Rafael Benitez has been warned ‘we know where you live’ as angry Everton supporters hung a banner near his home ahead of the ex-Liverpool manager’s imminent appointment.
Benitez became an iconic figure at Everton’s Merseyside rivals, guiding them to a Champions League title in 2005 in his high point of six years at Anfield.
Despite his unbreakable links to Liverpool, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is convinced the Spaniard is the best possible appointment for Everton to get them into Europe, a decision not shared by all of the supporters.
Sportsmail’s Dominic King confirmed the banner which read, ‘we know where you live. Don’t sign,’ was placed near Benitez’s family home, which he shares with wife Maria and daughters Claudia and Agata.
Last Thursday, disgruntled Everton took their protests to Goodison Park where a number of anti-Benitez banners appeared.
One read: ‘F**k off Benitez you fat Kopite c***’, while another simply read ‘Benitez not welcome.’
Many Everton fans have been left exasperated by the ‘appalling’ and ’embarrassing’ act, with one writing the latest threatening banner is ‘utterly shameful’.
A banner near the home of Rafael Benitez read: ‘We know where you live. Don’t sign’
The 61-year-old former Liverpool manager is close to being appointed as Everton boss
This banner is online. It has been posted not far from where Rafa Benitez lives with his wife and his daughters. It’s sinister, it’s reprehensible and the people responsible for it should be ashamed. They are a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/6prhZt16vX
— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) June 28, 2021
Many Everton fans were left angered by the banner with one describing it as ‘appalling’
Another disappointed fan labelled the banner as ‘utterly shameful & embarrassing’
The blame for the banner was pushed onto the ‘despicable element of a minority’ of supporters
One Everton fan simply said they were ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ at seeing the banner
But the protests appear to have fallen on deaf ears with Moshiri and Benitez having met once again over the weekend and both are enthused with the idea of turning Everton into a Champions League team.
An appointment, expected this week, will make Benitez the first man in modern history to manage at both Liverpool and Everton.
Not since William Edward Barclay in the 1890s, who was part of the original foundation of Everton and then the later breakaway Liverpool club, has anyone crossed the city divide to manage both clubs.
Owner Farhad Moshiri (above) believes Benitez can lead the club into the Champions League
Fans have never forgiven Benitez following a jibe after a Merseyside derby in 2007 in which he referred to Everton as a ‘small club’, something he later protested was misunderstood in a second language.
After a goalless draw with Everton at Anfield, then Liverpool boss Benitez said: ‘I was really disappointed because one team wanted to win the game and one team didn’t want to lose it.
‘Everton put eight or nine men behind the ball and defended deep but that’s what small clubs do.
‘When a team comes to Anfield and only want a point what else can you call them but a small club?’
Benitez attempted to clarify the comments when speaking to Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football last year.
Benitez’s connections with Liverpool mean he is not a manager many Everton fans want
Fans left signs outside Goodison Park making their feelings known about the situation
He said: ‘I made a mistake when I said it was a small club. What I wanted to say was they are a small team because in the game I remember they had one chance.
‘Liverpool fans they were happy and the Evertonians were upset. But I didn’t want to say they were a small club, I wanted to say they were a small team.
‘Some Evertonians, they come to me and say about what I did for the city, we have the charity, and all these things, so I have a very good connection with the city, not just the Liverpool fans.’
Everton legend Neville Southall has previously echoed the sentiments of many fans, telling talkSPORT: ‘I think Rafa Benitez is a good manager, but is he right for Everton? No. Not a chance! He’s Liverpool, the fans won’t have it.
‘If he comes into that ground, he’s going to have to produce something special, and at the moment with the squad we’ve got he’s going to do well to do something special there, because it’s a work in progress.
The appointment has resulted in a backlash from fans because of Benitez’s days with Liverpool
‘So, for me, I would rather have Duncan Ferguson (the former Everton striker and Ancelotti’s assistant manager).
‘We’re never going to get relegated and he’s a good manager, I think he’s far underrated than anyone else.
‘He started before Carlo Ancelotti and put us on a good run, he’s knowledgeable in everything he does, he knows the club inside-out, he knows all the younger players, so why not give him a season’s contract?’
The appointment, however unpopular, will mark a dramatic comeback for Benitez, who last managed in the Premier League with Newcastle in 2019.