Jan

Will Liverpool ever sack Rafa Benitez?

Humiliation once again for the Reds

In all fairness, Liverpool were lucky to get the replay but the luck shone on them at Reading. The fact that the club in a perilous financial condition was offered the chance of a lucrative second match with TV coverage showed the lucky breaks that Liverpool get some times.

The opening goal of the Anfield replay of the Liverpool v Reading clash seemed to continue in this vein. An own goal scored on the stroke of half-time had the Kop breathing a sigh of relief and most home fans would have been hoping for a stress-free second half.

And then, things started to turn the way they have been going under Rafa this season.

Fernando Torres had already limped off, which was bad enough but when the teams emerged for the second half without Stevie Gerrard on the pitch, some of the Reds may have feared the worst. Some fans complain about their club being a one man team but this can never be levelled at Liverpool. They are a two man team and without their two men, they are rubbish.

One of the shocks may have been that it took an injury time penalty for Reading to draw level but draw level they did and the game was forced into extra-time.

This should have been the time a manager earned his money, inspiring his top flight players to raise their game for 30 minutes and defeat their lower league opposition.

This was something that was clearly lacking from Rafa Benitez and on 100 minutes, Shane Long glanced the ball into the net for the Royals second goal.

Anyone expecting a Red onslaught would have been shocked as Liverpool never looked like genuinely getting back in the game.

The final whistle came and Rafa Benitez slunk up the tunnel as quickly as he could. Perhaps the Spaniard is safe in the knowledge that the club cannot afford to sack him but surely he must look at himself in the mirror and think he is Max from Phoenix Nights.

No wait, surely he must look at himself and question whether he is still the man for the job at Anfield.

Surely now some Liverpool fans will have to ask for the removal of their manager or perhaps they still enjoy dining out on the silverware won by Benitez in his first two seasons?

Where now for Liverpool?