2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[MACCA75]

Laughing. Come off it.

So the manager was an idiot/worse than Allardyce for not putting in Gbamin when we were up against it with Watford but now, "you don't throw a player who hasn’t played for two years straight into the team". Make up your mind eh?

Hiding behind "I'm not allowed an opinion" is a bit of a kop out. Especially when quoting a post to the admin of a forum which is for exactly that, opinions, and a post which said exactly that;



So you're allowed an opinion mate.

Just as I am, mine.

My whole point after Watford was this;



Some absolutely slated Benitez after Watford with scathing criticism.

I asked what else he could have done.

Some continued to slate him, talking up Gbamin and Holgate as the obvious choices to criticise the manager. Gbamin. Holgate.

Come off it. Those two as the answers to prevent that collapse against Watford?

The same people are now criticising the manager for starting Gbamin against Wolves and putting Holgate in against Spurs.

Both are dire. Both aren't fit/in form. Both wouldn't have made any difference against Watford. That's my opinion. My opinion is also people know that but don't care as long as they can stick the knife in. Example. "Gbamin should have come on vs Watford" and then "Gbamin shouldn't have been put in at the deep end" and "Holgate should have come on" and "Why did he put Holgate on".

1. If Gbamin is unable to come on and be helpful in midfield for 10 minutes then what is the point of him being on the bench.

2. If Benitez thought Holgate wasn’t good enough to come in and play midfield then he wouldn’t have brought him on v Spurs.

3. Still convinced that it was clear as day we needed someone/anyone brought on to bolster the midfield late on v Watford. The warning signs were all there.

 

[blulouie]

Seems we are back to the old "Benitez was the ONLY manager" in the world of football we could get.

Gone full circle this.

 

[Cool_Blue]

Dean Smith isn’t a bad manager, but Josh King was the reason Watford won that game.

Yep, swapping king for rondon was a masterstroke, EFC at it’s best

 

[4737carlin]

Seems we are back to the old "Benitez was the ONLY manager" in the world of football we could get.

Gone full circle this.

Well I'm sure if we tried hard enough we could of got Howe as he couldnt of known about the Newcastle ££ then, maybe we did.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

1. If Gbamin is unable to come on and be helpful in midfield for 10 minutes then what is the point of him being on the bench.

2. If Benitez thought Holgate wasn’t good enough to come in and play midfield then he wouldn’t have brought him on v Spurs.

3. Still convinced that it was clear as day we needed someone/anyone brought on to bolster the midfield late on v Watford. The warning signs were all there.

1. Already answered this. We've not filled our full bench in games/we name 2 'keepers on the bench. Welch, Tosun, Lonergan.... they're never getting on. Makes no odds. Clearly, you don't throw Gbamin in to a game of that intensity late on. I gave the example of when Ancelotti did it against Palace and it went to pot.
2. Different games/different levels of fitness. We were on top at that stage against Spurs. Bringing Holgate on for Allan or whoever against Watford wouldn't have improved us. I think Benitez made a mistake starting Gbamin vs Wolves and bringing Holgate on for Spurs. But when I said this I acknowledged he had very little choice and I didn't say he should be crucified for it.
3. Same team/setup that put us into the lead. "someone/anyone" - those choices were Gbamin and Holgate. They weren't changing anything and if you still think that after watching both in midfield Wolves/Spurs then fair enough. The reason for the Watford collapse was the cowards on the pitch, so cowardly we had club stooge Tim Cahill slate them. The reason wasn't Benitez not putting Gbamin or Holgate on.

 

[blulouie]

Well I'm sure if we tried hard enough we could of got Howe as he couldnt of known about the Newcastle ££ then, maybe we did.

You and your mates think Howe is the only other manager in the world.

Think you've got a crush on the South Coast Tin Tin meself.

 

[jazzy]

I will put forward an alternative management strategy and philosophy.

I suspect that it won't be popular but we've tried everything else without success.

So imagine that Brands and Benitez are both gone.

Brands replacement , let's say Ralph Ragnick gives the most honest and open assessment of any football club in his first interview.......

" Everton have tried literally everything and it hasn't worked.
We have had world class managers , managers a good CV with local connections.
We have spend huge amounts of money on players many of whom had a good track record in this country.
None of this has worked so we are going to do something completely different.

1. We are going to appoint a young manager with a remit to invest in youth and play progressive attractive football.

2. We will run down the contracts of the existing players all on high wages who contribute nothing

3. We will recruit only young players with no new signing aged more than 25.

4. The amount that we spend on new signings will be capped at £50 million plus the profit from any sales per season.

6. We will look to prioritise Bosman signings but only players aged 27 or under.

This strategy may well result in a downturn in results in the short term and we may become less competitive.

However I can promise you a young hungry team which give 100% and which will play attacking football.

In 3 -5 years I would expect that we would have a team that could compete for the top 4 ".

Would you support such a strategy?

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

Its the club i dont rate but no one does who has been watching us for a while

Why are you sticking Benitez in the same bracket as Howe, Smith, Dyche and the others you identify as our short list? To the untrained eye it looks like you are suggesting that this is the level we do our bidding at. ?

 

[jamieni]

Seems we are back to the old "Benitez was the ONLY manager" in the world of football we could get.

Gone full circle this.

He certainly isn’t the only manager we could get but I guess it’s a question of is a better manager available right now? One who would come in and immediately improve results. That’s a question for the board, although given their recent forays into management recruitment im not convinced they would make the right choice.

Ancelotti didn’t work out but someone with a similar cv is a no brainer for a club with money to spend. Quite clearly that’s not where we are now so we would be looking for someone prepared to take on the job with very little wriggle room to improve the squad in January.

 

[4737carlin]

Why are you sticking Benitez in the same bracket as Howe, Smith, Dyche and the others you identify as our short list? To the untrained eye it looks like you are suggesting that this is the level we do our bidding at. ?

No I think Benitez is better then all those alternatives, however when you have a 2m transfer war chest and a squad like ours there is a certain level you have to bid at.

 

[4737carlin]

He certainly isn’t the only manager we could get but I guess it’s a question of is a better manager available right now? One who would come in and immediately improve results. That’s a question for the board, although given their recent forays into management recruitment im not convinced they would make the right choice.

Ancelotti didn’t work out but someone with a similar cv is a no brainer for a club with money to spend. Quite clearly that’s not where we are now so we would be looking for someone prepared to take on the job with very little wriggle room to improve the squad in January.

If a better manager was available we would of got him, if we tried and failed there is a reason why

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Another fun day in the Benitez thread I see.

 

[blulouie]

He certainly isn’t the only manager we could get but I guess it’s a question of is a better manager available right now? One who would come in and immediately improve results. That’s a question for the board, although given their recent forays into management recruitment im not convinced they would make the right choice.

Ancelotti didn’t work out but someone with a similar cv is a no brainer for a club with money to spend. Quite clearly that’s not where we are now so we would be looking for someone prepared to take on the job with very little wriggle room to improve the squad in January.

The squad should have been improved in the summer , but this fella spent 2 and a half months "assessing the squad" instead of leaving hole's in it.

 

[larbert toffee]

Better to be a has been than a never been, we’ve seen the likes of smith and wilder many times over the years. Do a decent job somewhere, get touted as the next big thing. And 5yrs later there’re managing in Div 2.


Maybe that’s why dyche stays at Burnley, nice contract to just keep them in the division

Spot on mate.

 

[tsubaki]

He certainly isn’t the only manager we could get but I guess it’s a question of is a better manager available right now? One who would come in and immediately improve results. That’s a question for the board, although given their recent forays into management recruitment im not convinced they would make the right choice.

Ancelotti didn’t work out but someone with a similar cv is a no brainer for a club with money to spend. Quite clearly that’s not where we are now so we would be looking for someone prepared to take on the job with very little wriggle room to improve the squad in January.

One of the things that does impress me about him is that he clearly wants to be here, as you say he probably took the job knowing the first year would be a clear out of failed players and of course there’s all the bad feeling. That in itself is an improvement on Carlo.

I didn’t want Benitez here, and disagree with some of the things he does, but how he’s reacted to the good and to the bad results has given me a bit more confidence in him - certainly more than Ronko, Silva or Allardyce.