Source: Daily_Mail
Martin Samuel: Don't weep for Rafa Benitez, he made his own bed...
There exists a very good reason why Liverpool have not gone creeping to Rafael Benitez to offer or receive assurances about his future at the club. Probably, when they gave him the five-year contract he had driven them mad for last season, they thought all that nonsense was over.[LNB]On March 17, 2009, having taken full advantage of making Liverpool competitive in the title race for the first time since arriving at Anfield, Benitez agreed a contract until 2014. Why, then, should the club be enquiring obsequiously about his long-term plans now?[LNB]As usual with Benitez, the details conflict. He is said to have cancelled two meetings with his bosses, yet only last week claimed there had been no moves to ensure he stayed. Yet, why should there be? If Benitez wants to go to Juventus who are in no better state than Liverpool, in that each club is no longer the powerhouse of old he needs to approach his employers and ask to be released, not the other way around. Chances are they will comply. The romance has long fled from this relationship.[LNB]No love lost: The romance between Liverpool and Benitez has long since died[LNB][LNB]It is worth remembering, too, that Benitez made the running over hislengthy commitment to Liverpool. Rick Parry, the chief executive, wasas good as thrown overboard to accommodate him and Benitez asked forcontrol of transfer policy, and received it. He got everything hewanted and has responded with a wipe-out. Liverpool supporters hadbetter hope their team did roll over against Chelsea on Sunday; if thatwas them trying, they really do have a problem.[LNB]Benitez is hinting that certain guarantees have not been met, butthis is an old tactic. Whether Liverpool have the money for the massiverebuilding project required after 105 player trades in five seasons isan entirely different matter. [LNB]What they do have, Benitez utilises as he wishes, and no manager canask for more. It is unrealistic to be allowed to spend money that theclub does not possess. Along this road Portsmouth lies and if Benitez was unaware that Liverpool were relatively impoverished until new owners could be found, he was alone in this misapprehension.[LNB]He certainly seemed keen enough to stay a year ago. Liverpool executives spent the season walking on eggshells around Benitez due to his demands for a long-term contract on his terms. [LNB]I recall the press team being terrified of allowing any one-on-one interviews with their manager, because the one time he sat down with a journalist he used theopportunity to relentlessly pursue his own agenda, leading to months ofspeculation about divisions at the club. He twice hijacked pressconferences on the eve of major matches to do the same.[LNB] More from Martin Samuel... Martin Samuel: Sorry City, it's a great result and Eastlands fans will approve06/05/10 Martin Samuel: Ribery case exposes the cowardice of our sweet FA02/05/10 MARTIN SAMUEL: Maddie, the heartrending dilemma30/04/10 Martin Samuel: Once upon a time there was a fairytale at the Cottage...29/04/10 Martin Samuel: Bravo, Jose for dousing Barcelona myth in Inter win29/04/10 Martin Samuel: Forget the halo, even the blessed Barca are tainted by greed27/04/10 Martin Samuel: Even the Special One can't hope to match Fergie feat25/04/10 MARTIN SAMUEL: We are just one puff of dust from disaster (again)22/04/10 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE [LNB]In the end, two results drove Benitez and his many caveats over theline. Liverpool beat Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield on March 10, then wentto Manchester United and won 4-1 on March 14. The supporters were understandably ecstatic.[LNB]Liverpool were on for a League and European double and Benitez coulddo no wrong. It was pondered whether any manager was more capable ofachieving those results for Liverpool; the answer was no, and by thetime the club next played Benitez had his five-year contract. [LNB]Since when, just about any bloke with a tracksuit and a grade onecoaching badge could have replicated Liverpool's form. With theexception of a home win over Manchester United in October this season,they have been second best to every good team they have played, and some lousy ones, like Reading, too.[LNB]At Valencia, his previous club, Benitez's chosen exit strategy wasto escape through the fog of civil war. It looks like a similar getawayis being schemed here. Benitez,sensing that even Gordon Brown could win a popularity contest againstthe present Liverpool owners, is likely to reach his new job in Serie Avia the high moral ground, spinning up tales of broken promises and executive incompetence.[LNB]As he has done considerably more for Liverpool in recent years thanany man in a suit, he will more than likely win this last skirmish.Does that mean he is justified? Not really. This season has been ascalamitous as 2004-05 was miraculous. [LNB] The miracle of Istanbul: Benitez and Steven Gerrard celebrate the mother of all comebacks in the Ataturk Stadium[LNB]Financial hardship is not the only myth circulating about Benitez'sreign. It is stated that he has been unfortunate because his pointstotal of 86 last season would have won the League this year. Unlikely.[LNB]If Chelsea beat Wigan Athletic on Sunday, their points total will be86 but their goal difference will be above its current level of 63.Liverpool finished with 86 points and plus 50 goals last season, sothey would have come second just the same, albeit narrowly.[LNB]The fact is, Manchester United got more than 86 points last year,making Liverpool second best, and this year when 86 would have been apotential title-winning tally, Liverpool can amass only 65, maximum.[LNB]Using last season's points total to make the case for Benitez thisyear is as redundant as the former managers of Newcastle United,Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion claiming that, unless Hull Citywin 11-0 on Sunday, the points totals on which they wererelegated last season would have been enough to keep them in thePremier League this year. Tough. Were you the worst three teams in theLeague in 2008-09? Then you deserved to go down. [LNB]The transfer market, not mathematics, has been Benitez's downfall. [LNB]His supporters always focus on his net spend, but that ismisleading, too. The majority of managers have to sell to buy,particularly in the current economic climate; it is what they buy thatis critical. Benitez has too often compounded the problems at Liverpoolwith misjudgments. [LNB]Alberto Aquilani (£17.1million), Andrea Dossena (£7m), Robbie Keane (£19m), AlbertRiera (£8m), Martin Skrtel (£6.5m), Lucas (£5m), Ryan Babel (£11.5m),Craig Bellamy (£6m), Jermaine Pennant (£6.7m), Mohamed Sissoko (£5.6m),Luis Garcia (£6m), Fernando Morientes (£6.3m).[LNB] Costly: The likes of Aquilini (left) and Riera were bought - at significant expense - by Benitez[LNB]That is more than £100m on players who have either failed atLiverpool or been, at best, temporary or ordinary. It does not matterthat Benitez has been made to wheel and deal. If he loses Peter Crouchfor £11m and spends the money wisely, Liverpool still end up a betterteam. If he loses Crouch and spends on the ineffective, lightly-usedBabel, Liverpool end up where they are now.[LNB]Benitez has spent £79.4m more than he has brought in, so has beengiven roughly £16m each season on top of what he has been able to drumup by selling players he does not rate. [LNB]Real hardship is bringing in £40m through player sales and beinggiven £10m to spend; not selling £40m and receiving a budget for £56m.Many of the candidates to replace him, not least Roy Hodgson at Fulham,would view Benitez's balance sheet as a windfall, not a free pass for adig at the directors and a private jet away from Anfield.[LNB]No doubt there will be more talk of broken promises as Benitez edgestowards the exit. He turned water into wine in his first season, waterinto Babycham on a few occasions after, and water into a stagnantbucket of rotting fish-heads almost from the moment he signed his new contract.[LNB]He will leave behind memories of magnificent individual victories,one epic night in Istanbul, the poison pill of a weak squad and adisillusioned Fernando Torres, now more vulnerable to a move fromChelsea. Over five years of gathering chaos the club can hardly moan,but neither should he. He can leave with head held high; stay muchlonger and his feet could be held higher.[LNB] Want to stop the lunatic fringe? Shut the groundsBad behaviour that is not stopped is encouraged. Maybe the day a professional is seriously injured the authorities will acknowledge the growing problem at football grounds. For now, it is all about the money. [LNB]The reaction of the Football Association to repeated pitch invasions during West Ham United's match with Millwall on August 25 was a fine of £115,000, or the salary of a first-team player for a fortnight. [LNB]It was a meaningless gesture, having no impact on the idiot protagonists and beingabsorbed quickly by the club. That night, senior executives had been sweating over allmanner of draconian outcomes; expulsion from the Carling Cup, maybe ground closure.[LNB]The fine meted out more than four months later was a good result. To justify it, the FA found West Ham guilty of two offences; failing to ensure that their supporters refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour, and failing to ensure that their fans did not enter the field of play. [LNB] Lunatic fringe: A West Ham fan confronts stewards at Upton Park in August[LNB]Ridiculous, really. The first offence would require man-to-man marking, the second the sort of fences that caused tragedy at Hillsborough. [LNB]The FA should have just shut the ground for three matches. Good ones, too. The whole of March, for instance, when West Ham had huge games lined up against Bolton Wanderers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City. [LNB]They lost them all anyway, but how much more powerful it would have been if, instead of thinking defeat occurred because the team were useless, the supporters imagined it was because of the oafs that invaded the pitch against Millwall.[LNB]The lunatic fringe might have thought twice then. They might have controlled themselves in future if their behaviour had nearly got the club relegated.[LNB]Sheffield Wednesday should not be able to open Hillsborough until four home games into the new season, the same goes for Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. [LNB]Punished clubs should have to foot the bill for giant screens to be erected for away fans at their own grounds, with compensation for any further loss of revenue, too.[LNB]We cannot go on like this.[LNB]Crystal Palace players attacked on the pitch in Sheffield, York City players pelted with missiles at Luton. [LNB] Duck and cover: York City's Michael Gash avoids the Luton fans[LNB]This is going to harm the World Cup bid we are told. Forget the bid, let's just do it to keep the players safe.[LNB]Let's do it, not because we think we might kill FIFA's mighty cash cow but because we have a duty to protect the people without whom there is no match.[LNB]There was a pitch invasion when Wigan Athletic scored late against Hull City on Monday. Why? There was nothing in the game for either side, unless anyone seriously expected Hull to overturn a goal difference of 22 in two matches, win twice and stay up. Wigan moved one place, to 15th. [LNB]End of season exuberance and entirely benign, we were informed, but that was notthe case at Sheffield Wednesday where Clint Hill, a Crystal Palace defender, waspunched or Luton where York striker Richard Brodie was struck by a coin. [LNB]What is it going to take for the FA to realise this is bigger than boosting their balancesheet? It concerns the right to play without fear of assault.[LNB] Getting tough: A pitch invader is tasered by police at Monday's baseball match between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St Louis Cardinals, in aweek which has seen pitch invasions return to English football[LNB]Most of the culprits will get away. Clubs always talk of life bans for offenders, but policearrested seven at Luton and eight in Sheffield, when anyone could see there werehundreds involved, whose only punishment will be a fine awarded to a distant figure in a suit, watching impotently from the directors' box. [LNB]If clubs are to pay, at least spread the pain, so the next time some thug is feeling tough in the company of 500 mates, there might be 30,000 surrounding him who aremoved to object.[LNB]VIDEO: Watch footage of police chasing baseball fan... [LNB]
