What's in it for Rafa?

by   |   01/07/2021  36 Comments  [Jump to last]

Why? I suspect that there is not one Evertonian who looks at this appointment and pumps the air shouting, "Fucking Yes!"

So Rafa knows he is unwelcome. He doesn't care. Why? He doesn't need the money, so rule that out. Why? Something, deep inside him thinks that he can do something for our club. He has, somehow, convinced Mr Moshiri that he is the man. He is set up to fail, he will not have one minute's peace. He has not got one bit of leeway. He is fucked from day one.

Yet... this man doesn't get it. In the history of our club, no-one has walked into this. He actually wants the fucking job! Why?

The only possible reason is that, having more money than he can ever need, he must redeem himself, validate his reasons for being a coach and stick, really stick it up to the whole European elite.

I cannot accept that he is topping up his pension. He wants this. He must really want this. It will end in tears unless he gets lucky. Is it not about time we had a lucky coach? Black or white? Better than the grey that the utterly lamentable Ancelotti sold us.

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Mike Gaynes
1 Posted 01/07/2021 at 09:27:09
"Yet... this man doesn't get it."

Andy, the man has lived in Liverpool for 18 years. Do you really think he doesn't get it? Of course he does.

I think your stick-it-up reasoning isn't far off.

It's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6owEGMI4xM

Or this: https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/568330-why-because-fuck-you-that-s-why

Robert Tressell
2 Posted 01/07/2021 at 09:52:45
Not sure about this. For Rafa it's just the opportunity to carry on being a manager and close to home too after a nomadic period since leaving the RS. It's not about topping up a pension as such but it doesn't mean Rafa has some profound need or desire to manage Everton either. It's just a weirdly convenient (and uncomfortable) move for both parties.

And please don't expect anything more than Ancelotti Part II. As Danny O'Neill put it well on another thread, this is just a continuity strategy in action. Swap out one illustrious old coach for another (albeit less illustrious one). The football is likely to be very defensive, very tactical and not very exciting.

Tony Shelby
3 Posted 01/07/2021 at 09:52:58
Saw this post in the comments section of The Guardian which resonated with me:

“This feels like a business decision, not the sort of appointment you make in the emotive world of football.

I fear Moshiri really doesn’t get it. Fans want a manager that loves the team almost as much as they do.

Moyes did for most of his tenure, up until his head was turned by a posh bird from up the East Lancs.

Martinez genuinely seemed to love the club. I think he thought we were “phenomenal”… although he says that about a lot of things.

Koeman didn’t give two shiny wotsits about Everton or the club’s history. The mess we see today is a direct result of Ronald “Red Fucking Christmas Decorations” Koeman’s appointment and the spending that followed. In fact Koeman’s legacy should be used as a cautionary tale entitled ‘How to Fuck Up Your Club’.

Allardyce talked about being mates with Paul Bracewell and said he knew all about ‘the school of science’ but then proceeded to trash the club’s reputation by showing it zero respect by playing his usual brand of anti-football.

Silva kind of got the club but didn’t get the time to settle in and turn it into a proper love affair. It will always be a case of what could have been about his relationship with the blues.

Ancelotti really seemed to get the club… or so we thought. Turns out that he just wanted a brief affair with a bit of rough from Liverpool and had the Italian gift of seduction.

So where does that leave Benitez?

Well he can never truly ‘love’ the club, can he? It’s an impossibility. Even if the improbable happened and he hit the ground running, secured a top 6 finish in his first season and then went on to take Everton to win a cup final or two, you’d still always know that it was just business. He’d achieved what he had for himself and his paymasters, not for the fans. It’s probably a bit like having sex with your mail order bride. You’d enjoy the outcome but always know that she was just fulfilling her side of the contract.”

Darren Hind
4 Posted 01/07/2021 at 18:42:49
I'm still seething.

I would love to smack him in the mouth with the appropriately named RS39 and say, "how's that for a small club you fat little fucker ?"

Maybe he will grow on me

Bob Parrington
5 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:13:44
Robert

"For Rafa it's just the opportunity to carry on being a manager and close to home too after a nomadic period since leaving the RS."

Did you really think this through before you decided to go in to print on it? Of course, the everybody has his/her right to his/her opinion comes in to play. But, deep down analysed, do you think Benitez is that shallow?

He was never my preferred appointee but something in my gut says to me that this might work, as I wrote on another thread.

Everything about it seems counter intuitive. Even Billy the old kid doesn't like the choice because, like most of us fans he's a true blue, whatever else you think about him.

He's either a con-man or he has honestly convinced the hierarchy that he is the right man for the job at the moment in future history's page.

Frustrated or not by previous choice decisions by the Board, there is not one member of that board we could honestly state is "stupid". Moshiri is certainly no idiot and financially this can be witnessed by his choice of friends, one in particular.

Returning to Benitez, clearly he has large cahoonas (forgive my spelling please). He knows the game. Wants to win again. He's now sold his soul to Everton.

Only time will tell. At 73 yo and more than 65 of those years Everton through and through, I hope my gut feel is right.

Tony Abrahams
6 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:23:27
Am I the only person who thinks he got us Evertonians, even before he threw that small club hand-grenade at us?

He went for the jugular, because he’d been taking stick off us toffees, from day one, and he’s definitely not the type of man, who takes things lying down.

That’s how I saw it anyway, because that’s how I see Benitez, a man with very thick skin, who doesn’t appear to be scared of anything.

Danny O’Neill
7 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:36:44
Okay, still uncomfortable with this and coming to terms with it.

That said, I think of all the foreign managers, Benitez is one who understands Everton, Evertonians and the city better than just about all of them. I will have to keep referring to him by his surname for now. I'm not on first name terms just yet.

He has roots in the region, which he has maintained wherever he has gone. For many, he has unpalatable history with our neighbours. Of course he gets Everton, Evertonians and our great City of Liverpool. It's probably why he, and only he, knew what buttons to press and wind us up no end when he was at Mordor.

He get's us alright. Here's hoping he makes a unique place in Merseyside football history for us and him.

Brian Murray
8 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:38:04
The waiter obviously has great self belief and I hear the notion he doesn’t suffer fools or ineptitude gladly so I hope that’s true and the fall out from that is a new Everton on the pitch ( especially off it.
Matt Hunter
9 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:39:39
Darren Hind #4# I think he is the sort of guy who grows on you like a tumour rather than in a good way.

He just comes off as a deeply unpleasant man. If it was Rodgers or Klopp maybe I could some how cope but it's the same guy we used to sing "fat Spanish waiter" and "Rafa Benuathus" at. It just feels wrong in every way imaginable.

I'm trying to imagine him winning the Fa.cup this season and seeing him holding it surrounded by Everton players and it just feels so dirty to me. Maybe there is something wrong with me, I don't know but I just can't bring to think of him in charge in our final ever game at Goodison or the first game at any new stadium

Brian Murray
10 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:43:47
The presence in this city by our fans is not lost on him and even klopp. Totally unjustified with the crap we have had but families run deep so we are lucky in that respect. Souness was another one who said as much although he waited until he was an ex manager.Having said that if he doesn’t get the five or six we need he will go like the rest of them. Fact.
Dave Lynch
11 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:47:22
He gets it alright!

He gets the fact that he is in the most difficult appointment of his life, he gets that his reputation is on the line, he gets that his life in the city will be unbearable if he fails and he gets that Evertonian's are watching him through a microscope waiting for him to make one bad move.

He's no fool...far from it.

Kevin Molloy
12 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:48:12
he's a fanatic with a wife who wont leave Caldy.
Danny O’Neill
13 Posted 02/07/2021 at 08:52:37
Random one here, I didn't know there was a place called Caldy on the Wirral. I'd assumed that he lived in Calderstones, very near to where I lived when I last lived in Liverpool!!

We do have a habit of abbreviating most things by putting a "y" on the end of a shortened version, so I assumed Caldy was Calderstones!!

Alan J Thompson
14 Posted 02/07/2021 at 09:00:23
Danny(#13); Caldy is also a big Rugby Union stronghold and I think the England squad trained there many years ago. It may have something to do with Birkenhead Grammer being a mostly rugby orientated school. Apart from hiking in the area as a kid I've only ever played cricket there.

Ed Fitzgerald
15 Posted 02/07/2021 at 09:10:21
I think many Evertonians are suffering from a case of cognitive dissonance about Benitez’s appointment.

Proposition 1. Rafa is an arrogant kopite who has made his disdain for Everton and undying love for LFC clear and plain - the evidence being the mans own words

Proposition 2. Rafa is a good coach and really wants Everton gig

Hence it’s a legitimate question to ask why he want this job. The answer is simple he is an avaricious person or greedy bastard (as Bill Shankly would have said). Stating he doesn’t need the money is true but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want even more. If he was motivated by other factors would he have walked away from Newcastle where he was bizarrely venerated with a six million yearly contract on the table to go to China? It might have been the 12 million annual contract.

Derek Thomas
16 Posted 02/07/2021 at 09:19:04
Andy; "It will end in tears unless he gets lucky." Well yeah, but you could say this about anybody.
That said, you make a good case, except that he's still a rs - but it's a done deal now, so I suppose I'll have to give him a chance...which is probably what the Club is banking on - and the fact that one day, somebody must live up to their reputation when we hire them.

Danny @ 13; quite right too, an easy mistake to make

Anthony Murphy
17 Posted 02/07/2021 at 09:53:32
What’s in it for Rafa? I think several reasons. Putting the huge financial incentive to one side just for a second, I think knowing how desperate Evertonians are for success plays it’s part - like as mentioned above he will absolutely get that. He believes he can deliver where others have failed and I would like to think that self belief, arrogance even is part of the motivation. Given where we are, and how hard it’ll be to make this work - if he takes us to Wembley and puts silverware on the table before we exit Goodison for good, I think that would be a huge achievement. Whatever his motivation is, one thing is for sure and that is Rafa can’t lose in this - If he’s a success, he gets to extend his contract - if he fails he can say it’s because the club is poorly run hence others failing before too.
Paul Tran
18 Posted 02/07/2021 at 09:54:43
What's in it for Rafa?

Simple. He's a world-renowned football coach/manager who loves his work. And like many of us who love our work, he wants to keep doing it as long as he can, especially when there are plenty of 'new money' owners looking for world-renowned coaches/managers. And this is just the job for an 'obsessed, detail-driven professional', isn't it?

Simple.

What in it for us? I suspect that we have spoken to several managers/agents. I suspect that while it is a fantastic job as either a stepping stone, or, please God, for the next successful manager we get, any decent manager worth his salt would have proceeded with caution. A trigger-happy owner who intervenes over the head of the Director of Football, an imbalanced squad of slow, purposeless non-achievers on long contracts makes it less appealing.

If I was one of those 'up and coming' managers the world football experts keep telling me about, I'd be looking for a copper-bottomed, lucrative contract with a nice release clause and large compensation. Maybe, after his shocking and expensive recruitment mistakes, Moshiri fancies neither the up and coming, nor the superstar who will leave.

I'd argue Benitez is the conservative choice who is less likely to leave, less likely to mess up and more likely to be here till BMD, when he will be doing well enough to keep or be replaced by a manager who may find us more attractive after three stable years and a new stadium.

I don't know if it will work, but I'm guessing that's the rationale behind it.

Gary Poole
19 Posted 02/07/2021 at 10:22:07
I get all the comments above and maybe it's because I haven't lived in Liverpool for 30 odd years that it doesn't really bother me that he once managed "them". What I also get though is that the other supposed candidates on the list were all immensely underwhelming. So, whoever, we appointed, it was always going to be a lottery.

That said I acknowledge the high risk nature of this particular appointment but, as other posters have said, maybe this one will come off. We are due a bit of luck, surely?

All in all, there wasn't a lot of choice on offer to us.

Jerome Shields
20 Posted 03/07/2021 at 13:06:54
It must be as you say a challenge to compete in the Premiership.
Barry Rathbone
21 Posted 03/07/2021 at 22:19:57
It's very simple.

He has a short commute after living out of a suitcase for years in China, Newcastle, Milan, anyone who has travelled for a living will tell you it's not all it's cracked up to be no matter the size of the expense account.

Moaners won't worry him he had it at the back end of his Liverpool term and got hammered at Chelsea. The record of bullshit Carlo is nothing to overtake meaning he's here for at least a year with sleep ins, early nights and home cooking on tap.

Ask any mercenary they all say that is their dream.

Andy Crooks
22 Posted 03/07/2021 at 22:36:13
You know what, Barry. I think you're onto something.
Brian Williams
23 Posted 03/07/2021 at 23:02:21
I think we, as supporters, can't help looking at things through Benitez's eyes as we would look at them. We shouldn't. Managers, as do 99.9% of players, "love" the club they're employed by before loving the next club they're employed by. It's just not the same to them as it is to us, and never will be.

He's landed himself a very well paid job near his home where, if he can get and keep us in the first eight of the league (I refuse to use the term 'Top 8' as it's fucking ridiculous), he will be deemed to have done his job by those that employ him.

If he does better, the supporters will be onside too. If he does worse, he either gets fired and paid off handsomely, or he completes his contract and gets paid handsomely.

All the above is what's in it for him. Nice work if you can get it.

Laurie Hartley
24 Posted 03/07/2021 at 23:16:19
In answer to your question, Andy, someone once said “an unexpected opportunity arose”.

Personal pride can be a very powerful motivator in anyone's life. I reckon at 61, Rafa feels he is far from finished and “an unexpected opportunity arose” for him to prove he isn't. He has seized it.

That is what I think is in it for him and I am hoping that it is also what's in it for us.

Barry Rathbone
25 Posted 03/07/2021 at 23:18:04
Andy #22,

Honestly it's such an obvious call he could have his pick of mid-table clubs just a matter of waiting a few months till a job he fancied come up. But something far beyond money has to be in play to choose a club that have supporters who hate the very bones of you.

Him and his missus love the area their place on the Wirral is unquestionably their forever home. I imagine he has dreamed of setting up camp here knowing he's not getting a go at either of the Manc clubs or Liverpool.

At least it's a powerful motivator to make a good fist of it and remain as long as he can.

Ian Riley
27 Posted 03/07/2021 at 23:44:26
Think Rafa needs the money?
Think Rafa couldn't care less about travelling?

How about Rafa had the best CV when approached. We have tried up-and-coming managers, experienced managers. The club needs stability now. If Rafa can't get reasonable success meaning a semi final or top ten/eight in the league then we are in trouble.

Please listen to his interview a few days ago. He is Mr Football and probably watching all matches. He loves the challenge tactically to work and coach to improve players individually. I think it's a great appointment and, without his Liverpool affiliation, we would all be lauding what a great day for the club.

What's in it for Rafa? Football! If he can make Everton competitive home and away, both league and cup, that's fine by me!

Mike Gaynes
28 Posted 03/07/2021 at 23:59:30
Barry #25: "But something far beyond money has to be in play to choose a club that have supporters who hate the very bones of you."

Tony #6: "...a man with very thick skin, who doesn’t appear to be scared of anything."

Anthony #17: "He believes he can deliver where others have failed and I would like to think that self belief, arrogance even is part of the motivation."

PT #18: "...this is just the job for an 'obsessed, detail-driven professional', isn't it?"

Covered it superbly, all of you.

Phil Gardner
29 Posted 04/07/2021 at 17:18:51
Danny and Alan(13&14) Caldy is about as posh as it gets over on the Wirral. Many players and former players, Fowler and McManaman have homes over there. They tend to send their kids to the top private school on the Wirral which is the Birkenhead School which is about eight miles from Caldy.

Caldy have their own Calday Grange Grammar School which has the connection with Caldy Rugby Football Club. Birkenhead have their own ‘old boys' club.

Rafa's house is one of the most magnificent in the area, perched on a hill overlooking the Dee and North Wales.

Danny O’Neill
30 Posted 04/07/2021 at 17:34:43
Sounds nice, Phil. Does Rafa know that on a good day you can see the hills of North Wales from Speke? He could have saved himself a fair bit!!
Tony Abrahams
31 Posted 04/07/2021 at 17:40:59
Be careful, Phil.

I believe the police are still looking for suspects with regards that bedsheet that was left by Rafa's house last week!

Alan J Thompson
32 Posted 04/07/2021 at 18:07:23
Danny (#30);

It used to be said that if, from Liverpool, you can see the Welsh Hills then it is about to rain but, if you can't see the Welsh Hills, then it is raining already.

Oliver Molloy
33 Posted 04/07/2021 at 18:09:10
People who have loads of money always want more.

Benitez probably can't believe it, a top job a few miles from home – what's not to like?

Phil Gardner
34 Posted 04/07/2021 at 21:56:40
The man has balls boys…something our place has been lacking for years. Back him.
Bill Gienapp
35 Posted 04/07/2021 at 22:54:22
I'm starting to come around a bit on this appointment. I'm still not exactly *enthused* by it, but there's a definite chance Rafa could prove to be what we thought we were getting with Koeman - a no-nonsense pragmatist who isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers or hold the board's feet to the fire... only with the work ethic to back it up.
David Peate
36 Posted 08/07/2021 at 09:44:14
Wouldn't it be nice if we could have an article without the author using foul language. Cannot Andy Crooks write English without the use of such coarse language. I am amazed at the constant use of sweating on ToffeeWeb. Why is there no parental control?
Phil Gardner
37 Posted 09/07/2021 at 12:37:37
You have a point, David @36. Rafa's appointment, together with the warmer weather, has temperatures rising on this site. The sweat is pissing off me today.

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