Rafa Benitez is losing his mind

Chelsea win 2-0 at Middlesbrough. So, naturally, now is the time for Rafa Benitez to crack.

Benitez on #cfc fans: "They are wasting time with their banners and songs. They don't need to worry about me. I leave at end of the season'

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) February 27, 2013

Benitez fuming in press conference here: "These Chelsea fans have an agenda. These Chelsea fans are damaging the image of the club' #cfc

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) February 27, 2013

Benitez: "I'm experienced. I've won the Champions League, the Spanish league twice, the FA Cup. They (fans) are a group with an agenda''

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) February 27, 2013

Benitez says #cfc fans 'must get behind the team or they will be in the Europa League next season'

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) February 27, 2013

Benitez: "Why put 'interim' in title? Why did they need to do that? Maybe they (board) thought: 'He was at Liverpool so we put 'interim' in'

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) February 27, 2013

Benitez has insisted from the beginning that all he needed to do to get the fans behind him is to win. It's sad for him that he hasn't, isn't it? We've played poorly and looked awful, and it's not because the fans have an agenda -- our only goal is to see the team do well. They haven't, and it's not because the supporters don't like the manager.

This whole thing has been a farce from day one. Benitez, who took the defending European Champions down into mid-table mediocrity the last time he had a job in football, is not a good manager, and bringing him into a situation where the fans were going to be hostile is an utterly asinine decision. Everything that's happened over the past few months was preordained.

The board hired a frothingly incompetent lunatic. At least he gives good press conferences.

Oh, and Rafa? The end of the season isn't soon enough.

Update: The full video can be found here