Annual Next Everton Manager Thread - Rafa Benitez Hired

[CaaC (John)+]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

To direct traffic to the site so we keep getting new members.

Because really as an internet forum we're competing against the likes of reddit and other shit like that (Twitter too, even) - so we've got to be able to utilise social media to compete against it so we can keep the community growing and keep these forums alive and active.

I've got no issue with us having a twitter - I think it's a smart way to advertise forums which tbh are old school as fuck. My only issue with it really was the sun being quoted - and that's been taken care of thanks to @The Palace Fan talking with that 3rd party.

I remember when the 1997 general election was ready to take place with a young Tony Blair for the Labour party running against the dumbo, John Major for the Torys, the Sun with great big headlines saying they wanted all their millions of readers who buy the Sun to vote for the Torys and John Major, Blair won the election with landslide votes, so much for their imaginary millions of readers taking their advice. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, CaaC (John) said:

I remember when the 1997 general election was ready to take place with a young Tony Blair for the Labour party running against the dumbo, John Major for the Torys, the Sun with great big headlines saying they wanted all their millions of readers who buy the Sun to vote for the Torys and John Major, Blair won the election with landslide votes, so much for their imaginary millions of readers taking their advice. 

I think, unfortunately, they do have the biggest readership out of all the British press...

... which tbh is a disgrace because they're a bunch of horrible bastards and one of Rupert Murdoch's most evil cogs in his little empire of shittiness.

[DeadLinesman]

Fuck The Sun. Cunts.

 

And whilst we’re at it, fuck James Corden as well. Cunt.

[Smiley Culture]

15 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

Fuck The Sun. Cunts.

 

And whilst we’re at it, fuck James Corden as well. Cunt.

If we’re telling things to get fucked and calling them cunts then, get fucked Boris Johnson, you cunt. 

[Whiskey]

Get fucked old posts.

 

[Smiley Culture]

29 minutes ago, Whiskey said:

Get fucked old posts.

 

You learnt how to make toast about a year ago, you scruff. 

[Stan]

Yes, Third Party Fan account. 

 

[LFCMike]

 

[RandoEFC+]

Absolutely nothing to get behind. Have to go back to when I was about 13 for when I wouldn't religiously go out of my way to watch every Everton game somehow but that will return this season. This is doomed to fail so I'm just not going to invest in it, I'm done. Might as well start looking for the next manager now. The toxicity in Goodison will end him the second he hits a 3-4 game rough patch or Liverpool come take the lead at Goodison and the chants of agent Rafa start coming from the away end.

It doesn't even bother me that much that he used to manage them. It's simply one of several factors. No progressive style of play to look forward to, no long term identity as a club, no particularly impressive recent track record, no evidence that we'll improve our recruitment policy. See everyone back in this thread next summer.

[Danny]

We have a Twitter to transfer people from new media to a dead media? 

[Dan+]

It's just the most stupid possible appointment. Literally as bad an appointment as they could've made. I don't even think he's bad, but it's just so obviously doomed to fail.

That Moshiri is an absolute clown. Saw him compared to Tony Fernandes on another page and it's hard to disagree. It's very much along those sorts of lines.

Brands should walk as well. He's got about as much sway at Everton as I have.

[Whiskey]

Great timing for my daughter to come into the world, shall be having some great weekends with her in place of watching this car crash club. 

Never been so disconnected, or disinterested in Everton or football in general. To be clear I thought that Benitez was the best of a bad bunch, but the divide and toxicity that's already surrounding the club shows that this is a fucking stupid idea. 

@RandoEFC and @Dan sum it up for me.

[Danny]

Everton have been distinctly average for most of my lifetime and their owner thinks he can leap frog that averageness with big spending (Keane, Sigurdsson etc), a new stadium and any manager that pops into his head.

I would be worried that you are leaving (or trying to) Goodson Park under his stewardship

[Smiley Culture]

It’s like Everton just start to look like being half competent and resembling a club that has some form of plan but then they panic and hit the self destruct button and appoint an Allardyce, Silva or Benitez. 

 

[Chaaay AFC]

Just can't seem to get anything going at Everton, always seem to buy the wrong players and appoint the wrong managers. I suppose Benitez at least has experience and a high reputation, but does he really push you into that top 6? I'm not sure. I suppose the owners want a quick fix considering the money they have spent, just don't think Benitez moves the needle as much as they would want him to. Especially with the squad assembled as it is.

[LFCMike]

38 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

It’s like Everton just start to look like being half competent and resembling a club that has some form of plan but then they panic and hit the self destruct button and appoint an Allardyce, Silva or Benitez. 

 

You can't lump Benitez in with them two.

To be honest, the whole thing sums up everything that's wrong with the mentality of Evertonian's. Seeing a lot of them acknowledge that he's one of the best options available to them but as always their hatred of all things 'redshite' over powers what's best for Everton.

[Smiley Culture]

4 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

You can't lump Benitez in with them two.

To be honest, the whole thing sums up everything that's wrong with the mentality of Evertonian's. Seeing a lot of them acknowledge that he's one of the best options available to them but as always their hatred of all things 'redshite' over powers what's best for Everton.

Benitez, like Allardyce and Silva are not the type of managers to take a club forward. They’re all short-term appointments with little foresight or any evidence of an actual plan at the club beyond the next 6-12 months. 

[Rick]

11 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

Benitez, like Allardyce and Silva are not the type of managers to take a club forward. They’re all short-term appointments with little foresight or any evidence of an actual plan at the club beyond the next 6-12 months. 

To be fair to Rafa, he has never wanted to be a stop gap manager. He see’s a project, and he would still be at Newcastle now if it wasn’t for their muppet owner. 

[RandoEFC+]

7 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

You can't lump Benitez in with them two.

To be honest, the whole thing sums up everything that's wrong with the mentality of Evertonian's. Seeing a lot of them acknowledge that he's one of the best options available to them but as always their hatred of all things 'redshite' over powers what's best for Everton.

Not really remotely accurate. Even if Benitez wasn't a former Liverpool manager, what does he actually bring to the table in 2021? What's he done in the past decade or so except keep Newcastle in the league for a couple of years in a similar fashion to Steve Bruce except causing a lot more aggravation with the owners and then go to China and finish about 15th?

And like it or not, the Liverpool connection is a factor. Everton are a real football club, there needs to be a connection with the manager and the sense that they're "ours". Like it or not, fan buy in matters and that has an impact on the performance of the team and the club. Moyes understood that and succeeded at Everton, Martinez and Silva understood it and although they ultimately failed, it did keep the fans behind the team for longer and increased the chances of success under them. Koeman never understood it at all and openly treated the club as a stepping stone, which made things so toxic the first time we hit a difficult run, that things got so bad that we ended up close enough to a relegation fight that we pulled in Allardyce, an appointment everyone knew would last until the end of the season and no longer for much the same reasons.

It always surprises me how badly Liverpool fans misunderstand Evertonians at times. This isn't a black and white "former Redshite manager bad" situation. If Brendan Rodgers for some reason lost his mind and agreed to swap Leicester for Everton, the reaction would be very different because his current track record shows that he'd bring the club a chance of progress and success. Benitez has worked for Newcastle and some Chinese side none of us could even name in recent years for a reason, because modern football management has passed him by and he simply isn't an elite manager anymore.

If anything it's you lot that still love the bloke for his success with Liverpool 15-20 years ago that are being blinkered. There is no recent and relevant evidence to support the view that Everton should be particularly grateful to have a manager of Benitez's standard even before you factor in the lack of buy in you'll get from the fans that he used to manage Liverpool. Plenty of others in this thread who have nothing to do with Everton or Liverpool can clearly see what an absolutely calamitous appointment this is.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Rafa’s always wanted a project, as someone who’s had him managing the club he’s always recognised the importance of having the fans on board - and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many Valencia, Liverpool and Newcastle fans hold him in high regard.

He’d have still been at Newcastle if Ashley would give him more money to sign the players he wanted. And they’d have improved if he wasn’t trying to build a team on a shoestring budget. Steve Bruce has them shithousing to get points, but ask Newcastle fans who’d they’d rather have.

I don’t think he’s that bad of an appointment other than the fact he’s held in high regard by us for being a legend.

After years of transition, Everton could do a lot worse than have Rafa build the foundation for a consistent project. Aside from what he did on the pitch with us, he helped us out long term by modernising our academy. He’s only ever been at 2 clubs without Directors of Football - some managers cannot get over the fact they have to work with someone else. If he and Brands can get on the same page, you could start to have a cohesive project.

One of the reasons I’d prefer they go with some hot new flavour of the month rather than Rafa isn’t just because I love Rafa. It’s because if Rafa does get things clicking for Everton, they’ll suddenly be competent at football for a few seasons instead of in a constant rebuild.

I’d much rather they go with some young potential that’ll think he’s the next big thing, like Martinez, who’ll probably lead them to another period of transition.

[Spike]

All you guys that are saying fuck The Sun are idiots. Fuck News Corp and Murdoch Media, you think it's just the Sun? It goes way deeper than that, watch Sky Sports? You may as well be buying a subscription to the Sun

[DeadLinesman]

I see the point has been totally missed on this one………

[Dave]

Back on topic I think Liverpool fans still have red goggles on when they view Rafa Benitez. He was undoubtedly a fantastic manager at Valencia and ushered in a successful era at Liverpool, but the days of pragmatism and defensive wingers are in the past...

2009/10 - Liverpool finished 7th. The fans defended him and blamed the owners but that doesn't hide the fact he didn't exactly recruit well.

2010/11 - Lasted half a season at Inter Milan. He had the excuse it was an ageing squad but that ageing squad had just won the Champions League prior to his announcement.

2012/13 - Chelsea were four points off top of the Premier League when Roberto Di Matteo was sacked. They finished fourteen points behind. Still Rafa lovers claims did a good job because he won the Europa League.

2013/14 - A good season at Napoli where he finished third and won the Coppa Italia. Seemingly found his level.

2014/15 - Undone his good work the season prior as Napoli dropped out the top four.

2015/16 - Failed to keep Newcastle United in the Premier League. Fans still got behind as he was quite rightly a massive appointment in the second tier.

2016/17 - Promoted which was the minimal expectation. Didn't storm the league as expected. Only won the title as Brighton dropped points on the last day.

2017/18 - 44 points and a top half finish. Cant think of many occasions where 44 points gets you 10th. Seemingly found his level.

2018/19 - A 13th placed finish but finished on 45 points. Seemingly found his level.

Dalian - In his first season they finished 9th out of 16th. In his second season they split the league and he finished 7th out of 8 teams. There final ranking was 12th. An absolutely poor return given the expectation such an appointment would have provided.

 

Looking at his past objectively he has three, arguably four, good seasons out of the last eleven. A good spell at Newcastle (albeit Steve Bruce has achieved the same number of points in both seasons) and a good first season at Napoli (where his good work was undone the following season anyway). It's a shame people can't see past what happened in the archives as with managers such as Jose and Rafa as Everton are likely to find themselves in the same position in about two years time.

[LFCMike]

22 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

Not really remotely accurate. Even if Benitez wasn't a former Liverpool manager, what does he actually bring to the table in 2021? What's he done in the past decade or so except keep Newcastle in the league for a couple of years in a similar fashion to Steve Bruce except causing a lot more aggravation with the owners and then go to China and finish about 15th?

And like it or not, the Liverpool connection is a factor. Everton are a real football club, there needs to be a connection with the manager and the sense that they're "ours". Like it or not, fan buy in matters and that has an impact on the performance of the team and the club. Moyes understood that and succeeded at Everton, Martinez and Silva understood it and although they ultimately failed, it did keep the fans behind the team for longer and increased the chances of success under them. Koeman never understood it at all and openly treated the club as a stepping stone, which made things so toxic the first time we hit a difficult run, that things got so bad that we ended up close enough to a relegation fight that we pulled in Allardyce, an appointment everyone knew would last until the end of the season and no longer for much the same reasons.

It always surprises me how badly Liverpool fans misunderstand Evertonians at times. This isn't a black and white "former Redshite manager bad" situation. If Brendan Rodgers for some reason lost his mind and agreed to swap Leicester for Everton, the reaction would be very different because his current track record shows that he'd bring the club a chance of progress and success. Benitez has worked for Newcastle and some Chinese side none of us could even name in recent years for a reason, because modern football management has passed him by and he simply isn't an elite manager anymore.

If anything it's you lot that still love the bloke for his success with Liverpool 15-20 years ago that are being blinkered. There is no recent and relevant evidence to support the view that Everton should be particularly grateful to have a manager of Benitez's standard even before you factor in the lack of buy in you'll get from the fans that he used to manage Liverpool. Plenty of others in this thread who have nothing to do with Everton or Liverpool can clearly see what an absolutely calamitous appointment this is.

You don't think he's one of the better options available and that's fair enough. My point was that there's plenty of Evertonian's who do but redshite.

You lot would accept Rodgers if that situation arose because ultimately he was an unsuccessful Liverpool manager. That's the reason.

[Dr. Gonzo]

5 hours ago, Spike said:

All you guys that are saying fuck The Sun are idiots. Fuck News Corp and Murdoch Media, you think it's just the Sun? It goes way deeper than that, watch Sky Sports? You may as well be buying a subscription to the Sun

Sky’s owned by Comcast