By SAMI MOKBEL
Rafa Benitez has taken a sly dig at the Chelsea fans who are making his life hell, insisting that the club’s real supporters want him to succeed.
Large sections of Blues supporters have been vocal in their objection to the club’s decision to sack manager Roberto Di Matteo and replace him with Benitez.
And criticism of the Spaniard hit at an all-time high last week as Chelsea slumped to a Carling Cup semi-final first-leg defeat against Swansea.
There is likely to be a similar reaction if they drop more points at home against Barclays Premier League strugglers Southampton on Wednesday.
But Benitez said: ‘All the fans, everyone around, want to win. Some of them maybe will show more or less passion. But every proper fan will want their team to win.
‘It’s not the case that whatever I do I will be criticised, not if I carry on playing games and doing well. The main thing is to concentrate on doing things well. I am professional and doing my best, spending a lot of time here. If we continue winning games, we can do well.
‘Anyone who’s a fan of a club wants their team to win. They’ll enjoy us carrying on winning and doing well. That’s my feeling.
‘You have a word in English: manager. The manager has to manage. The manager has to consider everything, and afterwards he has to decide.
‘I talk with my staff, the players, and I have all the feedback and information. Then I make a decision. I consider everything before making a decision.’
Chelsea have struggled at Stamford Bridge under Benitez, winning just one of his five domestic matches at the west London stadium, the 8-0 humiliation of Aston Villa on December 23.
However, the manager insists the uncomfortable atmosphere at home is not a contributing factor.
‘The main thing is the attitude of the other teams. In the last two games (against QPR and Swansea), they were very, very deep.
‘If you see the chances we had, we had to create chances but not with too much space. It’s because teams are playing with too many players behind the ball.
‘It’s something that happens to a top side at home. We have to be more clinical in these games.’
Meanwhile, Southampton manager Nigel Adkins has admitted there was no contact made with Jay Rodriguez when the player won the penalty that beat Aston Villa at the weekend, but he still claims the striker is not a diver and that the Saints do not advocate simulation.
Adkins, 47, said: ‘He’s not a diver. We don’t advocate diving here whatsoever. We could have had eight penalties this season, we don’t surround the referee, we allow the referees to make the decisions.’
