effect, JT and Lamps would do a better Interim Job and this Idiot can get back to slagging us of at his next Club if anyone's mug enough to give him a Job.

Ken,Just one question,why did Rafa take the job when he had so many reservations? Or did he not know about these things before he took the job? He took the job because he was idle and he had to get his name into the papers every weekend again so he doesnt get forgotten.(and please stop that crap about him being involved with the game by speaking at games and all) Rafa is a mercenary and a rubbish one at that. If Rafa gets the job on a permanent basis,then its the beginning of the end for Chelsea. Rafa is like Avram Grant.....sign him and your team will be facing relegation in a few months. Ask Portsmouth and West-ham.

nobody likes him. not been winning too often , go us out of two potential trophies. Says enough.

3nity,a coachin job is a massive upgrade to punditry..as for him takin the job,there is a sayin that 'he who wears the shoe no where it pinches',he probably might have seen the prospect as an interestin challenge but unfortunately its not been rosy..comparin rafa to avram grant is an oxymoron,u might hate rafa but make reasonable comparism not fictitous ones

It had nothing to do with any shoes or boots Ken, Rafa had to take the job,he wants to be in the news,he doesnt care what happens to the club afterwards,he just wants to be there,to try his luck and his outdated ideas. He complained of not having a pre-season with the team,if he knew that,why was he fecking lobbying for the job even before RDM was sacked? He lacks moral ethics,he is shameless and he doesnt care as long as he's in a job. He had a full pre-season with the inter team and he still complained after he got sacked. Rafa will always find a reason to complain. He signed over 80 players in his time at liverpool. 80 players!!!!!!! I rest my case.

Elzhar,ngog,voronin,riera,ryan babel, cisses,diouf,baros,christian poulsen,dossena etc I wish I could remember them all but I can't, but atleast this shows what he did with pool's money, rafa is not tactical, it is obvious as daylight

Never you cant say he is worthy and if Roman ain't letting him spash cash Then that's a sure sign he is on the way out

@Ken..you are an intelligent young man...dont bother trying to defend rafa...he knew these things before he took the job...and now he is making excuses like he has always done...before you take on a job at a club like chelsea, you seriously count the cost...he's got no excuse watsoever...he is simply failing and already has his fears about the reality of becoming jobless soon....when hiddink came in on an interim basis without a prior knowledge of the team, he still won trophies and lost only one league game...you can argue that that particular team was a lot stronger than it is now...but I bet you Hiddink would have won that match against corinthians at CWC...with that same squad becuase hiddink is simply not on the same tactical level as tubby simples...Tubby is not good enough for chelsea and I am sure you know that too...in fact nothing suggests he is good enough....6years at Liverpool.....1 CL, 1 Super Cup and 1 FA...just how impressive are those stats in your eyes?...not to mention loads of terrible and horrific signings...no wonder the board is relunctant to listen to him...he single handed put liverpool into debt...i still remember those signings and if you cant, someone already listed them above...Rafa is simply a plague that should very very far from our club so dont make excuses for him...nuff said.

Liverpool under rafa operated in an arsenal2.0,the budget was low and most times he had to sell to buy,hicks and gillet tightened the purse and made him feed on peanuts which he used in signin as many players as possible with same of value of the cash spent,none of players like elzhar, ngog,dossena,degen e.t.c cost up to £7m..i think his highest signin at liverpool was a certain torres for £20m(correct me if am wrong)...he also got some very good players like alonso,reina,johnson,skrtel,agger e.t.c and youngsters like suso...the bottom line is with the right financial backing(which roman can always guarantee) he would get us very good quality players

@layorh,thanks for the compliment..but i would defend rafa when i have to just as i defend everyother cfc coach..yes he makes excuses but most time its genuine but here we tend to overlook it and heap all the blame at his doorstep..in my opinion,i dont think he is failing,our priority is a top4 finish and we are sitin 3rd on the log currently.so where is the failure comin from??..he was asked a simply question about his interest to secure the job permanently and he gave his candid opinion as every other person in his position would...hiddink didnt win us trophies,he won us a trophy and rafa isnt completely ruled out to deliver us a trophy or 2,am not sayin rafa is better than hiddink infact i rate guus above him but hiddink is the past and rafa is our present,its only logical to pray the present better the past...3trophies in 6yrs and u say he is not good enough 4 chelsea,moyes 4 his good works at everton has won nothing in 10yrs,wenger has won nothin 7yrs now.how many trophies has low,blanc,martinez,klopp,rijkaard won?? To make them qualify for chelsea and rafa not qualified..as 4 the signings i commented on it above

Keane is an anomaly,he is one of those expensive flops which every club possess including ours..barca,real,manure e.t.c have their expensive flops

@Ken....well you do have a point...but when he took over we were 5 points behind manure and its 11 points....thats worse...and thats why I said he is failing (taking us down)...plus he has cost us CWC (which was solely his fault on stupid selections) and COC, notice i dint say he has failed i said he is failing...bcos he can still turn it around but he should stop making excuses for his ineptitudes while stlylishly canvassing for a longer stay here and take responsibility like a man...its the results ONLY that should decide what the club does with respect to his contract not the pathetic things he says...he should just shut the f.cuk up and do the job...Ken truth is there is no way you can spin this...Rafa has not been good enough so far...and while he can improve, he should not make stupid excuses..

Am not paintin it in another colour,the transfers and reasons for the transfers are there for all to see and make his or her own judgement without bein equivocal...ok,goodnight mate.hope to hear from you soon

Layorh,lets be honest with ourselve,none of us is expecting the epl title this season as we all agree its a transition season but we would still be glad if we are champions come MAY,havin said that,we were equally fallin off the park on weekly basis before rafa took over and the trend continued after he joined but he has taken time to stable the ship but its still a work in progress.tbh i dont think the fans have made his job easy,the hostility he encountered in a couple of games also had a devastatin effect on the team's morale.however we are 11points behind manure with a rare hope of catchin them but am more interested in securin a top4 finish for this season.sorry i missed the point and thought u meant 'failed' instead of 'failing'...i agree his selection cost us the CWC but we had very good chances to win the game or drag it to extra time but missed (a certain torres comes to mind),ivanovic horror show cost us the COC..most times i get very angry about excuses and wish he could just shut up and do his job but after reviewin the games and the excuses am afraid to say he is always right but what i dont condone is repeatin the same excuses which practically shows he has not done his homework and when such time arises i slate him e.g the southampton game where he complained of not bein clinical..i just hope he can keep his cool,get us the wins and lets see what the future holds

@Ken. Try 2 listen. Which Coach in the World will you see that will spend a whooping 26million pounds on a seasoned nd already injured and not playing Alberto Aquilani except RAFA. And before aquilani played his 1st match 4 Liverpool, is almost up to 5-6 months. That tells you how STUPID nd CLUELESS RAFA IS.

Ok,i agree,i dislike the man but personal feelings aside,Rafa is a right muppet. Rafa will not under any circumstances take responsibility for his own failures. He always has something to complain about. He knows he is going to fail and he can see it,thats why he is already complaining right now. He is making a campaign for his next job already,trying to leak the excuses into the press so its out there. I pity his next club. Trust me,when he leaves at the end of the season(if he survives it),he is going to be jobless for another 2years or more.He is suited to relegation battlers like Qpr and the lot,He isnt fit for a top club. The man has a website he updates almost every day! What should people like SAF and Jose do? Unbelievable. He came into the job knowing the details of the contract......get THIS TEAM into the champions league spot,win a few cups and bring back the balance..RDM was sacked very early so he cant complain about the points we've lost since he took over....Roman must be wondering why he sacked RDM cos it is obvious,we are worse off!!! And Ken,if you dont see that,i dont know what else to say!

Haaaaa and u remind me of aquilani, his fees is in the 20+ euros, robbie keane,dossena,ngog,babel,riera,poulsen,diouf,cisse,baros,elzhar,aurelio,pennant,crouch,smicer,jovanovic,arbeloa,kyrigiakos,bellamy,salif diao,traore,sissoko,sinama pongolle,itandje,degen,alou diarra, zenden,ayala.........we all know that this are part of rafa benitez's buy, how many of this players were sucessful with pool, make the guess, would I want that pudgy ***** to buy players for chelsea? No way, I'll leave emenalo for that

Roman an idiot?? A billionaire being labelled an idiot by an internet "expert" who is nothing worth mentioning out of VC?? LoL

@ken..For me I have nothing personal against rafa and my arguments from results, tactics' and overall footy philosophy..''rafa is a top coach for a top side''....there is no fact or figures that supports that statement of yours and if there are please kindly state them....asides from those 2 league trophies at Valencia, almost a decade ago...Rafa benitez has failed in terms of number of trophies won, which is the most important indicator of how a good a coach is...and how come he has been out of job for forever before he became an interim manager here?...bcos no top clud made offers for him...now why dint any top club make offers for him?...bcos they dont think he is good enough...Frankly, I think he has potentials to be at par with the likes of Mou in terms of achievements but he will NEVER get to that level and this is largely as a result of his attitude in my eyes which I cant stand (he can never change unfortunately cos he has passed that age!)..he is erratic, self opinionated, and an excuse seeker who will never sit down for once to be his own critique...his record is already worse than RDM's in terms of W-D-L stats so how are you measuring the fact that he is going in the right direction?...guy, I am so happy you are not on the board meen...truth be told.

@Ken...you do have a point by saying that every single somtimes makes signings that are not too good...but then try do some maths and work the percentage meen.....number of horrific signings divided by total number of signings times 100....rafa is over 80% which is totally abysmal...so a top coach for a top side??...hell no way to spin that....if he is not careful (by sitting down and doing things properly, making good subs, using the right tactics and thinking well)...when he leaves chelsea in the summer...he'll be going back home with zero offers from top clubs (similar to the way it was b4 he got the chelsea offer) maybe clubs from the MLS, china on even NEAR top clubs in top leagues (the Lazios, Napolis, Shalkers, Galatasarays e.t.c) might wanta give him a chance, I am sure that same attitude will not allow him take such offers...so happy days as he will become a pundit once again...

Layorh,its good to hear u ve no personal grudge with the man unlike most here.now to the argument,he started with real madrid castilla and club up the ladder to midtable clubs(valladolid,tenerife,osasuna e.t.c) before he took the giant stepup to valencia,liverpool,inter and now chelsea(all top clubs),he won the 2league titles and a uefa cup with valencia,he won the CL,FA CUP,CS and uefa supercup with liverpool,he won the coppa italia and CWC with Internazionale,he has won the uefa coach of the year twice(2003-2004,2004-2005),BMM 5times..well if thats not enough to be a top coach,i wonder whatelse??

@Ken, I know these things...but these accolades are bottom heavy ...they do not reflect how the latter part of his career has been which for me is the most important....I have said it earlier that i think he once has the potential but as it stands now top coach for a top side?....far from it....frankly something went wrong with this man that particular season after the liverpool's famous champions league triumph...he has not recovered and he wont....his achievements at inter cant be lauded bcos you know the story, he was actually sacked and dint do a full season...they sacked his cos they realised he brought the same madness from liverpool and he was taking them down...now is that a top coach?...and in 6 SEASONS at liverpool 1 CL, 1 Super Cup and 1 FA cant be termed as impressive i am sure you know that (I am sorry I do not consider the community shield as a trophy worth mentioning in this type of discussion)...so for me he was quite impressive at valencia,average at liver pool and mad poor at inter..showing a clear downward tragetory... so a top coach?..no chance in hell...may be 8 years ago...football has long since evolved...presently he is NOT good enough for chelsea....and lemme add, my argument bout how terrible his transfer history is in terms of percentages is sooo strong that it cant be refuted....hopefully come summer he'll be gone and gone for good.

Layorh,its true the percentage of rafa getin crap players is 70-80% but like i said in a comment above,the low budget of liverpool compared to other top4 clubs meant rafa had to buy up some midtable players and burden them with the mandate of a top4 finish..at a time there was practically no fund to sign players and he was instructed to sell top players to buy hence he had to sell the likes of alonso,arbeloa,mascherano e.t.c,he even almost sold gerrard...we talk about a voronin for every torres.there would be another torres for every torres if there was money

@Ken...he sold alonso and bought Aquilanni?....he also bought keane for 19m around the same time or slightly earlier cant remember now...when there is no money and you are selling your top players for cash to rebuild, that is when a top coach will exhibit more tot and creativity in the type of players he brings in....Rafa totally lost it with those endless bad transfers....while events that occured over a decade suggests to me that rafa once had the potential to be top coach, more recent events covering the latter part of his reign at liverpool and his entire tenure at inter..clearly suggests to me that he has lost it....his performance at chelsea so far also largely agrees with the fact that he has lost it except he does somthing to turn it around...he is not a top coach for a top side at this present age giving how football has evolved....he will be outa here come summer so no worries for me...nice talking to you.

Layorh,in that case its a gross disrespect to even mention rdm in the same sentence wit rafa,its an insult to rafa.rafa is way way above him as a coach,so i apologise to rafa for insultin his credibility...yes its too early to write off rafa,if rafa finishes the season in a top4 position then he has done a good job(thats his mandate),rdm restin players to focus on cups was a move that could have backfired but thank God it was worth the risk,he was given a top4 mandate but he played out of the script and his accomplishment at the end of the season forced roman into given him the job...our league position is not worse,we are still 3rd and dont make it look like we are in the relegation zone..be honest with yourself,even if moses and mikel returns do u really think we have enough depth to challenge on all fronts??rafa knew this b4 he took over and he has been hammerin on the squad in last few days,what has the board done to help him out with that??sendin piazon out on loan??..we are probably the architects of our own downfall and when we fail rafa becomes the scapegoat..no amount of tactical genius or input would achieve anything tangible with these current squad except reinforcements are put in place,its 3days to go and the board really has to do something or else we put our top4 hope in jeopardy.

I agree with Ken - comparing RDM and Rafa Benitez is like saying Brendan Rodgers is better than Mourinho...they're not in the same league as Benitez has been around the block a few times and RDM is still learning his trade. Having said that RDM is a proper chelsea hero so our sentiments for him sometimes blinds our analysis..reality is reality though and i think we must face this, and for me its all about squad depth...simples

Ken, Keane was not a luxury buy..he was an outright bad buy from a coach who had no vision and who CONSISENTLY made horific purchases over a six year period...i can remember when I first saw the news, I was laffing hard with my dad on the couch (Keane to liverpool?..the world is coming to an end!!!) and I am even a coach!!!!...it baffles me that you actually think that someone with an 80% failure in terms of transfers over a 6 year period should be allowed to ''work with an owner who understands him and is willing to splash the cash''..that wont be happening at chelsea thankfully as suggested by the recent actions of the board...Rafa is quite popular when it comes to his record with ridiculous purchases and money waster...its common knowledge...nobody will allow him to leave chelsea in tatters similar to how he left liverpool and inter...he is a trainer strictly at chelsea and so shall he remain until he departs in May....then we'll move as a club.

Layorh,rafa has won everything a top coach should win and his records are there to prove to you that he is a top coach,its a fact u cannot erase,hate him or like him..the season started with rdm losin both the CS and super cup,so whats the evidence that he could have won the CWC and C0C??his mandate here is a top4 and we are not doin too badly as people paint it here considerin the fact that we ve played almost the whole season with torres as CF and our lack of squad depth,its not rafa's fault the squad is thin,we currently have less than 16 first team players available for selection.its true he makes excuses but most time they are genuine and understandable and u and i know that rafa is not a man to take responsibility especially when its others fault..what he needs from us as supporters is continued support unfortunately many of us have that in our back pocket and are hopin and prayin he fails forgetin that if he fails,we fail.

Rafa has never worked under any spendrift,all he has been under are misers who dont share the same idea on certain issue like transfers,he had to make do with the peanuts they provided him to get as much players as he could,midtable players who get overburdened with the task of a top4 finish,i repeat the keane signin was an anomaly,one of those expensive flops(a certain shevchenko and torres comes to mind) and even with the low budget for a top4 club he stil got very good players like alonso,arbeloa,garcia,agger,skrtel,reina,johnson,lucas,torres,kuyt,suso e.t.c..the problem at liverpool was there was no fund for new players.u talk about a voronin for every torres,there would be another torres for every torres if there was money.

I know he would be gone by the summer but dont completely rule out the possibility of him stayin beyond that(i knw some dont want to hear that.lol)

@Ken is taunting me now...looooool....i am laffing hard...God forbid meen...your wish wont happen...rafa will definitely leave come summer...hell no way he stays..nice way to end it..its good talking to you.

Typical Rafa...Tells you basically what you want to hear at the beginning, then tongue twist and shifts blame when the going gets tough. He took the Chelsea job trying to prove a point,that he is still a top manager despite criticism. Things haven't gone according to plan,and an excuse is already being prepared. I remember watching his interview on Chelsea TV after his first training session, he was asked; Does the squad have enough depth? "At this moment it is fine, but we have to think about the rest of the season and have to manage with the players we have available(Rotation wise). We have some injuries and have to be careful." Now he complains about squad depth even after the addition of Ba. So now the squad is not manageable again? For those of you that know Rafa with his recent exploit and interviews,ull understand exactly what i mean...He loves to tongue twist and later back track on his actions...He said' "I would never take that job (Chelsea job), in respect for my former team at Liverpool, no matter what" We know what happened 'tongue twisting'. Ill employ you guys to keep a keen eye on his press briefings within the next few weeks if we end up not signing anyone. Let's hope we make top 3 and he is gone by the summer.

I dont have the time and materials now,i would have posted the total amount he spent in his 6yrs at anfield compared to other top4 rivals.

@Ken and as per Keane signing...I have never read or seen your line of the story before but it could be true...but common Ken keane is just one of the terrible signinngs by rafa at liverpool, I only used Keane as an example...the list is endless you know...and I find @nely's post very interesting cos I also watched those initial interviews on chelsea tv....Rafa is feeling the heat now and he is trying to tongue twist if i may borrow nely's words...thats what annoys me the most actually...pushing issues around to every other person and object except himself...a trait he has developed since way back...Rafa needs to freaking man up and be responsible for once...he should get us top 4 and kindly fess during the summer, we ve had enough of him already

I think that the club will be staggered when thousands of fans refuse to renew their season tickets next year, if they decide to keep the incompetent prat.

Tell them johnny cos with the way this anti rafa barricade is goin,he might just get us to the finish line this season in different pieces..lol