Comment: At least Sven knows where he stands

May 5 2008

Multimedia Background image for 'Rafa Benitez press conference'

UNDERMINED by foreign owners. Fans chanting his name in fear of those ructions leading to his departure.

And nothing to play for at the end of a campaign that promised so much for so long but has delivered so little.

And Rafael Benitez thought he had problems. But even if the Liverpool manager has some sympathy with Sven- Goran Eriksson, perhaps he should save it.

After all, at least his final opposition manager at Anfield this season is under no illusions as to what is going on.

Eriksson’s only short-term plans might involve some Caribbean holiday making inroads into yet another redundancy pay-off, but at least he can start making them.

Benitez can’t look forward to anything similar – and not just because he doesn’t like going to the beach.

As crazy as Thaksin Shinawatra is, at least his position is clear.

I own the club, I don’t like the manager, so he’s going.

Suddenly all this clamour for everyone at Anfield to sit round a table and get everything out into the open doesn’t seem so appealing.

But at least Benitez can rest assured that when it does happen, he won’t be victim to the appalling lack of gratitude Eriksson has received for taking them all the way to the end of April before they became a national laughing stock. Progress indeed.

Not even Tom Hicks would stoop to that.

And the fact that both he and DIC have voiced their backing for Benitez whatever the outcome of the ownership wrangle, his job should be safe – should he want it.

Because while boardroom backing is one thing, financial backing is another world entirely.

A world currently inhabited by Manchester United and Chelsea. To join them there the cold, hard fact is cold, hard cash is needed.

It’s clear Liverpool need significant investment to assemble a squad good enough to match the top two.

If this takes years, Benitez insists he will hang around long enough to see it through.

But somebody needs to assure him he will get a guarantee of that. Otherwise – a bit like the feeling surrounding yesterday’s lap of ‘honour’ – he’s hanging around for no reason.

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