The Rafa Alternatives

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We hear a lot from the folks who want Rafa Out because he has not won the Premier League Title after 5 years as manager.  So far I have not heard a realistic alternative to Rafa, remember who the owners are, they are cheap and will not pay any huge salaries to get any world class managers. Below I have listed all the managers mentioned as a possible replacement for Rafa. Remember that winning the title does not mean anything to the owners. For them Liverpool F.C. is like a stamp collection that you hold on to until the price appreciates and then you sell for a good profit. As long as Liverpool remain a Premier League team then the value of the club will appreciate even if we do not win any trophies or compete in the Champions League.

Martin O’Neill : I like Martin O’Neill he has been a great manager for both Celtic and Aston Villa however can he deliver the Premier League title? At Liverpool he will probably have the same budget as he does at Aston Villa, Although Villa have improved can anyone see them becoming a Premier League Champion contender?

Guus Hiddick : Guus seems to be a better manager in motivating an existing squad but he does not have any good experience within the transfer market.  Most of his successes have been with National teams. As a club manager he failed at Real Madrid, won the FA Cup with Chelsea and had good success in the Dutch domestic league with PSV. The questions that linger are; Can Guus win the Premier League? & Will Hicks & Gillett want to pay his salary?

Jose Mourinho : Mourinho already said it himself that he will not manage Liverpool if he does not have funds, so this  case is closed.

Mark Hughes : Fired from Manchester City after he failed to make City a title challenging team while he had a budget that was the envy of any manager. If he did not succeed with the huge budget at City what can make us think that he will be successful at Liverpool? On top of it he is former Manchester United and Everton player.

Sven-Goran Eriksson : Another one fired from City and also fired as manager of Mexico. Can you imagine Hicks, Gillett & Sven? If you though we were a soap opera 2 years ago Sven at Liverpool will take us to a new low.

Kenny Dalglish : Football has changed a lot since Kenny was manager at Liverpool. After seeing the fall from grace of Graeme Souness, does Kenny want to become a manager and risk tarnishing his legendary status at Liverpool should he fail to bring the Premier League Title?

Frank Rijkaard : Won the Champions League and the La Liga title twice with Barcelona however what would he have done on a limited budget? Would he have won the La Liga title if Rafa was still at Valencia? Will Hicks & Gillett dish out the money to pay for his services? My guess in No, No, No.

Arsene Wenger : Out of all the managers here Arsene would be the best choice however I can not see him ever leaving Arsenal to take over Liverpool. It will not happen.

Alex McLeish : I know it is romantic having a Scottish manager bringing back the nostalgia of the good old days. Alex has done well with Rangers and not too shabby with Brum. Again his current transfer budget at Birmingham is higher than it is (or will be) at Liverpool, I do not see Brum winning the Premier League so I can not see Liverpool winning the Premier League with him.

Harry Redknapp : Well at least his son played for Liverpool. Harry has done a pretty decent job at Spurs and he did win the FA Cup at Pompey. At Spurs he has had a budget bigger than Rafa has and Spurs are no where close to winning the Premier League.  Also I am not sure what his role was in the Pompey financial woes.

More Stories Jose Mourinho Manchester City Mark Hughes Martin O'Neill

26 Comments

  1. I think Huddink would be my choice. I rate Mourinho but I look at our plight now and haw wide we keep widening our own goalposts in respect of salvaging the season and it has basically come down to us scraping 4th spot and Cheslki winning the league! I like Rafa but dont particularly support him- am I making sense?
    Mourinho and Hughes are the enemy and I dont think O’Neil is the answer. My choice is Huddink- has to be, and at the risk of upsetting Rafa lovers I would like to see him come in if we dont get 4th spot this year because I think that Rafa would have to step down after publically assuring it. I hope we get 4th and our quaity improves both on the field and in the transfer market. And getting the ground started- or is that too much to ask!

  2. well antoine , if martin o neil comes to us , you dont know what will happen.
    you forget to tell the reasons why all the other teams except arsenal , utd , chelsea and us cant win the title.
    the reason is the top four.
    such the difference of quality player is from the top 4 clubs and anyone else, that anyone else can go anywhere near the top.
    in addition, do we want to see our team playing beautiful football? yes we want , and since rafa cant bring us the title , whilst we play defensively and destruvtive football ,i dont see the reasons why another manager ( like redknapp or martin )
    cant replace him.
    at least , we will see our team playing nice and having some spectacular moments , let alone the debate of the chance that redknapp , oneil or guus winning the title even rising…

  3. Antoine, was this posted to stimulate an interesting debate?

    I don’t see any value in these sorts of discussions.

    Visitors coming to the site for the first time will quickly conclude you have an anti-Rafa agenda, which I know isn’t the case.

    Wenger hasn’t won the league trophy for five years either. :)

  4. Antoine , how did you miss the real choice of H&G ..Jurgen klinsmann..i liked klinsy as a player..and like every german he fought till the end..(which is similar to liverpool fc ..by the way)….but replace RAFA now..after giving him the compensation as in contract of $20m..well, that would be stupid.. Well if H&G have $20m and nothing to do(ideal brain –devil’s workshop) with it then may be..!!!

    Honestly speaking bringing in a budding world-class player for that sum would be 100 times more preferable to me..

  5. I want to remain optimistic and am sure we will get investors to buy a player or two..(we don’t need whole sale changes for 2 years do we??)..So if H&G spend $30m (we already have 7m now & I am sure we will raise some 10m by selling players)..and like last summer..(although they are promising BIGGG..beliving which is like taking mirages to be oceans)..

    Considering we already have Jovanovic for free transfer..transfers should notreally be bothersome this summer..
    and ya if H&G are not upto some really mindless tactics..RAFA will stay on..No doubts..

  6. we re a top four team not because of rafa , antoine , we are a top four team because we had all those successes since the 1960’s.
    And we re in the top four now , because of Paisley,Shankly,Fagan and many other persons…
    Rafa did not come to maintain us at the top four position , we were already there , he came to make us winners , and despite having some good moments , he didnt suceed.
    And with the logic that you have , we shouldnt hire as manager Rafa that days because he had only won la liga and not the prem and he had no experience on premierleague.
    Something last , I believed in Rafa the previous year.
    I believed in him very much cause i thought that we were so close and the next year we would have finally win the title since 1989.
    But I got dissapointed by signing aquilani , we were forced to play without a 2nd midfielder , we had only javier , and next to him unfortunately lucas played and as we know he is terrible.
    We lost the whole things , and aqua didnt even play .
    We needed a good midfielder , like Barry , and then take the title…

    1. George, I am sorry but you forget that ever since Rafa has been manager we have been a top 4 team before that we were not.

      In order to find a manager that kept us in the top 4 you would have to go back to Kenny Dalglish.

  7. we was a top 4 team b4 rafa he’s wasted to much money on player’s that’s not fit to wear a rip of liverpool shirt and he still play’s to of them now. Can’t tackel for sh#t lucas and can score even if i was an inch in front of an open goal no one on the picth n’gog. He should be playing bable. O’neal

  8. Antoine, my opinions are not knee jerk. Rafa is replaceable. I’m not saying that I want this to happen by the way. There are other proven coaches that may well have matched Rafa (or exceeded him) given the resources that he has received since starting his tenure. We’ve spent big, mate- just not as big as man u or chelsea.I do think that in some areas Rafa has been ‘found out’ this season but I would rather he turned it around rather than going through a whole host of changes. We are boring at the moment though!

    1. Please stop reading the garbage papers published in London, they are full of lies.

      Rafa has not spent big, on average his net spend has been around 20 million per season. The London News-Mafia does not take into account players sold and tend to take into account proposed bonuses such as winning the league. In the last 5 years we have been outspent by Chelsea & Man Utd and in the last 5 years Chelsea & Man Utd have won the title.

      Please read Paul Tomkins’ books and then we will talk.

      -Antoine

  9. well , rafa cant take the title , its time maybe to give a try to another manager . . .
    what do we have to lose? nothing …

  10. Antoine ..well some of those commenting have lost track of records that we had with gerard houllier as coach ..or records we have as a team since the 1990’s to 2005..

    However although nobody is indispensable..Rafa could be replaced with Mourinho or Hiddink ..or somebody..but the fact remains that I don’t want RAFA replaced now..to win trophies on the trot you have to be Patient..give the Gaffer time..Shankly and Ferguson (how much we hate him..but still..)..are two of the greatest managers in the premier league ever..both needed time to shine…

    Rafa here is refusing offer after offer from such reputed but is focussed on his job..with the limited resources at hand..in terms of money and players (especially strikers)..Hiddink or Mourinho would have left the job much earlier..

    All those who dream of other famous managers can dream on….
    I belive we sure will have investors and they should give RAFA at least 1 injury-free (almost)..to decide whether to keep him on or no..

    If H&G stay on however, and no money is handed to Rafa even this summer..He will surely leave LFC..and We can only think of Klinsman or may be Dalglish (if he is really wanting it..which is doubtful..!!)..and that is going taking a step down not up as it should be..

  11. People tend to take our past history & glories as our God-given right to challenge for the league. They all seem blinded by that that they fail to see that we have been outspend by teams like ManUre & Chelski. This season, you can add Manchester City into the mix. Our finances is unfortunately not on par with our reputation. Open your eyes and maybe you see that with the limitations that Rafa has to operate under, we are actually OVERACHIEVING! Forget our history and past glories, with our transfer budget and wages structure we are actually a mid-table team. Be thankful Rafa is in charge

  12. Antoine, Rafa is a decent coach but he’s not the messiah. Other clubs have overachieved with nothing compared to the resources we have had at hand. I havent read Tompkin’s book but I can still formulate my own opion about our tactics and team selections and quite frankly they have been poor at times this season, even taking injuries and suspensions into account. What worries me is that people just assume that the next owners are gonna be the solution- how do we know they would be any better than the 2 we have ended up with? I think fans are pinning their hopes and expectations on things and letting imagination run riot. Maxi for instance- i think he’s been very poor so far- he came to us short of confidence and playing time and I think that that has been there for all to see. Early days though and I’m sure he will improve but we’ve had far better options availble- Babel and Pacheco. These are my own thoughts base on what I pay to go and see week in /week out. There are at lease 40,000 managers at LFC! I love the club but I could do without Rafa but I dont know what the answer is at present. I worry that the supporters are gonna be shafted- either by the americans with debt or by increasing prices for soaring overheads in order to try and keep up.
    I read the Liverpool echo- the only paper I buy and I dont always agree with what I read.
    I’m not joining a witch hunt for Rafa but there are improvements that I would like to see happen that would not involve new signings.

  13. Alex Ferguson has been 23 years plus at Man Utd and I cannot recall him winning ANYTHING in the early years (I may be wrong though). Mourinho needs a cash cow and that is not an option at Liverpool. Ancelotti is winning with a team built by Mourinho badly managed by Scolari and straightened out by Hiddink i.e. Chelsea. Wenger will be the second longest serving manager after Ferguson. He is a shrewd manager both on and off the field. One of the best for me. I like O’Neills passion. SG Erikson, no thanks! Mark Hughes, ex-Manc! Arry Redknapp would drive H&G nuts. Dalglish on because he is a Liverpool legend.
    I’d say CESARE PRANDELLI of Fiorentina before Juve snap him up.

  14. George has lost his mind Antoine..leave it..!! RAFA has ‘kwality’ to be successful at liverpool but just that he is too arrogant and even in crunch matches we see the inexperienced NGOG being thrown into..(a man among boys)…Even if babel doesn’t play brilliantly ..Playing him is our best shot..

    RAFA has got to get rid of a few attitude probs like this…however all other managers who show attitude and are succcessful..is because they have better players available..We currently have none better than babel..for a striker!!..

    (last day i saw a video of pacheco..he too is intent in becoming an attacking midfielder not a striker..even El Zhar also is unlikely to assume a strikers’ role..so we have only BABEL available for that role at the moment!)

  15. Not Harry Redknapp…got nothing against the bloke but lets look at his record:

    – Bournemouth – bust.
    – West Ham – going bust.
    – Portsmouth – on the verge of going bust.
    – Southampton – bust.
    – Tottenham Hotspur – ?

  16. I remember reading this article recently. I dont want to create confusion here- I share the same common aspirations as you and I dont like the way that divides have ocurred throughout our own fans. It’s sad that our game is pricing out the common fan in order to achieve/buy success. It’s global of course but chelsea set the precident 5 or 6 years ago. It will be a sad day when the average working class fan cant afford to go and hands his cherished season ticket over to a 4 x 4 -driving yuppie waiting in the wings with a wad of cash to spend. I want success as much as anyone but whats far more important to me is the Liverpool ethos of pass and move football and sending the crowd home happy. Rafa I guess is in a corner here. When you look at those stats it makes me admire Wenger for what he is trying to achieve. The FA should have put salary/transfer capping in place a long time ago in order to prevent all of this madness. Anyway, lets hope Pacheco gets some minutes soon.
    Keep up the good work and please remember, I am a contributor and not part of a lynch mob! YNWA

  17. I see we are having the same discussion we had about 2 weeks ago. With the same poor arguements, Have you had a look at the list of players Rafa has brought in to the club? I would suggest 1 out of 5 are any good.
    Despite buying about 10 strikers we have 1 that can score goals and he is unfortunatley always injured.

  18. trouble is there is only 1 english club that can match their spending now. it puts more importance on lfc spending wisely. something we havent mastered on a regular basis. anyway, come on stoke!

  19. @tim…I too support stoke today..but they are also without their star man Etherington..How ourluck is betraying us…

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