Chelsea and Everton fans ruined the Rafa Benitez managerial model for Premier League owners

Once a Rafa Benitez hater, always a Rafa Benitez hater. Somethings you cannot just shake off.

Rafa Benitez has been sacked by Evertonfollowing a shocking run of 12 games without a single win. His last match with the Toffees came with a 2-1 defeat to none other than Norwich. No disrespect to the Canaries, but that was always going to be the nail in the coffin.

After falling out with key players such as James Rodriguez and Lucas Digne, the Spaniard has been relieved from his managerial duties. I feel sorry for Everton fans. They didn’t deserve this. I always look back to Chelsea’s year with Benitez and remember the rage that came with every loss and every draw.

The rivalry between Everton and Liverpool does not need explaining.

Hiring Benitez was only going to do more harm than good for Everton. While Chelsea fans were forced to warm up to him, Everton fans’ feelings were quickly justified by the lack of positive results.

Despite winning the Europa League undernhim it was difficult for Chelsea fans to warm up to the former Liverpool boss. I mean, those cold nights at Anfield against Benitez’s Liverpool would go down in history. The pre-match conferences and the eternal digs at the club set the tone for a rivalry between Benitez and the Blues. I can only imagine how Everton fans must have felt.

Benitez once said in 2007: “Chelsea is a big club with fantastic players, every manager wants to coach a such a big team,” Benitez said in 2007. “But I would never take that job, in respect for my former team at Liverpool, no matter what. For me there is only one club in England, and that’s Liverpool.”

Five years later, his word was as concrete as sawdust. Having said these famous lines previously, it was no wonder that Benitez failed to find acceptance at Chelsea.

He won us some silverware and salvaged a top-four finish in sticky circumstances but he’d failed to gain our respect. I’m not too sure why the Everton board thought this case would be different.

From the offset, the Evertonians were not keen on the appointment. Life may have been easier if the results were going his way, but they weren’t. It was a ship waiting to sink from the second James Rodriguez was pushed overboard.

We could blame the Everton players, we could also blame the lack of planning when Carlo Ancelotti hastily left for the vacant Real Madrid post. Whilst at Chelsea, Benitez was open to criticising the fans for their hostile environment towards him. He once claimed the hostility towards him at Stamford Bridge made his players ‘uncomfortable’, explaining that the lack of support was hurting the players.

I hope Everton and all other clubs can look at this situation and avoid making the same mistakes. There are some rivalries that just cannot be tamed. The fans may not have the power in the board rooms, but they still control the terraces. Their voices will be heard and they will ultimately get their way.

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