"Rafa's Rant" was NO rant, THIS is a rant

Rafa Benitez: One of us

The following can be filed under "subjective" and "self indulgent" but I don't care. If you refer to Rafa Benitez as a "fat Spanish waiter" then you should press that little X in the top right corner now.

Nothing is bigger than the Hillsborough Memorial Service for Liverpool Football Club. For that reason I held this back for a couple of days because it would of been wrong to link the two things. But as a huge supporter of the Justice campaign Rafa Benitez, footballing marmite - you either got him or you didn’t, finally had his moment on Friday. The circumstances were all wrong, but they were all right. Rafa was back at Anfield amongst his people, comfortable enough to show his emotions. I read a quote afterwards saying for a man who is so in control of his emotions you can see that Liverpool and the struggle for justice runs deep in him, too true. To the uninformed Benitez was a robot, sadly these people work for some of the biggest media outlets in the world and their myths were rinsed and repeated by millions. An “esteemed” journalist Henry Winter wrote an article in the days following Rafa’s departure where he claimed “now that this cold political animal has gone, Anfield requires a manager who can empathise with players, who understands they are human beings as well as professional footballers.” Cold? No empathy? I hope Winter feels like a total fucking bell end now.

After he was forced out the door by a mixture of board room backstabbing, a hostile media and a dissenting section of support I didn’t think the man would ever get the recognition he deserved. When it finally came I should have been happy but it just made me even angrier about the way the man was treated. All I can think is how a man as humble as Rafa was vilified, and that is the word for it, by not only the press and other supporters but by some of the supporters of a club he had given so much to. It was all too easy for people to forget the trophies and the nights he brought to Liverpool after one poor season. Istanbul, Athens, FA Cup v West Ham, Chelsea in countless semi finals, 4-1 at Old Trafford, countless wins over Everton, Juventus, Olympiakos, 5-0 aggregate win over Real Madrid, 2-1 in the Nou Camp. It’s so much easier to put these kinds of results into perspective now we are losing to Northampton, Blackpool and Braga all too often. Yet he never sought or got credit for them, Istanbul was a fluke, Real Madrid were rubbish, it was Houllier’s team that won the European Cup etc etc. There was always some reason why Benitez shouldn’t receive the credit. Even though there is new belief amongst Liverpool fans that the club is on the up again there is no guarantee. Benitez put Liverpool back at the top and then was ushered out to be replaced by a manager who I wouldn’t even trust to run my local Spar.  

Rafa was classed as a cold man, devoid of emotion, “not the arm round the shoulder type” but on Friday he proved he is anything but. What made me love Rafa even more was that nobody outside the club got it, some inside didn’t get it. There was a bond between supporters and manager that was unbreakable in spite of Sly Sports and their weekly hatchet job, and Friday proves that bond is as strong as ever. I’m sure people will read this and laugh, but Rafa got the club and the fans and they got Rafa. Some clubs are lucky to get one manager in a lifetime who can muster a feeling like this, I feel privileged because in my life we’ve already had two. 

When I see the love in afforded to Harry Redknapp after his side are walloped by Real Madrid I laugh. I laugh because I wonder what Fleet Street would have to say had this been Rafas Liverpool who had been royally smashed. That’s the difference, Redknapp's face fits, Rafa's didn’t. 

Even recently I’ve heard Benitez described as “a c**t” by a Liverpool supporter.  Shame on him and shame on people like that for creating an atmosphere where it became acceptable to sack a man like Rafa Benitez. He didn’t have to be there on Friday, but you just know Benitez WANTED to be there because that’s the sort of man he is, he’s more of a supporter of Liverpool FC than some of the people who call themselves fans. 

Even if you didn’t agree with the Rafa the manager, Rafa the man is so humble and filled with so much integrity that it’s an utter scandal the way he was and to some extent still is treated by sections of Liverpool supporters. The modern football world is filled with so many arrogant self serving individuals who deserve the hatred that was saved for Benitez.  He was ripped to fucking pieces week in week out for about four years and yet he still comes back because he cares that much. The man is a gentleman.

As Liverpool fans we are lucky that Kenny Dalglish came back to us to finish off his unfinished business, working for new owners which might not have appeared had it not been for Benitez’s hatchet job on the snakes. One day we might be lucky enough that Rafa Benitez is afforded the same luxury, it’s just that some people don’t realise that yet.

Some things are bigger than football.