Rafa Benitez

[StevieH]

1. are they STILL banging on about that 'ghost goal'? really? how about the ghost petr-cech-sent-off-and-a-penalty-awarded-anyway? so that if the 'ghost goal' hadn't been given it'd almost certainly have still been 1-0 from the penalty and chelsea would have had a man less on the pitch?

2. he was right about the plastic flags. they ARE terrible. think chelsea fans need to get over themselves a bit and perhaps ask why their club has to supply them with plastic flags for a european night in the first place.

[sotsira]

"Wanting to put yourself in the shop window for 6 months working for a t@sser like Abramovich, spells small time manager, NOT top drawer manager."

if he does a good job at chelsea and wins them the league or champions league this season he'll keep the chelsea job. i

Well he's already halfway out the door...

I wonder how Rafa will describe the plastic flag brigade (chelski fans) when pressed by media? should be interesting.

Btw I'm a L.F.C supporter & think a lot of Rafa ,always have always will.The man wanted/needed a job ,chelski come up ...Maybe he has an ulterior motive ...

I think his first motive would be to have some of Abramovich's money!

[sotsira]

"Wanting to put yourself in the shop window for 6 months working for a t@sser like Abramovich, spells small time manager, NOT top drawer manager."

of course he's a top drawer manager jack. but he needs back in the game, he's been on the sidelines too long despite turning down a lot of offers. if he does a good job at chelsea and wins them the league or champions league this season he'll keep the chelsea job. if he does an alright job and still gets sacked by the idiot abramovich, then he's back in the shop window and available to other clubs etc. he's got an 18-month deal hasn't he? not 6 months?

I read It's 6 months with the option to extend for another 12 months.

[Kipperthai]

"Wanting to put yourself in the shop window for 6 months working for a t@sser like Abramovich, spells small time manager, NOT top drawer manager."

if he does a good job at chelsea and wins them the league or champions league this season he'll keep the chelsea job. i

Well he's already halfway out the door...

I wonder how Rafa will describe the plastic flag brigade (chelski fans) when pressed by media? should be interesting.

Btw I'm a L.F.C supporter & think a lot of Rafa ,always have always will.The man wanted/needed a job ,chelski come up ...Maybe he has an ulterior motive ...

Interesting to see what he thinks now!!!

http://www.london24....reign_1_1704001

Ain't that what I said? I know what he said way back when.

[carmine]

1. are they STILL banging on about that 'ghost goal'? really? how about the ghost petr-cech-sent-off-and-a-penalty-awarded-anyway? so that if the 'ghost goal' hadn't been given it'd almost certainly have still been 1-0 from the penalty and chelsea would have had a man less on the pitch?

2. he was right about the plastic flags. they ARE terrible. think chelsea fans need to get over themselves a bit and perhaps ask why their club has to supply them with plastic flags for a european night in the first place.

They still don't get it. This actually going to games thing is all relatively new to them. And as Mjj said you can act like a complete tool at a game and thats fine because its a football match you're at

[mrtoad]

"Wanting to put yourself in the shop window for 6 months working for a t@sser like Abramovich, spells small time manager, NOT top drawer manager."

of course he's a top drawer manager jack. but he needs back in the game, he's been on the sidelines too long despite turning down a lot of offers. if he does a good job at chelsea and wins them the league or champions league this season he'll keep the chelsea job. if he does an alright job and still gets sacked by the idiot abramovich, then he's back in the shop window and available to other clubs etc. he's got an 18-month deal hasn't he? not 6 months?

Perhaps i'm wrong but i thought it was only until the end of the season.

i've got the radio 5 podcast on now and they just said 18 months. that was last night though so that could be incorrect i guess.

Does anyone last 18 months at Chelsea?

Why don't they just appoint John Terry, and get on with it, after all he basically runs the club.

[mrtoad]

Good to have rafa back in the premier league he has been sorely missed

Agreed, turning good teams into Mid-Table Contenders.

[mrtoad]

Where Chelsea really are in terms of a manager is Henry Redknapp. He fits the bill in every respect

i was thinking neil warnock myself.

Warnock is certainly odious enough for Chelsea, although maybe Nick Griffin would be a better appointment

[StevieH]

"Wanting to put yourself in the shop window for 6 months working for a t@sser like Abramovich, spells small time manager, NOT top drawer manager."

of course he's a top drawer manager jack. but he needs back in the game, he's been on the sidelines too long despite turning down a lot of offers. if he does a good job at chelsea and wins them the league or champions league this season he'll keep the chelsea job. if he does an alright job and still gets sacked by the idiot abramovich, then he's back in the shop window and available to other clubs etc. he's got an 18-month deal hasn't he? not 6 months?

Perhaps i'm wrong but i thought it was only until the end of the season.

i've got the radio 5 podcast on now and they just said 18 months. that was last night though so that could be incorrect i guess.

Does anyone last 18 months at Chelsea?

Why don't they just appoint John Terry, and get on with it, after all he basically runs the club.

john terry, abramovich and tim lovejoy. the dream ticket.

was funny hearing people debate how much money benitez will have to spend there in january. as if the managers sign the players at that place.

[mrtoad]

john terry, abramovich and tim lovejoy. the dream ticket.

was funny hearing people debate how much money benitez will have to spend there in january. as if the managers sign the players at that place.

Maybe they can throw in Mellorphant Man as well

[mjj]

Carmine, don't mis-quote now. I never said it was fine.

[carmine]

Carmine, don't mis-quote now. I never said it was fine.

Ok but you are being a bit pedantic because your suggestion is its understandable.......which its not. But anyways....

[rijit]

Will be quite interesting to see how Benitez handles the current in hse political situ there,, IMO demats seemed to pay the price with his job for not only a poor run of results but for also, almost openly criticising the club on its contract stance on cole and lampard. Part of the reason for sacking vb, was supposedly he unsettled the dressing room by probably, frank and open discussions on the long serving players future, seems now they sack a manager for trying to keep the dressing room settled, Up top the chavs really are a bit of joke

[mjj]

Carmine, don't mis-quote now. I never said it was fine.

Ok but you are being a bit pedantic because your suggestion is its understandable.......which its not. But anyways....

Nope, didn't say that either. I said it is a strange phenomenon. Personally I don't agree with it, but it is a fact. Should it be tolerated? No. But some fans do become the missing link at football matches. This tribal unity I find quite baffling, doesn't mean it doesn't exist though.

[mjj]

The reason for sacking AVB was that the results, the performances, the unity were all terrible. I'm not saying it was all his fault, but it was obvious his vision was never going to work.

[carmine]

Carmine, don't mis-quote now. I never said it was fine.

Ok but you are being a bit pedantic because your suggestion is its understandable.......which its not. But anyways....

Nope, didn't say that either. I said it is a strange phenomenon. Personally I don't agree with it, but it is a fact. Should it be tolerated? No. But some fans do become the missing link at football matches. This tribal unity I find quite baffling, doesn't mean it doesn't exist though.

Very pedantic

[carmine]

The reason for sacking AVB was that the results, the performances, the unity were all terrible. I'm not saying it was all his fault, but it was obvious his vision was never going to work.

Whats AVB got to do with any of this?

[mjj]

The reason for sacking AVB was that the results, the performances, the unity were all terrible. I'm not saying it was all his fault, but it was obvious his vision was never going to work.

Whats AVB got to do with any of this?

Replying to rijit.

[mjj]

I watched Rafas interview earlier. He did ok. He took the questions about him previously saying he would never manage chelsea and the flag thing well.

I've calmed down from a couple of days ago and am prepared to give him a fair crack of the whip. I can't help but smile thinking about the irony if Rafa makes it click at chelsea.

[carmine]

I watched Rafas interview earlier. He did ok. He took the questions about him previously saying he would never manage chelsea and the flag thing well.

I've calmed down from a couple of days ago and am prepared to give him a fair crack of the whip. I can't help but smile thinking about the irony if Rafa makes it click at chelsea.

He'll probably do well. Its obviously somewhat of a step down from managing a big club like Liverpool but as a positive he'll hardly feel under anyway pressure.

Lets face it, if he does do well its also a good stepping stone to get the soon to be vacated QPR job

[mjj]

Yeah, you are probably right Carmine. After he gets the sack from QPR he'll probably go to you guys, after all you like our cast offs.

[carmine]

Yeah, you are probably right Carmine. After he gets the sack from QPR he'll probably go to you guys, after all you like our cast offs.

Well thats just rude!

btw, how do you feel about the zonal marking system you will probably be adopting?

[mjj]

Terrified.

[MrRed]

The reason for sacking AVB was that the results, the performances, the unity were all terrible. I'm not saying it was all his fault, but it was obvious his vision was never going to work.

Vision at Chelsea? as in the future! that made me laugh mjj

[StevieH]

I watched Rafas interview earlier. He did ok. He took the questions about him previously saying he would never manage chelsea and the flag thing well.

I've calmed down from a couple of days ago and am prepared to give him a fair crack of the whip. I can't help but smile thinking about the irony if Rafa makes it click at chelsea.

will it be irony? or will it just be that a load of chelsea fans were talking out of their holes?

[mrtoad]

Hughes probably can't believe that he's not been the first to have been sacked. If he gets a result at United this weekend he'll probably be safe for a few more weeks. Will be interesting to see the odds moving on other managers now such as AVB, Mankini and Lambert. Maybe if Benitez struggles initially he'll also be gone in quick time, anything is possible at Chavski.

[MrRed]

A treble of Mancini,Benitez and AVB not being at the clubs at the start of next season is a decent bet.

[mrtoad]

A treble of Mancini,Benitez and AVB not being at the clubs at the start of next season is a decent bet.

Yep, should be reasonable odds on that accumulator. Mankini will be off to Monaco, Average Very Boring will be back in the Portuguese league, and Benitez will be back waiting tables in Torquay.

[alfieconn]

A treble of Mancini,Benitez and AVB not being at the clubs at the start of next season is a decent bet.

Yep, should be reasonable odds on that accumulator. Mankini will be off to Monaco, Average Very Boring will be back in the Portuguese league, and Benitez will be back waiting tables in Torquay.

Of course it will be reasonable odd's because it ain't going to happen, well the AVB part anyway !

[MrRed]

A treble of Mancini,Benitez and AVB not being at the clubs at the start of next season is a decent bet.

Yep, should be reasonable odds on that accumulator. Mankini will be off to Monaco, Average Very Boring will be back in the Portuguese league, and Benitez will be back waiting tables in Torquay.

Of course it will be reasonable odd's because it ain't going to happen, well the AVB part anyway !

Yes the AVB part is the longest odds of the three! perfectly understandable that you would suggest he is staying put,but sadly it is not your shout!

Ferguson to leave United at the end of the season is another very good bet.