Today's Banter: The mass exodus that would follow Rafa, The press & pundits toe the company line, Gerrard speaks up, & more

With the impending (and ridiculous) debacle concerning the future of Rafael Benitez set to play out in the near future, a potential aftershock to ponder is that his departure could gut our side, if not first psychologically, eventually physically. The possibility of those who followed Rafa from abroad requesting a transfer or, in the case of Javier Mascherano, refusing to sign a permanent, is highly likely. Contractually obligated or not, a band of discontent players is a near impossible task to motivate and in our case, a large portion of the squad would at least secretly harbor feelings of betrayal for the men signing their paychecks.

The lack of professionalism displayed in the situation so far would surely dampen any calls of such a notion from our players. Relieving Benitez of his managerial duties is akin to a spit in the face of our Spanish, South American, and other foreign players who played under Rafa at his previous clubs. If our owners want a plague of strife followed by a substantial player-forced reshuffle that has the plausible backlash of crippling the side, then by all means they should rid themselves of Rafa and his small-spending ways. The threat of Jose Mourinho and his thriftiness is laughable at best.

This is ultimately about money, nothing more and nothing less, not egos nor power-trips. Rafa has done an absolute brilliant job at building a squad using peanuts to lure elephants. If Gillett and Hicks think that ridding themselves of the Spaniard is even an option financially, they're far worse businessmen than can be fathomed. Securing a transfer fee for Kaladze of £4m and signing Mascherano to a permanent for £17m, fee and salary, were both tremendously savvy deals. The former appears to be no longer an option while the latter is in serious jeopardy.

The monetary repercussions of dealing with a squad full of scorned players is unimaginable. The losses due to Bosmans and circumstantial devaluations could easily reach a nine-figure sum. All investment of even the past year would most likely go to waste. The oath of fealty when it comes to players always lies with their manager. He's the one that shares their love of football and there will be always be someone to sign their checks. If Gillett and Hicks truly are shrewd businessmen then a simple weighing of pros and cons can only lead them to one conclusion, give Rafa the meager amounts he needs to make your club even more profitable when you sell or suffer the consequences of even more dire financial constraints.

Perusing the press today, I found two articles of particular interest. The first is a piece at Sky Sports which is disconcerting in tone, but suspicious in agenda. According to Spain-based journalist Graham Hunter, Rafa Benitez 'has changed.' Mr. Hunter says he has heard such notions regarding the alleged personality metamorphosis from 'many people' and it is 'why so many of his friends and supporters have left the club.' Friends and supporters left the club? Like who? The only person who has left the club due to a rift with Rafa that I'm aware of is Pako Ayestaran and from what I understand that was due to a philosophical change in training methods by Benitez that Ayesteran did not support. This article has anti-Rafa PR campaign written all over it and is illogical in premise. Rafa wants what is best for the club because in the end, it's what's best for him, an attempt to imply anything different is just absurd.

Then we have an even more odd article by former Liverpool great Ian Rush. He starts out chastising Rafa Benitez for not doing things the 'Liverpool way' and keeping the rift behind closed doors, but Benitez wasn't the instigator nor the violator of the unwritten rule, Hicks and Gillett spoke first with their official statement on the official Liverpool site. Had the owners not made such a strange announcement, Rafa wouldn't have been hounded and pressured by the press to reveal the true origins of the declaration. Then Rush's article gets even more uncanny as he goes on to praise Benitez for his accomplishments in his short time with our club and makes a plea for keeping him on board. So first he slaps Rafa on the hand for something he didn't do, but then follows it up with elicit praise for our manager. Interesting.

Steven Gerrard has basically stated that he will not be getting involved in the spat between our manager and owners. I can definitely see his view, I mean, as a club we are entering a crucial string of fixtures that we need to win, especially in Champions League, and all distractions should be set aside to concentrate on the task at hand. I do hope he realizes though that if push comes to shove, he has the power to play a major role in doing what is best for the club.

Finally, two Liverpool legends, Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne, are set to receive winner's medals for being part of the England side that won the 1966 World Cup. Since neither player were part of the XI that played in the final, they were excluded from receiving a medal. Now thanks to England 2018 World Cup bid ambassador Richard Caborn and FIFA President Sepp Blatter, all members appointed to the squad will do so. Cheers.