Rafael Benitez has given the strongest indication so far that he is not about to jump ship at Liverpool and take over at Real Madrid.
The Spanish boss admits he is bitterly disappointed with the loss of Liverpool's Champions League crown but points out he has strong plans for the club.
Benitez has added several youngsters to his squad as he builds for the future at Anfield.
He believes bringing in youth will create a stronger emotional attachment between players and club in the future than would exist if he merely signed seasoned professionals.
Benitez said: 'Rick Parry (chief executive) and the board are working on solutions for the future, and I have confidence in them.
'I do not know if we have more or less money - but we are working on new ideas, working with the players we have and thinking about who we have out on loan.
'Then we will consider the transfer market and making use of what we already have here.
'This does not affect my own plans. We have signed Antonio Barragan, Gabriel Paletta and Daniel Agger, while Mark Gonzalez will be here in the summer - all very young players for the future.
'If as a manager you are thinking about your future then you cannot sign players who are 20 and 21 years old. It would be better for me to sign players who are 28 with experience.
'Then you can work with them for one year, two years and then finish. We are thinking about young players for the future, not for just one season.'
He added: 'The club are working to improve, they have been working for a couple of years trying to find some more money, I know they are looking and trying to find solutions.
'If they cannot I will try to do my best, for sure. It is difficult to say if you lose the Champions League whether things will be more difficult.
'As a manager you must work with the players that you have. We will try to improve the squad and the players with the money we have at this moment. If we had more money, yes it would be better.'
The build-up to Liverpool's shattering defeat by Benfica was dogged by speculation about Benitez's future and his clear agenda for the board to find funds to spend in the transfer market.
But the day after the nightmare loss of the European Cup at Anfield, Benitez was again insisting he is planning long term, not for a quick exit.
He said: 'I am only concerned with winning the next game and working as hard as possible for my club.
'I do not have a problem now, I want to improve my team this season and in the future.
'If you continue winning in the Champions League you will earn more money. We do not have that any more so we need to work with the players here and try to find the best solution in terms of money.
'Sometimes it is not just receiving a big amount of money that solves things, it is how you use your imagination with how you spend what you have.
'In football everything can change after one game. Now we need to think about the future but you cannot say we are worse than one day before playing Benfica.
'We are the same team and we need to think about the Premier League and FA Cup now.
'If you want to improve you can do it by working harder or by signing new players. We are working on buying good players for us, every big club is doing that, everyone needs to improve and change things if needed.
'But this is normal, it is nothing new, just the same for every club when you finish a season. It is the same every year.
'The players are not thinking about what happens in the future, they are only thinking about winning, we are professionals.'
Benitez has made it clear, however, that he will mark the end of Liverpool's great European adventure by accelerating the search for new players.
The Anfield hierarchy will have to come up with the cash for Benitez who said: 'We need to work harder looking for new players because we know what the situation is and what must be done.
'We are working now. The scouting department is working on improving the team.
'When you lose a game as important as this one, I prefer not to talk about new players or current players. Or what mistakes we made. I just want to change such things.
'In terms of our mentality, we need to be stronger. We must think about the future and work hard now.'
Benitez's words will not be lost on Parry, still searching for new investment to fund the proposed new stadium in Stanley Park, and chairman David Moores.
duh.. ah ben.... signing youngsters would not solve the current problem now. especially the striking problem. and yes u did sign agger n barragan n all those youngsters but do u play them often? does it mean we are going to play the same first team nex season if we invest all our money on youngsters? duh..[/b]
Let's see la .... he brought in some young players , it's up to the young players to convince Benitez that they are worth a shot in that level .
He has new plans , along with his usual plans , so see how he conjourn them into a success plot .
It's possible , at the meantime , i'm happy at least , the indication is , he's staying put for now .
hey hey , have faith in him la .... this season only his second , and we have since improve tremendously since his arrival , and also accidentally won the European Cup , have faith la .
Actually , his job now is to settle the striker's not scoring problem , not a tough one la .
Benitez assures fans: I want Liverpool stay
tribalfootball.com - March 12, 2006
Rafa Benitez has told Liverpool fans they can have faith in him not quitting Anfield in the summer.
"As a manager, you have a responsibility and you can't say a lot of things because you need to think about the interests of the club, the supporters and the players," said Benitez.
"At the same time, you can never lie. I will never lie to the supporters or my players. If I can't say the truth, my idea is always it's better to not say anything at all.
"In this case, I have a lot of confidence in the future. We are a better team now than last season and now we must continue to keep progressing. I can not say the improvements we have made are enough, because we need to do more, but I have said many times before we have made good signings already for next season with Gonzalez and Paletta. We're always looking to improve even more.
"The most positive thing for me this week was the reaction of our supporters after the Benfica game. They were the winners. When you're losing at home it's difficult, but for them to sing my name and applaud the other team is amazing.
"You don't see this in many stadiums. It's important to me to know I have the support of the people."
Benitez gets Liverpool cash for 5 new signings
tribalfootball.com - March 16, 2006
Part of new contract talks yesterday between Liverpool and manager Rafa Benitez involved the board's backing for summer signings.
The Anfield club moved swiftly last night to head off strong moves from Real Madrid to snatch their European Cup-winning manager. Benitez held talks yesterday with chief executive Rick Parry and shook hands on a contract that will give him a massive pay rise and keep him at the club until 2010.
Along with the contract, Benitez was assured he will be offered the money to bring in two strikers, a midfielder and two defenders.
Dun tink have money for 5 ba.. unless they sell though
