Liverpool's Rick Parry seeks peace talks with Rafa Benitez

Apr 15 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

George Gillett with Rick Parry in the directors box _320

RICK PARRY has signalled his intention to clear the air with Rafael Benitez over the rift that has increased the uncertainty over the Liverpool manager’s future.

Benitez was alarmed at the weekend to discover that the Anfield chief executive was present at a meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann to discuss a proposal to replace him as Liverpool manager.

Within minutes of Sunday’s 3-1 Barclays Premier League win over Blackburn Rovers, Benitez demanded urgent talks with the club’s board and has subsequently been involved in e-mail correspondence with American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Benitez and Parry have not seen eye-to-eye for some time, but the chief executive yesterday declared his willingness to clarify the situation with the Spaniard.

Parry said: “I am more than happy to sit down and talk to Rafa about this.”

It has emerged two meetings were held with Klinsmann, with initial talks held in New York before the widely-reported summit at Hicks’s holiday home in California during Thanksgiving weekend in November.

Parry was present at only the first meeting, with sources close to the chief executive claiming he only attended under orders from the club’s owners.

Nevertheless, Benitez is deeply unhappy that Parry did not inform him of his involvement in the talks, with the Spaniard fearing his position is being undermined as a result.

And should the civil war in the Anfield boardroom continue for much longer, Benitez will seriously consider his future in the summer with the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Valencia all thought to be interested in his services.

Liverpool were keen to close ranks yesterday to ensure the in-fighting does not detract from today’s memorial service to mark the 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

While neither Hicks nor Gillett are expected to attend, Benitez and Parry will both be present along with the entire first-team squad, the families and around 3,000 fans to remember the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives during the FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield in 1989.

Despite the ructions behind the scenes, Spanish striker Fernando Torres believes Benitez will remain at the club “for a long time”.

“Rafa has coached in Spain and England and his ideas are the same,” said the striker.

“The difference is in Spain he was a coach and here he is a manager, coach, in charge of signings, in charge of the youth teams, the man who chooses the coaches who he thinks are the right ones for the reserve team.

“(Manchester United manager Sir Alex) Ferguson or (Arsenal manager Arsene) Wenger are the examples that show that in England even when you’re not winning trophies clubs give time to their coaches.

“I think that Benitez is going to be at Liverpool for a long time.”