Benitez's first press conference: 'I want to win'

I have recovered from the shock of his appointment, it's old news now, so let's get on with strengthening the first -team squad ready for 14 August.

My view is helped by the fact that I no longer work in the city (no banter from colleagues) and I don't read newspapers, thereby avoiding the daily grind of rubbish reporting on our beloved club.

Onwards and upwards, COYB.

Shame Messi wasn't sat next to him. Although a 5-year deal, even on 50% wages, is quite the commitment for a guy already mid-30s. Long live the king!

Or am I missing something here!!!?

Good luck, Rafa, you're going to need it. The sleeping giant is still snoring... wake up... wake up..

We need 20 more goals this season, that's where we are lacking; our defence performed okay.

The quotes support a no-nonsense approach that I support. He's here and not going anywhere soon so let's get forward with him. With the dysfunction that has persisted at the club, this man deserves a full chance to get it right… with obvious consequences if he doesn't. Let's remind ourselves constantly that he is dealing with a legacy problem here.

Not really what you want to hear when a new manager talks for the first time, but hopefully we have learned from the last few years, and become much better in the transfer market, whilst also reducing the wage-bill, that has put us back years.

Credit to him for his honest speaking.

On one hand, preparing to work with the players he has.

On the other, concerning he talks about constraints.

Hopefully he is being candid and we are going to do business.

And it's not about how much we spend, as we've learned. It's how you spend it.

If we are to believe the rumours, Dumfries may be on the way in and a replacement for Mina is being sought. That's the defence sorted. Someone creative in midfield and a decent winger would set us up for an improvement on last season. Here's hoping.

Personally, I think he comes across as someone ready to do a job and up for the challenge. A firm approach. There's a lot of bedwetters but I am looking forward to the new season.

He talks about making improvements and creating a winning mentality with the current playing staff. It will be interesting to see if he can get the likes of Gomes and Iwobi playing better. Also, how he rates the post-injury Gbamin.

He's got his work cut out big time and hats off to him if he can get a tune out of these and one or two other players many have virtually given up on. The ability to do this will be just as important as the three or four new signings he makes.

If, like his predecessors, he gives them yet another chance (it's become a bit like the Animal House 'double secret probation' by now hasn't it?) then 10th to 15th place beckons along with the usual embarrassments as per previous seasons.

I just hope he gets a grip and three decent signings in pronto.

PS. About Rafa's trackie. Notice how our beloved badge is now so faded out that it is almost Delph like in its invisibility, yet the manufacturer's name/logo stands out? WTF.

Rafa has had my support from day one since being linked to Everton. However I'm not fooled that he will not turn us into a top six team next season but we must be patient and not turn on him. His methods will take time to implement but I believe he is in it for the long term. Constraints on player purchase is the price we have to live with but he loves the challenge of coaching and improving players.

Good luck and make us proud!!

Yep, it's called "ability".

Wise up, Beni. don't make the same mistake as Carlo bin this crew and get some robust lads who are athletic AND capable of the fundamentals

Recognition of Brands’ role and avoided getting involved with the James question, given his history with him at RM. James will be gone in a couple of weeks.

Will he get a tune out of Iwobi and Gomes? Doubtful, so I pray he gets the 4 players he needs to get this team moving in the right direction.

He has my support for sure and if the silence is anything to go by, it seems the majority of supporters are prepared to give him a shot.

Ian (18). "Why should he care what fans think?" Fans are the "support staff". Most leaders in any job care how the staff feel about them. Benitez has an ego and I am sure one of his major objectives, besides winning, is to have the supporters on his side. After manager chaos over the past 10 years Everton fans deserve to have something to be happy about. I just hope Benitez can provide it.

Rafa on the other hand..hmmm

I'm always worried that, like in so many businesses these days, the guy who gets the Everton job is simply the one who has promised he can get big results from minimum change / financial investment. We need both increased numbers and quality in the squad, with pace in the middle being the biggest deficiency.

I very much doubt that simply changing training will transform many of our squad so I'm still waiting to see those all-important incomings.

He won a big trophy years ago with 10 and a half players, with Djimi Traore in defence. So on that logic with Iwobi and Siggy busting a gut, we might finish in the top 7 next season. Who knows where he could take us if the club gets a winning mentality? It's what we want... and are we now ready for it if this is what it looks like (in all it's Hummel glory)?

At least we can tell the press conferences are going to be a good watch this season between matches anyways.

That is the real problem he will have to tackle. I am sure the usual suspects are all yes yes yes on being initially talked to, but it is really down to them being able and willing to buy in what Rafa wants to achieve.

I agree, he needs to bring in new signings to give momentum to his objectives. He is long enough in the tooth to know this. I think he will be tougher than Ancelotti in holding the usual suspects accountable to their initial agreement. It may be one of the reasons he got the job.

Ferguson is there because he knows the club and players.

It's a heavy expectation handicap you carry Mr Manager...like Henry Cooper said about fighting some guy over in Italy - you have to knock them out just to get a draw over there.

Start swinging those punches Rafa...deeds mate, deeds, not words.

Oh and good luck with the changing the attitude thing...fairplay to you if you can.

This will end very badly for us Blues.

"In terms of targets, it's always complicated. I think approach [has always been] one game at a time and think about the next game as an opportunity to win so we'll have to see what happens." Fits in with his no-nonsense reputation.

The more interesting but played down parts are the joint Assistant Managers, the 1st team Coach & Senior Analyst… and while there is a Director of Footbll, there's also the Board who appointed him, so that, while they are a team, he wants nobody to mistake who is head of that team and will be making the big decisions. Sounds very much like promises he has received from those who appointed him.

As others have pointed out, the Chinese Curse, we live in interesting times. Let's hope it is more on the field.

Are you saying it's not his city? Why not? He's chose to live here, he's allowed to say that.

That's the city (region) he's talking about – not Liverpool FC.

Have I missed something here? Otherwise, like Alan @37 says, all very humdrum stuff. More an exercise in not saying the wrong thing really.

I don't care who the manager is, this season is going to be another long hard one to watch unless we get players in, or the manager somehow plucks out some very good youngsters.

If it's the same squad and without Richarlison for the first game, then we should except a mediocre this season as it's the same players again who have let the Everton shirt down, time and time again.

Benitez is the next manager to try and coach those players but I cannot see how it will change. We need fresh quality players if the club are really ambitious.

And trust that Brands can find some shiny, sharp and functioning additions to the toolbox.

They say he's straight-talking; well, I hope so… because, when some of our biggest bottlers do their usual, which they will, hopefully he calls them out.

I get fed up listening to managers supporting the player when everyone, including himself, knows he's playing shite. Benitez is here now and that's that… but it's still difficult seeing him with Everton gear on.

Let's see what he can do with a “small” club…

This whole merry-go-round is now in full swing, now that all the journeymen managers have found the biggest soft touch in the Premier League. Has anybody ever calculated how much money the last five or six mercenaries have cost? Welcome to the next one…

As on other threads, maybe the irony here is we remove the nostalgia and emotion. And having won titles at similar big clubs who weren't quite Barcelona or Real Madrid (Valencia) and then had success at a Liverpool team who had fallen from previous grace and in the shadow of Ferguson's United, maybe it's an okay fit for what we need right now. With one eye on the stadium, the Ancelotti and now Benitez appointments tell me that the owners don't want another building project. They want to do something sooner with proven goods. Well, that's what I'm convincing myself with anyway.

Okay, he never won the league with Liverpool, but if you gave me a Champion's League and FA Cup plus Premier League runner up and Champion's League runner up positions in six seasons as opposed to our return over the last 30 years, I wouldn't be complaining.

I don't think I could ever call him Rafa though.

There will be justified claims of yesterday's man; I understand that. It's weird and uncomfortable seeing him in Everton gear. But as you point out, he's here now.

This guy will not fanny around. His reputation is on the line here as both red and blue will ridicule him if he doesn't get this right. He will not allow players who don't try or won't compete to derail him. He will take a good look at them in training and the US tournament will be an interesting one.

Gbamin looks to be moving well in the training clips I have seen and he certainly has physical presence – he will be an enormous plus if he is okay now. James I am sure will go as we can't carry a luxury player like him. If the rumours about Mina are true then Rafa has sized them all up very quickly and is not going to tolerate mistakes.

The more I hear from him, the more I warm to him… but, as he says, he has to walk the walk. Let's see if he can!

There is some underperformance and some overperformance. In the latter category we normally find Burnley most impressive + AN other (West Ham last year).

We're currently rated 8th (£489m) - about £50m behind Arsenal in 7th and about £50m ahead of Villa in 9th.

So it's likely that we will finish about 8th - albeit like last season we'll be competitive for 6th.

A good summer window will help make us more competitive still - but we're currently £170m behind Spurs in 5th so it would be an uphill battle requiring much better squads to underperform as much as us doing our stuff.

It's a shame it comes down to this but it highlights what Benitez is taking on and how he will not be a magician as Ancelotti put it.

6th and a cup, Benitez, please this season - with signs that you are building towards a squad capable of reaching thetop 4.

For more context, even without the cup, that would better Ancelotti, Silva, Allardyce, Koeman and Martinez other than his first glorious season.

He is our manager now, so I will give him the full backing an Everton manager needs. Like others have said, though, it needs to be 'Beni' or 'RB' – not Rafa.

Maybe he thought it was too soon, in his tenure as Everton manager, to refer to them as RedShite supporters!

I'd call a RS supporting friend a Liverpudlian, if they were a fair RS supporter, otherwise a kopite (God I feel dirty even typing that word)

It may still taste unpleasant, it certainly doesn’t look right, but it’s a cold, hard fact and we’ve had time to get used to it. I don’t blame people for being fearful that this won’t work out - I think that’s an understandable reaction - but I do think it matters how we as fans now react.

The press will be dying to tell stories of discord and unhappiness about Everton. Every little thing will be blown out of proportion. We as fans need to do our bit in promoting the good of the club. This may mean swallowing some frustration from time to time.

This will especially apply when something goes wrong. We’ll lose a game. We’ll play badly. We’ll be negative when it seems we should have been more positive. This will definitely happen. The question is: what reaction will best serve the needs of the club?

What Everton desperately need right now is stability, continuity, a sense of identity and a genuine togetherness. Lots of us disagreed with Rafa’s appointment, but we must, must, must back him, even when things go wrong, to bring us what we need.

He has connections and may be able to bring some decent talent to the team and more importantly get the playing as a tightly knit unit.

We have to be patient as most of us are and it may not happen overnight.

Yes, we have seen this scenario before so let's hope this is the one that changes things.

We seriously need another striker and his connection to the Barcodes could facilitate a move for Saint-Maximan who did well last season after coming back from injury. Just a thought.

I wouldn't have picked him, but he's here, so I'm going to give him some time, without too much complaint, to see what happens during the first season – so long as he doesn't start blowing on his fucking coffee if we win 5-4.

“A Liverpudlian was a lower-born member of the great unwashed, if the word was acknowledged at all.”

Official name for City's residents

I had heard the term Liverpolitan but thought it an older phrase so that link makes sense Phil.

Scouser, Evertonian, citizen of Liverpool, but never a Liverpudlian!

Given my personal association of the term "Liverpudlian" with followers of Liverpool Football Club and not those originating from the city, how apt it is described as being a lower born member of the great unwashed!

Wasn't Saint-Maximin a victim of Covid which badly affected him?

Even Scouser is a late arrival. We were Wackers before that, and even further back known as Dicky Sams apparently.

Not sure about that nonsense in the Echo article about Liverpolitans referring to the wider region. A wool is still a wool la.

"I really don't think we could get relegated "

Famous last words at Leeds Utd.

I'm prepared to cheer him on, if it means he is successful… then Everton are successful.

None of this matters one jot: he is our manager.

Given his start point, the press conference probably went as well it could have gone. On the plus side, it sounds like he will work hard, he will make decisions, and he will be out there on the training ground trying to improve the players and the team, as opposed to a Mike Walker refreshing his sun tan.

But I still cannot imagine the crowd breaking out into a spontaneous, "Rafa Benitez (repeat ad nauseam)."

Tony, sounds to me like the perfect resume for this job!

So long as the components stayed in the right places at the time of selection.

So. brass cojones or a complete lack thereof, a gigantic neck. We could have ended up with Herman Munster.

There was a big upsurge in all things Liverpool, locally in the late 50s, and 60s, and the Echo, Evening Express etc was full of correspondence and articles. A guy called Frank Shaw wrote a lot of stuff about it,and there were shows featuring Scouse etc. It was a bit of an industry.

Songs like Liverpool Lullaby, which I think Frank might ahave written, and In My Liverpool Home that Pete McGovern wrote were round about that time too. Fritz Spiegl rearranged Johhny Todd for Z Cars, and edited stuff like Learn Yourself Scouse, which was very popular.

Then Merseybeat came along which did no harm, and for a short time the City was the centre of the universe. Not a bad team either!

Dave A has got a really good knowledge of all this.

He was in The Golden Vision too wasn’t he?

They have not done a bat since Ancelotti left.

The Golden Vision was a one-off play written by Neville Smith, who was in the play, and Gordon Honeycombe. The director was Ken Leach, who directed many good plays and films.

Shouldn't the fixtures be reversed each season?

Hello Dennis,

I was under the impression that our second derby away arrangement had ended recently and there would be a rotation?

A few seasons back we had the second derby at GP after a decades of the opposite, I am finding this unfair and especially after the act of evil they tried to perpertrate with the Super League.

Ancelotti thought he could improve players. We need new ones.

Now the predictable shout is for new players, over and over again the pattern of the armchair expert pre-season cycle kicks in. Yawn… wake me up when the season starts.

At post 31, he perpetuates his inference that previous managers (Ancelotti in particular) have been slow in appointing their managerial teams – this, despite Jay Wood having taken the trouble to spell out in some detail to him exactly why his claims are wrong.

The constant turnover of players (and coaches) is the main thing holding us back. To think that the solution is more turnover is very wrong.

We need some new blood, sure - perhaps 3 or 4 - but if we can’t get the best out of people, or turn them into a team that is more than the sum of their parts, then it won’t really matter who the players are, we’ll always be mediocre.

Thanks. I would not want to knowningly get Ancelotti's name wrong.

Ancelotti's backroom team was not officially announced till October as reported in ToffeeWeb.

STOP. TELLING. PORKIES.

See Posts 45 & 51

The appetite to return to watch the team in live Premier League action has seen more than 30,000 Season Ticket Members who had signed up for the lost 2020-21 season secure their seat for the 2021-22 campaign, a record renewal rate in excess of 98 per cent.

If only the team could mirror the loyalty and hunger of Evertonians – we live in hope!

I am going by a report on ToffeeWeb on October. I assumed that the report was up to date and of that time. I accept I should have checked further. ToffeeWeb was not to blame.

It is questionable the impact that Ancelotti's backroom team had on Everton and give rises to the question: Why? Which is still unanswered. They seemed to have struggled at Everton, given the team's performance.

Not ONCE have you shared a link to back up your debunked claim that Ancelotti only named his coaching staff '6-10 months' after being appointed.

You really don't know when to stop, do you Jerome?

Is it any wonder you have so little credibility with some TWers, persisting as you do with your easily debunked fantasies?

I'll post and read as best suits me.

Deal?

Thank you for your reply and comment.

There are serious problems, many repetitive, at Everton. The real fantasy is not to admit they exist. Of course it is upsetting that this is the case and, when unpalatable explanations are put forward as to why these problems exist, I understand and accept the right of fans to have these fantasies.

I hope they will equally respect my right to offer opinions of where the problems lie and in my opinion why. But the problems are real and there are reasons and explanations. Many reasons and explanations put forward on this forum are not that far off, since the problems are clearly defined, which limits the number of possible answers.

Of course there is a lack of insight when not being internally involved, though some may have relevant experience, but they still have the right to form and put forward opinions on this forum, in the limited time that they have, and be judged by their peers, as those that disagree with them are also judged.

The prevailing attitude to why problems at Everton exist are hardening to the possible explanations and solutions. Many of which were previously attacked and castigated on this forum.

Thank you.

Writes in third person always, rather than first person.

Plenty have come to Everton and gone through the motions, but those with something to prove have never let us down.

You say you're telling us your opinion. But when you write, you don't present it as your opinion. You present things as facts.

Yet it's facts that you cannot possibly know.

That's what is not acceptable.

That's why people accuse you of making things up.

And just for the record, re #103, ToffeeWeb carried this news item on 11 March 2020:

Ancelotti's backroom team confirmed.

I used to work for the Rugby Football League as head of ticketing and had contact with all the other major sports including the Premier Leagiue. As a result of this, I was on the Premier League invite list to their table at Goodison matches and I got invited often as they didn't have many Everton interested contacts.

One match, 2 lads from the Premier League were there who were part of setting the fixtures. I can't remember whether both of them or just one was an Evertonian. We got talking about our jobs obviously and they told me they always gave Everton 2 home fixtures at Christmas and New Year because they could and because they wanted them!

I also can't believe that the Broadcasters have no input as to how and when the fixtures are arranged, with my biggest gripe being that even when Everton play at the traditional time of 3pm on a Saturday, by the time we leave Goodison the pubs are awash with Reds fans awaiting their heroes to appear on the screen.

I have addressed you on
ONE
SINGLE
ISSUE

Over several threads, over several days, you have repeatedly claimed the following:

'[Rafa] has insisted on his backroom team from the start and named them in positions. It took Ancelotti six months to do this.'

I gave you detailed information and specific links showing you two things:

1) Carlo Ancelotti had his backroom staff all in place within a month of arriving at Everton
2) articles and videos featuring all his named staff and their job titles within 3 months of Carlo's appointment on both the official club site and in national media

Your response was to push your claims further and extend the announcement of their appointments to October 2020, TEN months after the event, even more than your original (already erroneous) claim of six months.

Not only have you totally ignored the evidence which completely undermines your claims, each time you've repeated the falsehood you frame it in language which implies:

1) Benitez is more professional and determined in getting his own people in from the start than Ancelotti. Demonstrably false, as I have already shown you.
2) Everton is somehow being deceitful and compliant in sabotaging their own manager(s) by perpetuating an old boys culture at Finch Farm.

The first is indisputably a totally false claim that you insist on repeating.

The second is you once again mangling a totally false claim (see 1) and offering it as proof positive to support your own speculative fantasy, but passing both off as universally accepted fact.

Your latest post @ 110 is a fine example of your muddled thinking as to what, as Michael K. points out, constitutes provable fact from personal opinion.

You Jerome are not the Doyen or the sole Arbiter of Truth on all things Everton.

There are plenty, but PLENTY, of TWers who are well aware of all the issues at Everton and far more capable than you of discussing said issues in a far more balanced and informed way than you will ever be able to achieve.

Rereading the above article the main point that jumps out from the press conference is the mention of improvement and what appears to read as a restricted financial situation.

Sadly I feel the owner is being sensible in following in the footsteps of others, concentrating on financing the stadium rather than the squad.

Rather than prey upon the financially weak to make us stronger, I feel Mo is happy for some stability. We are a mid-table team and thats all we plan to be for a while.

In just hoping that we can at least try and play some good, joined up, attacking football.

As for season tickets, not since Sam have I renewed and I'm not planning on changing things anytime soon.

I'm also pretty sure that Premier League fixtures were originally scheduled by an algorithim and then there were manual interventions to try to avoid Newcastle away at Southampton on Boxing Day etc. However I'm also pretty sure that with every escalation in the Broadcast Deals, there was a lot more intervention to create "Super Sundays" etc. with 2-3 big games.

On to Benitez, I am now accepting he's here, and will rejoice like all of you if he delivers. My main reason for objecting was not over the "small club" jibe (we loved it when Moyes did the "People's Club dig", it's just I feel with an under-performing squad, and money likely to be tight with BMD and the recent excesses to pay for, added to his RS history, they've loaded every barrel against him succeeding.

Which is why if he delivers it will be doubly sweet.

'If I am wrong I will admit it.'

Marvellous. You have an immediate opportunity to do just that. I look forward to you being true to your word and penning something like the following:

'I admit I was wrong to insist on posting several times, over several days and several different threads, that 'Rafa Benitez has insisted on his backroom team from the start and named them in positions. It took Ancelotti six months to do this.'

'Quite clearly the counter-evidence to my claim is overwhelming. My repeated claim is evidently false and as such the speculation I indulged in on the back of that is made moot and redundant.'

Shields was asking for it (more than once) and got it. And not just from Woods.

Cas are the Everton of Super League, a long history and a committed fan base, a reputation ( sometimes deserved) for attractive play, too good to be relegated but not good enough these days to win trophies and compete against the big clubs.

I hope not Sterling is simply dreadful.

A reasonable effort against middling opposition in the euros who struggled against pace shouldn't fool anyone. A bit like Walcott he has absolutely no control of a football and the first decent side he faced - Italy - completely nullified him.

He would be crucified by the Goodison faithful