Hicks Hits Out At Rafa

Yeah ...... we got to the final before they owned the club. And so obviously, there has been nothing available to win since then. What have you won since the FA cup? Come on, just a little thought before you post these things, pretty please?

you may have spent a lot in the summer but the reality of your net spending was less than man utd, spurs, man city, villa, west ham and maybe a couple of others, I think that this dispute between manager and owner will end in RB moving on, it doesnt seem to be a relationship that has worked and I dont believe that gillet and hicks intend to give benitez the funds he needs to catch man utd and arsenal.

I agrre with OS and Naoise. I would much prefer an owner who put all of his attention into LFC than LFC and the Dallas Cowboys. But we've only got 7-8 games.

did I ever say that Rafa was losing the plot? Ah, but he can't be as he is focused on... seriously, what is this "net spending" nonsense anyway? So if you buy 20 players, sell 17 and keep the net spending below 10 mil. it is all good? It makes the request for the purchase of the 21st ever so valid? No and no. Rafa's transfers dealings have been so good that you were left with Hyppia as an addition to the opposition's attacking options and Sissoko and Gerrard as your creative force. In that interview he gives an impression of an angry, spoiled child that has his favourite toy taken away. The manager being "focused on blah" while his bosses are giving him the finger over new investments is a scenario that irresistibly reminds of one that we saw not so long ago at another club. And we all know how that ended up. And it wasn't even November.

Think when the club owners start briefing against you in the local paper the writing really is on the wall. None of this should have gone public. As an outsider looking in - I wonder if it's retrievable frankly? Any views on that?

G4L, of course net spending is more relevant than gross spending. I would have thought that an Arsenal fan would be the first to appreciate that. After all, Arsene Wenger has shown the rest of the league how wheeling and dealing should be done. Witness the sales of Nicholas Anelka, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit and even Thierry Henry: Wenger will happily sell a player if he can replace him with a cheaper alternative that's just as effective. As for Liverpool's attacking options and creativity, I'll refer you to the some of the recent routs that we've inflicted. And if you didn't see today's game away to Newcastle United then you'd do well to watch the extended highlights that Sky will have on later: it was like boys vs men stuff and if the final scoreline had been 10-0 it still wouldn't have flattered Liverpool. I've no doubt that Arsenal will beat Newcastle just as soundly when they meet in a week or so's time but for you to suggest that Rafa Benitez's transfer dealings are suspect and lack creative options - especially when Fernando Torres, Andriy Voronin, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, and Lucas are all on fire and giving defenders nightmares - is just crazy.

Harry P, sensible comment. I never said gross is more relevant than net or vice-versa. I questioned the policy of bringing 10 players in while spending lots of money only to ask for more 3 months later. If what you say is true why is Rafa asking for more cash? It is ad-hoc repairing of the squad the Jose Mourinho way.

Again I am in agreement with you for most of the stuff you wrote. The issue here is the following: Benitez himself bought more than half of those players who, as you say, moved on - some of them never got a chance, some were not good enough and some did quite a good job for you. Fowler, Garcia, Gonzales, Paletta, Bellamy were all brought in by him. That is the thing I don't understand about Rafa's transfer policy. He buys a lot and he sells a lot. Ultimately, it does not create stability and it takes time for players to gel. Same would/will happen with the defensive cover players he intends to purchase in January. They would need time.

By the way, let's have a look at the core players that Benitez has bought and kept. By year, to make the development of his team more apparent: 2004/05: Alonso (£10.5 million). 2005/06: Peter Crouch (£7m) Pepe Reina (£6m), Agger (5.8m), Momo Sissoko (£5.3m). 2006/07: Dirk Kuyt (9m), Jermaine Pennant (£6.7m), Fabio Aurelio (free), Mascherano (loan to £17m), Arbeloa (£2.5m). 2007/08: Torres (£20.5m), Babel (£11.5m), Lucas (£5.3m), Yossi Benayoun (£4m), Sebastian Leto (£1.8m), Andriy Voronin (free). That's 16 players, the majority of whom would be very welcome at the biggest clubs at an average of just over £7m each, and that's assuming that Mascherano becomes a permanent Liverpool player at a cost of £17m. At least 10-12 of those players would command significantly higher transfer fees if they were sold today. And they have time on their side: Kuyt is 27, Alonso is 26 but the rest are 25 or younger. Compare and contrast to Chelsea or Manchester United, where the average signing these days seems to be closer to £17m than £7m, and where some of the signings are past their prime. The team has stability, and it has gelled. Undefeated in the league, less fortunate but still in control of its own destiny in Europe, Liverpool are playing better football than most people realise. Benitez isn't asking for more money to make wholesale changes, because wholesale changes aren't needed, but he is asking for the money to make Mascherano's move permanent (something that's been known about for a long time, right?) and to find quality cover at the back (Heinze wasn't signed, someone is needed, money wasn't spent so surely it's still there?). Mascherano isn't going to need time to gel, because he's been part of the team for 9 months now. The defensive cover wouldn't be asked to run before it could walk, so would get the time needed. And some of the players that Benitez seems to be interested in aren't going to cost anything at all (apart from wages), so it's not like he's asking for a Roman Abramovich-level of financial commitment from the club's owners.

ITS not looking good for him at the moment thats for sure, he should just be a gratful little tubster and say thank you to those GREAT americans, he's gonna end up like Jose, infact this all wreaks of a Jose copy cat! he's a gonner, but hopefully it'll be your CL exit that costs him his crappy job