AMERICAN PARASITES ( Should Rafa have copied Fergie?)
By John Christie
July 8 2010
As Rafa packs his bags to Milan will he be regretting his aggressive stance towards his Liverpool owners? Whilst he fought the clubs corner the turmoil in the boardroom spread uncertainty throughout the club. Was it any surprise the disastrous season it all led to? Even elements of the fans doubted Rafa towards the end, after believing the agenda of Chinese whispers spread by the board.
Frustrated and bitterly disappointed Rafa leaves with his long term plans in ruins. Do you think he could have learned from Fergies stance with his American owners? Both clubs plunged into oceans of debt by leveraged takeovers. Both managers' spending handicapped, and having to sell players. Fergie though has never openly criticized the Glasiers. In fact he has always put them in a good light. Much to the dismay of United fans. As a result though the team has more or less kept competing on the pitch.
On the face of it Rafa appears to have managed the situation wrongly.
Only time will tell if next season United fail to invest at the top level and their season stutters. Will their fan base turn on Fergie? Hard to imagine but he's nearing retirement, will he regret not standing up to his parasite owners in the long run if his career ends on a sour note?
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Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer.
Rafa can never be accussed of hypocrisy as a result of his stance.
Rafa had the thoughts and concerns of the fans (and himself it has to be said) in mind when dealing with the owners/management and stuck to his principles and I respect greatly him for that.
Yes, he paid the price (wrongly imho) but he can leave with his head held high.
Hopefully Ferguson can do the same, as after success for so many years, the club imploding after (or even before) he leaves, and he was seen to do nothing about it, may leave his legacy tainted.
It is easier for Ferguson to deal with being forced to sell (if he is) as he is coming from a position of strength squad wise after many years of investment in squad depth. Ronaldo only went because he wanted to leave, not because of the money to the best of my knowledge.
Whatever way Rafa dealt with the Owners he would still not have got the financial backing he needed, he would have just have had to swallow his pride to get to the same position.
At the end of the day, the owners are failures and Rafa (bar the CL and FA Cup) was pretty much a failure too. They were both as bad as the other.
I guess the moral of this story is don't shout mouth off to your bosses unless you're prepared to back it up with a good performance
The only one who was looking out for the inertest of the club and fans was removed and now the way is clear for the Yanks to do what they want. I don’t think United are in any way in such a bad place even if the Glazers are having financial difficulties. It seems to me the Glazers are far more intelligent and wily than the idiots who bought us. Rafa had to do the only thing he could while Ferguson does not have to do anything really.