Liverpool FC have announced that Rafael Benitez has left the club by mutual consent. The Spaniard succeeded Gerard Houllier at the english premier league club 6 years ago in June 2004. In 2005, his very first season at Liverpool, Rafael Benitez lead the club to Champions League success followed by an FA cup in 2006. He became the first manager in Liverpool’s illustrious history to win major trophies in his first 2 seasons. American businessmen, Tom Hicks and George Gillette took over the club in 2007 marking a new era for Liverpool FC and Benitez. The new owners were quick to back Benitez and Liverpool returned to the finals of the Champions League in 2007 but this time lost to AC Milan.
The fans however were getting impatient and wanted desperately to win the Premier League title back from their fierce rivals Manchester United. The owners made funds available for Benitez so he could deliver the Premier League. A record £26.5m pounds were spent to bring spanish striker Fernando Torres to the club but the premier league title eluded the Anfield faithful.
Last season Liverpool went out in the group stages of the Champions League and finished 7th in the league table, denying them Champions League football this season. Benitez’s tactics on the field as well as his transfer dealings including the £20m spent on the rarely used Robbie Keane and £20m on an injured Alberto Aquilani started to frustrate the fans and friction between the owners and Benitez became more and more public. However, it seems that falling out of the top 4 is what ultimately caused Benitez to lose his job.
Benitez, who had four years left of his five year contract to run, resigned after accepting a severance payment said that he was “extremely sad” to be leaving the club. The former Valencia manager had in the recent months been linked with a move to Juventus and Real Madrid. The posts at both these clubs have been recently filled since and it seems likely that Rafael Benitez might fill the spot left vacant by Jose Mourinho at at this year’s European Champions Inter Milan.
Liverpool FC which in debt to the tune of £351m and was put up on sale by it owners now focuses on finding a successor to Rafael Benitez. Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill, Fulham boss Roy Hodgeson as well as former Chelsea manager Gus Hiddink have all been linked with the job. The search for a new manager however could be hindered by the uncertainty surrounding the Liverpool FC’s future ownership and its precarious financial condition.
Article first published as Liverpool Boss Rafael Benitez Leaves by Mutual Consent on Technorati.
With the awards season upon us, its no surprise that Deloitte’s sport unit have revealed the world’s richest football clubs list . Real Madrid who have dominated this particular list for the last 4 years have yet again topped it with annual revenues of 401.4m euros. The phenomenal figures based on data from 2008/09 season also see’s Real Madrid become the first global sports team to top annual revenues of 400m euros according to the Football Money League. Real Madrid’s arch rivals Barcelona take the second spot ahead of English Premier League Champions Manchester United who drop to third. Manchester United had dominated the list for 8 years until Real Madrid dethroned them. The authors however, do point out that Manchester United would have been top of the list had the value of the pound not fallen. Despite the exchange rate issues, seven of the top 20 teams listed in the rich-list are from England. Tottenham (15th), Manchester City (19th) and relegated club Newcastle United (20th) making it in the second half of the list. All the 20 clubs are from the ‘big five’ Eurpean leagues with Germany contributing 5 clubs, Italy 4 and 2 each from Spain and France.
World’s Richest Football Clubs
This Deloitte review however, may be a little misleading as it does not include the cost of transfer fees or player wages, or VAT and other sales taxes, and concentrates solely on day-to-day income from football business. The income includes money from ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandising and other commercial revenues, television monies, corporate hospitality, and non-match day stadium use. With Portsmouth becoming the first Premier League club to enter administration, and giants such as Manchester United and Liverpool in financial trouble despite performing well in the league shows that the problem of overspending is still a major concern. The Deloitte list however does indicate that their is still a lot of money in the game and with careful administration through measures such as wage-ceilings and prudent transfer fees, football can get through this precarious financial period unscathed.
