Rafa Benitez latest

Its been a another busy day on the Rafa Benitez front. Reports from such luminary writers as the Mirror report half the team will walk out if Rafa is pushed. Others suggest the whole row has built up out of nothing more than Rafa's paranoia (Tribal Football & the Daily Mail).

Slightly worrying are the reports that the Javier Mascherano deal is now on hold due to the uncertainty. If this is the case then this really needs to be sorted as soon as possible. Letting him go to another club when all he wants to do to Liverpool would be criminal. The Liverpool Echo is reporting that he is now happy to bide his time and see how the Rafa situation pans out before committing.

Meanwhile Arsene Wenger has backed Rafa and given a thinly veiled attack on the American owners all but accusing them of not knowing enough about what it takes to get success in football.

Seems to me the whole situation is delicately balanced and the Lord only knows how it will pan out. Given Benitez's continued public carping the odds would seem to be in favour of him getting the boot, however this must be counterbalanced by his peace offering, the payoff required, the rebuilding that would be required and the massive discontent from players and fans if he goes.

I have a gut feel that he will be there until the end of the season with an uneasy peace settling on Anfield. As for after that I suspect Rafa could be out.