Rafael Benitez on the verge of leaving liverpool!!

Thanks to bbc sport for this...

Reds manager Rafael Benitez on verge of Liverpool exit

Benitez's Liverpool struggled for form during the 2009/10 season Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is on the verge of leaving the club, BBC Sport understands. Benitez will be offered a multi-million pound severance deal to quit Anfield and could depart by the weekend. The Spaniard, 50, signed a five-year contract in March 2009, but failed to deliver success last season as the club missed out on a Champions League place. Liverpool are £351m in debt and were put up for sale by co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett earlier this year. The American pair's ownership of the Reds has drawn protests from Liverpool fans, who are unhappy with the way the club is being run. Now news of Benitez's impending departure will inevitably lead to question marks over the futures of several key players. Captain Steven Gerrard, star forward Fernando Torres and Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano have all recently being linked with summer moves elsewhere. BBC sports news correspondent Dan Roan said Benitez was "certain to leave" Liverpool. "The board are in discussions with the manager about him leaving immediately," said Roan. "A severance deal has been offered to Benitez and it is worth significantly more than the £3m that has been reported - he is entitled to £16m as a result of the contract he signed last year." "Benitez is currently on holiday but if he decides to accept their offer he could be out by the weekend." Benitez's agent, Manuel Garcia Quilon, said he would speaking to the former Valencia boss on Thursday, adding: "We don't know anything more than what's being said. We're not saying anything." Benitez has been linked to Italian giants Inter Milan, who are looking for a coach following Jose Mourinho's move to Real Madrid. Liverpool have refused to comment on the future of their manager. "The club are concerned that details being leaked out could undermine the severance deal," added Roan. "Significantly, no replacement has so far been approached, but that process is sure to begin shortly." Academy director Kenny Dalglish, who won three league titles as manager at Anfield between 1985 and 1991, is believed to have been lined up as an interim replacement. Fulham manager Roy Hodgson and Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill mentioned as potential targets to take over in the long-term. Benitez replaced Gerard Houllier at Anfield in June 2004 and enjoyed a successful start to his tenure as Liverpool won the Champions League the following season. But they could only finish seventh in the Premier League last term despite finishing as runners-up to Manchester United the previous season. As well as the Champions League triumph, Benitez also steered Liverpool to the European Super Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2006. But the inconsistency of last season, where they lost 11 times in the league and exited the Champions League in the group stages, seems to have been a turning point. Benitez had suggested he would require in excess of £50m to put the club back in contention for Champions League qualification, let alone the Premier League title, while co-owner Hicks recently said the Spaniard would have a "substantial" transfer budget this summer. However, Benitez looks destined to leave, despite telling the Liverpool Echo recently that he wanted to stay at Anfield "for a long time".

Mexico 86, the best world cup??

An excellent blog from Bradley King has underlined to me how much coverage of the beautiful game has changed a lot since I was a lad. I am only 35 years of age now but the volume of football on television is just staggering. The only games shown live when I was a young boy were the F.A. Cup Final and the England v Scotland international so as you can imagine we were pretty starved of coverage as youngsters. The exception to the rule was the FIFA World cup, wall to wall footie it was amazing to someone like me who loved the game. My first world cup was Mexico 86, maradona's hand of god, gary lineker with his wrist cast, mexico being pretty rubbish, spectacular long range goals from the soviet union and the germans getting to yet another final beating the fabulous french team on the way. It was an excellent world cup and I pretty much watched every game, I still remember watching the England v Poland match on my small black and white portable with the sound down, as you can imagine it was hard to stop myself screaming when Mr lineker scored his wonderful hat trick. The tournament progressed and probably the best game apart from the final itself was the quarter final between Brazil and France a magnificent game which ebbed and flowed before the game was decided on penalties, I vividly remember Zico missing a penalty in the 90 mins. I felt a certain sadness when the tournament was over and Argentina were crowned World champions I dont think I have witnessed a world cup since which has excited me as much as that one did. South Africa has a lot to live up to and heres hoping that as a spectacle it can live up to the magic of Mexico 86..

The official 23 man squad for the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa

Well here it is folks fabio's squad for the world cup what do we all think??

England World Cup squad in full: J Hart, D James, R Green; J Carragher, A Cole, R Ferdinand, G Johnson, L King,J Terry, M Upson, S Warnock; G Barry, M Carrick, J Cole, S Gerrard, F Lampard, A Lennon, J Milner, S Wright-Phillips; P Crouch, J Defoe, E Heskey, W Rooney.

Official announcement at 15:00 bst.....

Totally unnacceptable start to our world cup campaign. The official announcement will now be at 3pm this afternoon, why do we always make life so difficult for ourselves with this cloak and dagger treatment of the english press, ah well the rumours are still coming strong, Emile Heskey and Jermaine Defoe the latest confirmations...

Shaun wright Phillips in and so is Stephen Warnock

Again according to those reliable people down at Sky Sports, Shaun Wright Phillips (bet his dad is glad) and Stephen Warnock have made the plane to South Africa, Leighton Baines it appears is sadly missing out..

Joe Cole included in the England World cup squad!!

According to sky sport sources Joe cole IS in the world cup final 23, bad news for Theo Walcott, darren Bent and Adam johson, they are the latest ommissions. On a personal note I am glad cole has been included he could be a vital link from the midfield to the strikers in this world cup, Theo Walcott has never convinced me although he is still young and his time will come I am sure, Adam Johnson to be honest I dont know enough about him so his non inclusion does not suprise me...

Darren Bent rumour!!!!

There is further speculation doing the rounds that darren bent of Sunderland has already been told by capello that he will not be boarding the plane to South Africa, this has just been mentioned on the BBC Sport website..I am sure there will be plenty more of these stories circulating before the official announcement is made...keep reading for more info...

Its decision day for fabio!!!

Fabio Capello says he knows who will be in his World Cup squad, but the old tease isn't going to tell us until Tuesday. So I am going to fall back on my old favourite - barely-informed speculation...

Here's who I think will be on the plane...with a little help from www.365football.com


GOALKEEPERS
We know the three, but who will be number one? A combination of a poor, injury-blighted season and a skittish 45 minutes against Japan surely means David James is out of the picture, so it's down to Rob Green and Joe Hart. The latter looked very, very impressive against Japan, but Green played equally well in his half versus Mexico. Does Hart's extra 45 tell us anything? We'd give the Manchester/Birmingham City man the nod, but it genuinely looks 50:50.


DEFENDERS
Interesting choice to be made here, if not perhaps on personnel, but on numbers. Glen Johnson, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole will be the starting four, while Jamie Carragher and Ledley King are nailed on to be the support. Stephen Warnock's non-appearance in either game surely means Leighton Baines will be the reserve left-back, despite an unconvincing game against Mexico.

So what of Matthew Upson and Michael Dawson? The latter undoubtedly had the better season, but since neither appeared in the friendlies, are we to assume that neither will travel? Taking only seven defenders and making do for back-up is a theory that has been around for a while, and Carragher's return from retirement suggests it's a possibility, given that he will act as cover for two positions. With the injury worries of the three specialist centre-halves it's a risk, but it's a risk that Capello could well take.


MIDFIELDERS
Always the place where big calls will be made. The obvious inclusions are Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Theo Walcott (alas) and Gareth Barry, assuming he is fit, and the noises are promising on that front.

The rest present something of a quandary. Scott Parker's lack of any appearance suggests he's out, but did Michael Carrick and Tom Huddlestone really do enough to convince Capello of their worth? Based on the performances of the last few days, Capello might be tempted to leave them both at home. However, it's unlikely that he would gamble on not taking some insurance should Barry break down, and since Milner is best used elsewhere, a specialist must surely go. Carrick was dreadful versus Mexico, but Tom Huddlestone didn't exactly holler 'Pick me!' from the rooftops. With a heavy Italian heart, Fabio may go with the languid experience of Carrick.

The attacking options are interesting. If Capello really was paying attention to the friendlies, he must surely include Joe Cole. His lively 45 minutes in Graz on Sunday showed that firstly he's one of the few England players with some spark or invention, but also that there are alternatives to the 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 with Wayne Rooney playing off a big man. Gerrard was thought to be the man for that job, but Cole is another option.

So that leaves only one spot, between Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips. While SWP was perky enough against Japan, Capello has been effusive (for him) in his praise of Johnson in recent months. A natural left-foot is a rarity in this England squad, and although he was only awarded a brief cameo in the warm-up games, he looks to be the better choice.


STRIKERS
If Darren Bent's inclusion in the starting line-up against Japan was a surprise, it would be a shock of 2006 Walcottian proportions if he made the final 23. Heskey's lack of game time either in the season gone or the friendlies might have suggested his place was in doubt, but such a radical change of plan from Capello at this late stage seems unlikely. The other three pick themselves.


THE SQUAD I THINK CAPELLO WILL CHOOSE:
Green, Hart, James; Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Baines, Carragher, King, Terry, Ferdinand; Barry, Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard, Milner, Lennon, Walcott, Joe Cole, Adam Johnson; Heskey, Crouch, Defoe, Rooney.


AND FOR THE RECORD, THE 23 I WOULD CHOOSE:
Green, Hart, James; Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Baines, Carragher, King, Terry, Ferdinand, Dawson; Barry, Huddlestone, Lampard, Gerrard, Milner, Lennon, Joe Cole, Adam Johnson; Heskey, Crouch, Defoe, Rooney.