Rafa Benitez is still expected to consider quitting Liverpool at the end of the season in response to the boardroom turmoil that has engulfed the club.
While claims that Benitez threatened to resign on Sunday night in response to the revelation that chief executive Rick Parry was party to the meetings with Jurgen Klinsmann are wide of the mark, sources close to Benitez are understood to have confirmed that he will reassess his position after making another attempt to win the Champions League.
With a whole host of clubs - including Real Madrid - likely to offer him alternative employment, Benitez is in a position of strength and his anger at Sunday's disclosure that Parry met Klinsmann before Christmas has been interpreted as an attempt to ally himself with co-owner Tom Hicks against the chief executive. Yet Anfield sources are adamant that Benitez is genuinely - and understandably - angry that the latest round of behind-the-scenes machinations has overshadowed his team's recent on-field success.
Furthermore, with George Gillett refusing to sell to Hicks and DIC withdrawing their interest in making a takeover at the club, there are serious concerns that the boardroom turmoil could spill over into the summer and wreck his plans to rebuild his squad ahead of a title challenge next season.
Benitez has already been rebuffed in his call to hold clear-the-air talks with Parry, Hicks and Gillett in person. The two Americans remain adamant that they will not meet with the other and so Benitez's communications with the pair this week has been carried out via email.
Your Comments
dallyboy
"Rafa needs to perhaps pipe down a bit and consider what leaving Anfield would actually mean. A job where he is revered by the fans, in the top league in the world, with an ever evolving team and time to get the job done. The alternative is the situation that the likes of Rijkaard and Schuster find themselves in at the top Spanish clubs. Barca won back to back titles under Rijkaard and also the CL, Schuster left Getafe, where he worked miracles, he's currently taken Madrid to the top of the league and are on the verge of winning it, yet despite this both men are looking like they will be replaced in the summer. Rafa left Valencia because of the way clubs are structured outside of the UK. At LFC, he decides the players he will sign, as he himself put it after he left the Mestella "I asked for a table and they gave me a lamp". The grass is not always greener. Ask Maureen, Fat Sam or EMO."
rob_devitt
"Bloody typical pool fans. One DIC is better than 3? You do know there are more than one of them. the only thing missing is 10-15 goals a season? That is quite important for a striker you know! We need him to keep all of our best players which are contracted to the club and can't walk out if he leaves, plus surely liverpool will get one of the top managers in the world in to replace him who might actually challenge for the league. Not a top three club, course not the top three would be those clubs who have won the title "this millenium". So Benitez has cobbled his squad together for about 3 pounds fifty then? Nah, pretty sure he spent millions, on a couple of good players and one exception one and a load of crap. United were the richest cos the constantly won the league and got the stadium built. The Yanks are business men only what the hell do you think DIC are a hippy commune? Finally and most unbelievable is the best supporters in Europe!?!? You weren't selling wonen and children for tickets you were mugging them for them."
Unspecial_One
"time for liverpool to get two managers.. one for the EPL title chase and leave rafa with the CL job.. we had two managers before, houllier and evans and now even two owners..."
LFC_fanatic
"I did not honestly think Liverpool would win the Title in the summer after how Man United and Chelsea had strengthened their squads. They were already better than us and went out and purchased more proven quality. The only proven quality Benitez got was Torres and Mascherano (forgot him initially) - the rest are average or promising future regulars. To win the domestic league you need to be very high in resources -it's the same in any league (Ask yourself: are there ever any surprise winners of the top domestic leagues?)- and unfortunately Liverpool are not in comparison to Man United and Chelsea. We need serious financial back up with if are to really be in contention for the Title. Proven quality needs to be signed not average, squad players. But of course, that takes money. Benitez couldn't have done a better job for Liverpool in his time at the club. We should all be so greatful."
THEGEARON
"that colly22 lad talks some sh*t..:) im a liverpool fan who at mid season was pro benitez out..however since he has thrown the rotation nonsence out the window we are playing the best footie i have seen us play in a long time..very pacy and attacking play..defo not boring as we hear too often..back to my point..do i tink benitez should stay??..yes..any manager that can deliver the champions league with the s***e squad he did it with is a proven success..fluke? my arse..if we didnt have benitez we wouldnt have landed torres, alonso, reina etc and he has also landed on the money with babel(remember mancs ronaldo was shite in his first year..) to my fellow pool mates...keep the faith..most of us are impatient and forget how the premier league has been won over the past few years..money! united dominated the 90's coz they were the richest club..then chelsea came along(never even heard of them till then :)...unfortunately we are depending on a big pot of transfer money for benitez to work his magic..the yanks are not the answer..they are business men and that only..benitez has shown his loyalty to the club..he could have fkd off to real but he stayed.."
Doofus
"I don't think Rafa will need to worry about considering on quitting, I'm sure he'll be asked to step down soon enough, just like Parry was. Bloody yanks, more trouble than their worth."
teamlfc
"geo1978,don't let non lfc fans make you bite,they look at the football world with blinkers on!keep on supporting the greatest team in the world with the most winning history of all the british teams."
geo1978
"i find it hilarious that non-Reds try to claim that Liverpool are not a 'big 3' club. How do you explain the following facts: Liverpool have finished 3rd the past 2 years. The season before that, we won the Champions League. We're 5 points behind an Arsenal side which only a couple of weeks ago was tipped to win the league. Oh, & we're going to win the Champions League again this year. Someone please tell me, if it's so easy to win, then how come no other English side has won it this millenium? If it's purely luck, how come we've won it 5 times & no one else in England has won it even 3 times? Does that mean that the following sides are 'easier' to play than Wigan, Derby, Middlesborough or West Ham? Monaco, Olympiakos, Deportivo la Coruna, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Chelsea (again & again & again....), AC Milan, Barcelona, Inter Milan, PSV?!?!?! League demand consistency against smaller sides, yes; but it's Europe where every game matters & every side (in the knock-outs) is more than capable. Yes it helps to have the most passionate, vocal & die-hard supporters in Europe - witness last season's final where Milan returned tickets while Liverpool fans were selling their wives & children for tickets. "
teamlfc
"i think kuyt has taken a lot of unfounded stick,he works his socks off every week for ""the cause".rafa has turned him into a work horse& the only thing missing is 10-15 goals a season but i think that will come."
teamlfc
"i think kuyt has taken a lot of unfounded stick,he works his socks off every week for ""the cause".rafa has turned him into a work horse& the only thing missing is 10-15 goals a season but i think that will come."
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