Pundit Simon Jordan has blasted former Everton manager Rafa Benitez for his recent comments on why it didn't work out at Goodison Park.
The ex- Liverpool boss had a brief stint with the Blues in the first half of last season before he parted ways with the club back in January after less than seven months in the dug out. In an interview with Sky Sports this week, Benitez opened up on his time at Everton and said his connections to Liverpool meant he was unable to make decisions.
"At the time Everton came in with the offer, I knew I would give my best and do everything to try to improve things," said Benitez. "I knew it could be difficult because I was at Liverpool, so maybe I couldn't make some decisions. It was very clear for us at the beginning.
READ MORE: Rafa Benitez claims Liverpool history stopped him from making Everton 'decisions'
"I had a meeting with a head of one of the departments and I asked him, 'do you think everything is fine?' He said, 'yeah, everything is perfect'. I thought '£600m had been spent, it cannot be perfect when the owners aren't happy and the fans are not happy.' So I realised we had to change things inside, but I couldn't do it straight away because I was a former Red and it could be seen as,. 'oh, he's come in to change our club'."
Former Crystal Palace owner Jordan has now slammed Benitez for suggesting the failed spell at Everton was not his own fault.
He said on talkSPORT : "One of the things I hate in life is people that trot out tropes without any substance behind it. If you're going to say you weren't able to make any decisions, name the decisions you weren't able to make rather than make them ambiguous.
"So in this situation, Rafa Benitez puts a headline statement out there about every reason why it wasn't his fault. The team stank, they were awful at times Everton and he must have known this was a poisoned chalice. The moment he lost a game, he saw the reaction when he got the job, there was going to be this blowback."
Benitez spent six years at Anfield between 2004 and 2010, winning the Champions League with Liverpool just a year after his arrival. He lasted just 19 league games at Everton, however, before he was replaced by Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.
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