Rafa Benitez for me. Absolutely no doubt in my mind about that whatsoever. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the sacking of Rafa Benitez in 2010 was without doubt the single biggest fudge up ever made by a Liverpool 'board' ever. An absolutely fudging shambolic decision that pretty much epitomized the state of our utterly mismanaged affairs at that time. And I don't care how instrumental Purslow may have subsequently been in ridding the club of Hicks and Gillette because the long term damage of that decision is still being felt today. I remember shaking my head when I heard that Rafa had been sacked and thinking "this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better". And so it has. There really is no point saying otherwise.
Rafa got the axe on the back of a season where we finished on 63 points, 7 points adrift of the top 4. Despite the fact that we struggled hugely that season (a season described by many as our worst under him) we were still in there fighting it out for a Champions League spot right up until the last handful of games. Despite a lot of things going against us that season (especially with injuries which hampered our form) we came pretty close. Alas we didn't quiet make and Rafa was dismissed.
So out went a manager who had twice broken the club record league points tally, and who had made us the number 1 ranked team in European competition, and in came Roy Hodgson. And so began a free fall. Team cohesion collapsed on the pitch, confidence was drained, the players looked like they literally had no clue as to what our game plan actually was. Hodgson's tenure is one which I just try to blank from my memory these days, such was the scale of his failure, not to mention the total fudging idiocy of the decision to appoint him in the first place. We were on our knees at that point. As a team we looked totally depleted. There really was only one person who could have picked up the pieces at that point and restore us to resembling a team that knew who they were playing for. And that was Kenny.
And so he came back. I can't put in words what it felt like seeing him return at Old Trafford. It was beyond epic. I mean, he's Kenny Dalglish. He's Mr. Liverpool FC. His status is untouchable. He's without question the single biggest living icon associated with Liverpool Football club. But that in some ways tells you the magnitude of the damage that had been caused in the wake of Rafa's dismissal and Roy's appointment. Things had gotten so bad that there really was no one else we could have turned to at that point to steady the ship and restore pride. We simply had to go to the top man in Kenny. He was the only one with the status big enough to command instant commitment to the cause from our players. We desperately needed him and only him, and he was never going to say no to us in our hour of need. That's what I find so saddening about it all.
You see to me, Kenny's return wasn't just any appointment, it was an appointment that was made out of absolute necessity due to the mess created by our own shambolic decision making. And because of his undying adoration for the club he jumped at the chance to take the job on and help us. Part of me feels that he took the job on through a feeling of duty to the club, without fully realizing what he was actually getting into. After all, bear in mind Kenny had been out of management for a decade. 10 years is a pretty long time when you think about it. But such was our need for someone of his status to rescue us, and such was his willingness, that the reunion was simply inevitable. His reappointment was one under extremely emotional circumstances.
To be fair, he did steady the ship. We did put in some excellent performances at the back end of last season. It was quiet a contrast to see a team go from resembling mid table fodder to one which played some very good attacking football. Suarez dazzled us early doors and Torres was forgotten about pretty quickly. Kenny done exactly what we needed him to do and all was happy in the camp again. We finished the season on 58 points. No one pointed to the fact that our total was 5 points less than Rafa's tally the year previous. No one pointed to the fact that the gap between us and 4th had now gone from 7 points to 10 points, and no one pointed to the fact that we were now out of all European competition. Most were just happy that Kenny had come in an rescued us from the disaster that was Roy's tenure. The fact that we had recovered to finish on 58 points was probably an achievement in itself, but nevertheless, our points haul graph had gone downwards from the previous year.
I wont go into what happened this season in too much detail. I'll just summarize it by saying that it was a season where we finished on a very disappointing 52 points having spent quiet a significant amount of money by our normal standards on attacking talent. Again our points haul graph has gone downwards, and again the points gap between us and 4th has increased, this time to 17 points. I personally believe that Kenny should have been given another season but defending him was not what I set out to do here. I set out to make the point that you simply cannot deny the fact that things have gotten progressively worse for us since Rafa left. Our gradually lowering point totals prove it, and the ever widening gap to 4th bolsters it.
See, the grass wasn't so greener on the other side afterall was it? For me there is only one man suited to taking the job on from here and that's Rafa. I say let him come back and let him finish what he started here. And I know I'm not alone in thinking it. He knows the club inside out. He understands the structure of the youth academy. Afterall he was the one who revamped it by bringing in Segura and Bondell. Many of the younger players in the academy were signed by Rafa. Those were foundations that he laid. Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Lucas, Shelvey are all Rafa signings and are all integral (perhaps with the slight exception of Shelvey for now) to our current spine and first team. I also think Rafa would turn Henderson into a commanding midfield presence by maximizing his potential and could very well get Downing playing in a system that allows him to be more direct.
It was wrong what happened to Rafa, wrong as fudge. He had a grand plan for Liverpool Football club which sadly was usurped by fudging idiots in power who just didn't come close to having the same footballing foresight as him. But its not too late to put it back on track. Its only been 2 seasons that he has been away. The foundation he built is still very much in place and I doubt he'd need too long to familiarize himself with those who arrived during his absence. With the right backing I'm sure, fudge it, I fudging well know Rafa would have us back in the top 4 soon with the ambition to challenge further. I know he'd lead us back into Europe, and I know of no other manager who I'd want at the helm of a Liverpool team going into battle against Europe's best. His record pretty much bricks all over every single one of the current names being connected with the position
So John Henry, you say you want stability? You want a guy to implement a long term strategy? You want someone with a proven track record? Someone with pedigree? A winner? Someone who's driven to be the best in everything he does? Then do what most of us want and reappoint Rafa Benitez. Let him finish what he started before our previous board went and fudged everything up on us. Give him the backing he needs and the resources to do it and I'm willing to put my gonad on the chopping board and say that the Champions League theme tune will be back ringing around Anfield quicker than you can say Roberto fudging Martinez. We don't want fudging nomarks from fudging Wigan or Sawnsea, we just want our manager back. The one who many of us feel should still be at the helm today. The one who will make us great again. Do it and I'll consider forgiving you just a tiny bit for what you did to Kenny you brickhouse. Bring back Rafael Benitez and lets get this show back on the fudging road