talkSPORT pundit now moots Rafael Benitez done as a manager after missing out on Leeds United job to Javi Gracia
Rafael Benitez may be “done” as a manager now after Leeds United decided to appoint Javi Gracia instead of him, according to Danny Murphy.
The talkSPORT pundit had recently suggested the ex-Liverpool boss was the answer to the Whites problems, and it is believed he was interested in taking over [talkSPORT, 20 February] following the defeat at Everton on Saturday (18 February).
But after the experienced manager missed out on the role to former Watford boss Gracia on Tuesday Murphy believes the 62-year-old’s career might be at an end.
Live on talkSPORT on Wednesday (22 February, 10.53am) Jim White asked: “I’ve just been lauding Mr Murphy for his honesty about Liverpool, but I’m just thinking Javi Gracia gets a job at Leeds, were you not touting Rafa Benitez?”
Murphy responded that he was asked if Benitez was a good fit: “I said ‘possibly’, because it’s hard for me to be nice about Rafa because he got rid of me at the club I loved the most.”
After being mocked for that by both White and Alex Crook he went on: “The more I thought about it and the more I watched Leeds and how many goals they concede, it seemed if that was an option it wouldn’t be the worst one.”
Asked by White why the Champions League winner still hasn’t got a job since being sacked at Everton Murphy said: “I think maybe his day is done. Maybe the way he ended at Newcastle, going to China for the money, maybe the way he struggled at Everton, maybe it’s just not an appealing appointment any more, and I don’t think the Leeds fans were particularly keen.”
“If his race his run why were you touting him for Leeds?” White asked.
Murphy said the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss’ style is what is needed at Elland Road but the club’s hierarchy themselves may believe he is at the end of the road.
Flip flopping
Benitez is no stranger to being an unpopular appointment in his well-travelled time in football, with Chelsea and Everton fans particularly unhappy to see him arrive thanks to his links to Liverpool, and European giants Inter and Real Madrid somewhat underwhelmed with him after periods of success.
While the Whites fanbase would likely have been added to that list had he got the job until the end of the season he would have been a more experienced option than Michael Skubala.
On balance it is likely Gracia is the better option at this point, but given what it has taken to get here it is hardly cause for celebration just yet.
Benitez is sure to continue to get linked to clubs in similar situations for some time yet, and Murphy’s wriggling in and out of backing him shows the manager is a difficult man to place nowadays.
Once an undeniably top-level coach he has clearly slipped a number of rungs down the ladder, and his experience at Goodison Park did him no favours, or them.
Had he beaten Gracia to the Leeds United job and managed to keep the club up it would have rehabilitated his image somewhat, and if his compatriot loses his first few games in charge there might be a few doubts over which Spanish boss [Mo Ibrahim, 20 February] from a two-man shortlist [Fabrizio Romano, 20 February] was chosen.
The bottom line is that an approach has finally been successful, and now only time will tell if it was the right one.
In other Leeds United news, another big managerial decision has been made ahead of the crucial relegation clash with Southampton.