Liverpool fans shouldn’t be a patient breed, just take a look at their statistics and you will see that this has been by far the biggest drought for an age.

Liverpool are the most successful club in the history of English football, were consistent League winners in a long conga-line of championships from the 1960s through to the 1980s. All this screeched to a halt in 1989 with Graeme Souness, Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier, and now Rafa Benitez the proud proponents of tepid League positions.

And that is exactly why I would love to see Rafa at Anfield for as long as possible. The two sides of Stanley Park haven't threatened to collide with such regularity since the mid 80s and although I still bear the scars of Everton's 90s malaise – competing with Liverpool in the mother of all six-pointer seasons.

'Rafa is a 'pyromaniac fireman' – forever dousing Liverpool’s Premier League disappointments with Champions League successes'


One will progress to the Champions League, the other will have to make do with the UEFA Cup. It is edge-of-your-seat stuff, and the financial losses that Liverpool would face if they had to compete in the UEFA Cup would be huge.

The chance for a glorious league finish that will simultaneously cause grievous damage to our local rivals is the perfect chance to settle the score from the Clattenburg derby, a ref-assisted success for Liverpool.

Rafa is a 'pyromaniac fireman' – forever dousing Liverpool’s Premier League disappointments with Champions League successes. Benitez is bulletproof for the rest of the season, and thanks to the famous night in Istanbul, Rafa will be hard to sack for a long time. Even marginal success, such as their rousing victory over Inter Milan at Anfield (which conveniently swept the Barnsley result under the carpet) gets Koppites frothing at the mouth and dreaming of Istanbul Part Two.

Rafa brought the world to Liverpool once in Istanbul, and they will give him countless chances to bring it again. They believe they have their Bill Shankly, but the reality is of an aloof manager, who eschews the personal touch for cold tactical sensibilities. His players are pawns and the one man who was a conduit between the players and their boss, assistant Pako Ayesteran, was sacked earlier this season.

Interestingly the Spaniard’s opposite number at Goodison Park is also operating without an assistant, but whereas Rafa gave Pako the chop amid a miasma of controversy, Moyes let Alan Irvine go to earn his stripes as a manager at Preston North End, an avuncular Goodison Baloo allowing his Mowgli to leave for pastures new.

Moyes is rumoured to be looking at Billy Davies to come in during the summer, whereas Rafa, tellingly, vetoed the appointment of Paul Jewell to an assistant post earlier this season – and is acting like a power-hungry monarch, unwilling to share with anyone.

"This year! This year!” screamed the pundits at the beginning of the season, predicting a high league finish, and even a possible Premier League title for Liverpool. How wrong they were. Rafa has cleverly muted Liverpool’s league ambition and focused attention on Europe, and the longer he does it the better.

With Moyes hot on the heels of the Anfield side and improving with every footballing breath, I would love for Rafa to stay to 2012 and beyond!