I'd debate that there's "plenty of evidence" - there's a lot of speculation, a few journalists (which remember have their own agenda) with vague references, and a few players he pissed off by dropping them, who are clearly biased themselves. But even assuming that he is, I'm not convinced it's all that relevant. Plenty of really successful managers are pricks, Red Nose and Mourinho being the two obvious (but far from only) examples. If a prick's successful, people put up with it. Fail, and they're an easy target. But it's hardly impossible to be both a Grade A Asshole and a successful manager. If he can communicate to and connect with his players, I really don't care about the rest.
I've been saying this sort of thing all along. Anyone who believes that the media somehow has an inside track to what Liverpool are doing, who??? they're contacting and naming people (and their dogs) who have turned Liverpool down is deluded. Me, like the rest, don't have any other choice than to wait and see, hope somehow I'll like the choice and get in behind. (like it or not, it's still my team.)
One guy that I read about today in an opinion piece: Frank Rijkaard. When he took over Barca, they had not won a title in 3-4 years: granted he's fallen off the radar for the last few years (coaching Saudi Arabia's NT currently) but thought I'd share, anyway.
From what I've read, while plenty of credit should go to Rijkaard, he couldn't do it without Henk ten Cate. So if they come as a package, great. Otherwise, I'm not so sure.
Its relevant because of the character of the men who have held the job in the past. I doubt rednose is a prick to those lower down the totem pole than him. I'm pretty sure most LFC fans don't or wouldn't want Mourinho to be manager. If AVB is a pomp-ass little prick, (and based on the way he has handled himself over the last year, its certainly plausible that he is), then I'd hope we'd pass.
well lets see can win with Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Puyol, Ronaldinho, etc. Hasn't done shit since. Seems a great bet to me.
My point is, you can always find a reason to dismiss a manager. If Wenger was so good, why didn't he coach a bigger club before going to Japan? So Redknapp won the FA Cup and finished mid-table while bankrupting Portsmouth (and say what you will, Spurs have finished above us for a third straight season now - plus, Jol did manage a fifth place finish with Spurs). So Fergie won Europe's third tier competition. Good managers don't always come with pedigree.
Re: a manager's personality, let's not forget that Rafa has butted heads with nearly every boss he's ever had and he wasn't exactly popular with every player in the locker room. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a dickhead like SARN or Mourinho in charge of our football club, and Rafa has always been a classy guy when it matters. But it's almost a requirement that a manager be egotistical and unafraid to be unpopular. If some people are rubbed the wrong way on the road to trophies, so be it. That's part of the game. I don't put a whole lot of stock in the words of a club run by its senior players, especially when one of those players is the pond scum that is John Terry. I'd love to hear some Porto fans' opinions of AVB.
I wouldn't either, but it was surprising to hear Torres take a swipe at him as well. If I'm AVB and I want to move the old guard out, I'd be doing all I could to get players like Torres on my side. The fact he left Torres out in the cold says a lot about his management skills.
What provoked this was a report by a Times stringer that even the tea lady felt mistreated by AVB. Have no idea if that's true, but our legends, from Shanks to the King, were known for treating all with respect. That included Rafa. Now within the team players not playing, or getting less time, will always have complaints. I am sure Suarez saw Kenny differently than did Dirk, as a simple example. Keane did not like Rafa but Torres did. Etc. Etc. Etc.
That's a romantic idea. And all things being equal, I agree. If I have a choice between a dickish manager who'll win and a classy manager who'll win, I'll take the classy one. But all things aren't always equal. We're getting turned down left and right by impressive managers (notably De Boer who would've been a home run). If AVB represents a better chance to win than Martinez, who's classier shouldn't come into the equation unless it affects his managerial ability. Of course, I still maintain that I don't buy (at least not yet) that AVB actually is a prick, for all the reasons discussed above.
The funniest tweet I have seen came from Bitter who said Moyes for Liverpool --then atleast the Bitters could win a Derby
they are starting to run a bit low on the premium options. Still think it's sad when Martinez is the best they might be able to do. What sad things have happened to this club?
Torres seems to do nothing but complain recently. When someone cant be happy winning a cup double, the very reasons why he joined, ontop of a huge payrise simply because he's not the star of the team then you have to take his opinion with a pinch of grasp as its all centred on how they treat him and nothing else.
As mentioned up-thread, outside of Martinez and AVB, I don't think we have any idea of who FSG are talking to right now. While I admit the thought of Martinez makes me a bit queasy, I do think it would be really hard to predict what either of these guys could do with the current Liverpool squad. Chelsea has not been kind to a whole succession of managers since Abramovic took over, so I don't really put a lot of stock in whatever rumors are coming out of there about him. While I'd have been happy with Kenny having another season to turn things around, I realize that most of that is a sentimental attachment to him as a person and to his service to the club. If you look dispassionately at the performance of the team this season, it just wasn't good enough. And the really disturbing thing was that it got worse over the course of the season rather than better. If the problems really were just getting the new signings to gel, you'd expect improvement over time, and that just didn't happen. We can debate how much of that is due to the players versus the coaches, but when you've invested ~100 million in players and ~3 million in a manager, the manager's always going to get the boot... it isn't fair, but it is what it is.
sounds from everything i've read that rafa isn't being considered at all, unfortunately... between AVB and martinez, i actually would prefer martinez... i don't think he's even close to being a hodgson-esque candidate... i like the way he has wigan play, and he's showed that he is very astute tactically... and this with some very, very poor players at wigan, especially defensively... his record with wigan, i feel, is a little disgenerous because he tries to play football instead of hodgson/pulis/fight relegation-ball... i've said before that i think that he'll be an excellent manager, just that he's not ready, yet... though, if he was named tomorrow, i would welcome it... but, i do agree to what others have said here that great managers don't have to have a brilliant CV to be successful... take klopp, guardiola, and conte -- the hottest managers in uefa... all came from dodgy and/or sparse coaching records and backgrounds... it's about the man more than the resume, and i personally really like martinez and his football... that said, i want rafa back above all...
especially when you consider how critical this past summer was. Doubt that you'll see a 120 million pound investment (even if a lot of that was money from a sale) in the squad in one lump outing. To have that botched and much of it look like rubbish in the process (Downing, Adam, and other parts in some ways looked like they were worth half or a third of their value at best) while finishing with the lowest point total since 1954, it's just not good enough.
Think again. If he brings over trophies most wouldn't give a toss including myself. And I am one of those people that doesn't like jose one bit.
I don't like Mourinho, but I get that a lot of his tactics are aimed at relieving the media scrutiny on his players and unsettling his opponents, and that's worked well pretty well this season.