FURIOUS Bruce Grobbelaar has stuck the boot into Rafa Benitez for wrecking his beloved Liverpool.
The Anfield legend is fuming with Benitez for splashing out £248million and leaving the club in a mess – a “sinking ship”.
Grobbelaar thinks that Benitez should have been sacked when he failed to secure a Champions League spot for next season after being “that confident and that brash” about being able to deliver.
And he wonders why the Liverpool board didn’t wake up to the fact that a possible successor to Benitez was right under their noses in the shape of former boss Kenny Dalglish.
He says King Kenny, 59, wouldn’t have demanded a big salary because he is already on the payroll.
And Dalglish would have reinstated the old boot room mentality which was the brainchild behind so many glorious years in the 70s and 80s.
Grobbelaar, speaking as a TV pundit in South Africa, found it hard to control his emotions as he continued his damning verdict on Benitez’s reign at Anfield.
He admitted being angry at the turmoil the Spaniard has left behind before flying off for a new life at Italian giants Inter Milan.
And the former Anfield star is scared for the future of his club.
He has huge doubts that skipper Steven Gerrard, Spanish star Fernando Torres and midfield terrier Javier Mascherano will now stay.
Grobbelaar said: “The Liverpool ship has been rocking because the person who left has spent £248m and look at the players we have got.
“As a Liverpool fan, I’m really sick that this has happened.
“He’s wasted money and then turns around and says you have to pay another £20m to get rid of him? I think that’s ludicrous.
“Why? Because he wanted his backroom staff to go with him. Well, he’s now got his backroom staff at Inter Milan. So cheerio. Bye-bye. And good luck. I’m very angry at what he’s done to my club.”
Grobbelaar, who made 440 appearances in 14 years at Anfield, is also unhappy about how Benitez conducted himself last season.
He said: “I’m angry when he stands up and says he can get fourth place.
“They should have fired him when that became mathematically impossible.
“He was that confident and that brash about what he could do.
“And when he doesn’t do it it’s a smack in the face.
“There’s a huge hole in the ship and we have to block that hole.”
And, as far as Grobbelaar is concerned, only one man can do that job for Liverpool at the moment.
The former Zimbabwe international said: “We need someone who has been at Liverpool every day. That man is Kenny Dalglish.
“I would have liked to have seen him get a chance of steadying the ship.
“He wouldn’t have come in and asked for a huge amount of money.
“Any other manager will demand millions – and a long-term contract.
“Kenny loves the game. He loves the people of Liverpool and he’s at the club all the time.
“They should have given him a chance, if only for a year.
“Then, if we get back into the Champions League, they could have found a manager who was charismatic enough to take over.”
Grobbelaar’s main concern now is over the future of the few stars he believes Liverpool still possess.
He said: “Whoever comes in is going to have to keep Torres and Gerrard.
“Otherwise Liverpool will be sinking even further down the table.
“We need someone to come in and talk to those two.
“Say to them, ‘Listen, stay with us for a year. At the end of that, if we don’t get into the Champions League, you can go.’
“I think the boot room mentality should come back in at the club.
“That is where it should all start again – in the Liverpool boot room.”
