Benitez blasts Chelsea fans in outrageous rant

No immediate action against Spaniard, confirms Blues official.

LONDON: Rafael Benitez is well-known for his ‘Rafa rants’ and his latest tirade against employers Chelsea and their fans could further damage his reputation and chances of finding another job.

His blast after Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth round win at second tier Middlesbrough has already led to media speculation that he will be asked to leave earlier than the end of the season when his short-term deal runs out.

However, Chelsea insisted yesterday it was just another day at the office and no immediate action will be taken against the Spaniard. “It’s business as usual,” said a club spokesperson.

In an outrageous interview on Wednesday night, Benitez’s patience with the Chelsea fans finally snapped as he confirmed he will leave the club at the end of the season.

“A group of fans, they are not doing any favours for the team when they are singing and wasting time preparing banners,” he said of the fans who roundly booed him during his initial appearances in the Chelsea dug-out and was also the target of jeers during the game at Middlesbrough where they won 2-0.

“It’s because someone made a mistake. They put my title ‘interim manager’, and I will leave at the end of the season, so they (the fans) don’t need to waste time with me.

“Why put ‘interim’ in the title? Why did they need to do that? Maybe they thought, ‘He was at Liverpool, so put ‘interim’.



“The fans have to concentrate on supporting the team, that’s what they have to do. In the end, they are not doing any favours to the club, to the rest of the fans and to the players.

“Every game they continue singing and they continue preparing banners, they are wasting time. What they have to do is support the team.

“If we cannot achieve what we expect to achieve, that is to be in the top four and be in the Champions League for next year, I will leave. They will stay in the Europa League and they have to take responsibility too.

“I am the manager and I will be managing the team. I pick my team and I will make decisions. And then I will leave anyway – because I’m interim, as they say – so they’re wasting their time.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2013.