Nice work if you can get it, or to coin another phrase, nothing succeeds like failure.

Sacked as manager by Inter after a disastrous run of failure, Rafael Benitez pockets £2.5 million (Dh14.17 million) compensation.

On top of the £4 million he got from Liverpool who got rid of him at the end of last season after a truly wretched campaign, hardly helped by Benitez's rash decision to sell Alonso, the inspiration of his midfield to Real Madrid.

What I couldn't understand was why Liverpool had to pay Benitez any compensation at all, since I understood that he was leaving of his own accord.

But now Liverpool fans, those sentimental Scousers, are demanding that he come back to Anfield to replace Roy Hodgson after just a few months of Roy taking charge.

Hard to comprehend such enthusiasm for Benitez, even if Roy has been having a difficult beginning at Anfield.

Trumpeting the fact that in Istanbul Liverpool won the European Cup Final against a Milan team three up at half time surely begs the question of how and why Liverpool had been overrun in the first half.

Kaka, the Brazilian attacker, had virtually a free rein then, but when Benitez came to his senses in what seems to have been a turbulent half-time dressing room and finally sent on Dietmar Hamann, the German midfielder, to mark Kaka, the music changed.

Liverpool sensationally got those three goals back and went on to win on penalty kicks, after extra time.

Previously, the Liverpool fans wanted Kenny Dalglish, long a hero on Merseyside as manager.

Indeed the club had flourished under his regime but that was a long time ago.

Legend dies

How sad to know that Enzo Bearzot, manager of the World Cup-winning Italy team of 1982 in Spain, has died at the age of 83. I knew, liked and admired Bearzot for many years and covered all three World Cups in which he was in charge of the Azzurri.

In 1982 Italy began badly in Spain with three dull, sterile draws, which gave Enzo's sworn enemy, the egregious match-fixer and manipulator the late Italo Allodi, the chance to campaign against him.

But then the Azzurri took flight beating against all odds, Brazil, the favourites and West Germany in the final. All three Italian goals snapped up by centre forward Paolo Rossi, who came suddenly to life.

He arguably shouldn't have been playing at all.

After all, he was suspended for three years in a huge bribery scandal but it had was commuted to two.

Gifted teen

Meanwhile, it's so good to see that gifted Welsh teenager, Aaron Ransey, at last playing again on loan at Nottingham Forest, nearly a year after he was shockingly put out of football by a dreadful challenge from the big blond Stoke centre half, Ryan Shawcross.

Arsenal have lent him to Forrest so he can recuperate.

Stoke's egregious chairman, Peter Cotes, has said how glad he is that Shawcross has shown no ill-effects after the incident.

Arsene Wenger, the Gunners' manager has, for his part drily observed that the only person who can forgive Shawcross is Ramsey.

 

- The writer is a football expert based in England.