Rafa Benitez could be SACKED today after his rant against Chelsea fans following their FA Cup win over Middlesbrough. The Daily Mail says Benitez is in danger of being sacked on Thursday after an extraordinary rant at Chelsea supporters and an attack on owner Roman Abramovich for naming him the club's interim manager.
After another night of hearing fans chanting insults as he guided Chelsea to an FA Cup quarter-final showdown at Manchester United, Benitez snapped and confirmed he would definitely be leaving the club.
The former Liverpool boss, who earned notoriety for a blast aimed at Sir Alex Ferguson while in charge at Anfield, and who was sacked by Inter Milan for a similar outburst, is unlikely to be in charge for the Old Trafford clash on Sunday week.
He snapped: "It was a mistake to call me the interim (manager) from the start. I cannot change the titles and the perceptions now. The people who run the club will know I am trying to do my best.
"The manager is the manager, one month, seven months, it does not matter. You are the manager. I had an agent (who negotiated the job). It was the English-Spanish translation.
"I felt it was a mistake to call me the interim but I could not change it. It was too late. But I am the manager. I am professional and I will do my best until the last minute.
"I've been in charge of football for 26 years. I've won the Champions League, FA Cup, Italian Super Cup, Spanish League twice. Nine trophies, all the trophies you can win at club level. But there is a group of fans who are not doing the team any favours.
"They are singing and wasting time preparing banners and it is because someone made a mistake. They put my title 'interim manager!' and I'll leave at the end of the season, so they don't need to waste time with me. That group is not doing the club, the players or the other fans any favours. What they have to do is continue supporting the team.
"If we cannot achieve what we expect to achieve, to be in the top four and be in the Champions League next year, I will leave.
"The club will stay in the Europa League but the fans will have to take responsibility too. The fans put the players under pressure and they do not create a good atmosphere at Stamford Bridge.
"They have to realise they are making a big mistake as the rest of the fans want to see the team in the Champions League next year. It would be better for everyone to have a good atmosphere, supporting the team - that's it.
"I am the manager and I will manage the team. I like to manage players and not names, so I will pick my team and I will make my decisions and at the end of the season I will leave anyway as I'm interim, as they say. I think again, the fans are wasting time.
"I proved these three months that I want to win every single game. I am professional. If we win I will be the happiest man in the world. But, if a group of fans, if they continue their agenda and they continue not supporting the team and wasting their time with these things, it is their decision."
