2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[Kev The Rat]

I'll be honest the talk of us putting in a performance under the lights is obviously an appealing one - as its something that has happened before under various managers.

I dont think it will happen this time however, as my fear is the players themselves have rejected this manager utterly, in a similar way perhaps that many of the fans have. It could be down to past associations or outdated tactics or inabilty to set his team up properly - all of which is manifestly obviously true, but I believe that the players have downed tools and are now refusing to play for this man specifically.

 

[Carloblues]

In terms of on here I agree as certain posters are focused more on Benitez than EFC these days.

But the owners wont be bothered about the fact we are sat 12th when we couldn't spend a penny in the summer and Moshiri has already blamed injuries for our poor form whether thats right or wrong.

The only thing that gets him sacked this season is falling into the bottom 3 and staying there a few games and a win tonight puts us too far ahead of the likes of Newcastle, Norwich and Burnley to catch us when you look at their own fixture lists.

the owners arent bothered we are 12th?

why would they sack the man "in charge" of recruitment then if they werent bothered?

 

[ForeverBlue92]

We aren't mid table. We are 16th.

3 points tonight and we go 12th 5 points off 7th.

 

[Wat Tyler]

Sack him.

 

[The Penalty Box Dancer]

I can't remember the last time we all dug deep and sent an opposition team packing with every player performing well above their station. The one that comes to mind is the Arsenal performance under the lights under Koeman.

 

[Kev The Rat]

3 points tonight and we go 12th 5 points off 7th.

the players wont play for him - previous coaches could have got something out of them on a night like this. Even if it was only a very basic ' do it for the fans' rallying cry.

but now, like the fans, the players have now seen through him and wont respond.

 

[LocalNative]

3 points tonight and we go 12th 5 points off 7th.

Defeat tonight and we remain 2 points above 17th having lost more games than Burnley and Newcastle who're in the relegation zone.

It could get toxic again tonight if we lose.

 

[Kev The Rat]

Defeat tonight and we remain 2 points above 17th having lost more games than Burnley and Newcastle who're in the relegation zone.

It could get toxic again tonight if we lose.

Agreed, and whats worse its obvious the players arent having him. Who can blame them tbf.

 

[Marius57]

3 points tonight and we go 12th 5 points off 7th.

And if we had won all 14 games we would be top of the league. So what.

We are currently 16th. Not mid table. That's a facht.

 

[Thetigerblue]

Agreed, and whats worse its obvious the players arent having him. Who can blame them tbf.

Me. Who exactly are they waiting for to turn them into world-beaters? Pep?

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Defeat tonight and we remain 2 points above 17th having lost more games than Burnley and Newcastle who're in the relegation zone.

It could get toxic again tonight if we lose.

Agreed - although the bottom 3 have some tricky fixtures coming up:

Newcastle: Leicester, RS, City, Utd
Norwich: Utd, Villa, WHU, Arsenal
Burnley: WHU, Watford, Villa, us

We're 5 points with a better GD off the bottom 3 and those fixtures above it'll take us to lose our next 3 and one of the above to get at minimum 6 points out their next 3 games to knock us into the bottom 3.

Very unlikely to happen.

 

[tsubaki]

I'll be honest the talk of us putting in a performance under the lights is obviously an appealing one - as its something that has happened before under various managers.

I dont think it will happen this time however, as my fear is the players themselves have rejected this manager utterly, in a similar way perhaps that many of the fans have. It could be down to past associations or outdated tactics or inabilty to set his team up properly - all of which is manifestly obviously true, but I believe that the players have downed tools and are now refusing to play for this man specifically.

This is why I think, if he is serious, he has to start either Simms or Dobbin - it would be an admission that he has been wrong and would change the mindset of the players and the crowd; both would be encouraging the youth to do well in a way that wouldn't happen with Rondon (or Tosun, who for all I think has been badly treated here would be mad to put 100% into any game for us at this point - if he gets injured, we aren't going to look after him).

 

[Kev The Rat]

Me. Who exactly are they waiting for to turn them into world-beaters? Pep?

theyve got certain results on specific occasions such as these under very average managers like Silva, Allardyce, Koeman

Why cant this pig get the same boost from them?

 

[Harryflashman]

3 points tonight and we go 12th 5 points off 7th.

Absolutely but fail to win we’re even more in trouble , we haven’t won since September FFS we’re rock bottom of the form table and the only win for the team above us , and the one two above , is us !

I genuinely hope we win but dismissing concerns by saying if we win we’ll be this and that feels a little bit like avoiding an obvious problem .

 

[tsubaki]

Agreed - although the bottom 3 have some tricky fixtures coming up:

Newcastle: Leicester, RS, City, Utd
Norwich: Utd, Villa, WHU, Arsenal
Burnley: WHU, Watford, Villa, us

We're 5 points with a better GD off the bottom 3 and those fixtures above it'll take us to lose our next 3 and one of the above to get at minimum 6 points out their next 3 games to knock us into the bottom 3.

Very unlikely to happen.

Norwich and Burnley could easily both get 6 points out of those games (Burnley against us and Watford, Norwich against United and Villa).