Life in Football Manager

Rafa Benitez is probably the mold of manager that all English managers should look upon when thinking about their own careers, Benitez learned his trade the long way round and it has proved very successful. After his playing careers was over, Rafa went straight into management, but he didn’t start at any top clubs first team as you would see many of our players doing such as Southgate and Coleman, who have pressure thrust upon them from the off. Instead Rafa took the job as the Castilla Youth B team and then progressed to Real Madrid Youth B and moving his way up the ladder taking control of many different Real Madrid sides until taking his first full team management job at Real Valladolid. Rafa managed 4 other teams in the La Liga before taking the job that would thrust his name onto the World stage, as he took the helm at Valencia in 2001. He won over the club by his attacking style of football that he adopted at the club and after a year in charge won the La Liga the first time Valencia had done for 31 years, quite a contrast to the more defensive football he later developed. He then did it again along with the UEFA cup in 2003/04, but that season also seen his departure of Valencia when he had a disagreement with the guys above him, in true Rafa style it can be summed up in this quote; “I asked for a table they bought me a lampshade” and join up with Liverpool replacing Houllier.

Rafa quickly became a Liverpool favourite as soon as he arrived at Anfield as he showed how prolific he was in the Champions League winning it with a Liverpool side that boasted such talents as Djimi Troare and Milan Baros, In a thrilling game Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half time to win on penalties, joining a club of a managers that had won the UEFA cup and Champions League in consecutive seasons but the first manager to do it with two teams. Rafa famously has gone out and won all the cup competitions during his time at Liverpool and reaching another Champions League final only for Milan to take the cup this time, but he is yet to convert that success into league performances and has only managed at best a 3rd place position.

With Aldo taking on the Liverpool side now I needed to find a new home for Rafa and so that he didn’t have to move to far he took a job at a mediocre League One side Tranmere Rovers which is only a trip through the tunnels under the water playing at Prenton Park. It will be along way away from any European Cup finals were promotion to the bigger leagues is in no terms certain.

Season 2007/08

Rafa came in and didn’t waste any time in making changes to the squad, first out was aging Jamaican international and Rovers captain Ian Goodison, young player Mike Jones got closer to the Mersey when he moved up to Stockport. But Rafa surely showed his shrewd business sense as he managed to get Tremarco and Craig Curran to raise some money to bring in his own players. In total, Rafa only spent £44k after making £140k on players going out, in came Costa Rican defender Roberto Flores the 21 year old who came in as a free transfer looks pretty good for a league one side and could potentially a decent player if Tranmere were to go up. Hartlepool striker David Foley arrives as squad fodder and will make more appearances in the reserves as he has alot of players to compete with in his position. The first Spaniard arrived in the January attacking midfielder Marcos Guill arrived from Cartagena for £5,000 at 24 he will be looking for time in the first team and again looks like a good spot by Rafa a player to bring flair to League One. While in Spain talking over terms with Guill, Rafa also spotted another player who wasn’t attached to any club, former Albacete defender and a giant of a man giving some strength to the back line Miquel Buades, Ryan Dickson and David Fox complete the signings for the season.

In the first season Chris Greenacre was the player to steal the show for the Rovers grabbing 26 goals for the season 23 in the league allowing him the opportunity to wear the golden boot. Adding to that was Calvin Zola’s 15 goals and right winger Shuker took 10 himself and in true Benitez style Tranmere Rovers also kept it tight at the back, adopting a very narrow 4-4-2 diamond tactic Rafa was able to support his talented strikers while keeping his defense strong. Tranmere performed well in a competitive league were only 5 points separated top spot with the bottom of the play-off places. Nottingham Forest were able to take top spot but separated by a 2 goal difference Rovers finished in the second automatic promotion spot. Shane Sherriff had a huge involvement in getting the team up assisting 11 goals from the back showing how dangerous they could be this season. Many of the new signings made an impression on the Tranmere side, David Fox having the best season from all the newcomers a good passer of the ball in the midfield.

In other competitions it was only a 2nd round place in the League cup, meeting Premiership opposition Birmingham and taking them to penalties before getting dumped out of the cup. But in the first FA Cup game Southend made it a convincing win at Prenton Park winning 2-0. A little better in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy but it was once again penalties that was the downfall of Tranmere after drawing 1-1 to Capello’s Crewe, coming from one down from the spot where Curran was able to convert, but when it came to the pressure of the shoot out it got to much and he missed.

Rafa will certainly have to improve though if he is to stay in the Championship, apart from a good number of strikers Rafa is short of depth and experience from players who have played higher up the leagues may prove crucial. It was impressive to see promotion in the first season, he seems to do wonders first time around but can a squad that is more prone to relegation in FM, survive in the Championship?

Season 2008/09

The media didn’t think that Rafa’s Tranmere side would last long in the Championship, although they did believe that maybe they might just tip it and stay up after a fierce relegation battle. A few players were let go, ageing Welsh striker Gareth Taylor left on a free transfer and later retired as did Buades after a season with the Rovers. To help sure up the side for the new league, Rafa looked for experienced players and brought in 9 players only spending £30,000 all was put on Scottish striker Andrew Barrowman who arrived from Ross County. Shaun Newton arrived first, but in fact never made a single appearance all season. Looking to add some fellow Spaniards to the squad Gerardo from Real Sociedad a 34 year old full back and 10 years younger Alberto arrived from Gatefe, the giant midfielder will give more presence in the midfield, his height though doesn’t stop him from being quick and looks a good player for the side. Nicky Butt and Lee Carsley complete the experienced Premiership players. Younger players came in the shape of loanees, Darcy Blake arrived from Cardiff to give more numbers to the squad along with promising defender Matthew Bates came from a Middlesbrough.

Rafa’s strategy pulled off and his experienced players helped Tranmere to a fantastic first season, Greenacre again was the star of the show managing 21 goals, the only player to come close to his scoring tally was right winger Chris Shuker who got 10 goals, the rest of the strikers were fairly disappointing when it came to finding the back of the net, but Chris had handed in a transfer request, after Rafa had refused to offer him an improvement on his £900 a week contract showing how tight the board was. David Foley got more action in the squad though and is looking a decent player, taking 4 goals out of 5 appearances. Butt had a good season and so did Zola even though he couldn’t convert his chances he made his contribution in other ways, Alberto had a good season creating chances and the big midfielder looks very much a play maker, able to stick himself on the ball, hold up play and supplying crucial passes which helped Rovers finish 11th earning the title of overachievers of the season.

The League Cup ended were it did last year, this time to another Championship side Ipswich who actually finished were it was predicted Tranmere should have done. But penalties were again the downfall Nicky Butt being the only player on the pitch unable to convert his spot kick. In the FA cup Rafa met with another one of the managers that took part in the experiment, Avram Grant’s Leeds United was able to put 2 past Rovers at Elland Road in the 4th round after Rovers defeated Premiership opposition Coventry City, young Barrowman got a chance against Coventry and took it scoring the winner after Shuker grabbed the lead.

Season 2009/10

With Tranmere doing so well in their first season it was now time for the tough second season. As is inevitable bringing in the older players they are not going to stick around for long, Lee Carsley and Nicky Butt both retired, Flores was let go, not able to make an impression on the Championship, the most surprising departure was David Fox who left for £50k going down south to Plymouth. Welsh goalkeeper Danny Coyne lacking in any first team action and reaching the age of 36 left for a £1,000 moving way down the leagues to Rochdale. Benitez has really got into this lower league management stuff and become a shrewd businessman relying on free transfers and loans as the chairman just doesn’t put any money into the side, he didn’t spend a single penny this season. a young player from Spain arrived Cristopher Martin and went straight out on loan to Vauxhall Motors to have a fantastic season, two more Spaniards arrived to Merseyside to add more to the first team at Prenton Park, a player that had been roting in the Betis B side Jose Manuel Canamero who looks like a good rounded player for a Championship side looking a sure improvement on David Fox. The other fellow countryman was another player who has lacked any first team action, Defender Oscar Ramirez who looks like a strong player in at right back replacing Stockdale who left in the January, a good tackler who will keep his concentration throughout the game looks steady player who can play in the centre. Andy Wilkinson, Gary Mason, Jamie Stewart all arrived on the bosman ruling and Jason Roberts arrived to replace the experienced lost from retirements. Of the players that arrived on loan was most notable Chelsea defender Anthony Grant and Lee Molyneux. Jonathan Hayes and Kyrstian Pearce were other players that graced Prenton Park on a short term basis.

With such a good first season the media predicted another comfortable season for Rafa it didn’t start well it wasn’t till Christmas that Tranmere really found their stride again Beating both Bolton and Fulham the highlights of the Championship season, it was the fact that Rovers were able to grind out results that they stayed at mid table and finished 14th to establish themselves finally as a Championship side. Top scorer last season Chris Greenacre was left out of the squad and David Foley finally got a regular spot in the team and did well taking the top goal scorer crown from Greenacre with 16 goals. What made this season a success was that Tranmere were able to once again regain goal scoring abilities from other players. The player of the season was Jason Roberts the experienced striker managed 9 goals and played as a good target man along side Foley, Andrew Barrowman managed 8 goals. Antony Kay looks like a player that is about to reach his peak playing in the centre of defense Kay had his best season yet and looks like a player that can take Tranmere forward. The worrying thing that I do see in the Tranmere Rovers squad is that many of the young players aren’t getting a chance in the squad and it doesn’t look like many home grown players are coming through. If Rafa wants to continue with his success without spending any money then he is going to have to rely on players coming through the youth system.

Rafa who came something of a cup specialist during his time at Liverpool seems to lack that touch with Tranmere as once again Rovers fail to move further than two stages through any of the cups. After a 4-0 victory at Doncaster in the League Cup Tranmere met Notts County in the next round were they were destroyed by the League One side 3-0 away from home. In the FA Cup it was a little bit of a better season, going to the Reebok stadium Tranmere were able to find the net when it most mattered. Seeing only 30% of possession, when they got the ball it had to count and David Foley was able to convert 2 goals to put them through. But a trip to another North Western side, Wigan at the JJB ended in the Rovers exit. Flahavan was able to keep out 18 of Wigan’s shots but it wasn’t until defender Emmerson Boyce managed to header home from a corner that the deadlock was broken at the start of half time.

I am beginning to think though that the lack of spending is going to come back and bite Rafa on the backside, the team lacks that one major signing that could take them further up the league, be that a 30 goals a season striker or a top midfielder who will battle for everything instead of bringing in players that are roting in other side reserves or players close to retirement they seem to be short plugs keeping the team a drift.

Season 2010/11

Another season of not with not much money being flourished by the Rafa only £2,000 this season, surely the books must be balancing with the lack of spending and the time now they have spent in the Championship as well as money coming in from players going out. The only notably departure this season though was Calvin Zola who left to go back down to League One joining Ipswich for a fee of £14k. The only permanent signing of the season was another Spaniard Francisco Peinado a youngster from Badalona. The rest of the arrivals were on loan. Oliver Lancashire, Tony Kane, Steven Brown of Reading, Robbie Blackwell, Harry Arter all arrived to add some options for Rafa.

Not such a good season, not improving on the squad too much that he had to take the team forward Tranmere stuck around the same mark as last season finished 15th. But nevertheless there was good signs, Jason Roberts again finished the best rated player of the season but with his age he only managed to get 20 games. Foley though was able to play a huge number of the season and is forever improving taking 18 goals and again the top scorer for the side. Chris Shuker returned to goal scoring form and scored 11 goals. But the problem with the squad is that is it mediocre and when it comes to when they need to show what they are made of they can’t. Great at home and can probably beat anyone at Prenton Park but away form really needs to improve if they want to progress, maybe a player who can get 30 goals may improve that away form as the problem is not coming from conceding goals, its scoring them, Rovers scored only 17 goals away less then anyone else in the league.

At last though Tranmere were able to impress in cup competitions. It was the usual story in the League Cup 2 rounds and out, Chesterfield were passed easily before Tranmere met Aston Villa who won 3-1. But in the FA cup Tranmere were able to live the cup dream and go on a decent run. It was fellow Championship side Bristol City first, a Steven Davies penalty was the difference between the two teams in a game Bristol looked a lot more dangerous. Then it was the other Bristol team and even though Tranmere dominated the game they demonstrated how they couldn’t score away from home and were taken to a reply which was won easily. Then it was Tranmere’s first real test and they don’t come much tougher then Manchester United. The game was closely contested at Prenton Park, United controlled the game, but Flahavan made heroes performance and kept everything that Tevez or Dolye could throw at Tranmere, obviously United underestimated Rafa’s team as they put out a weakened side but one that still should have been capable of winning. Chris Shuker got the only goal from the spot, penalty kicks seems to be something of a familiar occurrence at Prenton Park. But at the quarter final stage, Reading weren’t going to underestimate Rafa’s squad, Steven Davies managed to grab the lead but only for 5 minutes as Reading began and onslaught and won 3-1, in what was actually a close game.

Season 2011/12

Again Rafa never had any money to spend despite the financial status being okay. Jason Roberts who was now reaching the age of 34 with attributes dropping like a lead balloon left on a free transfer to Lincoln. The old Premiership players arrived in the shape of Paul Konchesky, Russell Anderson and Geovanni all coming to the end of their career and not coming any real great form. Nill De Pauw arrived from Belgium a 22 year old who doesn’t really look like the player that Tranmere really need. There must have been a major scouting mission in Belgium as Franck David arrived from FC Brussels, younger than De Pauw and looks alot better stats wise and room for potential. Brain Sarmiento finished the transfer from Racing as Manchester United youngster Sean Evans and West Brom’s squad fodder Tininho arrived on loan.

It was pretty much the same story as it was last season, apart from this time it wasn’t away were they couldn’t find form as they manage to fix this, but in doing so at home Tranmere couldn’t win, not being able to keep the ball out of their own net, again finishing 15th no real improvement from the previous seasons. Players are now unhappy at the lack of progress star players David Foley and Shane Sherriff both complaining and wanting to move on to bigger clubs, Foley placed on the transfer list by request. Goals weren’t flying in either, De Pauw managed to top the chart in his first season with only 10 goals and his countryman David took 8 while Foley finished inbetween them both, but it was encouraging to see that goals came from all over the field again if only they would pay a little bit of money and a out and out goal man. Paul Konchesky had a decent first season playing 50 game showing that he still got it in him to play regular football. Worrying is that one of the better defenders in the squad Oscar Ramirez who has been consistent performer since he arrived has agreed a contract with Plymouth on a free transfer.

At last Tranmere were able to get past the 2nd round of the League Cup, but when they were put up against Mansfield and Macclesfield then I would hope they would do. Manchester City were the only challenge which they couldn’t get past losing 2-0. In the FA cup Rovers were able to get the 5th round by passing Everton on the way before Bolton destroyed Rafa’s team 4-0, 2 goals by an aging Anelka and David Nugent took Bolton through. But this season would be Rafa’s last before he got some attention from some Premiership teams, Portsmouth won out and he left in the March and former Pompey player Sol Campbell took the helm at Tranmere.

After Rafa

Tranmere continued as they went on, spending little money meant they couldn’t progress and it was only a matter of time before they were going to get relegated Sol seen the return to League One, they did at one point look like they were going to take them in the right direction, Foley continued at the club and continued playing well be a certain 15 goals a season, Canamero was another player that was impressing at Prenton Park, but Tranmere just couldn’t develop young players or bring good players in as they wouldn’t spend any money so it was inevitable they were going down, but if the game was played for another 5 years I think that some of the young players that Rafa brought in could have actually got somewhere with the team he does have an eye for potential with a scouting potential stat of 19, as many of them were still plying their trade with feeder sides.

After Tranmere Rovers

Rafa left for the Premiership taking over Pompey in the March and was able to gain a decent mid table position and in his second season Portsmouth were involved in a relegation battle, seeing money again definitely sent him mad as he splashed out £19.5 million in his first season but he spent it on decent players despite what the league finish suggested. But despite spending so much money he obviously wanted to return back to the Championship were he had spent so much time and Pompey were relegated in his second full season. Rafa was unable to get back up the Premiership and never showed much of a challenge to do so.

So concluding what Rafa did is hard because he took Rovers up which was a success in itself he was able to do so with very little money and establish Tranmere in the Championship, I think the lack of funds held him back as some of the players he brought in did pretty well and kept them in a stable position. But then when he left to Portsmouth he wasn’t able to use the money that he had avaliable to him to keep Pompey from the drop and couldn’t take them back up either which was a big failure in itself. So I will leave it to you to conclude how his performance.

Rafa Benitez

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