The Libero - Benitez surely on the brink

Published: 04 Nov 2009 - 06:46:59

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It's the race no one wants to win. There is no glory at the end of the it, no medal or trophy, no riches or adulation. Just a P45 and months of not knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from.

The 2009-10 Premier League managerial sack race is well and truly underway - and Rafa Benitez must be wondering how he has not already secured the rather dubious title.

Liverpool's defeat to Fulham at the weekend was their fifth of the season so far - the sixth in their last seven in all competitions - leaving their Premier League title hopes once again in tatters.

That kind of form has seen Liverpool's own fans turn on Benitez over recent weeks and, after the brief euphoria of victory over Manchester United, a now familiar gloom has once again descended on the red half of Merseyside.

Excuses have been made, and in fairness injuries have played their part, but as Hull City's Phil Brown - Benitez's main rival in the sack race - has been reminded this week, football is a results-based business.

It's supposed to be simple: get good results for your club, keep your job. Fail to do so and you'll be given a firm handshake and a shove through the exit door.

At the moment, Liverpool simply are not getting the results they need, either to challenge for trophies or for Benitez to hang onto his job. And despite all the assurances of the club's owners, who are businessmen and therefore keen exponents of the 'results business' mantra, Benitez's days must surely be numbered.

How much worse does it need to get before Messrs Hicks and Gillett's patience runs out and they decide to pull the trigger?

It could come down to the Champions League clash with Lyon. Defeat in France would all but end Liverpool's hopes of qualifying from the group stage and, given their current domestic travails, would represent a fatal blow to their season.

With just a top four finish and a couple of domestic cups left to play for, Liverpool's owners could finally be moved to cut their ties with the Spaniard.

Benitez of all people should appreciate the backing his employers are currently affording him; it is fair to say things would probably be different in his home country, where regular knee-jerk reactions ensure the managerial merry-go-round whirs at a steady pace.

But unless his team's results do not start to turn soon, he could become the top flight's first managerial casualty of the season, long before even the first window of the advent calendar is opened.

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