Get real, Roman! Rafa’s warning to boss Abramovich

RAFA BENITEZ has told Roman Abramovich to get real and accept this is a season of transition.

Ruthless Abramovich has always refused to settle for second best in the past and sacked any manager who has come up short.

Yet interim boss Benitez — whose team host Swansea in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg tomorrow — says the owner needs to be more realistic in his expectations after a major overhaul of the squad.

He said: “I don’t need to convince anyone this is a period of transition.

“We all have enough intelligence and experience to realise this.

“Anyone can analyse the squad and see that some new players have come in and some others are getting older.

“It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks — the situation is that this is what we have.

“Before at Chelsea they had a lot of big names.

“Now we have a good team with young players who are doing well but need some experience in the Premier League and some older players who can help them.

“It’s not easy find a reason why we are so strong in the cup competitions but inconsistent in the league.

“When you are a long way from achieving your target in the league then maybe it is easy for the players to lose focus.”