QuoteThe 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.
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.
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.
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.
Houllier is now second favourite with Paddy Power's at 5/2.
According to the fiver he's a shoo-in
A patriot is someone who knows how to hate his country properly.
Who was it that said Houllier is the players choice?
thought venables was the players choice..wouldnt mind gerry O 'houillieran at all...
'How can I hate women, my Mums one!!!' Chris Finch
I like the quote about Hodgson.Originally Posted by sonofstan
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.
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.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 20/12/2007 at 11:48 AM.
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?
have there been any direct quotes from him ? has he been interviewed ? submitted a CV ?
Was he crazy!! Yeah , in a very special way , an Irishman.
I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
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.
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.
i would love to know if his Charlie Victor is on Razors desk...
Was he crazy!! Yeah , in a very special way , an Irishman.
I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
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.
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...30/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.
D'oh, that'll teach me to post at nearly 4 in the morning after drinking heavily
Barthez, 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.
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...ational_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....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
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