Gerard Houllier

[Henrik]

Did i hear this correctly on the radio this morn???

if so id welcome him with open arms.......about a million times better than any of the old Irish players being touted around and i really doubt Jol would go near it

[Theskinloyal]

Houllier had many similar problems as O'Leary.

Known to be argumentative - forced Ince and Fowler out.

Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen, Diao, Meijer, Traore and the list goes on.

Couldn't take Liverpool to the next step just like O'Leary with Leeds.

If brings in Phil Thompson I'm topping myself.

[Rossi]

Has he done well with Lyon?

[biscuit]

How come when most names are brought up here they are shot down straight away. I thinkl Houllier would be a very good candidate for the job. We need someone to be argumentative tbh..not a fool standing on the side lines with his hands in hios pockets with the "i havent a ****ing clue what im doing" expression plastered all over his face. Who do you think we're going to get Capello, ancelloti, ferguson , mourinho....in your dreams yes, but lets be realistic, managers such as Houllier, Jol - people who have had relative success at club level....and the talk of he wasted such an amount on whoever is ridiculus, we're not talking about him managing your club here:rolleyes:

[PaulB]

would love it if houllier got the job, best candidate mentioned so far, has international and club experience.

Litmanen - **** player :rolleyes:

[osarusan]

H frankly s*it players eg Litmanen

Just s*it at Liverpool, or s*it full stop?

[Henrik]

Houllier had many similar problems as O'Leary.

Known to be argumentative - forced Ince and Fowler out.

Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen, Diao, Meijer, Traore and the list goes on.

Couldn't take Liverpool to the next step just like O'Leary with Leeds.

If brings in Phil Thompson I'm topping myself.

You have got to be kidding....Houllier and O'leary can not even be compared!!!!! Houllier has donkeys years experience in management, has won leagues in France (including the top one) has won cups in England, has managed the French national team and im sure theres more!!

O'leary - ruined Leeds, took Villa nowhere...... and im sure theres not more!

[Paulie]

Has he done well with Lyon?

He won 2 league titles with Lyon. There are down sides, as have been pointed on this thread, but there is is no such thing as a perfect manager and without a doubt he's the best candidate to have professed an interest in the job.

[Henrik]

True there is no such thing as a perfect manager, its all about different methods of management. Whatever faults people may point out about him, his method works full stop. His record proves that

By far the best candidate mentioned...

So what exactly is his level of interest? What did he say? I only caught the end of the radio report this morn

[eirebhoy]

The radio reports what they read in the papers. Have a look in them on your lunch break.

[Mento]

His only mistake at Liverpool was that he bought some bad players.
He won't be buying any players with Ireland.
Took Liverpool out of the dark and back on the road to better things.
Would be a great choice

[Maroon 7]

People take the urine out of Houllier for his time at Liverpool but he did win the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, Carling Cup, Super Cup, etc with them. And led Liverpool to 2nd in the league one season with something like 82 points. Has won titles in France with PSG and Lyon. Not sure if he's the man for Ireland or the level of his interest but you have to respect his record.


Couldn't take Liverpool to the next step just like O'Leary with Leeds.

Only difference is Leeds won shag all compared to Houllier's Liverpool.

[as_i_say]

Don't forget Cissé. What a dogsh it player he is.

[GreenStar]

Known to be argumentative - forced Ince and Fowler out.

For Gerard Houllier read Phil Thompson. It was his bust-up that caused Fowler's departure.


Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen, Diao, Meijer, Traore and the list goes on.

Now you're just extracting the urine. Jari Litmanen was class. Absolutely top notch.

Delighted with the news that he's showing an interest as I have said from the start that he would be my choice if he was available. Houllier for Ireland!!!

[jbyrne]

His only mistake at Liverpool was that he bought some bad players.
He won't be buying any players with Ireland.
Took Liverpool out of the dark and back on the road to better things.
Would be a great choice

surely if he bought bad players it shows poor judgement on a players ability? you may not have to transfer players in international football but you still have to go and watch qualified players play for their clubs and consider whether you think they should be in your team or not. same concept really

i remember hearing a liverpool journalist on the radio one night ridiculing the fact that he decided to give a very poor emile hesky a new extended contract with loads more dosh even though it was well known hesky would extend his contract for the same money he was on at the time! would seriously question his judgement on a players ability

[kennedmc]

Houllier had many similar problems as O'Leary.

Known to be argumentative - forced Ince and Fowler out.

Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen, Diao, Meijer, Traore and the list goes on.

Couldn't take Liverpool to the next step just like O'Leary with Leeds.

If brings in Phil Thompson I'm topping myself.

Not a big fan of Houllier but he would be streets ahead of O'Leary, Souness, Brady, Aldridge.

I 'd have Jewell and Hodgson ahead of him as well as maybe one or two less know foreign candidates.

I don't believe he is argumentive ......he is pig headed......Ince ws a c**t and Fowler deserverd to be shipped out - they got 12mill ofr him.
Of the players you mention above only Diao cost over 1 million although you have a point with Diouf, Cheyrou etc.

Remember there is no transfers in internation fooball/

[NeilMcD]

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.

[lionelhutz]

Please God No!

Can we please stop all this nonsense talk about Houllier. He's a coward who takes no responsibilty for the teams performance when it goes wrong and says it was all his doing when theyre successful. He set Liverpool back years by adopting the most negative tactics possible and he actually tried to claim the Champs League success in 05 was down to him - what a waster.

Ya he managed internationally - couldn't get an unbelievably talented French side to the 94 world cup and blamed it all on Ginola - what a record.

He's an absolute bottler under pressure - they only needed 1 point from their last 2 games to qualify in 94 and there were numerous times when lpool were on the verge of a great victory that he somehow managed to turn things around to the oppositions favour

[eirebhoy]

The radio reports what they read in the papers. Have a look in them on your lunch break.
I checked for myself. The Star. A "source" told them the postion might appeal to Houllier.

[Drumcondra 69er]

His only mistake at Liverpool was that he bought some bad players.
He won't be buying any players with Ireland.
Took Liverpool out of the dark and back on the road to better things.
Would be a great choice

Took Liverpool to the same level they were at, Evans had them top 4 every season he was in charge, it just didn't qualify you for the CL back then. Got unbelievably lucky in 2001, didn't deserve to win any of those finals, Birmingham had a stone wall pen not given in the League Cup, he played 2 goalkeepers in the FA Cup against Arsenal and his forwards got him out of jail in the UEFA. Was pretty poor when he did qualify for the CL and made a mess of it with France for US 94. Much as he'd still be better then a lot of names mentioned no thanks.

[jmurphyc]

Took Liverpool to the same level they were at, Evans had them top 4 every season he was in charge, it just didn't qualify you for the CL back then. Got unbelievably lucky in 2001, didn't deserve to win any of those finals, Birmingham had a stone wall pen not given in the League Cup, he played 2 goalkeepers in the FA Cup against Arsenal and his forwards got him out of jail in the UEFA. Was pretty poor when he did qualify for the CL and made a mess of it with France for US 94. Much as he'd still be better then a lot of names mentioned no thanks.

Whilst he couldn't take them up to the next level, he did move the club forward. They beat some very good teams en route to the UEFA Cup Final and he took them to their highest points total in a while (80 in 01/02), which would have won the league in most seasons in the 90s. You also say they were pretty poor in the CL; In the second season yes, but in their fist season back they qualified for the quarter finals (although the team was managed by Phil Thompson for most of the second group stage).
Whilst he wouldn't be my number one choice, he'd be a decent manager for us.

[livehead1]

Omg, what high expectations some people have. We have a second rate international side, have qualified for 1 out of the last 7 major finals and people are turning their noses up at managers of the calibre of Gerard Houllier. Who exactly do you think will want to manage us, people are living in a dream world. We ended up with Stan for a reason, because we are not an attractive prospect for most managers, we're even less of an attractive proposition now. I would bite Houllier's hand off if he was even remotely interested in the job (which I very much doubt he is), he has had experience of managing at the very top of the European game, has dealt with big name players (far bigger than any of the players in our squad) and has superb contacts throughout the game. Compare that with any of the other names linked with the job and he is a stand out candidate. People need to get real.

[Thebolg]

Omg, what high expectations some people have. We have a second rate international side, have qualified for 1 out of the last 7 major finals and people are turning their noses up at managers of the calibre of Gerard Houllier. Who exactly do you think will want to manage us, people are living in a dream world. We ended up with Stan for a reason, because we are not an attractive prospect for most managers, we're even less of an attractive proposition now. I would bite Houllier's hand off if he was even remotely interested in the job (which I very much doubt he is), he has had experience of managing at the very top of the European game, has dealt with big name players (far bigger than any of the players in our squad) and has superb contacts throughout the game. Compare that with any of the other names linked with the job and he is a stand out candidate. People need to get real.


totally agree.

[lionelhutz]

Whilst he couldn't take them up to the next level, he did move the club forward. They beat some very good teams en route to the UEFA Cup Final and he took them to their highest points total in a while (80 in 01/02), which would have won the league in most seasons in the 90s. You also say they were pretty poor in the CL; In the second season yes, but in their fist season back they qualified for the quarter finals (although the team was managed by Phil Thompson for most of the second group stage).
Whilst he wouldn't be my number one choice, he'd be a decent manager for us.

That makes loads of sense............

[Henrik]

Well said ;)

Im sure if Mourinho was linked with the job someone would come on here and say something negative.

Houllier is a different league to our recent managers and some of ones being touted for the job this time. People need to get real :mad:

[jmurphyc]

That makes loads of sense............

Sorry what I meant was that he moved the club forward, but he couldn't complete the final step (ie. win the league). IMO there's no doubting that Liverpool improved immensely under Houllier.

[mypost]

Omg, what high expectations some people have. We ended up with Stan for a reason, because we are not an attractive prospect for most managers, we're even less of an attractive proposition now.

High expectations?? Wtf?? :confused:

All we ask, is that the team is competitive. Losing 0-4 at home to Holland, 2-5 in Cyprus, and being kicked out of the tournament with 3 games to go, is not competitive. We ended up with him, because the clueless buffoons didn't bother to look for a boss, nor were prepared to pay a decent salary either. They employed a cone-carrying drinking buddy on the cheap instead.


Can we please stop all this nonsense talk about Houllier. He's a coward who takes no responsibilty for the teams performance when it goes wrong and says it was all his doing when theyre successful. He set Liverpool back years by adopting the most negative tactics possible and he actually tried to claim the Champs League success in 05 was down to him - what a waster.

Ya he managed internationally - couldn't get an unbelievably talented French side to the 94 world cup and blamed it all on Ginola - what a record.

He's an absolute bottler under pressure - they only needed 1 point from their last 2 games to qualify in 94 and there were numerous times when lpool were on the verge of a great victory that he somehow managed to turn things around to the oppositions favour

Not to mention the fact that he is shyte with the media, even going as far as walking out of press conferences. :eek: He won't be remembered for winning the treble, he'll be remembered as the boss who led LFC to the longest run without a win in the club's history, who spent vast sums of money on wasters, converted a 7-point PL lead into a UEFA Cup place in 2003, and had to wait 12 months after getting the sack at Liverpool, before Lyon let him take over from Paul Le Guen. French Championship winner at Lyon, Le Guen got the sack in his next job, i.e. winning the league at Lyon can be done by anyone, even Staunton himself. :eek:

[reder]

I think GH would be an excellent catch for the job. He has massive experience in management in the uk and europe at all levels and moreover he is a prime candidate to take irish football as a whole and re-structure it from the bottom up.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Houllier was over all more successful than unsuccessful at Liverpool. His record with France worries me. They went into the 1994 World Cup Qualification tournament's final two games needing only a point to qualify and they lost both games WHICH WERE AT HOME!

[Torn-Ado]

He's a long ball man, is he not?

Get him in. Pronto.

:)

[eirebhoy]

I remember hearing a stat from a commentator soon after Benitez took over at Liverpool. Liverpool had never won a match under Houllier after going in at half time losing. I'm not sure if that's just league games but they they did it under Benitez 2 or 3 times in his first few months.

[peterc1992]

Houllier had many similar problems as O'Leary.

Known to be argumentative - forced Ince and Fowler out.

Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen, Diao, Meijer, Traore and the list goes on.

Couldn't take Liverpool to the next step just like O'Leary with Leeds.

If brings in Phil Thompson I'm topping myself.



He didnt spend that much money on them players,and thats against the point,at international he doesnt hav to go near the transfer market and i dont think he taht bad of a job at liverpool!u say he could take them to the next level but sure he won 5 honours in one season and the season after he brought liverpool ot the the quarter finals of the champions league and came second!he went on a bad run and he was booted out!

[livehead1]

High expectations?? Wtf?? :confused:

All we ask, is that the team is competitive. Losing 0-4 at home to Holland, 2-5 in Cyprus, and being kicked out of the tournament with 3 games to go, is not competitive. We ended up with him, because the clueless buffoons didn't bother to look for a boss, nor were prepared to pay a decent salary either. They employed a cone-carrying drinking buddy on the cheap instead.



Not to mention the fact that he is shyte with the media, even going as far as walking out of press conferences. :eek: He won't be remembered for winning the treble, he'll be remembered as the boss who led LFC to the longest run without a win in the club's history, who spent vast sums of money on wasters, converted a 7-point PL lead into a UEFA Cup place in 2003, and had to wait 12 months after getting the sack at Liverpool, before Lyon let him take over from Paul Le Guen. French Championship winner at Lyon, Le Guen got the sack in his next job, i.e. winning the league at Lyon can be done by anyone, even Staunton himself. :eek:


Who would you suggest then, O wise one. He's the best by some considerable distance.

[livehead1]

High expectations?? Wtf?? :confused:

All we ask, is that the team is competitive. Losing 0-4 at home to Holland, 2-5 in Cyprus, and being kicked out of the tournament with 3 games to go, is not competitive. We ended up with him, because the clueless buffoons didn't bother to look for a boss, nor were prepared to pay a decent salary either. They employed a cone-carrying drinking buddy on the cheap instead.



Obviously you are confused, when i say high expectations I am responding to those who are criticising Houllier and commenting that they do not want him in charge when he is clearly the best 'candidate'.

[John83]

Please God No!

Can we please stop all this nonsense talk about Houllier. He's a coward who takes no responsibilty for the teams performance when it goes wrong and says it was all his doing when theyre successful. He set Liverpool back years by adopting the most negative tactics possible and he actually tried to claim the Champs League success in 05 was down to him - what a waster.

Ya he managed internationally - couldn't get an unbelievably talented French side to the 94 world cup and blamed it all on Ginola - what a record.

He's an absolute bottler under pressure - they only needed 1 point from their last 2 games to qualify in 94 and there were numerous times when lpool were on the verge of a great victory that he somehow managed to turn things around to the oppositions favour
That pretty much sums up my opinion of him too, though I think maybe we're being a little harsh. Certainly not the worst candidate mentioned so far, but I'd be a bit wary if he was appointed.

[Dublin12]

He must be the best out of work managers around at the moment, and I don't think we can get anyone that has more experience, we should jump at the chance to get him on board. I'd also like to see Paul McGrath on board in some capacity along with him, maybe as defensive coach, he was one of the best around and he's one of ours!!.

[livehead1]

I'd also like to see Paul McGrath on board in some capacity along with him, maybe as defensive coach, he was one of the best around and he's one of ours!!.


Christ, you must have been involved in selecting the last manager.

Paul McGrath has no experience coaching at all. He is also unable to display his feelings and opinions in a clear manner this is well known. Why would you want someone with no experience of coaching, to be involved in coaching the national side? Just cos they're Irish??

[billybunter]

its a win / win as far as im concerned. Its funny how 2 weeks ago everyone was saying that they would take "anyone "as ireland manager after stan, now Gerard Houllier is not qualified enough in some people's eyes!! no matter who we end up with 30% of people will disagree. Not one manager checks all the boxes - but Houllier would be fine with me.

[jmurphyc]

Yeah to be honest a few weeks ago I was thinking we weren't going to be able to get a decent manager in, but looking at some of the contenders for the job I really think that if the "selection team"/FAI go about their job in the right way then the future could be very promising. Saying that though I'm probably asking for a bit too much. :rolleyes:

[pineapple stu]

His only mistake at Liverpool was that he bought some bad players.
He won't be buying any players with Ireland.
Took Liverpool out of the dark and back on the road to better things.
Would be a great choice
Disagree he took Liverpool out of the dark. Souness took them down, and Evans brought them back, actually launching serious title challenges, which Houllier never managed to do. Always thought he was a very lucky manager, especially when they won the three Cups - they were steeped that year, with numerous spectacular refereeing decisions helping them. His tactics were rather negative, dour and heavily criticised at the end and, as you noted, his record in the transfer market was awful (although as you also noted, that wouldn't count for the international game).

He won two titles at Lyon, although he had such a strong base there already (four straight titles).

He wouldn't be the worst manager, and he'd be a hell of a lot better than Stan, but he's very over-rated.

Edit - missed the entire second page. :o What odds the FAI are leaking these names to take the focus off the Stan blunder?!

[jackaroo]

Disagree he took Liverpool out of the dark. Souness took them down, and Evans brought them back, actually launching serious title challenges, which Houllier never managed to do. Always thought he was a very lucky manager, especially when they won the three Cups - they were steeped that year, with numerous spectacular refereeing decisions helping them. His tactics were rather negative, dour and heavily criticised at the end and, as you noted, his record in the transfer market was awful (although as you also noted, that wouldn't count for the international game).

He won two titles at Lyon, although he had such a strong base there already (four straight titles).

He wouldn't be the worst manager, and he'd be a hell of a lot better than Stan, but he's very over-rated.

Edit - missed the entire second page. :o What odds the FAI are leaking these names to take the focus off the Stan blunder?!
Evans brought them back to what?

[4tothefloor]

Houllier had many similar problems as O'Leary.

Known to be argumentative - forced Ince and Fowler out.

Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen......
Stopped reading after that, although couldn't help noticing your next line which was a beaut as well :rolleyes:


I am not sure where Andy Reid would fit in, in an Houllier team.
Who gives a f**k if he qualified us for championships? I certainly wouldn't. I've had enough of the s**te managers now. McCarthy was clueless, and still is. Kerr couldn't manage and didn't know how to handle senior players, so instead he just bored them to death. Staunton - I don't need to say anything. I'll have a decent manager, with real EXPERIENCE thank you very much. And real doesn't mean Millwall or poxy Walsall :rolleyes:


Mourinho voted the fans choice on Newstalk's Off The Ball.
Shows the amount of retards that now follow the national team.....

[jebus]

Spent huge amounts of money on frankly s*it players eg Litmanen.

Lord God, I wonder sometimes if these people watch the same game I do :rolleyes: What next? Let's not look at Del Bosque? Sure all he did was play that sack of crap Zidane every week

[DmanDmythDledge]

Kerr couldn't manage and didn't know how to handle senior players, so instead he just bored them to death.
Think that says more about the players...

[pineapple stu]

Evans brought them back to what?
Back to challenging for titles, to playing decent football with good home grown players.

[jmurphyc]

Evans never really challenged for the title and if I'm not mistaken all he ever won at Liverpool was the League Cup.

[pineapple stu]

He challenged for the title more than Houllier; had them in the lead in the league in February in one season. In 1996/97, they finished seven points off the title, losing 3-1 to United in April and spluttering to the end, so they were well in the hunt then. Houllier never managed that; his best season (also seven points off) was based on a great late run which started way too late to offer any sort of challenge.

In Evans' four seasons with Liverpool, only United got more points in total, so Liverpool under Evans were consistenly up there, which was an achievement given the previous, Souness, era. Houllier was way off the pace most of the time (19 points or more on four occasions).

Always struck me as being as much a moaner as O'Leary too.

[jmurphyc]

I have to disagree about Evans. Houllier brought them up a notch. Although they were consistenly up near the top of the table in Evans' time, they never really threatened Man Utd. In 96/97 they were never going to catch Man Utd, much like Houllier's team in 01/02 despite the fact that they finished with 80 points.

One thing I do agree with though is that he was a moaner. His media interviews were woeful towards the end of his reign and he was always using statistics like corners to try to argue that his team didn't actually play sh*te football. That would be one of my main worries if he was given the job.

[John83]

What odds the FAI are leaking these names to take the focus off the Stan blunder?!
I doubt it. They don't need to - there's a vacuum, and idle speculation from media punters and people like us will fill it.

[SuperDave]

Houllier was over all more successful than unsuccessful at Liverpool. His record with France worries me. They went into the 1994 World Cup Qualification tournament's final two games needing only a point to qualify and they lost both games WHICH WERE AT HOME!

Houllier was more or less responsible for restructering French youth football and setting up the academy at Clarefontain, was he not? That produced the players who won in 98 and 2000. England tried to copy it with Lilleshall (sp?) but i'm not sure it worked so well. He'd be a great youth coach.

He's probably the best of the managers firmly linked with the job, and if he saves us from getting a certain D O'leary i'd be delighted. His record with Liverpool was strong enough that now it would easily qualify for the champions league most years, the real target. 98-99 7th (54pts), 99-00 4th (67), 00-01 3rd (69), 01-02 2nd (80), 02-03 5th (64), 03-04 4th (60). Rafa's record is 58, 82, 68 (5th, 3rd, 3rd).

Houllier is solid, but not spectacular. His serious problem was attacking, but defensively his Liverpool teams were okay. After the joke in Cyprus and the inability to hold on in Slovakia, defensive organisation is in serious need of attention. His experience at Lyon suggests, too, that he can beat the smaller teams. His time at Liverpool, and Lyon, suggests in bigger games he has the tendency to bottle it, but frankly that's better than what stan was giving us. If you remember back, for the 02 WC campaign we won all 8 games home and away against the smaller teams. I'd have faith in Houllier to deliver that base we need to bring us into deciding games in October and November, which is all we can ask for. With Houllier, I think, we'd be guaranteed third every time, with the real chance of second, and frankly, for the time being, we can ask no more than that.