Gerard Houllier

[eirebhoy]

According to French TV station Canal+, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had mentioned the Houllier link to the French Football Federation.
I didn't know Ferguson read the papers. And why does he care about the Irish team?

[NeilMcD]

Ferguson and Houllier are good mates.

[frankbrett]

laying the favourite for the new ireland manager on betfair is a great way to make money.
aldridge and burley were trading at very low prices the last time IIRC.

[Noelys Guitar]

In the event of Houllier getting the job, the mere boast of "I got him at 40/1" carries all the kudos.
Noely should not disclose how much he has punted for fear of getting pestered with begging letters in his inbox.

15 euros geysir and have already bricked up the letterbox.

[cavan_fan]

Have the adivsory board even been appointed yet?

[citizenerased]

supposedly they had a meeting last week to discuss it...dont expect an appointment till 2008, FAI wont want to start payng new man wages till latest possible date

[geysir]

It is common enough in National appointments to have the candidate selected, the contract signed but won´t take up the position until 4 months time.

[RogerMilla]

this is a different case lads , they wont sell out croker for those friendlies unless the manager is unveiled beforehand...

[citizenerased]

course they will,, brazil Italy and argetnina...they will have the new coach in place by january anyway prior to the friendlies

[Sam_Heggy]

Have the adivsory board even been appointed yet?


Did Souness not claim on sky sports last night that he had an interview with regards the Ireland job?
He said some factors were not to his liking. :confused:

[4tothefloor]

He was asked was he going to be the next ireland manager and he said No.
He used to deny stuff all the time when he was at Liverpool and the following week the exact opposite would happen, so I wouldn't take much notice of that. He's the outstanding candidate among a crowd of mediocrity so I'd be happy enough with him. At least with Houllier the likes of Robbie Keane wouldn't be guaranteed to start every game following s**te performance after s**te performance. I'd expect him to whip us into shape pretty quickly.

Souness No, Aldridge No, O'Leary No No No :ball:

[geysir]

Tets posted that Houllier was asked if he was approached by the FAI, he said no.
That means no in the same way Martin O'Neill was not approached.

[Aaron]

Did Souness not claim on sky sports last night that he had an interview with regards the Ireland job?
He said some factors were not to his liking. :confused:

No that was Bolton

[eekers]

has houiller contacted the fai as the mirror has said? or as some other people have said he doesnt want the job? is he in the running still?
i dont like him or his football or his record with france but he'd be better than venables

[Kingdom]

Spoke with my colleague last night who had originally told me that Houllier had got it. Houllier is gone. there seems to be a bit of confusion in the board of management in so far as they are getting tit-bits here and tit-bits there but nothing tangible. This is two days old news though I'm afraid. And not really news at that.:mad:

[citizenerased]

shame really wanted to him get it...next fav would be haan

[Stuttgart88]

Is Houllier definitely out?

If he's out, at the very least he should be approached to consult.

[eekers]

yep hes definately out he wouldnt leave his new job with france after a month to got to ireland

[eekers]

yep hes definately out he wouldnt leave his new job with france after a month to got to ireland

but the south koreans reckon he's going to manage them depending on if the money is right

i still think he'd be an awful ireland manager

[Stuttgart88]

I see Houllier is in Dundalk this week. That'll turn him off managing Ireland.

[Noelys Guitar]

According to reports Houllier's wife was the reason Houllier refused the South Korea job as she didn't want to live there. If Houllier became Ireland manager he could still reside in France so no problems there. Not my choice but I'm sure he is interested in taking the job. Being manager of Ireland gives him a bigger profile in Europe (especially in England) than his technical role at FFF.

[geysir]

The Koreans said that apart from his wife there were also objections from the FFF.
Sounds like Gerard is being bullied. Roy Keane would not approve.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ireland has been a member of the EU since 1973. Irish people have been moving back and forth from there ever since. Surely to God there must be someone in Belgium , France, Holland or Germany( or some of the other Member states) who has Irish parents who is able to kick a ball and will have had the benefit of continental schools and youth coaching ? In this regard a France based Houllier would be able to check these potentialities out.

[Noelys Guitar]

Houllier is now second favourite with Paddy Power's at 5/2.

[sonofstan]

According to the fiver (http://football.guardian.co.uk/fiver/) he's a shoo-in

[eirebhoy]

Who was it that said Houllier is the players choice?

[citizenerased]

thought venables was the players choice..wouldnt mind gerry O 'houillieran at all...

[amaccann]

According to the fiver (http://football.guardian.co.uk/fiver/) he's a shoo-in
I like the quote about Hodgson.

[colster]

The thing about Houllier is that he has the same philosophy of football that Kerr has. We will end up playing a similar conservative brand of football that we had under Kerr.
Having said that I think Kerr's failing was more to do with not having the full support of the FAI and the players. I think Houllier would have this. Another possible benefit would be his part in the establishment & success of the Clairefontain academy in France. I think he could play a huge part in the development of the Irish game and moving it from a British Focused game to a more Euro-focused one.

[Stuttgart88]

Agree. I'd actually prefer Houllier to Hodgson. Criticism of France's failure to qualify for the WC in 1994 is harsh. That was 14 years ago - so how relevant is it? - and you could argue that it was freeakishly unlucky, a bit like our game at home to Israel.

We can slag off Kerr's football philosophy all we want but it got us a hell of a lot closer to qualification than Staunton. If we came close under Kerr (experience at LOI and Ireland underage) surely Houllier (France, Liverpool, Lyon) can apply similar methods and get us at least one step further?

Houllier was a cautious manager but - being charitable* - his main failing at Liverpool was not piercing the dominance of Man United (Ferguson) and Arsenal (Wenger). He came very close one season winning something like 12 out of 14 games to only be eliminated by losing to Spurs(?) in the penultimate game. United and Arsenal closed the season in phenomenal form - each winning almost all of its last 14 or 15 games. 2002 I think it was. Liverpool is a poisoned chalice in any event.

His record at Lyon both domestically and in the CL was excellent.

I was at Chelsea vs Liverpool when Liverpool snuck a 1-0 win at the bridge despite being second best. I admire that type of result.

Carling Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in one year isn't a bad haul. He rode his luck big time (the 2001 FA Cup was theft, the 2001 Carling cup was a narrowly avoided embarassment, as was the UEFA Cup Final). Give me a lucky general...

* his record in signing French players that were poor in the Premiership is the major blot on his copybook.

[Stuttgart88]

I agree Litmanen is a top notch player and Houllier did not use him correctly. I am not sure where Andy Reid would fit in, in an Houllier team.Just going over this whole thread again. Didn't Houllier use Juninho (the one who didn't play for 'boro or Celtic) to good effect at Lyon? Not sure if they're directly comparable, but he's a flair player like Reid/McGeady/Duff/Ireland and he's not the type of player he had at Anfield so maybe it shows that he's versatile in his thinking?

[eekers]

is he really gonna give up his new job with france?
whats he getting paid at france anyone got any info?

[RogerMilla]

have there been any direct quotes from him ? has he been interviewed ? submitted a CV ?

[Noelys Guitar]

have there been any direct quotes from him ? has he been interviewed ? submitted a CV ?

Not one verifible quote from Houllier on being interested or turning down the job. Although Houghton on Talksport yesterday said the only people who have applied are the usual suspects. Surely that can't include Houllier.

[amaccann]

Well he is in a job already, he's not exactly going to start talking about a potential new job in front of his current employers.

[RogerMilla]

Not one verifible quote from Houllier on being interested or turning down the job. Although Houghton on Talksport yesterday said the only people who have applied are the usual suspects. Surely that can't include Houllier.

i would love to know if his Charlie Victor is on Razors desk...

[geysir]

With Houllier coming in as one of the runners (ahead of the riders) at 5/2, i´d say that indicates he is at least down for an interview.

[tetsujin1979]

houillier couldn't qualify the french side for the wc in 94, that went on to win it 4 years after.
I'm a bit sick of this myth that Houllier missed out on qualification with a team that went on to win the World Cup 5 (not four) years later

France lineup VS Israel 1993: (from http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/isra-intres90.html)
Bernard Lama - Marcel Desailly, Alain Roche (Bixente Lizarazu, 24), Laurent Blanc, Emmanuel Petit - Didier Deschamps, Paul Le Guen, Frank Sauzée - Jean-Pierre Papin, Eric Cantona, David Ginola (Youri Djorkaeff, 86)

France VS South Africa 12 June 1998 (from http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/results/matches/match=8730/report.html)
Fabien BARTHEZ, Bixente LIZARAZU, Laurent BLANC, Youri DJORKAEFF, Didier DESCHAMPS, Marcel DESAILLY, Stephane GUIVARCH, Zinedine ZIDANE, Thierry HENRY, Lilian THURAM, Emmanuel PETIT
Substitues:
Alain BOGHOSSIAN (+73')
David TREZEGUET (+84')
Christophe DUGARRY (+29')

So they had Desailly, Deschamps, Lizarazu (as a substitute), Petit (played in 2 different positions) and Djorkaeff (as a substitute) in common.

Hardly the same team was it?

[eekers]

I'm a bit sick of this myth that Houllier missed out on qualification with a team that went on to win the World Cup 5 (not four) years later

France lineup VS Israel 1993: (from http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/isra-intres90.html)
Bernard Lama - Marcel Desailly, Alain Roche (Bixente Lizarazu, 24), Laurent Blanc, Emmanuel Petit - Didier Deschamps, Paul Le Guen, Frank Sauzée - Jean-Pierre Papin, Eric Cantona, David Ginola (Youri Djorkaeff, 86)

France VS South Africa 12 June 1998 (from http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/results/matches/match=8730/report.html)
Fabien BARTHEZ, Bixente LIZARAZU, Laurent BLANC, Youri DJORKAEFF, Didier DESCHAMPS, Marcel DESAILLY, Stephane GUIVARCH, Zinedine ZIDANE, Thierry HENRY, Lilian THURAM, Emmanuel PETIT
Substitues:
Alain BOGHOSSIAN (+73')
David TREZEGUET (+84')
Christophe DUGARRY (+29')

So they had Desailly, Deschamps, Lizarazu (as a substitute), Petit (played in 2 different positions) and Djorkaeff (as a substitute) in common.

Hardly the same team was it?

For a start you missed laurent blanc from players in common thing.

that leaves barthez, thuram, zidane, henry, and guivarch

3 of these were available to houillier at the time. thats 9 out the 11 that started in the final were available. and were all playing for france a few months after houillier left.

[tetsujin1979]

For a start you missed laurent blanc from players in common thing.D'oh, that'll teach me to post at nearly 4 in the morning after drinking heavily

that leaves barthez, thuram, zidane, henry, and guivarchBarthez, Thuram, Henry and Zidane are all improvements on the players from the 1993 team. I'd have Ginola over Guivarch though. Petit was playing midfield, as opposed to full back, and Djorkaeff played the whole game, as opposed to the last 4 minutes so, for me, that's another 2 players different.


3 of these were available to houillier at the time. thats 9 out the 11 that started in the final were available. and were all playing for france a few months after houillier left.Barthez got his first cap in May of 1994, 7 months after the Israel game (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Barthez)
Thuram made his debut a year later, in August of 1994 in a friendly against the Czech Republic(from http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/thuram-intl.html)
Zidane made his debut in the same game
Henry didn't play for France until October of 1997, against South Africa (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Henry#International_career)
Guivarc'h made his debut in the same game, along with Boghossian, who came on as a sub in the World Cup

Houllier was in FourFourTwo a few months back answering questions from the fans, some of which were about qualification. In the magazine this goes on for about 3-4 pages, on their website they have an extract from the Q&A session: http://www.fourfourtwo.premiumtv.co.uk/page/OneOnOne/0,,11442~630175,00.html

BTW I'm aware this is all totally off topic and has nothing to do with Hodgson being appointed to the Fulham position, if the mods feel like moving the posts to the Houllier thread, or binning them altogether, then go ahead

[eekers]

my point is why didnt houillier give barthez, thuram and zidane their first caps? they wer in their early 20's at the time , not kids.

[tetsujin1979]

Dunno, maybe he wanted to keep faith with the players that got them to within one game of qualifying?
Maybe he didn't think they'd fit into the formation he was using - the lineup against Israel was 4-3-3?
Maybe he didn't think they were ready for international football? The following manager didn't cap Barthez for another 7 months, Zidane and Thuram for nearly a year, despite the fact that they must have been rebuilding after missing out on qualification.

[Stuttgart88]

my point is why didnt houillier give barthez, thuram and zidane their first caps? they wer in their early 20's at the time , not kids.Were they the best in their positions at the time? My recollection is that the likes of Zidane, Lizarazou etc. only made their names when Bordeaux made the UEFA Cup Final around '95 or '96? When did Houllier laeve France?

Anyway, France aren't like Ireland - we have such a thin talent base anyone is considered for a cap once their voice has broken. It's quite different there - I think they actually play their U21 players in their U21 team for example!

[tetsujin1979]

Were they the best in their positions at the time? My recollection is that the likes of Zidane, Lizarazou etc. only made their names when Bordeaux made the UEFA Cup Final around '95 or '96? When did Houllier laeve France?
Houllier left after failing to qualify in 1993, according to his wikipedia profile he took up the position of technical director and was given a special medal after the World Cup win to reflect the work he did

[KMH2]

is he out of the running?

[pineapple stu]

Already a thread on him.

[KMH2]

cheers just read the last few pages.

was talking to a mate before xmas who remains in good contact with a member of the irish playing squad.

said player was told by the massage therapist at his current club that houllier had approached him and asked him would he be interested in being one of his staff for the ireland job. (he had peviously worked with h at liverpool)

i threw 600 euros on him when he was at 9/4 well before christmas and nothing as happened since

[paul_oshea]

its funny i would not have wanted houllier at all near it when i first thought about it....now he seems one i would actually go for and yet my opinion of him has not changed :(

[Wolfie]

its funny i would not have wanted houllier at all near it when i first thought about it....now he seems one i would actually go for and yet my opinion of him has not changed :(

Yeah - its becoming a case of who's the best of a bad lot that noone really wants. Just as we all predicted.

Speculation runs riot in a vacuum and I'm sure we'll have a few more "shoe ins" mentioned for the job before its officially announced.

[Sligo Hornet]

Yeah - its becoming a case of who's the best of a bad lot that noone really wants. Just as we all predicted.

Speculation runs riot in a vacuum and I'm sure we'll have a few more "shoe ins" mentioned for the job before its officially announced.

You're right...and based on these criteria, might be worth lumping on Joey Barton!;)