Rafael Benitez will leave Liverpool today after the club's board
made it clear he was no longer wanted as manager.
The Anfield hierarchy has blinked first in the Mexican stand-off
by offering their 50-year-old manager a compromise compensation
deal to quit the club.
He's off: Benitez's relationship with the Anfield
hierarchy has grown increasingly uncomfortable
The offer was made in a conference call to Benitez, who is in
Sardinia. It is believed Sammy Lee has been put in temporary charge
of team matters.
The Spaniard believed for some time he had the whip hand in his
dealings with the board, but the negotiations about his future
became a vicious circle - although he did not realise just how
vicious it was to become.
In a vote of no confidence, the Liverpool board approved a
proposal which would see Benitez depart with a lucrative pay-off
worth in the region of £4million.
Liverpool, ultimately, have decided it is time to move on and
progress. The Dallas-style soap opera that has blighted the famous
club's name over recent months had to stop and Benitez will be the
cast member to depart.
Centre of attention: Roy Hodgson has impressed at
Fulham
That was inevitable after a disastrous season in which Liverpool
finished seventh in the Barclays Premier League and Benitez blamed
a dwindling transfer budget for his squad's inane performance.
That did not sit well with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett,
who, despite declaring their intention to sell the club, knew
action had to be taken swiftly for the Anfield outfit to move
forward or risk implosion. With every penny counting, doing nothing
was too big a risk to take.
1. May 2005 - Leads club to a
miraculous Champions League final triumph in his first season. One
of the all-time comebacks.
2. May 2006 - Another comeback, this
time in the FA Cup final against West Ham.
3. July 2007 - Signs Fernando Torres
for a fee of around £21m from Atletico Madrid.
4. March 2009 - Signs new five-year
contract.
5. May 2009 - Finishes second
in the league.
1. January 2005 - In his first FA Cup
match, his side lose to Burnley.
2. November 2007 - Very public
fall-out with new owners.
3. January 2009 - Faces public
ridicule after his 'facts' press conference.
4. July 2009 - Replaces Xabi Alonso
with £17m midfielder Alberto Aquilani.
5.December 2009 - Humiliated as his
side are knocked out of the Champions League in the group
stages.
Benitez has spent more than £220m on more than 70 players in his
colourful six years at Anfield.
Yet, as Sportsmail revealed last week, his budget was severely
restricted and he wanted written assurances from the club's board
that money from every player sold could be re-directed into the
coffers enabling him the funds to bring in new ones.
Confidence in his ability to wheel and deal, particularly on the
back of last season's £17million acquisition of Alberto Aquilani,
was evidently not there.
Instead Benitez was allowed to grow increasingly frustrated.
Despiteoffers for his players he did not want to sell for fear of
his squad being further weakened.
Had Benitez received the guarantees he had been looking for
during talks with chairman Martin Broughton then the current
situation would not have arisen but with both parties unable to
envisage a way of working together a parting of the ways was and is
inevitable.
When Juventus came knocking, Liverpool believed an easy exit was
apparent for the Spaniard but he did not have enough faith in the
Juventus project and harboured hopes that Liverpool's fortunes
would change with new ownership.
However, with annual losses of £55m, debts totalling £351m and
the club out of the Champions League, Liverpool is not an easy or,
more importantly quick, sell.
Benitez was always going to find it difficult after winning the
Champions League famously in his first season as that dramatic
Istanbul victory over AC Milan raised the roof on expectation. He
and his wife Montse have fallen in love with the area and embraced
the history of the club.
Doubts: Owners George Gillett Jr. left, and Tom
Hicks were forced to act after Liverpool's seventh-place
finish
When the Kop sang You'll Never Walk Alone to him they meant it
and he reciprocated. He danced with them and drank with them
establishing himself as a man of the people but, ultimately, the
team's demise has even weakened that bond. While he enjoys the
majority of support, some fans have brought his credentials into
question this season.
Transfers, team selection and substitutions have all raised
eyebrows - even among the stars of his team. The Americans will
always take the brunt of the blame but now Benitez will be forced
to walk away and into the arms of Inter Milan.
Following in the footsteps of his great adversary Jose Mourinho
will not be easy but already the Inter fans are calling for the man
'who stole the Champions League away from Milan'. That one night in
Istanbul could yet serve Benitez well.
