Benitez defiant despite Liverpool’s latest Hammer blow

PUBLICLY at least, Rafa Benitez insists he is confident he will given time to rejuvenate Liverpool’s fortunes and lead the club into Champions League qualification once again this season.

The majority of those watching at Upton Park last night were not so convinced, and that must have included the 3,000 supporters in the lower tier of the Centenary Stand, after Mark Noble’s injury time penalty gave West Ham a deserved victory.

And one cannot help but wonder what Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett must have thought when they received news of this defeat. Hicks said on Sunday that he would be backing his manager. Ominously for Benitez, that statement is already beginning to appear like a dreaded vote of confidence.