Rafa First Winner of the "Turnip Head" Manager of the Month

Rafa Benitez has become the first winner of the "Turnip Head" Manager of the Month Award from the Sack Race, we can assure you that this is one trophy that the Spaniard will not want to win as his Liverpool team continue to struggle. The "Turnip Head" Manager of the Month Award is a new award for those Managers who are struggling, those who look like they could be on the slippery slope towards the job centre as the points and results continue to be below expectation. We will be assessing the form of all the Managers and their teams each month to work out who we believe should be the next "Turnip Head", we will not be just looking at results, but also performances and and player unrest will be taken into account both in club and International football as we build up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Rafa Benitez has won the inaugural award for November after his team crashed out of the Champions League at the first attempt and continued to slip further off the pace in the Premier League, many expert pundits were tipping Liverpool for the title after their fantastic season last term but the wheels have come off so far in 2009/10. Liverpool are struggling to win a game at the moment and are leaking goals at an alarming rate, they conceded sloppy goals in the matches against Birmingham and Man City which both ended in draws when they should have won comfortably.

One thing all Liverpool fans can count on is a good run in the Champions League no matter how the league campaign is going, but not this season as a defeats to Lyon and Fiorentina have seen the Reds make an early exit from the competition for the first time since 2002. Rafa has remained defiant throughout the troubles but he will now have to pick his troops up for a Europa League campaign which is known as the 'Mickey Mouse' European trophy. Liverpool simply have to finish in the top four this season if they are to remain a big side but at the moment that is looking increasingly unlikely.