Big call for Liverpool fans - Kenny or Rafa?
Rafael Benitez has admitted to Sky Sports News that it is his dream to once again manage Liverpool, however he has conceded that such a move is unlikely to occur in the immediate future given Kenny Dalglish's success since stepping in for Roy Hodgson in January.
The Spanish tactician remains very highly regarded by most Reds supporters - though he has a fair few detractors too - having defied expectations to guide the club to their fifth Champions League trophy in 2004-05, while he came close to ending their title drought in finishing second in 2008-09.
There was plenty of dissent against both the decision to axe Benitez last summer and his treatment in the media, which meant that it was always going to be difficult for successor Roy Hodgson to win some fans round, especially as they felt he was treated better by the press due to his nationality.
Benitez's admirers on Merseyside continued to defend him during a testing time at Inter, and many sided with him during a brief spat with Hodgson, but despite being back on the market he has been forgotten somewhat due to the comeback of Kenny Dalglish, arguably the ultimate Anfield legend.
He has already guided them to victories over Chelsea and Manchester United and brought them to within four points off fifth-placed Tottenham, who they are [3.4] to finish above.
King Kenny has yet to agree a deal to keep him in the dugout beyond this season though, despite almost universal backing from the stands, which is perhaps what has prompted Benitez to gently remind John Henry and co that he is current unemployed and would like to be considered.
So the question is Liverpool fans - who would you prefer? Tell us below...
Published: 24 Mar 2011
Handrit (March 24, 2011 10:19 AM) said:
King Kenny all the way ........
Rafa is excellent as well, but Kenny is Liverpool !!!
Why don't they get both :-)
gaz wood (March 24, 2011 10:20 AM) said:
dalglish all day long for me, it would be two steps backwards if rafa came back the KING ALL DAY LONG!!!
Doyle (March 24, 2011 10:20 AM) said:
The King any day of the week over any Manager alive !!!
JT (March 24, 2011 10:28 AM) said:
Kenny.
Paul (March 24, 2011 10:34 AM) said:
Thanks but no thanks Rafa! You won the CL with a team that was pretty much the one that Houllier built. You spent around £200M in the time that you were there on sub standard players! As if John Henry is going to start waving his cheque book at you to allow you to do that again! Oh, and you swamped the academy with rubbish spanish players! Its funny how Martin Kelly & Jay Spearing have only managed to break into the team properly this season isnt it!!!!
Spion Wells (March 24, 2011 10:35 AM) said:
Although king kenny is a brill manager I would still like to see rafa b given another chance at the helm after all he did take us to 2 champions league finals and finish 2nd in the league when really we should have won the title that season... The old owners never gave him much backing when it came to buying the players rafa wanted e.g. Dani alves before his move to barca.
If it where up to me I'd like to see rafa back next season.
YNWA
Vijen (March 24, 2011 10:40 AM) said:
Its a difficult question to answer as I have great respect for both of them. Rafa has always had a turbulent time with Tom and Hicks and was never supported with big money. He had to wheel and deal hence the number of players he bought and sold.My opinion is had he be given the resources we would have won the league. All the players he wanted and could not buy makes you think. After all he bought Xabi Alonso who we never heard of previously.
I would love for him to manage Liverpool again in the next few years without a doubt.
But for now Kenny Daglish is doing an awesome job at a very difiicult period in Liverpool history.
He is the man that is respected by all and have you noticed the media? Which media is against him? and even fergie respects him.It should be SIR KENNY DAGLISH. The players he bought Andy Carol & Luis Suraez awesome. We know the intentions of the caliber of players Kenny is looking for and he has been getting the support from the Owners. So my vote will have to go for Kenny at this time but if it did not work out in the future I want the club to retain him in some capacity. He is a Legend and Mr Liverpool that we all respect. We all can feel the good times coming back.
I will have to vote for Kenny daglish and if anything had to happen I would want Rafa Benitez back and this time given the support that he so badly lacked by the previous owners.
Vijen
South Africa
Andy (March 24, 2011 11:07 AM) said:
These look like old quotes to me but to answer the question it would be Rafa for me.
Idiots like Paul can revise history all they want but the fact is Rafa almost won us the league on a shoestring budget.
Paul (March 24, 2011 11:10 AM) said:
Why would anyone want a manager who from 2006, spent over £200 million and won nothing. Forced Xabi Alonso out after humiliating him by trying to sell him for a lesser player, gareth 'overrated' barry without his knowledge. Got rid of Arbeloa after a bust up with carragher on the pitch, carragher should have gone not Arbeloa, sold the best centre back we've had in twenty years, Sami Hyypia humiliated Keane, Bellamy, Crouch bought some garbage, made some awful decisions and tactaclly inept. No thanks, Mr Dalglish all the way.
gianni khan (March 24, 2011 11:11 AM) said:
Kenny we love give him a chance,Rafa waiting 4 his return yes i would love it if he came back!!
I rafa we trust ynwa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve Frankle (March 24, 2011 11:20 AM) said:
King Kenny all the way. He is Liverpool through and through and has brought the feel good factor back.
I'm afraid Rafa lost the plot in the last year and lost the relationship with the players.
john (March 24, 2011 11:27 AM) said:
Well said Paul...
it is creepy maggots like Andy that needs feeding to fishes, Raffa almost won us the league SOOO! he almost got us relegated...
Face fact, if it is not Kenny then let it be someone like Jose, Raffa....do me a favour and just "get lost" you may have won some trophies but your football is rubbish and so are your trainning methods, selections and treatment of the youngsters.
p.s
Raffa also sulks too much for a grown man.
mike red (March 24, 2011 11:55 AM) said:
Rafa is a fool and had no clue as a manager. He was the reason the club was in such a shambles when Kenny took over. We were in decline for years under him and some of the decisions he made at the club were comical…He spent over 200 mil. Retire like a good man rafa....
Alison Brown (March 24, 2011 12:03 PM) said:
Hi I am a huge Liverpool fan for thirty years and my favourite manager of all time was Rafa he is much better than kenny dalglish as lease even though he is spanish you can under stand him better than the scots they talk through there teeth rubbish bring back rafa any day even my auntie cousin and uncle and so please get rid of dalglish and bring back rafa benitez for god sake
Sean.C (March 24, 2011 12:15 PM) said:
F*** OFF RAFA, DON'T COME BACK EVER, (extract removed), U DISRESPECTED OUR PLAYERS BY TREATING BADLY TO THEM, S*** SIGNINGS, S*** TACTICS AND S*** ATTITUDE. SO I HATED U.
I TRUST KING KENNY AND HE WILL BE SUCCESS WITH US AND HE'S SUCH A GREAT FELLA. Y.N.W.A
gohlh (March 24, 2011 12:21 PM) said:
Yes King Kenny is Liverpool and Liverpool is King Kenny. He is as big as the club, Hail the King.
Like i have said many times, unless Henry wants an empty stadium next season, he can go around to pick another manager. He has made a wise choice to pick King Kenny, don't think he is so stupid to pick others.
Shafiku Mahama Wallace (March 24, 2011 1:34 PM) said:
In kenny we trust.No rafa is a confusion man.he was having problem with alot of prayers.Reira,Bellamy,Beneyoun etc.with kenny be have a peaceful and lovely players.he wasted alot of money too.some of the players were fed up with him.rafa tactics is past inter have alot of world class players and he did nothing plz rafa stay away.IN KENNY WE TRUST
udit (March 24, 2011 3:25 PM) said:
in my opinion kenny is liverpool......he breathes red and eats red........you cant replace him at this point.....but on the other hand rafa brought in all the spanish stars and the champions league ......still my vote goes to kenny.ynwa
Messy (March 24, 2011 3:27 PM) said:
Hahahaha KING KENNY all the way. I thinkthere should be no further debates about the manager. As Handrit said KENNY is liverpool so it it KING is back so just enjoy the golden time guys.
Dave The Red (March 24, 2011 4:10 PM) said:
What planet is Paul on, are you even a Liverpool fan??? Some of the rubbish that has come out of your mouth has been almost laughable, and it " should have been Carragher that went" not arbeloa one was the funniest are you serious. Your a idiot who obviously knows nothing about our football club.
Betfair Football (March 24, 2011 4:22 PM) said:
Thanks for the trademark fantastic response, Liverpool fans. Some good points made in favour of both men, with Dalglish clearly the favourite with most.
REGHAN (March 25, 2011 6:12 AM) said:
No matter how much I like and respect Rafa Benitez, I would wish for no person other than Kenny Dalglish to manage Liverpool. There's rumour Guus Hiddink will return to coach a premiership team this summer. He is a great manager but Kenny Dalglish is the BEST!!!
Dami (March 25, 2011 7:06 AM) said:
I would prefer king kenny because he has done gud things since his arrival. So he won some unexpected match and make some gud signing and even put some young player like martin kelly jay spearing and the like of dani pacheco
tepfaz (March 25, 2011 8:24 AM) said:
Rafa? Are you joking? The chopping and changing man sucks!! It's an emphatic NO to him! It's King Kenny or The Special One for me.
Antix1 (March 26, 2011 1:13 AM) said:
Interesting. Lets look at the facts, under Rafa, we played boring Anti Football, he alienated players, his rotation policy was ridiculous, he got kicked out of inter for being useless after only 12 games, we should have won the league 2 years ago if it weren't for his stupid defensive football. And he needs a billion dollars in transfer money and will still end up squandering it.
Lets look a the King, in the last 3 months, we have started to play attacking football, we are scoring goals, defending well, he is giving our young talent a chance, he has brought unity into the players and the fans and he doesn't talk rubbish to the press. All this with essentially the same team Rafa left bar Suarez, Carroll and Miereles.
kishor kunwar (March 26, 2011 3:34 AM) said:
Dav the red..im agree with u. Carriager doing his best job..,both manager are best..but king is doing his best joke at wrost time....its is not time to rectify about legend manager...but we must have focus about some new mid fielder i think player like xavi,xabi alonso and intresia...and 1 defense..we have no problem of striker and spearing must have got not and pls dont allow to enter ngog to field ever.
Brian (March 26, 2011 5:21 PM) said:
The only people who have there heads screwed on are Paul and Sean.C, I agree 100% with there statements. I love L.F.C but it would kill me to see rafa come back. Dalglish has been fantastic since taking over and the players have come out and spoken highly of Kenny. Hes done fantastically in turning things around at the club in such a short period of time, hes got us from relegation battle to european battle. I think that speaks for itself.
Kennys our man.
Dede (March 30, 2011 11:28 AM) said:
There's no way in this world we can allow Rafa to return with his stupid ego how do you have a player you don't talk to? Riera, Babbel, Pennant the man simply has no business managing Liverpool coz he will never understand the way the players feel so i say RAFA no way the King has the club at heart Sorry Rafa go back to Spain. We're expecting big things ahead coz of the King and besides we landed into financial problem coz of RAFA no way. Buying Keane at 17m and selling him half the price after just six months.