Over the last few months I have seen article upon article filling the back pages of the dailies stating that Rafael Benitez‘s position at Liverpool is about to come to an end.
Firstly, I think this is a load of rubbish. OK, so he did have a public spat with the clubs owners Hicks and Gillet but that’s because he was keen to ensure the transfer targets he was after could be pursued and secured for January. This is because he wants to do well for the club.
I think the new owners have conducted themselves well and they are showing their love for the club by investing so much money into the new stadium at Stanley Park.
However, I think they need to work with Benitez rather than falling out in public, as this can make the club look foolish, which is no good for anyone. If they team up and keep their arguing internal they would probably be able to avoid these unwanted stories reaching the media.
Most of the Liverpool fans love Benitez, and so they should, as he has delivered success since he has been there, scooping the European Cup along with several others. However, his critics would say he hasn’t managed to secure the title.
I would argue that only one club can secure the title each year and its getting harder and harder. In fact, we may well see Chelsea coming in 3rd this year and look how much money they have spent over the last few years.
However, under Benitez the club as a whole has moved forward – scoring more points year on year. The youth team are better, the second team are better and the first team has more options for varied play than its had in years.
Lets not forget that when this man took over, he had some shocking players in his squad including Bruno Cheyrou and Igor Biscan – to name a couple who didn’t really cut it.
Switch to 2007 and these days the team has good, developing players coming through the ranks who all seem to be offering something a little different and this is mainly down to Benitez and his long-term vision.
Even if Benitez doesn’t secure the title this year – I hope the papers don’t start calling for his head again. I don’t think he should be sacked – he should be backed!!!
Chris Norton is the founder of Prohibition and an award winning communications consultant with more than twenty years’ experience. He was a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and has had a varied PR career having worked both in-house and in a number of large consultancies. He is an Integrated PR and social media blogger and writes on a wide variety of blogs across a huge amount of topics from digital marketing, social media marketing right through to technology and crisis management.
