The Benitez Thread

[Heisenberg 1,824]

It's pretty self-explanatory... The teams done alright in the last few weeks and Rafa's said that he isn't staying beyond this season. It's that simple...

Post of the day, mister Skipper, post of the day.

[Thomas Williams 166]

Don't get me wrong fellows, I don't like the FSW nor am I glad we hired him to be our interim manager. But he has come a long way in how he has managed our squad and has improved a lot of the glaringly dumb things he used to do.

Again, he is VERY far from perfect but I think we can all admit he is improving how he deals with the squad, and if he were somehow our manager next season (thank goodness he won't) I believe we would be more successful than we were under him this year.

If we finish top four (especially top 3) and win the Europa he will have managed to redeem his abysmal start into some kind of mediocre but salvageable season.

What I'm trying to say is when he leaves, I think it's fine for us all to dislike him, but considering how bad he started and how awfully our fans treated him for months,the fact that he has managed to improve to the point he has tells me that we shouldn't hate him. He could have done worse and I always want to be fair when fairness is deserved.

Hoping and praying for Mou next season, but I'm glad Rafa didn't crash our season as bad I thought he was going to.

[karaclouds 47]

Don't get me wrong fellows, I don't like the FSW nor am I glad we hired him to be our interim manager. But he has come a long way in how he has managed our squad and has improved a lot of the glaringly dumb things he used to do. Again, he is VERY far from perfect but I think we can all admit he is improving how he deals with the squad, and if he were somehow our manager next season (thank goodness he won't) I believe we would be more successful than we were under him this year. If we finish top four (especially top 3) and win the Europa he will have managed to redeem his abysmal start into some kind of mediocre but salvageable season. What I'm trying to say is when he leaves, I think it's fine for us all to dislike him, but considering how bad he started and how awfully our fans treated him for months,the fact that he has managed to improve to the point he has tells me that we shouldn't hate him. He could have done worse and I always want to be fair when fairness is deserved. Hoping and praying for Mou next season, but I'm glad Rafa didn't crash our season as bad I thought he was going to.

Agreed.

Although I don't want Rafa to have the manager's job next year (nor do I think he will get it), he definitely hasn't wrecked our season (personally thought we would get thumped by Liverpool due to him!). As a fan of Chelsea, the club always comes first - yes I was initially annoyed that Rafa was appointed but we have to support our team! Hopefully top 4 is sealed and we win the EL, then I would say he did an okay job at Chelsea, better than what people thought he would do. My only concern is lack of substituions in games, or how late they are; also how many points we lost in games we should easily win in. But apart from that I will be relieved when they have met our targets and goals. KTBFF

[Kezza 1,965]

Don't get me wrong fellows, I don't like the FSW nor am I glad we hired him to be our interim manager. But he has come a long way in how he has managed our squad and has improved a lot of the glaringly dumb things he used to do.

Again, he is VERY far from perfect but I think we can all admit he is improving how he deals with the squad, and if he were somehow our manager next season (thank goodness he won't) I believe we would be more successful than we were under him this year.

If we finish top four (especially top 3) and win the Europa he will have managed to redeem his abysmal start into some kind of mediocre but salvageable season.

What I'm trying to say is when he leaves, I think it's fine for us all to dislike him, but considering how bad he started and how awfully our fans treated him for months,the fact that he has managed to improve to the point he has tells me that we shouldn't hate him. He could have done worse and I always want to be fair when fairness is deserved.

Hoping and praying for Mou next season, but I'm glad Rafa didn't crash our season as bad I thought he was going to.

Fuck that, we were 4 points behind man utd, still competing for premier league and ither trophies when he arrived. We should easily be in top 4, instead we are counting games/points, relying on other teams to drop points. He ruined our season, got us knocked out of at least 3 trophies. Only way he can salvage this season is if we win europa league and gain CL football.

I'll never respect him. He's crushed our season and is only looking out for his cv

[Changingman_2000 876]

Fuck that, we were 4 points behind man utd, still competing for premier league and ither trophies when he arrived. We should easily be in top 4, instead we are counting games/points, relying on other teams to drop points. He ruined our season, got us knocked out of at least 3 trophies. Only way he can salvage this season is if we win europa league and gain CL football.

I'll never respect him. He's crushed our season and is only looking out for his cv

I second that emotion

[Sheva. 5,373]

Fuck that, we were 4 points behind man utd, still competing for premier league and ither trophies when he arrived. We should easily be in top 4, instead we are counting games/points, relying on other teams to drop points. He ruined our season, got us knocked out of at least 3 trophies. Only way he can salvage this season is if we win europa league and gain CL football.

I'll never respect him. He's crushed our season and is only looking out for his cv

Lol right, our season was already ruined before Rafa - from Man utd game to be precise - and then he was given a tough job of not only reviving the team but also to deal with a quite ridiculous atmosphere. This obviously played a part in his less than impressive start here, and it's no surprise that since the fans stopped the excessive abuse the team has performed better and are ending the season well.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Credit were it is due Rafa has done a good job of late...

[mediator 2,026]

I have to say, he's done really well lately.

[Jase 43,479]

Fuck that, we were 4 points behind man utd, still competing for premier league and ither trophies when he arrived. We should easily be in top 4, instead we are counting games/points, relying on other teams to drop points. He ruined our season, got us knocked out of at least 3 trophies. Only way he can salvage this season is if we win europa league and gain CL football.

I'll never respect him. He's crushed our season and is only looking out for his cv

While that might be the case, he's not the only one at fault for this problem. The players also need to shoulder the blame for the current situation that we're in now.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Fuck that, we were 4 points behind man utd, still competing for premier league and ither trophies when he arrived. We should easily be in top 4, instead we are counting games/points, relying on other teams to drop points. He ruined our season, got us knocked out of at least 3 trophies. Only way he can salvage this season is if we win europa league and gain CL football.

I'll never respect him. He's crushed our season and is only looking out for his cv

Putting all the blame on Benitez is ridiculous. He isn't the one who threw two-goal leads away for fun, you can put that one on the players being arrogant, idle, and complacent.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Not sure if rafa got better or his statement of leaving at the end of the season to make the boo's reduce directly influence the teams better peformance since then.

[Kezza 1,965]

Putting all the blame on Benitez is ridiculous. He isn't the one who threw two-goal leads away for fun, you can put that one on the players being arrogant, idle, and complacent.

While that might be the case, he's not the only one at fault for this problem. The players also need to shoulder the blame for the current situation that we're in now.

Of course the players have a part to play, they control the ball. But ultimately rafa's 'tactics' including putting on an attacking mid or striker while we are defending a lead cost us big time. Every man and his dog question why he chooses the subs he does. He doesn't counter act the opposing mangers subs. He has a set regime and sticks to it. He only utilises game changing subs because that's the line up he should of used in the first place.

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

agree with kezza, hes taken us much further down the league than we should be with this team, Ruined an easy chance of wcc glory, his substitutions are head scratchers at times, hes never attempted to win the crowd over, even when he had the chance to by condemning suarez v the dippers he couldnt help but cuddle up to his liverpit buddies. Now we are in the europa league final everybody is hanging out of him? Its the very least this club should be expecting. On the flip side if we get beaten in the final and dont finish fourth, a very real possibility, I wonder how many of the benitez converts will still suggest hes done well. RAFA OUT

[SinineUltra 1,170]

Fuck that, we were 4 points behind man utd, still competing for premier league and ither trophies when he arrived. We should easily be in top 4, instead we are counting games/points, relying on other teams to drop points. He ruined our season, got us knocked out of at least 3 trophies. Only way he can salvage this season is if we win europa league and gain CL football.

I'll never respect him. He's crushed our season and is only looking out for his cv

A very naive way of thinking. Our squad needs some proper shaping up, they were the ones throwing away wins that were already in the bag. People like you are the reason we change managers like socks. Fickle and in most cases with extreme bias.

[Jase 43,479]

Of course the players have a part to play, they control the ball. But ultimately rafa's 'tactics' including putting on an attacking mid or striker while we are defending a lead cost us big time. Every man and his dog question why he chooses the subs he does. He doesn't counter act the opposing mangers subs. He has a set regime and sticks to it. He only utilises game changing subs because that's the line up he should of used in the first place.

That might be true but it's still not an excuse for the players to concede those late goals. Those that we let in were simple basic defending errors in which the players we had out there that time should be doing better. You don't need 5-6 defenders etc to be defending those situations. It's all about concentration, marking people properly and taking responsibility but the players failed to do that.

Furthermore, Benitez has made such substitutions before and we have seen out games and win them. Why then do we praise the players for doing a good job in getting the win, defending properly etc? Why no praise then for Benitez that he ensures the team see the game out and win them if we are gonna blame him for every dropped points and not the players as well?