Rafa Benitez Newcastle United Manager.

[David McKeown]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

[nrico2006]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

[Bingo]

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

Liverpool supporters "in defending former manager" shocker. Well i never.

[The Real Laoislad]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

At least Rafa never blamed the colour of the  jersey's while he was in charge at Liverpool

[nrico2006]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

At least Rafa never blamed the colour of the  jersey's while he was in charge at Liverpool

Point proven.

[Two Hands FFS]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

48, 48, 51,53 appearances in kuyts 4 seasons under Rafa is hardly that of an injury prone player..including 38 out of 38 appearances in the league in 08/09. fact

[GalwayBayBoy]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

At least Rafa never blamed the colour of the  jersey's while he was in charge at Liverpool

Point proven.

By Chris Charles
BBC Sport

As news of Manchester United's shock defeat in Hungary reverberated around Europe, there was only one question on everyone's minds.

What excuse would Sir Alex Ferguson give this time?

It's a well-known fact that United never actually lose games, but are the victims of a cunning, worldwide conspiracy.

That's Fergie's story - and he's sticking to it.

Having said that, for a few fleeting moments, it actually looked like the canny Scot was going to take the 1-0 reverse to Zalaegerszeg on the chin.

"They had one attack and scored one goal. But we only have ourselves to blame," he began - as viewers waited for the Do Not Adjust Your Set message to appear.

Sir Alex Ferguson
Have you seen the reffing time?!

Thankfully, normal service was resumed as soon as possible, with Sir Alex continuing: "The pitch was very bumpy which is possibly a reason for the (lack of) smoothness of our passing."

Brilliant! In fact why not go one better and ban any team whose average player earns less than £20,000 a week from hosting matches?

That way everyone would start on a level playing field.

Ferguson faces harsh reality

Mind you, even the hallowed turf at Old Trafford has received the hair-dryer treatment from the great man.

When United were bundled out of the FA Cup by West Ham last year, Ferguson complained there had been too much rugby played on the pitch.

He also insisted the referee had not played enough injury time - unlike the 1999 European Cup Final, of course.

Torrid

In fact, the only thing Sir Alex neglected to mention about that fateful January afternoon was Fabien Barthez's ridiculous taxi-hailing impression, which let in Paolo di Canio for the winning goal.

Time is always of the essence for Ferguson. If United are losing, the referee should add it on, if they're winning, he should blow his whistle.

You can guarantee as a game enters the 89th minute with United hanging on to a one-goal advantage, Fergie will start pointing furiously at his timepiece.

You could almost set your watch by it.

The officials themselves also come in for a torrid time if United lose or have a player sent off.

And in 1996, Fergie infamously accused the entire Leeds team of not trying against Newcastle, prompting Kevin Keegan's legendary "loov it" rant.

Roy Keane
Over here, Roy!

Six months later, Newcastle took their revenge with a 5-0 walloping of United, whose players were subsequently diagnosed as "jet-lagged" by Dr Ferguson.

But of all the excuses he has proferred over the years, one stands head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, it's in a different league.

Cast your mind back to 1996, when United visited Southampton for a league match.

The Red Devils found themselves 3-0 down at half-time and eventually went on to lose the match 3-1.

And the reason? According to Fergie, the grey shirts his men were wearing meant they were unable to see one another.

You couldn't make it up.

Naturally, the strip was immediately replaced with a new design, forcing fans to shell out a fortune for replica kits.

Some things never change.

[J OGorman]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

At least Rafa never blamed the colour of the  jersey's while he was in charge at Liverpool

Point proven.

excuses are used by EVERY single manager the world over regularly, be it injuries, international duty etc.. and why not, I manage a team and if i had a few of my best players missing, sure as fcuk I will use it as an excuse

I totaled up all the interviews I can find of Alex Ferguson on the whole of the internet and he used injury excuses 16% more often than Benetiz.

[nrico2006]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

At least Rafa never blamed the colour of the  jersey's while he was in charge at Liverpool

Point proven.

excuses are used by EVERY single manager the world over regularly, be it injuries, international duty etc.. and why not, I manage a team and if i had a few of my best players missing, sure as fcuk I will use it as an excuse

I totaled up all the interviews I can find of Alex Ferguson on the whole of the internet and he used injury excuses 16% more often than Benetiz.

I'll put as much faith in your statistic as I do in your ability to spell his name correctly.

[David McKeown]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

What I was trying to get at was that he has had so many injuries at his last three clubs that it is clearly something more than luck and is more than likely down to his training regimes and match preparation which was described on here earlier as intense.  I only used the Kuyt example because that was the name given in the article by someone who would be much more of an expert on this than I ever will be

[J OGorman]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

At least Rafa never blamed the colour of the  jersey's while he was in charge at Liverpool

Point proven.

excuses are used by EVERY single manager the world over regularly, be it injuries, international duty etc.. and why not, I manage a team and if i had a few of my best players missing, sure as fcuk I will use it as an excuse

I totaled up all the interviews I can find of Alex Ferguson on the whole of the internet and he used injury excuses 16% more often than Benetiz.

I'll put as much faith in your statistic as I do in your ability to spell his name correctly.

i can assure you that my stat is as factually accurate as alot of the 'facts' thrown about here

[Geoff Tipps]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

What I was trying to get at was that he has had so many injuries at his last three clubs that it is clearly something more than luck and is more than likely down to his training regimes and match preparation which was described on here earlier as intense.  I only used the Kuyt example because that was the name given in the article by someone who would be much more of an expert on this than I ever will be

I don't think that during his time at Liverpool he's ever had to endure a particularly long injury list. The problem was that the injuries that did happen were to his 2 best players namely Torres and Gerrard. Some of Torres's major injuries last season happened during meaningless friendlies for Spain - hardly Rafa's fault.
I don't actually recall his reign at Valencia being besieged with injuries either. If it were his record there is even more remarkable. I would have him back at Liverpool in a heartbeat.

[David McKeown]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

What I was trying to get at was that he has had so many injuries at his last three clubs that it is clearly something more than luck and is more than likely down to his training regimes and match preparation which was described on here earlier as intense.  I only used the Kuyt example because that was the name given in the article by someone who would be much more of an expert on this than I ever will be

I don't think that during his time at Liverpool he's ever had to endure a particularly long injury list. The problem was that the injuries that did happen were to his 2 best players namely Torres and Gerrard. Some of Torres's major injuries last season happened during meaningless friendlies for Spain - hardly Rafa's fault.
I don't actually recall his reign at Valencia being besieged with injuries either. If it were his record there is even more remarkable. I would have him back at Liverpool in a heartbeat.

Not being a Liverpool fan I cant recall exact injury lists but did he not have a long run of games were he couldnt field the same team twice in succession due to injuries.  I remember with Valencia he used to get a lot of players who would be out for short times with muscle injuries

[Geoff Tipps]

Ive always thought Rafa to be one of the finest managers in the game and it is some achievement to win back to back UEFA Cup/Champions League with two different clubs.

That said the amount of injuries can not be used as an excuse, despite common belief injuries at the top level have very little to do with luck and a lot to with training techniques and game preparation and to this extent Rafa has always been poor with having his players avoid injuries so if he lives by the sword in terms of being so intense he will have to die by it.  I cant find it now but I read an article recently by a dutch fitness coach who was more or less blaming Rafa for the injury proneness of Kuyt and Babbel

I can barely remember Kuyt ever getting injured playing for Liverpool. In fact his last two injuries have come when he's been away with Holland. Sounds like a Dutch fitness coach covering his own arse.

May well be but the coach wasn't with Holland when Kuyt got injured and Benetiz has had awful 'luck' with injuries at Inter, Liverpool and Valencia.

Again, he has had no more 'awful luck' with injuries than any other manager.  Excuses are somewhat of a forte of Benitez, and seemingly all those who have followed Liverpool when he was in charge as they constantly try to defend him even now.

What I was trying to get at was that he has had so many injuries at his last three clubs that it is clearly something more than luck and is more than likely down to his training regimes and match preparation which was described on here earlier as intense.  I only used the Kuyt example because that was the name given in the article by someone who would be much more of an expert on this than I ever will be

I don't think that during his time at Liverpool he's ever had to endure a particularly long injury list. The problem was that the injuries that did happen were to his 2 best players namely Torres and Gerrard. Some of Torres's major injuries last season happened during meaningless friendlies for Spain - hardly Rafa's fault.
I don't actually recall his reign at Valencia being besieged with injuries either. If it were his record there is even more remarkable. I would have him back at Liverpool in a heartbeat.

Not being a Liverpool fan I cant recall exact injury lists but did he not have a long run of games were he couldnt field the same team twice in succession due to injuries.  I remember with Valencia he used to get a lot of players who would be out for short times with muscle injuries

Think that was more down to his rotation policy than injuries.

[Eddie Stobart]

Quare amount of fellas on here haven't much of a clue about soccer it seems.

Rafa is a decent manager I can't see how that would even be up for debate,things aren't going his way at the moment much in the same way soccer teams themselves have rough patches but he has already proven himself to be a top manager,his record speaks for itself or do some of ye armchair fans reckon because you are a ace at Championship Manager on the Playstation that you could do better?
I am a West Ham fan and I would certainly love him to come to Upton Park as Boss.