Bascombe this morning on the radio

[JimmyF]

Bascombe was on Talks**** this morning saying that Rafa is very frustrated, there are massive divisions between him and the upper management (Parry) and with foster gillet not being able to get his work permit till August is making matters worse (apparently Rafa is doing all his dealing with him and circumventing Parry)

 

Anyone read the Echo in the morning, apparently there is more in there about Benitez's frustration with parry, stuff about how he cocked on the hotel in Athens and the fact that they are no longer even speaking to eachother.

 

This is worrying I've got the feeling either Rafa or Parry will be gone before the start of next season, its not even a contest in terms who we all want to have booted out

Edited May 26, 2007 by JimmyF

[Sion]

Shouldn't be a contest with who G&H want booted out! I'd have said Parry would be on his way even if him and Rafa were on great terms, if they've had a falling out Parry's deffo on his way.

[Dan]

Blimey.

 

Adios Rick.

[lfc4eva99]

can ya post some details mate, dont get the echo where im at....

[Keita]

Deja vu as Benitez Lays Down the Law

 

Source - The Echo

 

"The loss of Paco Herrera last summer was compared to the departure of Patrice Bergues in 2001, which had a destabilising impact. At the moment, worryingly, that still stands.

 

Make no mistake, Liverpool head into the closed season a club deeply divided, with talented backroom personnel leaving (talked about McParland being a big loss and Macias' record with transfers and dodgy Italian agents being questionable earlier in the article) and many key figures barely on speaking terms.

 

If the summer of 2004 was considered one of the clubs most important in recent history, it may look like a picnic in comparision to what may follow"

 

Thats the closing few paragraphs of Bascombe's piece today in the pink. He talks of "shambolic" organisation on Wednesday and in the build up were Rafa had to give up his hotel room along with most of the players because the hotel they were staying at was block booked for a medical conference.

 

The piece is quite cutting and I'm praying it's being sensationalised. I felt a bit better yesterday when I heard Rafa say we're getting 2 in and it appeared we were moving quickly.

[Clay Davis]

Benitez is "a man at the end of his tether". Being a bit of a whopper at the moment isnt he.

[RafaShanks]

This is worrying I've got the feeling either Rafa or Parry will be gone before the start of next season, its not even a contest in terms who we all want to have booted out

 

I'm not worried at all apart from our transfers this summer. Parry's incompetence has been going on for years. One fiasco after another.

 

He'll be here for another season or so until Foster is adequately groomed on LFC matters.

[Clay Davis]

Either that or its absolutely 100% necessary that we sign players now and progress now.

 

which is strange.

[allez les rouges]

so parry scouts in personally and selects the hotel for the team does he???? b******s

Edited May 26, 2007 by allezlesrouge

[JimmyF]

The most worrying thing is that if this unstability causes us to miss out on transfer targets then we are fecked, only time will tell. Bascombe does has a tendency to be a bit a drama queen

[Billy Dane]

This true about the hotel being double booked? Right comedy of errors if so.

[Guest JV]

Sure I read somewhere that UEFA allocate the hotels.

[charlie clown]

Sure I read somewhere that UEFA allocate the hotels.

 

yes, was on here last week - it was something like the squad got there and then had to move to somewhere else beause the one they'd been allocated was so poor. Whether Parry was the one who sorted out the second one they or not I dunno.

[Billy Dane]

So UEFA appeared to have screwed us on the hotel and the Italian fans got the main terminal at the airport whilst the Liverpool fans were stuck in a tent with no facilities.

 

When, as a club, are we going to stand up for ourselves?

[Guest mark1]

yes, was on here last week - it was something like the squad got there and then had to move to somewhere else beause the one they'd been allocated was so poor. Whether Parry was the one who sorted out the second one they or not I dunno.

according to an interview rafa done on spanish radio leading up to the final,it was uefa who picked the hotel,liverpool(parry?)had already picked a hotel which was perfect.

and when they got to athens they were put in this hotel that uefa picked,rooms were too small so they changed rooms rather than hotel?

i dont know whether rafa was covering up parrys ball up or this is what really happened,dont think hed make untrue claims against uefa on national radio.

 

i remember reading it and thinking that these were inconveniences we really could do without leading up to such an important game.

[Zoob]

Yeah, on that interview, Rafa said the beds were too soft or something, which for any kind of athlete, is significant. Thought it all a bit strange at the time though - the idea of UEFA picking our hotel is odd.

 

 

Also find the idea of it taking ages for Foster to get a work permit a bit odd.

Edited May 26, 2007 by Zoob

[RafaShanks]

Also find the idea of it taking ages for Foster to get a work permit a bit odd.

 

Didn't Parry put in the application for that?

[Frosty Jack]

Parrys tie caught in the fax machine, perpetually.

[Guest ziggystardust]

im getting increasingly worried rafa may be off this summer

[JimmyF]

Lifted from TLW:

 

Here's the full article

 

 

Déjà vu as Benitez lays down the law

 

 

In the summer of 2004, Steven Gerrard gave an interview which exposed why the Gerard Houllier regime had run it?s course.

 

Having been at the end of his tether for the best part of 18 months, disturbed by the lack of progress of his club, he decided in the immediate aftermath of Liverpool?s Champions League qualification enough was enough

 

?The next few weeks will be the most important in the recent history of this football club? he said

 

?I will be watching what happens very closely?

 

Liverpool had just pipped Newcastle to the fourth Champions League spot, and while Houllier was hailing the achievement, the captain was mourning the fact such a routine expectation was now being perceived as worthy.

 

There was a clear subtext to Gerrard?s comments then, and although he stopped short of demanding a change of manager, this was the inevitable consequence of any revelution.

 

Had Liverpool not acted, they wouldn?t have avoided their narrow escape when Chelsea made the second of their three summer approaches for Gerrard between 2003-5.

 

It?s impossible not to be reminded of the agitation and hunger for change Gerrard felt then when Rafa Benitez speaks now.

 

On Thursday morning he effectively repeated what the captain had said three years ago.

 

?The club must act now?the next few weeks are crucial?if we don?t do more we can?t compete for the title?etc??

 

There are those who argue to dismiss the competency of the entire structure of the club takes the argument to the extreme, but the shambolic organisation of the Athens trip did nothing to help those in the firing line, even if UEFA carry most blame.

 

In the early hours of the morning, as Benitez pondered what to say at Thursday?s press conference, he was strolling the streets around the team hotel because he had no room to sleep in.

 

The facilities at the team?s base were described by management and players as shocking.

 

When Liverpool?s representatives spent a couple of days in Athens after the semi-final, they were promised luxurious bedrooms which turned out to be unavailable when the team arrived.

 

AC Milan encountered similar problems.

 

In their Wisdom, UEFA picked a city with just one airport in the same week a major global pharmaceutical conference was held, block booking all the top hotels. Fiasco doesn?t do this organisation justice.

 

Many players had to move out as soon as they arrived, with Benitez eventually giving up his room completely.

 

?If we don?t win, there will be bloodshed at this club? someone close to the manager warned on Tuesday evening, making it clear Benitez saw UEFA as partially but not exclusively responsible for the problems.

 

The zeal for revolution this column reported on last week was evident in Benitez?s comments after the match.

 

Wednesday night felt like a watershed for Liverpool in Europe. Rather than a climax of an exciting new era, it was the end of one.

 

From the callous approach of UEFA to the depressing site of a minority of fans pushing down barriers (how do they qualify these actions when they?re wearing yellow justice stickers I may ask?), right through to the inappropriate preparations of UEFA and the club which were frankly embarrassing.

 

The majority of right minded Liverpool supporters must have made the depressing return feeling wounded by their experience. I know many who wonder why they bother. The idea of the European Cup final is sometimes more exciting that the experience of it.

 

George Gillett and Tom Hicks have spent six months commenting on their extraordinary purchase, but nothing exposes the cracks more than a cup final defeat.

 

It?s now up to them to keep their part of the bargain and ensure on and off the pitch Liverpool is run like a club worthy of its stature.

 

The focus is shifting to them, and it?s their job to shift it back to Benitez.

 

They?ll do this by investing in the team and then taking care of the other under-funded departments.

 

If they succeed, it?s then up to Benitez to prove how astute he is in the transfer market.

 

The loss of chief scout Frank McParland to Bolton is a blow, especially since the jury is out on the track record of Eduardo Macia. His purchases must be up to scratch if the money is there, but he can be sure his dependency on the same Italian agents will be monitored if the signings aren?t good enough.

 

The loss of Paco Herrera last summer was compared to the departure of Patrice Bergues in 2001 which had a destabilising impact. At the moment, worryingly, that still stands.

 

Make no mistake, Liverpool head into the closed season a club deeply divided, with talented backroom personnel leaving and many key figures barely on speaking terms.

 

If the summer of 2004 was considered one of the clubs most important in recent history, it may look like a picnic in comparison to what may follow.

[Guest ojdk]

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpo...-name_page.html

[New York Red]

Who is Foster?

[nb]

Who is Foster?

 

Gillette jr

[Kite]

Hard to understand what the motivation behind all this is.

 

We know Uefa picked the hotel, so why is that a Parry c**k up? We know Parland wasn't offered a contract so why is his loss a big deal? We know that some of the players Rafa selected for purchase have been a bit crap, but others have been excellent... so, what's the big deal?

 

Seems like someone, somewhere, is back at their usual summer pursuit of s*** stirring again

[Molby]

Bascombe is the most credible and knowledgeable journo around for this kind of stuff, although I haven't always liked him

 

this stuff has been building up for over a year; I've had all these snippets passed from my inside sources - lots of anecdotal stuff all building up to this climax

 

Rafa had fallen out with Parry some time ago about the overall running of the club and would most certainly want to leave if he could not take charge of it himself, even if that just meant delegating to people he thought competent

 

the climax appeared to be a happy ending with this takeover and I'm a bit shocked by Rafa's outburst; who knows? he may qualify it in a day or so to calm things down like he has done before

 

but what this shows is that time and again, when it's been pretty clear that there is a malaise within the club, there has been exactly that - a f***ing malaise and Rafa's supreme professionalism and pr skills in smoothing things over are only to calm things down for the good of everyone at the club

 

once again people, the picture of the thing is not the thing itself

 

what we need now is a shedload of cash and Parry to f*** off and hopefully all will be well

it is absolutely clear that Rafa does not want to deal with Parry and I've known this for a long time now

 

 

go to UEFA Rick - fight our cause from within