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"Rafa has a habit of causing chaos at clubs" - Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp on Rafa Benitez

Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp discuss Rafa Benitez upon his imminent departure from Everton



Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp discussed Rafa Benitez and his reign at Everton on Saturday.

Everton lost 2-1 to Norwich on Saturday.

Adam Idah scored the second goal, which turned out to be the winner. Idah's goal condemned Rafa Benitez to another loss and the Everton board called an emergency meeting in the aftermath of the game. Benitez has not yet been fired but he is expected to be this week.

Benitez did what he always does. He first rid the club of James Rodriguez. Then he committed to playing too conservatively. Lucas Digne, widely regarded as a valuable, attacking wing back, was sent away for no real reason. Benitez made the team worse tactically and caused problems with the talent available to him.

Everton lost because of him.

Jamie Redknapp and Roy Keane covered the Norwich game for Sky Sports on Saturday. Keane points to the dressing room as the primary problem.

"It doesn't look like a good dressing room there," Keane said.

"They've got some decent players, who only turn up every now and again. Which is no good to a big club like Everton. Obviously Rafa Benitez ultimately will pay the price...but I get the impression there's something amiss at that football club, whether it be the culture or lack of characters or lack of leaders at the club.

"I know Seamus Coleman he's a really good guy, but I get the impression it's not a good dressing room there."

Redknapp agreed that the dressing room was the problem, but went one step further and blamed the dressing room on the manager. It's not the first time Benitez has fallen out with players or created an unhappy dressing room. He infamously forced Xabi Alonso out when he was Liverpool manager, and that was at the height of his success.

"Rafa has a habit of causing chaos at clubs," Redknapp said.

"He's a politician. He's always blaming everyone else, he pits this person against that person , he always creates an atmosphere of fans against the board. Everywhere he goes...He was never the right fit."

Everton are 16th. They are six points clear of the relegation zone. It will only take a handful of more bad results to pit them into the relegation battle. For that reason, Everton need a short-term manager who can reinvigorate the players available to them.

Fortunately, they have someone in the club who has proven they can do that once before. Duncan Ferguson.

"Duncan Ferguson is the sort of person right now that's there. I think he'd do a great job because he did a pretty good job when he was interim in charge last time. Try and find the next manager. People will talk about Wayne Rooney, the job he's doing at Derby now is out of this world.

"The fact he's even got them in that position, this will be the greatest escape of all time."

Wayne Rooney began his career at Everton. He is the Derby manager now, but would likely jump at the opportunity to become a Premier League manager. He has stayed at Derby long enough to satisfy his loyalty commitment should Everton come calling at the end of the season.

Rooney is at the very least passionate about the club, so it would be a polar opposite appointment to Benitez who was always working to win over the fans.

Winning the fans over is important, though not as important as winning games.

"I don't think they're capable of doing it" Pat Nevin on Manchester United's players.

 

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Read more about

Everton Jamie Redknapp Rafa Benitez Roy Keane