The Benitez Thread

[Rmpr 8,977]

Most common thing in football. It's always the manager's fault.

Why does everyone criticize our managers when it should be our players? Same happened with Carlo, same happened with Scolari, same happened with Villas-Boas, same happened with Di Matteo and now the same with Rafa. Some people always think the coach is the one who should get the blame. Ultimately Cahill missed a sitter, so did Torres and Ramires should of went and headed the ball away before Gurrero got it but where is their criticism?

Also the fact barely anyone looked like they wanted to win the trophy except Luiz and Oscar when he came on. Rafa said he was here to win trophies, he wanted to win it, that was his main objective when he became Chelsea boss, to win as many trophies as possible.

I am not saying it is solely Benitez fault, but at the specific game in CWC, he was terrible and people must not forget that. Rafa had one of his worst ever game and I (as a fan who wanted the trophy) wont forgive him. Some players were nonexisting just like him. The most important part of a coach`s job is to prepare the players for the game, both mentally and physically. he didnt do it in any way.

However, Rafa had an excellent game today and he deserves credid. He has improved our defense by a mile, he seems to understand the double pivot role really well and he makes Torres a better player. All of these qualities must be brought up just like his mistakes. If he continues to do a good job (although it did take some bad results for him to do so), I will be the first to recognise.

When he first arrived and we drew at SB with Mancity, I thought he would do a great job. Things changed when the wins didnt come and we lost CWC, at that time his impact had been mostly negative. Now, if we continue getting better and winning, he will leave us with a positive record. I have no shame in changing my opinion or recognising a mistake.

I have said it more than a dozen times, Benitez will forever be a FSW but it doesnt exclude the fact he was the best available manager. He is a good tactitian and little by little he is improving our team. However I will always be gutted by his stupid performance at CWC, I wont be able to forget my hate towards him, but that

wont stop me from praising him when he deserves it.

You (RyanDavidson) have no right to criticize the memebers who bash Benitez because you are just as biased and one sided as "us".

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Mate you probably skipped the time when many on this forum called Lampard, Drogba and others a disgrace because of their behaviour at the time.

Na I did see it, just I seen some people sticking up for Lamps too and thought they were a bit crazy because he was clearly at fault for moaning about not playing!

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

I am not saying it is solely Benitez fault, but at the specific game in CWC, he was terrible and people must not forget that. Rafa had one of his worst ever game and I (as a fan who wanted the trophy) wont forgive him. Some players were nonexisting just like him. The most important part of a coach`s job is to prepare the players for the game, both mentally and physically. he didnt do it in any way.

However, Rafa had an excellent game today and he deserves credid. He has improved our defense by a mile, he seems to understand the double pivot role really well and he makes Torres a better player. All of these qualities must be brought up just like his mistakes. If he continues to do a good job (although it did take some bad results for him to do so), I will be the first to recognise.

I have said it more than a dozen times, Benitez will forever be a FSW but it doesnt exclude the fact he was the best available manager. He is a good tactitian and little by little he is improving our team. However I will always be gutted by his stupid performance at CWC, I wont be able to forget my hate towards him, but that wont stop me from praising him when he deserves it.

You (RyanDavidson) have no right to criticize the memebers who bash Benitez because you are just as biased and one sided as "us".

How do I have no right to criticize the members who bash Benitez?

People criticized Benitez right after he took the job, not having played a match etc saying we'd be shit because of his negative tactics bla bla bla. First game we got a draw vs City (not a bad opponent to get a draw again) but people still criticized him just because he was an ex-Liverpool manager who had said some stuff he'd probably regret and there was no other logical explanation bar that. That first game vs City at the Bridge I could have criticized 99.9% of the crowd for continuously booing him like absolute twats instead of getting behind the team and supporting them.

That pretty much stereotyped Chelsea fans as idiots who wouldn't give a Benitez a chance due to him being an old Liverpool manager who had said stuff years ago that some people hadn't gotten over even though we idolize someone who has been given multiple fresh starts due to his private life and on the pitch problems hes had at times and got over all the stuff he'd done (JT).

If I don't have the right to criticize people who criticized Benitez before he'd even taken charge for one game does that mean that the people who criticized Benitez didn't have the right to do so in the first place?

I'm not just arguing for the sake of it, I'm just trying to say all this anti-Rafa stuff is absolute bullshit. We should support him as hes Chelsea boss now, forgot all the stuff hes done in the past as we have with JT and just get on with it.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Na I did see it, just I seen some people sticking up for Lamps too and thought they were a bit crazy because he was clearly at fault for moaning about not playing!

I was the one sticking up for Lamps, and I admit it. But none of us knew what was really going on, why was Lamps unhappy if he was. The players, especially our old guard, have been blamed many many times in the past, yet those players and their leadership carried this club and covered all the mistakes Roman made.

[Rupert 130]

8-0, 5-1 in the same week and morons are still having a go at Rafa. He is too good for some of you. The rest of us can sit back and enjoy the expertise of this fine man. He won the La Liga twice with a team that had not won it in the previous 30 years. With or without the morons among us he will bring glory to Chelsea and do it in high style but with personal modesty.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

8-0, 5-1 in the same week and morons are still having a go at Rafa. He is too good for some of you. The rest of us can sit back and enjoy the expertise of this fine man. He won the La Liga twice with a team that had not won it in the previous 30 years. With or without the morons among us he will bring glory to Chelsea and do it in high style but with personal modesty.

Exactly wins 8-0 and 5-1 and people still moan. Is it any wonder why other clubs fans do say we are mugs and that we are fickle and ungrateful etc etc. Just because hes Rafa Benitez people want him out even though hes a more proven and much more established manager than Robbie was.

[Rmpr 8,977]

How do I have no right to criticize the members who bash Benitez?

People criticized Benitez right after he took the job, not having played a match etc saying we'd be shit because of his negative tactics bla bla bla. First game we got a draw vs City (not a bad opponent to get a draw again) but people still criticized him just because he was an ex-Liverpool manager who had said some stuff he'd probably regret and there was no other logical explanation bar that. That first game vs City at the Bridge I could have criticized 99.9% of the crowd for continuously booing him like absolute twats instead of getting behind the team and supporting them.

You dont have the right because you dont understand them. I have heavily criticized them for booing Rafa and after talking with our hardcore fans and listening to some fancasts, I was able to get a sense of how they felt.

I still wouldnt boo any manager or player, but now, I understand the ones that do.

I was man enough to recognise my mistake and apologise for the memeber I had a discussion about it (the boo effect). Like it or not, this football club belongs to the traditional british fans that have lived and breathed Chelsea for many years and trully experience being a Blue Londonist. Only they know how it hurts to see a Loserpool "legend" who honestly meant those horrible phrases about CFC being at the sideline of Stamford Bridge.

It does not mean they are better fans or anything, please no. What I am saying is that we have to understand their point of view, because if everything falls apart, they are the ones who will hold the club together. So, until we accept that and experience it, we have no right to criticize them!

[Corner 456]

Its shocking when you consider Villas-Boas was sacked because half the team didn't want to play under him (mostly the senior players, I don't care about if he tried alienating them or whatever, your senior pros are there to set an example, they should of just got on with it) and went off complaining eventually led to him getting sacked because of a split camp, lackluster performances and shit results because of low morale and team spirit. Call me a AVB fanboy or whatever but he was harshly treated by the older guys, they weren't happy because they were rotated etc even though he didn't really communicate with them as well as he could have but still hes the manager and hes there to pick a team, its not up to them to pick a team. Lampard came out and said their relationship wasn't ideal but still he was seen as the "good guy" in this incident and Villas-Boas the "bad guy" just because he was the coach.... nobody seems to ever blame the players at Chelsea FC...

I couldn't agree more mate, I was saying the same thing for weeks after he got sacked.

If you think about it, those players that were complaining and intentionally playing badly under AVB, they're all getting paid £100K per week. But they can't deal with it because he doesn't talk to them enough, and because they don't have a place in his tactics? They should have worked harder in training and take on board what the coach was trying to teach them. What the hell do some players expect the manager to do? Hold their hands? Give them some lollipops?

God, I love football, but footballers can be very frustrating sometimes. I guess I still I have a lot of frustration inside me from that AVB period. Rant over.

[Rmpr 8,977]

8-0, 5-1 in the same week and morons are still having a go at Rafa. He is too good for some of you. The rest of us can sit back and enjoy the expertise of this fine man. He won the La Liga twice with a team that had not won it in the previous 30 years. With or without the morons among us he will bring glory to Chelsea and do it in high style but with personal modesty.

Exactly wins 8-0 and 5-1 and people still moan. Is it any wonder why other clubs fans do say we are mugs and that we are fickle and ungrateful etc etc. Just because hes Rafa Benitez people want him out even though hes a more proven and much more established manager than Robbie was.

People actually have dignity, something way more important than winning.

[Corner 456]

You dont have the right because you dont understand them. I have heavily criticized them for booing Rafa and after talking with our hardcore fans and listening to some fancasts, I was able to get a sense of how they felt.

I still wouldnt boo any manager or player, but now, I understand the ones that do.

I was man enough to recognise my mistake and apologise for the memeber I had a discussion about it (the boo effect). Like it or not, this football club belongs to the traditional british fans that have lived and breathed Chelsea for many years and trully experience being a Blue Londonist. Only they know how it hurts to see a Loserpool "legend" who honestly meant those horrible phrases about CFC being at the sideline of Stamford Bridge.

It does not mean they are better fans or anything, please no. What I am saying is that we have to understand their point of view, because if everything falls apart, they are the ones who will hold the club together. So, until we accept that and experience it, we have no right to criticize them!

Just because you understand why they're doing it, that does not make it okay for them to do so.

I understand a lot of horrible things people to every day and why they do them, but it does not make it okay. That's just not a valid reason for me.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Just because you understand why they're doing it, that does not make it okay for them to do so.

I understand a lot of horrible things people to every day and why they do them, but it does not make it okay. That's just not a valid reason for me.

Clearly did not get what I was saying...

If one really wants to learn and try to understand the other side, one needs to start looking for a logical and reasonable answer to why some of our fans would do bash Benitez. When I say I do understand how they feel, I am actually saying I accept how they feel. Our hardcore fans are the foundation of Chelsea and they have more right to claim this club than a Brazilian, Scotish and Ireland. If fans at SB feel the Board is trolling with their dignity and pride by apointing a Loserpool Fan, they have the right to do whatever they believe will make Roman hears them. Again, I personally wouldnt do it, but I get it.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

You dont have the right because you dont understand them. I have heavily criticized them for booing Rafa and after talking with our hardcore fans and listening to some fancasts, I was able to get a sense of how they felt.

I still wouldnt boo any manager or player, but now, I understand the ones that do.

I was man enough to recognise my mistake and apologise for the memeber I had a discussion about it (the boo effect). Like it or not, this football club belongs to the traditional british fans that have lived and breathed Chelsea for many years and trully experience being a Blue Londonist. Only they know how it hurts to see a Loserpool "legend" who honestly meant those horrible phrases about CFC being at the sideline of Stamford Bridge.

It does not mean they are better fans or anything, please no. What I am saying is that we have to understand their point of view, because if everything falls apart, they are the ones who will hold the club together. So, until we accept that and experience it, we have no right to criticize them!

How do I not have to right to criticize them when I do understand them. I know it was a difficult appointment to take because of the Liverpool thing but I thought Chelsea fans were better than the way they had acted at the Man City game. I thought they would have maybe forgiven Benitez and supported him from the start but they didn't. I instantly thought I'm going to give Rafa a chance to prove himself, hes a good manager, can turn the ship around as many interim coaches have done before and hopefully he can win one of the trophies we are in. I thought Chelsea fans were smart enough to do the same and support him as hes now going to be in the clubs history if you like it or not - positively for winning a cup or negatively for being the 9th manager in 8 years or whatever under Roman.

The Rafa quotes, did you honestly expect him to say anything else, or anything like "No Chelsea fans are better than Liverpool fans because they have plastic flags", he was going to say something, its mind games, they are used to annoy managers to try and stress the manager and the other team members out to distract them from preparing for a game. Jose was a mastermind at using mind games, he annoyed Guardiola with them and caused Pep to loose the rag and do an angry press conference about it before a CL game 2 years ago. He also annoyed a lot of people in Italy due to his mind games, arrogance and his ego. People loved Brian Clough for such bold comments and stuff, people also loved Mourinho because he was very psychological before games to try and unsettle coaches and players to give himself and his team an advantage so for Liverpool fans or even people who don't like Chelsea in general Rafa would have been seen as good guy for saying that.

I understand the point about peoples point of views, totally 100% but I thought, we, as Chelsea fans are all more intelligent and would just give him a chance. I thought they would put the team first, rather than all this negativity with all the booing at games and that. It was a disgrace to hear all of that, absolutely disgusting. The players would of heard and felt that they were in a hostile atmosphere.... at a home game.

[Strike 7,494]

still not entirely convinced that rafa should be an option to consider beyond this season.

[Muzchap 8,966]

How do I not have to right to criticize them when I do understand them. I know it was a difficult appointment to take because of the Liverpool thing but I thought Chelsea fans were better than the way they had acted at the Man City game. I thought they would have maybe forgiven Benitez and supported him from the start but they didn't. I instantly thought I'm going to give Rafa a chance to prove himself, hes a good manager, can turn the ship around as many interim coaches have done before and hopefully he can win one of the trophies we are in. I thought Chelsea fans were smart enough to do the same and support him as hes now going to be in the clubs history if you like it or not - positively for winning a cup or negatively for being the 9th manager in 8 years or whatever under Roman.

The Rafa quotes, did you honestly expect him to say anything else, or anything like "No Chelsea fans are better than Liverpool fans because they have plastic flags", he was going to say something, its mind games, they are used to annoy managers to try and stress the manager and the other team members out to distract them from preparing for a game. Jose was a mastermind at using mind games, he annoyed Guardiola with them and caused Pep to loose the rag and do an angry press conference about it before a CL game 2 years ago. He also annoyed a lot of people in Italy due to his mind games, arrogance and his ego. People loved Brian Clough for such bold comments and stuff, people also loved Mourinho because he was very psychological before games to try and unsettle coaches and players to give himself and his team an advantage so for Liverpool fans or even people who don't like Chelsea in general Rafa would have been seen as good guy for saying that.

I understand the point about peoples point of views, totally 100% but I thought, we, as Chelsea fans are all more intelligent and would just give him a chance. I thought they would put the team first, rather than all this negativity with all the booing at games and that. It was a disgrace to hear all of that, absolutely disgusting. The players would of heard and felt that they were in a hostile atmosphere.... at a home game.

I was there today, apart from the 16th min only one RDM there was NO booing!!!

Coincidence we win handsomely!!!

Now, somebody try to tell me that booing the manager didnt create a shit, hostile environment that fucked our team up!

Since the booing has largely stopped - our performances and results have increased. Fair enough the CWC really hurt, it's cost me a stage 1 warning as well - but is that ALL RB's fault? No! At worst it's 50/50 for manager and players.

If people get behind the team, rise above petty comments made years ago - we could really go places with this team!

I mean look how cool Piazon was today and the players we have out on Loan - the futures bright, the futures blue!!!

[Muzchap 8,966]

still not entirely convinced that rafa should be an option to consider beyond this season.

If Pep ain't coming I don't know who would be better? Maybe Low from Germany?

Apart from that the bottom of the barrel is looking pretty murky

[Strike 7,494]

If Pep ain't coming I don't know who would be better? Maybe Low from Germany?

Apart from that the bottom of the barrel is looking pretty murky

Jose Mourinho. The Special One. end of.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

If Pep ain't coming I don't know who would be better? Maybe Low from Germany?

Apart from that the bottom of the barrel is looking pretty murky

Rafa will be third choice before Pep and Mourinho if he gets sacked/resigns. There is an extra 12 months option for his contract in case Pep takes another year out/Jose isn't available and Joachim Low said he won't consider his future until after the 2014 World Cup at least.

All the top managers/decnet up and coming coaches are in jobs at good clubs or Roman won't go for them (British coaches)

- Fergie United till he dies... (which isn't very long to be fair) hes 70, United will be his last job for sure.

- Klopp is trying to build Dortmund into an incredible force in Germany.

- Moyes is attainable but very unlikely because Roman wants a foreign big name usually, also said he'd like to manager in Germany one day. Also highly rated at United.

- Mourinho at Madrid. PSG and City want him too and he'd go there because they are looking for instant success like he usually is.

- Stramaccioni (hes a top manager in the making at least) is doing well at Inter and will want to earn his stripes there first before doing anything.

- Guardiola seems United bound.

- Van Gaal is the Holland boss. Probably close to retiring as hes like 124.

- Hiddink retiring end of season.

- Ancelotti, already had doubt he'd ever ever consider coming back after being sacked a year after making history for finishing second.

- AVB (yes I said it haha) at Spurs, won't ever ever ever ever ever ever come back as long as he lives. Like it or not he's likely to become a top coach one way or another.

- Benitez will probably be the answer.

- Zeman, if anyone would ever consider him, he always seems to be managing in Italy.

- Bielsa, doubt we'd go for him as well.

[Muzchap 8,966]

Jose Mourinho. The Special One. end of.

Rafa will third choice before Pep and Mourinho if he gets sacked/resigns. There is an extra 12 months option for his contract in case Pep takes another year out/Jose isn't available and Joachim Low said he won't consider his future until after the 2014 World Cup at least.

Cheers guys

Just don't see JM coming back

I also don't see Pep here, think with the cancer thing of current Barca manager, he'll go back there...

So could be RB until 2014 then

[Strike 7,494]

Cheers guys

Just don't see JM coming back

I also don't see Pep here, think with the cancer thing of current Barca manager, he'll go back there...

So could be RB until 2014 then

i have my hopes up that pep wants a change of scenery and mourinho wants to come back to England

[Muzchap 8,966]

i have my hopes up that pep wants a change of scenery and mourinho wants to come back to England

Well @hutcho CFC convinced me to be positive - so will keep an open mind

I just have a sneaky feeling ManU are plotting for JM - I have no facts or evidence, just an awful gut feeling to quote Obi Wan - it's like a million voices cried out in pain and terror - i feel a disturbance in the force...