5milla for transfers?? Hahahaha that should get you Lionel Messi's toe. . .

bgees:

Where were u before Torres?

With Luis Garcia, Bellamy, Morientes & Crouch.
Although for £1.5m, 7 premier league goals from 38 games across 2 seasons seems justifiable. However, if we intend fighting for what was lost, we can't rely on "investments" of this nature.

Arkinses, how did u get that ,kind of signature?

Rafael Benitez is set to hold talks with his agent on Thursday to discuss the Spaniard's possible exit from Anfield.

The Liverpool manager has been the subject of intense speculation that he was to leave the Premier League club.

Benitez's agent kept quiet over the exit talk on Wednesday but was believed to be meeting his client on Thursday to talk about a proposed payment to end his contract.

Benitez experienced a dismal 2009/10 season as his team finished only seventh in the Premier League and suffered early exits from the Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup.

According to several reports, Liverpool made Benitez an offer to walk away from the club, however there has been no official confirmation.

Both the Times and the Guardian were among the newspapers to report that the Liverpool board had offered a compensation package, believed to be in the region of £3 million, in the hope that they can avoid the £16m severance package Benitez would be due if sacked.

Agent Manuel Garcia Quilon told Press Association Sport: "We don't know anything more than what's being said. We're not saying anything."

Benitez, 50, signed a five-year contract in March 2009.

He joined Liverpool in 2004 after a successful spell with Valencia and led the club to Champions League victory in his first season, however the Premier League title has been elusive and Benitez's team were unable to build on a second-placed finish in the 2008/09 season.

If Benitez does the leave the club, European champions Internazionale could be a potential destination for the Liverpool boss, with president Massimo Moratti a confirmed admirer.

"I've always thought Rafa Benitez was good but he is tied to Liverpool," Moratti said on Monday.

Liverpool refused to comment on the reports that Benitez was nearing the end of his spell at Anfield, after six years at the helm.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/03062010/58/premier-league-benitez-discuss-liverpool-exit.html

@Bgees, shey you go pay? I'll send you an email soon

Cool,we start nice & fresh

its official, its on the club website. I must admit I never saw this coming. I'll start worrying when I see the list of possible replacements.

"Liverpool FC today confirmed that Rafael Benitez is to leave the club by mutual consent.

Mr Benitez relinquishes his position as team manager after six years and the Board of Directors would like to place on record their grateful thanks for his services and wish him all the best in his future career.

The Board has now asked Managing Director Christian Purslow, with the assistance of Club Ambassador Kenny Dalglish, to begin a formal search to identify and assess potential candidates for the managerial position.

No timescale has been placed on the process and Liverpool FC will make no further statement until a new manager is appointed.

LFC Chairman Martin Broughton said: "Rafa will forever be part of Liverpool folklore after bringing home the Champions League following the epic final in Istanbul but after a disappointing season both parties felt a fresh start would be best for all concerned.''

Rafael Benitez said: "It is very sad for me to announce that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC. I would like to thank all of the staff and players for their efforts.

"I'll always keep in my heart the good times I've had here, the strong and loyal support of the fans in the tough times and the love from Liverpool. I have no words to thank you enough for all these years and I am very proud to say that I was your manager.

"Thank you so much once more and always remember: You'll never walk alone.""

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/liverpool-fc-statement-1

That last line made me cry.

bgees:


http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/liverpool-fc-statement-1

That last line made me cry. 

My mind just zoomed back to 2005. Arsenal just lost by 2 goals to 0 to Manchester United ending the 49 unbeaten record and went woeful across the next few games and I thought it was time for me to shift base. Roy Keane was busy sucker punching players, I was envious of Chelsea's current success so I choose to stick with Liverpool. Istanbul was the best revenge for the criticism I faced from friends.
Thank you Rafa, with Istanbul came the greatest patronage I could ever accord to a team and I've got way too many LFC merchandise so it was always either you or me. Take Lucas and Ngog with you now. On to the next one please

well, another beginning. at least by mutual consent we wont part with close to 20m pounds by sacking him.

fear is if we'l witness exodus of key players - torres (chelsea, inter, man city, man utd. . . ) gerrard (madrid), mascherano (barcelona), benayoun (had already indicated interest to leave if benitez stays)


watching the unfolding episode.

YNWA

YOU'LL FOREVER BE WALKING ALONE. AMEN!!!!

My worry is, Inter will get Rafa, but what will we get? probably a yes-man or the likes of Hodgson or O'neil. I think we might be going down again.

bgees, you see my mail?

chic2pimp:

YOU'LL FOREVER BE WALKING ALONE. AMEN!!!!

Eat a sack of hairy dicks

Poor Benitez, poor liverfool.

arkinses:

bgees, you see my mail?Eat a sack of hairy dicks

thanks., that email has been deactivated , try :
thanks.

^^ lol. . .wetin you do wey dem. . .never mind Just forwarded it

JUST GOT IT. thanks.

Aw, Rafa's gone.
Good riddance. . .his style of management was causing the club more harm than good.
I'm an admirer and it was kinda sad watching the way his decisions kept weakening the squad.

Let's hope y'all can keep Torres. . .though I hear finances are so bad that some big names might be offloaded to balance the books.
If that happens, nothing short of a miracle will be required to take Liverpool back up again.

Whoever steps in as manager has got to be some kind of football/financial genius, else. . .

Pity the way things have turned out - whatever Wenger's weaknesses are, I don't think he'd ever let things degenerate as badly as they did in Rafa's last season.

The blame in the end goes to the owners - if you hamper the coach from doing what he wants, then you eventually give him control but no funds, he can't do miracles.

Let's hope Everton doesn't finish above you next season - that should be your first target and not even a top 4 place.

YNWA

If we can get Hiddink , Benitez's exit would seem worthwhile. But the names I hear being linked with the job - Hodgson and Redknapp give me worries.

Of the candidates mooted so far, Guus Hiddink would bring the most vital authority, however our squad lacks depth and we lack the finances to employ him as well as upgrading the team. Hodgson and Martin O'Neil lack the passion required for the role, in my opinion. In that vein, Kenny Dalglish is the most adequate as he is always at Anfield, passionate about the progress of the club, and would automatically command respect from the team and board of directors.

@Debo
You trying to absolve Rafa of blame?
He let key men leave without proper replacements. Spent good cash on Aquilani and glued the dude's butt to the bench. Did nothing about the Torres-Gerrard partnership being Liverpool's only serious game plan.
All of the above among others. . .

He tried for the club, but his style was becoming more destructive than helpful.
Can't blame the owners for wanting a change.

Rafa did a good job, and yes he made mistakes, but who doesn't? I also think 99% of his critics are impatient and have short memory .

But the fact still is the club's management should take majority of the blame. Even before Hicks & Gillet, the club was not attractive and cash was not in abundance so he could not acquire his first-choice of players. Probably, he had to buy the likes of Riera, Arbeloa and Voronin because Silva, Dani Alves and Villa would not come to Liverpool. I still can't believe Torres chose us ahead of Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal .So the man made do with the little he had.

And the reports we read everyday about how much he has spent or how many players he had signed are just media garbage. He made a lot of profit from selling those players and he sold them quickly when he knew they would not fit in. So , I'd rather blame the club executives for the mismanagement of transfer funds.

the media coverage of his departure has been disgusting , This one here is the nicest I've come across :

Right to the end the professional pundits failed to understand why so many Liverpudlians stayed loyal to Rafa Benitez.

As 500 fans marched on Anfield after his departure, chanting the Spaniard’s name, heads shook at a footballing sub-species bracketed somewhere between romantic die-hards and mawkish morons.

To the “expert” eye, these deluded fools had been conned by Benitez’s cunning and blinded to his failings by the glory of Istanbul and the criminal incompetence of the American owners.

Liverpool fans they said, once among the most knowledgeable in the world, had clearly lost touch with the modern reality, and were now a sad throwback to the days when sideburned men kicked orange balls.

Well, I’d argue one of the saddest aspects of modern football is too many pundits, including ex-players, have not paid to watch a game since those orange ball days. And they’ve lost touch with the fan.

I’m not saying Benitez had to stay. The results and the football last year were shocking, he’s been a major player in Anfield’s destructive civil war, and the number of fans disillusioned with his style and methods was growing.

But to paint his six-year reign as an unmitigated disaster, sustained only by the over-sentimentalising of Istanbul, is analysis at its most skewed and cringeful. By 2004 Liverpool had been relegated to the status of European also-rans. Benitez made the club a genuine world force again.

It wasn’t just that 2005 Champions League win (which is shamelessly downplayed as a fluke despite beating Fabio Capello’s Juventus, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan). Or reaching the 2007 Champions League final and the 2008 semi-final. It wasn’t even UEFA elevating Liverpool to Europe’s top-seeded club due to results under Benitez.

It was beating Real Madrid and Inter Milan at the Bernabeu and San Siro (which the Reds had never before done) and Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Magical victories at the very top of world football, which restored long-overdue respect to Liverpudlian hearts.

Ah say the experts, but he didn’t win the league. True. But he got closer than any Liverpool boss in the past 20 years. A season ago he was a whisker away, taking the highest number of points by a runner-up in a 38-game season and the club’s best points haul since 1988.

And he did so despite having the 5th highest wage bill in the league, the 5th costliest squad, the 5th biggest stadium capacity and a net annual transfer spend of £15million. Which should have made experts ask why Liverpool were ever considered a nailed-on top four side under Benitez, especially when the boardroom was mired in anarchy.

Ah, they say, but he’d long lost the players and the board. So why have Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Daniel Agger, Dirk Kuyt and Pepe Reina signed new long-term contracts within the past year? Why last August did managing director Christian Purslow do interviews purring over Benitez and how he was integral to the club’s future?

Ah, the experts say, but that was before he let Xabi Alonso go, which everyone could see was a calamity. These would be the same experts who, for the previous couple of seasons, claimed Liverpool were a two-man team. With Alonso (on whom Benitez turned a £20million profit) never being mentioned as one of those two.

[b]Ah, they say, but Torres apart, he only signed sub-standard dross and ended up with a shockingly-weak squad. Really?

Liverpool are sending 12 players (13 if you count Milan Jovanovic whose Bosman signing is going through) to the World Cup. Or an entire team: Reina, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Babel, Gerrard, Mascherano, Rodriguez, Kuyt, Torres. Subs: Kyrgiakos, Jovanovic.

Eleven Chelsea players flew out to South Africa, the same number as Arsenal, and Manchester United sent eight. Does that look like he’s left Anfield bare of talent?

The truth is Benitez leaves a squad worth many times more than the one he inherited, despite spending less in the past three transfer windows than he’s brought in.

I don’t seek to rewrite history or airbrush Benitez’s failings. I saw last year’s football and it stank. I felt the growing anger among players and fans at his bloody-mindedness and knew something had to give.

Which is why it may be best for all concerned that he walks on. But now he has, let’s do him the honour of getting his legacy right.[/b]

Rafa Benitez was many things at Liverpool but unlike every manager since Kenny Dalglish, he was not a failure. Indeed a majority of Liverpudlians will remember him as a legend.

Because like Bill Shankly, on more days and nights than those expert pundits ever care to recall, he made the people happy.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/brian-reade/Why-Rafa-Benitez-leaves-Liverpool-as-a-legend-not-the-failure-his-history-rewriting-critics-insist-The-Brian-Reade-Column-article448527.html

Y.AW.A

I like Rafa but i think it would be ridiculous if he doesn't shoulder a lion share of the blame for Liverpool's woes especially when one struggles to pinpoint good acquisitions he's made aside Torres and Reina he had an annoying knack for hit and miss transfers and if i where management i would be skeptical to give him funds too! He started well but lost it somewhere along the line the height of it was the Robbie Keane signing who he sensationally sold in just six months add that to how badly he managed the Barry vs Alonso duel and the panic buy of flop of the season Aquilani, it just wasn't financially feasible to stick with Rafa to add to that he didn't bring up any player you can't even point to anyone in that academy that would be ready in two seasons time never mind next season. He has won nothing in 4 seasons and has not been a great manager of resources and missing out on the UCL was the last straw

Rafa looks certain to take over at Inter , a proof that his critics are clueless.

Good article. Lots of salient points. But whatever successes Rafa had is now distant memory & key point; the football stank.

Rafa & Liverpool reduced to a very appalling level last season - even the great SAF could get the boot for such!

RuuDie:

Good article. Lots of salient points. But whatever successes Rafa had is now distant memory & key point; the football stank.

Rafa & Liverpool reduced to a very appalling level last season - even the great SAF could get the boot for such!

Fergie's first 3 seasons at Man Utd , they came 11th, 2nd and 11th.

Sad, very sad. . .
Guess those at the top had no choice but to let him go.
My only fear's how the team will fare in his absence and questions are already being asked about the future of some key players.

I hear talk of Sir. Kenny Daglish taking over, hope it won't be another 'shearer' case

v3:

I hear talk of Sir. Kenny Daglish taking over, hope it won't be another 'shearer' case

Its going to be Roy (Hodgson) in my estimation.

Kenny has been away from the game (top level) for too long !

Rafa was a shade too impulsive. . . remember the failed 'rotation policy'? He's strong technically but impulsive.

Roy will bring some stability.

ROy ? thats Illusion

dyabman:

ROy ? thats Illusion

Believe my friend.

Liverpool remain keen to offer their vacant manager's position to Fulham's Roy Hodgson despite Kenny Dalglish's interest in returning to the post after a 19-year absence.

The Liverpool legend, who quit as manager in 1991 following a trophy-laden career at Anfield, has let it be known he is willing to succeed Rafael Benítez if the board deems him the best available candidate.

However, despite Dalglish's desire for the job and his popularity, the Liverpool board's preference is for a manager in the game and with recent European experience, and Fulham's Hodgson remains their leading choice. The 62-year-old has been under consideration since Benítez's departure last week and although no official approach has been made to Fulham for their manager, who is on holiday, Liverpool are interested.

Dalglish is currently charged with leading the search for Benítez's replacement as manager alongside Christian Purslow, Liverpool's managing director. Despite his present role and 10-year absence from management, the 59-year-old believes he is equipped to make a remarkable return as Liverpool manager and lift the club following the varied disappointments of last season.

The Scot would be a popular choice for many Liverpool supporters and his credentials will be considered by the Anfield board as they consider the best man to take the club forward. Liverpool do not have Champions League football or a substantial transfer budget to entice their next manager, and are also anxious to make an appointment that convinces Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano to remain at Anfield beyond this summer.

Yet with over a month until their players begin to report back for pre-season training, the Merseyside club have made it clear they are under no pressure to rush the appointment but are confident of securing their main target.

Dalglish could yet return to manage Liverpool in the event of Hodgson, who has a £2.5m release clause in his 12-month rolling contract at Craven Cottage, declining the job or the club failing to secure an alternative choice.

The former Liverpool manager, now employed as a club ambassador, is unlikely to place further pressure on the Anfield board by publicly declaring his interest and therefore risking a schism with Purslow and other directors. But Dalglish, who won the last of Liverpool's 18 league titles and claimed three championships while manager, plus seven titles and three European Cups as a player, may have to reconsider his part in the managerial search.

Get an English coach and Liverpool is ruined