POLL: Should Benitez be given a permanant contract?

There are reports that Rafa Benitez has been talking to Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea board about staying on as Chelsea manager! I personally hope that Roman and Chelsea stick to the original agreement and tell the bloke that his contract will NOT be renewed.

He said yesterday:

“I want to be at a top side and Chelsea is a top side with great potential. It is a great opportunity. My contract is clear but you don’t know. The way to have a better view of the future is to win the next game.

I have had conversations with the people in charge and the owner. They know my ideas and they listen to me and we talk and they have to decide.

The money that was spent, the position and [Club World Cup in] Japan, the African Cup of Nations, Put these things together and you will see new players and a transition period and are we doing well? We are going in the right direction.

If you analyse all the managers. How many had pre-season here? Not me. How many spent massive money here? Not me. How many managers had to go to Japan in the middle of the season with players injured and had players in the African Cup of Nations? So, it is just only me.

The reality is that if you put everything together, you will see why we are happy in the way we are doing things and the way the team is progressing. I came in the middle of the season, so I could not change too many things. I had to work with the squad I had.”

I understand that there are people out there that do have a different opinion of Benitez than I do. However, we are all entitled to our own opinions and I have made my feelings clear on Benitez here.

Listening to Paul Merson on Soccer Saturday on SkySports, it seems that he agrees with me and has the same argument. I posted after going out to Swansea the other night that I have major issues with not only Benitez team talks at half time, but also his substitutions during games. He had an ideal opportunity to chase the game on Wednesday but what does he do? He takes off Ivanovic and replaced him with David Luiz!

Merson (the Chelsea fan) said:

“The person who has come out of this game very lightly is Benitez cause it was shocking! To play two football matches over 180 minutes and not to score a goal and to start bringing on a defender for a defender when you are 2-0 down and chasing a football match, he’s a lucky man!”

Why is it that people behind Benitez are blinkered with performances and results such as these?

I am glad that Merson feels the same as me but it worries the life out of me that Chelsea’s board and Roman do not feel the same!

Benitez talks of the progress we are making. Do you people really think we ARE making any real progress under Rafa? No disrespect to Swansea, but we had a fantastic chance to get to Wembley again and he blew it. We had a fantastic chance to win the Club World Cup and he blew it. We have a fantastic chance to get into the top four, even the top three, and he could end up blowing it!

I am sorry, but this guy isn’t for me and God help us if he takes over on a full-time basis and is allowed money to spend to develop his own squad!

Roman, please listen to the fans. We have Chelsea in our hearts and we always want what is right for our club and Benitez isn’t right for Chelsea. He never has and never will be.

Don’t give him a permanent contract – RAFA OUT!