2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[davek]

I personally think it's completely unrealistic to think he lasts anywhere close to 18 months. The signs are there already and we know how this ends. You can't set a team up like that and get hammerred at Goodison. No one survives that for long. He only survives if he changes his defensive methods, and Benitez is too stubborn to change at this point of his career.

The squad is so paper thin where quality is concerned that just by having Mina out (the only one with a brain to organise and the only one who could be considered a proper leader CB) then the defence is completely useless.

That's not down to Benitez, that's down to his predecessors and Brands for pissing half a billion up against a wall.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

I think the crowd have generally been fine with him so far.

He won't survive many more games like Saturday though, nor would anybody.

Yeah he hadn’t had much grief up to now, the funny thing is though you don’t hear anyone chanting his name when we have won, especially after the comebacks against Southampton and Burnley, not a murmur. So I think he’s being tolerated to see what he can do, that’s going by speaking to lads at the game.

Saying that though, the abuse from all parts of the ground he got on Saturday was the worst I’ve seen happen so early into one of our managers tenure and for me that’s because he brings the baggage of being an ex RS manager.

We’ve got 6 difficult games coming up, if we struggle then I can see the atmosphere at Goodison getting very toxic towards Benitez and not just from a majority.

All that is just my opinion like.

 

[Ufotone]

Didn't want Benitez in the first place, BUT
I, like everyone else could see he made a great start, BUT
That great start has now stalled, DUE TO

Injuries (not his fault)
Playing Rondon all the time, there were (in my opinion) better options
Poor selections, Mina should have played against WHU and Watford, we should have another 6 points there

Looking at the coming fixtures without our key players, where are the points coming from?

As more fans turn against Benitez, we will slide down the table, how can we attract half decent players here even if we have £££ to spend.

Run up to Christmas critical for Benitez, I wish him well!

 

[Zatara]

Once we have played everyone once, I will judge whether we are doing very well.

We are currently 3 to 4 points down on what I expected from these fixtures, because we've only played one top 6 side. We also messed up a cup tie to lower league opponents and should be playing a league 1 side tonight.

By new year, I don't think things will be so positive. The defending is the simplest thing to fix and it is getting progressively worse week on week. We only have 1 defensive injury. That is far from a crisis!

4pts down for my predictions.

He's not done well at all so far. Not by any metric

 

[Toffeelover]

The squad is so paper thin where quality is concerned that just by having Mina out (the only one with a brain to organise and the only one who could be considered a proper leader CB) then the defence is completely useless.

That's not down to Benitez, that's down to his predecessors and Brands for pissing half a billion up against a wall.

That does not excuse Benitez keep picking that lad who could not even score 1 yard in front of an empty goal or even break into a run when needed.

 

[Toffeelover]

Newcastle wont be in for Benitez. You know it.

Benitez has done very well so far. The board know that too.

Things will have to get well out of hand for them to renege on their deal with Benitez after they employed him and handed him zero resources...and they've watched on as players have fallen victim to injury on an unprecedented scale.

I think many would disagree with that statement and quite rightly, the last two losses are fully down to Benitez.

 

[davek]

I think many would disagree with that statement and quite rightly, the last two losses are fully down to Benitez.

If you were told at the start of the season that a manager we had was handed less than £2M to spend in the summer, lost a first team player because of extra-football matters, and then was forced to field teams without our first choice strike partnership for over half the season so far, you'd have been amazed if someone told you that he'd got the team to 8th in the table.

You know you would.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Losing narrowly at home to West Ham when they're a good side right now and we have injury issues is a bitter pill to swallow but one you can forgive given the circumstances surrounding it

There's no universe where you can justify that Watford result

He needs to get a reaction out of these players, and fast

He also needs to stop messing Gordon around and just play him, whilst taking Rondon out of the firing line for a while and tightening up the defence, because none of that is helping his case right now

 

[HumbleWedbetters]

I've been extremely supportive of benitez. However..... If he persists with Rondon then
I fear he will be one of many stubborn managers who destroy their chances of succeeding.

I hoped that Rondon was way off fitness but it seems his legs have gone.

There is no way Rafael should play him or Iwobi in the next game.

 

[davek]

Didn't want Benitez in the first place, BUT
I, like everyone else could see he made a great start, BUT
That great start has now stalled, DUE TO
Injuries (not his fault)
Playing Rondon all the time, there were (in my opinion) better options
Poor selections, Mina should have played against WHU and Watford, we should have another 6 points there
Looking at the coming fixtures without our key players, where are the points coming from?

As more fans turn against Benitez, we will slide down the table, how can we attract half decent players here even if we have £££ to spend.

Run up to Christmas critical for Benitez, I wish him well!

He's been injured. I know he was named on the bench for the WHU game, but that had to be politics as the bench was threadbare and it looked terrible that the club had no one to put on it...even last week we had 2 GKs sitting on it.

 

[Toffeelover]

If you were told at the start of the season that a manager we had was handed less than £2M to spend in the summer, lost a first team player because of extra-football matters, and then was forced to field teams without our first choice strike partnership for over half the season so far, you'd have been amazed if someone told you that he'd got the team to 8th in the table.

You know you would.

Dave, I was so gutted after the Watford result nearly joined Gruocho's depression thread.

Bentiez could have managed the play and subbings better.

 

[BigDuncTributeBand]

If you were told at the start of the season that a manager we had was handed less than £2M to spend in the summer, lost a first team player because of extra-football matters, and then was forced to field teams without our first choice strike partnership for over half the season so far, you'd have been amazed if someone told you that he'd got the team to 8th in the table.

You know you would.

Amazed at 8th, with that fixture list? Behave yourself.

 

[davek]

Dave, I was so gutted after the Watford result nearly joined Gruocho's depression thread.

Bentiez could have managed the play and subbings better.

I was too. The last three goals were the most uncomfortable spectacle I've seen in a very long time. Arse end of the Martinez period stuff.

 

[davek]

Amazed at 8th, with that fixture list? Behave yourself.

There's only 2 teams in this league who I'd have no hope in getting a point off: Chelsea and City.

Let's not exaggerate the difficulty of playing Liverpool - who we took 4 points off last season - Spurs, Leicester, Arsenal etc.

 

[Bluebonic]

If you were told at the start of the season that a manager we had was handed less than £2M to spend in the summer, lost a first team player because of extra-football matters, and then was forced to field teams without our first choice strike partnership for over half the season so far, you'd have been amazed if someone told you that he'd got the team to 8th in the table.

You know you would.

I agree that in the main his influence has been positive, he got them fighting and refusing to lie down and die if we went a goal behind. I am definitely one of the haters, however Dave, his obstinance will be his undoing. Unless he was i jured, taking Gordon off was a very poor decision. playing with Rondon is like playing with ten men at present. To take off Gordon who was working hard instead of taking off Rondon was a critical error, compounded by the introduction of Iwobi. That effectively reduced us to nine men and with Allan flagging, Davies being Davies, our midfield crumbled. I personally doubt even the inclusion of Mina would have plugged the breach in the wall after that?

hopefully next game he starts with Richy instead of Rondon and Gordon comes back in.