Jun 9 2010
Bet on Steven Gerrard Following Rafael Benitez to Pastures New
by JP Shaw
Filed under: Arsenal, xxxxxxx, Betting
It has emerged xxxxxxx are in talks to negotiate a severance package with Rafael Benitez and his advisers after the Spanish manager has been closely linked with a role as the next “Go Compare” singer. The Reds have the third highest wage bill in the Premier League and finished seventh. The Spaniard has found that, appallingly though his players have performed, the buck stops with him whereas the bucks stop with Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Benitez shouldn’t really be surprised he’s lost his job – he lost practically everything else last season. Before joining the call to jettison the Spaniard, xxxxxxx fans should be asking who the club would get to replace him – especially now that Avram Grant has gone to West Ham.
Benitez has copped the flak but questions must also be asked of Fernando Torres, who was carrying an injury, and Steven Gerrard, who just looked as though he has.
Poor as xxxxxxx were without those two this season, with them they have arguably been worse. Some might say they have been playing as though they want a change of manager; I’d say they’ve been shaping like they want a change of career.
Gerrard has carried xxxxxxx for five years so it’s unfair to expect him to carry the can now, but Benitez would be justified in asking why his skipper has gone missing in his hour of need. Fact.
One piece of good cheer for xxxxxxx fans is the news that Torres is to undergo a scan before the start of the World Cup. If it’s a boy he could be the greatest player ever.
Rafa’s pay-off is rumoured to be somewhere in the region of £6 million. Some commentators suggest that xxxxxxx won’t be able to attract star names to Anfield because they’re not in the Champions league. That isn’t the case. xxxxxxx will miss out on the big names this summer because they’re skint. Their best chance of a big-name signing is Jan Vennegoor Of Hesselink.
The Red men have been in the Champions League six seasons running and have attracted not a single superstar. That’s if you exclude Torres, which for most of this season xxxxxxx have.
The day they signed Sotirios Kyrgiakos on a free was the day the warning bells rang loud and clear. Kyrgiakos has done OK but if xxxxxxx had waited a bit longer they could have got the whole of Greece on a free. This is the country that gave us Aristotle, Nana Mouskouri and Hopelessly Devoted To You. The Greeks also gave us the Olympics, the very first event being moustache-growing, which later became a men’s discipline
Hills dangle a very tempting 7-1 quote for xxxxxxx not to sign a single player for more than £1 million before next season starts. I’m not saying that’s buying money, but it does look a very attractive loan deal.
Martin O’Neill is 2-1 favourite to replace Rafa Benitez as xxxxxxx manager, according to Ladbrokes. Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is next on the list at 3-1 with Kop legend Kenny Dalglish a 6-1 chance.
The bet that must be backed is Stevie Gerrard to be at another football club before the start of next season. Gerrard wrestled with his conscience when turning down Chelsea in 2006. Since then the Blues have won five trophies to xxxxxxx’s none. Stan James offer 8-11 that Stevie G is at any club other than xxxxxxx before next season. Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho is a known admirer and ready to swoop with a wad of cash.
Meanwhile, Hills have cut Cesc Fabregas to 1-20 to be a Barcelona player by September 1 after the Spanish giants handed in a written offer, thought to be penned by Fabregas himself.
“I want to make a decision about my future before the start of the World Cup,” Fabregas is quoted as saying in a Spanish newspaper. “It’s impossible to perform at a tournament like the World Cup if you’re not fully focused on the sporting aspects of the game. I don’t want to be distracted by transfer talk.”
The Spanish for all of that is “Adios Arsenal.”
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