2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[Death]

Sometimes on here it makes me feel like Paul Whitehouse in that fast show sketch, the fella in the pub who agrees with everyone regardless of side.
One minute I'm nodding with nsnoChris, then nodding to foreverblue and you death. I seriously can't decide what side of the Benitez fence my arse splinters have sympathy with.

Why can't we all just agree, we are Everton fans and we all want success, It really shouldn't matter how we get it..or with who.
I want Europe, Our side when playing well can give any team a real good game, it's consistently we need and if it has to be Benitez that can produce that, produce better than Ancelotti managed, it has to be seen as success.
Then again...
The summer window was a washout but we have kept the team that finished 10th last season so realistically we will probably finish there again, It's a team game, we have a solid first team, we can all agree on that, it's injuries that will kill us, just as it did under Ancelotti, We haven't improved our squad with depth and that's what could really hamper Benitez this season...unless he pulls his red card and we become a lucky side for once.

Amen Mr blott, amen.

 

[FrenchDarrenBent]

He's staying unless there is a real chance of relegation.
They will not sack another manager, not this time.

 

[toffeeblue9]

Top 7 would be a massive achievement this season but not getting Europe won't be a failure based on the summers lack of investment.

8th-11th is acceptable in the managers first season which he looks likely to achieve if we get lucky with injuries.

Dont be fooled last season come the final game the fans were bemoaning our lack of quality/mentality in this squad and were calling for the club to back the manager to the hilt in the summer window.

Now all of a sudden the squad is great and Benitez should be competing with the Leicesters and Chelseas of the world.

Ludicrous imo.

Not for me mate - he was a contentious appointment and the minimum I'd accept would be 9th (an improvement on last season). If you're going to cause that much uproar with the fanbase, it had better be worthwhile.

Besides which, if you accept that the Sky 6 have better squads than us and we now have Leicester and West Ham who are good teams, logic says 9th should be the absolute minimum acceptable performance anyway

I didn't want him, but if you take out the fact that a lot of people hated him (myself included) I can accept that he makes a lot of sense and was the best manager we could have realistically got after Ancelotti did one. That doesn't mean he gets a free ride though - finishing 10th or 11th would not be ok.

 

[toffeeblue9]

He's staying unless there is a real chance of relegation.
They will not sack another manager, not this time.

Moshiri is as mad as a box of frogs mate, all the local journos seem to think that he wanted to sack Ancelotti after the end of last season. Benitez won't be safe if he doesn't perform

 

[Papa Shango]

That's weird, I'm pretty sure loads of posters here have defended past managers, arguing any manager needs at least 2 or 3 transfer windows before he's judged fairly.

Indeed, Ancelotti disciples we're bemoaning how unfortunate he was to have to work with players bought by, hang on.... 5 previous managers. Benitez has a similar problem, but it's 6!

You reckon Benitez gets one window with under 2 million pounds and three and a half months worth of matches before fair judgement is made?

Sound.

You are not going to get fair judgement with Benitez though. That's what you get when you get a manager with baggage.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

You are not going to get fair judgement with Benitez though. That's what you get when you get a manager with baggage.

Nope its not true he only ever managed these clubs...

1993–1995 Real Madrid B
1995–1996 Valladolid
1996 Osasuna
1997–1999 Extremadura
2000–2001 Tenerife
2001–2004 Valencia
2010 Inter Milan
2012–2013 Chelsea (interim)
2013–2015 Napoli
2015–2016 Real Madrid
2016–2019 Newcastle United
2019–2021 Dalian Professional
2021– Everton

 

[BNJ1878]

You are not going to get fair judgement with Benitez though. That's what you get when you get a manager with baggage.

You're 100% right, but that's a reflection on the idiotic portion of our fanbase rather than whoever is in charge.

God forbid he performs miracles and actually achieves anything. They'll be suicidal.

 

[MisterJ]

Whether or not we get Europe is up to the fates, but we should always aim for it.

Likewise at the moment we're unlikely to win the league, but we should always aim to try

 

[Papa Shango]

You're 100% right, but that's a reflection on the idiotic portion of our fanbase rather than whoever is in charge.

God forbid he performs miracles and actually achieves anything. They'll be suicidal.

Well it's both really.

Achievements wont even matter (I don't think there is much chance of that to be honest anyway) we have seen before with managers who have not been liked by a club they have gone to manage that even if they win something some opinions will never change.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

We had a terrible end to the season and still finished 10th, why should we settle for less than that with the exact same players?

The two factors that make last seasons end result sketchy is our crazy purple patch at the seasons start which was just that in isolation & no fans in the crowd which threw weird results all over the place like Villa beating Liverpool 7-2.

The closest season to compare to is the one before last as we had played about 30 games with crowds in which gives you a good indication of where this squad is which was 12th.

I think we'll finish higher than 12th and more likely to be around 9th-10th but having spent the lowest in the league in the summer whilst other clubs were throwing money around you shouldn't be shocked if we finished lower.

 

[BNJ1878]

Well it's both really.

Achievements wont even matter (I don't think there is much chance of that to be honest anyway) we have seen before with managers who have not been liked by a club they have gone to manage that even if they win something some opinions will never change.

I agree, for us to win anything within 3-5 years would need a lot of ducks to like up.

And yes, opinions are too deep for some to change.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I was hardly a big proponent of Benitez coming in, but I'm willing to give him some wiggle room on final table placing because we've got a pretty thin squad and he's still stuck with a lot of the spineless wonders the previous managers have had to deal with

He's done well getting something out of this group of players thus far

If we have good luck with injuries/suspensions and he continues managing to get the players to work like they currently have been, then we should probably finish mid-table, which is probably fair based on our overall squad. Outside of a few really good players we're a pretty ordinary team

 

[davek]

The only validity the dwindling minority who want Benitez out have in any of their otherwise ridiculous statements is that Benitez has reach into the local media and will use it. Not that he'll need to resort to them, as he's easily good enough to get us the required results we need to stay competitive in the top half. But he has a lot of power to weild locally - a lot of gold bricks built up to spend in tems of goodwill from the media...national media too.

In short: he's bomb-proof if he finishes us anywhere between 12th and 1st this season, for sure. Season after he'd defo have the top half as a must be reached target. But these are all easily reached targets.

It's looking grim for the people sticking to their position of not supporting the club while he's here, which is why I keep imploring them to drop their opposition and rejoin the fold.

 

[BackPost]

I think the lack of transfer activity and struggles of clearing out deadwood will take away the importance of finishing position vs last season. Last season was dire at times and time will tell, but I think the fact that we *seem* to be fitter, better organised and have a style of play will be seen as improvement alone.

Like him or not, he's won more than double the amount of trophies in his 20 odd years of management than what we have in our last 50 years of history. Take away the trophies he won across the park from that stat and he's still won more than us over the same timeframes. We didn't have anyone with that pedigree available who would have been willing to join us, especially under the circumstances he had to work with this summer.

 

[GoSoccerToffees]

Weren't we like 5 points off Europe last season, with the same squad?

Except this season we've added some much needed width, and an actual back-up striker who suits the way we're set up?

With a manager who in four games has shown far more understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our squad and set them up in a tactically nuanced and utterly effective system?

Yet, the discussion is still about when we might be sacking the manager and acceptance of 9/10th.

I didn't like Benitez when he was RS boss. But if he carries on the way he's started, I won't give a toss about any of that.