Rafa Benitez has never been short of confidence, but the Liverpool manager will be relieved to get the backing of the club's US owners as he prepares for a League Cup quarter-final against Chelsea today.
Benitez's belief in his own ability knows no bounds, but successive league defeats to Reading and Manchester United left Liverpool 10 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.
The prospect of another year as title also-rans was hardly the ideal preparation for a meeting with George Gillett and Tom Hicks in the aftermath of the loss to United on Sunday.
PHOTO: AP
Benitez had put his job at risk by publicly criticising his employers after they told him to concentrate on coaching rather than lining up potential new signings.
The Spaniard wanted to sign AC Milan defender Kakha Kaladze and tie up a permanent move for the on-loan midfielder Javier Mascherano and was angry that his request was denied.
But Benitez has the unwavering support of Liverpool's fans after taking the team to two Champions League finals in three years, so the Americans opted to make a point or two and then give him their support.
"Rafa is the one we want as manager further on, and we have faith in him," Gillett said. "I've been married over 40 years and have first-hand knowledge about how to solve an argument. We concentrated on getting an overview over the situation, and I felt we accomplished that."
Benitez can now concentrate on finding a way to get Liverpool back on track, starting with ending Chelsea's impressive record at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are unbeaten in 50 matches in all competitions at home but Liverpool have enjoyed an impressive record against the Blues in cup competitions.
Benitez's side knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League semi-finals in 2005 and this year, and the FA Cup semi-finals last year.
But Sami Hyppia insists Liverpool's cup success will count for nothing on Wednesday.
"I don't want to look at the records at all," Hyppia said. "Every game is different, we go there to win and do our best."
After three years of increasingly bitter clashes between Chelsea and Liverpool, this is the first post-Jose Mourinho era meeting of two English superpowers. Those matches during Mourinho's reign brought out a tetchy side to Benitez, who would respond to the Portuguese's barbs with uncharacteristic outbursts. Now Grant is in charge, there should be less snipping between the rivals.
Grant has more important issues to worry about. Chelsea are showing signs of missing Didier Drogba after the striker's knee operation and Grant needs to find a solution quickly.
They have failed to score in their last two matches and clearly lacked a cutting edge in Sunday's defeat at Arsenal.
That loss ended a 16-match unbeaten run since Grant's first game in charge at United in September. The majority of those games were against mediocre opposition and a defeat to Liverpool would raise questions after Grant's ability to outwit the top clubs.
He will have to take on Liverpool without captain John Terry after the England defender suffered three broken bones in his foot against Arsenal.
Terry could be out for up to six weeks, so Grant will be keeping his fingers crosses that Petr Cech avoids any repeat of the error that led to Arsenal's winner.
The Czech goalkeeper's mistake was notable because it was so rare, but he was honest enough to own up and aim to learn from it.
"You have to analyse yourself and see why you made a mistake, what was the moment you could have done better. Of course you have to watch it, but in the end you have to turn the page and go on," he said.
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