Liverpool FC Forum

[Leonmc0708]

Excuse the topic title, it does sound a little gay but in truth, that is exactly what so many of us Liverpool Fans are doing with the manager, the board and ultimatley the club.

THE MAAGER - Houllier IMO has an unhealthy obsession with the media. He is happy to use them to get in any excuses (both before and after games) and quick to slate them when they criticise or disagree with him. The latest foray into media, and the unbeliveable "we are looking forward to next season" and "we will win the league next year and then the European Cup" were for me the last straw. I have struggled to justify Houlliers existence as the manager, but I can no longer agree that he is the man for the job. Sadly, I do seriously beleive that these and so many of GH's previous press confrence quotes are the words of a drowning man.

The guy must be delusional if he seriously thinks there is no debate about his future as he claimed recently. The fact that Martin O'Neill has been and continues to be linked with his job, totally contradictes his claims.

The board constantly comes out with the fact that fourth place is the minimum acceptable standard, so if he thinks that he will be safe regardless of his success this season he is contradicting himself.

The sad fact of the matter is that people of Liverpool, and loyal fans are falling out with him. It was Jack Charlton who said a few years back that he "did not want to fall out with the Irish people" when he left the managers post at the Republic. He realised that if he continued to persevere despite the bad run and lack of fluent football that the Irish people who had grown to love and Idolise big Jack would eventually fall out with him.

This is what is happening at Liverpool. I mean every one here will openly admit to singing Houlliers name with panache during the treble season and into the next. Unfortunatley those same fans are now calling for his head. every time we see cr#p football, no commitment and defeats, every time Houllier comes out and blames the ref, says he is proud of the players following defeat and claims to be on course to capture the Holy grail of the League following a season of unmeasurable underacheivement, another fan falls out with him.

This than soons changes from dismay to dislike, and then eventually hatred.

THE BOARD - It is killing me to see the team I love, and the most celebrated and succesful football club in England slowly turn into the laughing stock and joke they are seen as. Even more so when the people responsible for mine and your hopes and dreams are are either too naive too see through the delusion our seemingly clueless manager keeps spinning through the press in an audacious bid to save his job, or simply too gutless to take the risks required and do something about it.

The Steve Morgan saga, as it rumbles on is a constant reminder of the brazen self rightousness of the board as they refuse to acknowledge the thoughts and ideas of anyone, fans included who do not conform to their beliefs. As long as David Moores and Rick Parry persist in hiding behind the now failed theory that "Liverpool Football Club is not a sacking club" we will not progrees and reclaim our rightful position at the pinnacle of British and European Football. The only reason Liverpool have not sacked a manager since Don Welsh was releived of his post for failing to gain promotion to the top flight in the mid 1950's is that they did not need to.  All of the seven managers at the helm since have been people who loved the club, and they were man enough to be able to identify when it was time for them to move on, and hand the reighn over to some one younger or better equipped to take the club further.

We deserve better, and GH and the Liverpool board should take a long look at themselves and the pain of us fans before it really is too late.

YNWA

[Leonmc0708]

Obviously the name of the topic has disuaded you people from even reading it...

Never mind

[LFC #1]

Whwn i first read the topic heading i though what on earth is leon on about?

However, good post i agree with you 100%. The board needs to listen to the fans we are the ones suffering and providing the club with revenue, our opinion should be as highly valued as anyone at the club. It's time to move on and bring in a new manager and get LFC back to past glory days, or we could become a mediocre mid-table side who were once great rather quickly, in fact it is already begiining to happen we need to STOP THE ROT!

[stmichael]

i agree. we could end up like leeds the rate we're goin.

[ICE-MAN]

HAVE TO AGREE WITH U LEON, BUT IF IM CORRRECT DOES HOULLIER ONLY HAVE ONE MORE YEAR LEFT ON HIS CONTRACT? IT RUNS OUT SUMMER 05 DOES IT? I THINK THE BOARD ARE WAITING FOR HIS CONTRACT TO RUN OUT AND NOT OFFER HIM A NEW ONE RATHER THAN SACK HIM! BUT U MIGHT ALL HAVE A GO AT ME BUT I WANT TO SEE HIM HAVE ONE MORE SEASON THAT IS NEST SEASON, SEE WHO HE GETS DURING THE SUMMER AND WHAT EXACTLY WE DO, IF WE STRUGGLE TO FINISH FOURTH HE WILL DEFINITLEY BE GONE, ANY IMPROVEMENT AND HE WILL STAY!
I ALSO CANT STAND THE LACK OF SERVICE THAT WE ARE GIVING TO OWEN, AND THE LACK OF A RUN IN THE FIRST TEAM FOR BAROS!

[stmichael]

that's fair enough. but given houlliers past record can you see him making any players we bring in BETTER than they already are? i doubt it. most players who have come here recently have seen their careers go downhill.

[zackboxer]

Good post Leon.

I have no personal dislike of GH but just feel he has gone as far as he can with this team and just can't see any evidence to suggest he can turn the club around, we are further away from being a credible threat in the premiership than when he arrived.

Although he started well the last two seasons he seems to have lost the plot and I'd agree with you, it would be a shame if the unrest about his management became a situation where the fans became more hostile towards the man, which I fear with each poor run of results may happen.
A quiet word from the chairman and letting the guy leave with a bit of dignity intact has got to be better than that.

Whether we finish 4th or not this team has been poor for two seasons now and the excuses have run out, it's time for a fresh start with a new manager.

[hawkmoon269]

Ice-man, how many more years do we need to give him?  It's been 14 odd years since we lifted the Premiership/1st Division title, and 20 odd years since we won the European Cup - the 2 trophy's by which a modern team are judged.  It's been a long time to wait for success.  I know it's unrealistic to demand instant success, but he has been the manager since 1998.

[redandblue]

You may have had few responses because most of us agree with you.

We have mediocrity at Anfield, led by the board, Moores and Parry in particular, and Houllier is taking us backwards.

How can he seriously talk to the press about being on track when we are more than 30 points behind Arsenal.

Man United are, apparently having an awful season. Well, the were in the CL, they are in a cup final, they are third in the league and they are 18 (?) points ahead of us. We are nowhere close to the top three.

And Houllier is about to sack a number of the players HE bought in the first place. Unbelievable.

We once had the best run club in the country. That is no longer the case.

[The_Rock]

My opinion is that the board does not want to sack GH. They are just waiting for his contract to run and then don't renew it. This looks to be the most possible senario given the comments given by parry last week. Their reasons for this could be :

a)Preserve the tradition of not being a sacking club.
b)Do not want to pay compensation to GH when he is sacked.
c)Some non-sack clause in GH contact.
d)Too loyal to him for the success in 2001.
e)No balls.

Take your pick...

[redandblue]

And the answer is..............e). When in reality, sacking him is the easyest option based on performances and results.

[vlady16.1]

let me make the proposition that the board isn't filled with idiots but good businessmen.

1) one does not fire an important cog in your organization until a replacement is lined up. let's see whose available in may/june

2) gh is the best hope to get the cl position which is important from a financial position-- an interim manager just doesn't have time and would be imo a mistake

3) with no manager in place there is no positve leverage on a candidate-- very bad

4) what happens if none of the "wanted candidates" is available? say they all re-sign as their teams won't want them to leave. we could be stuck with a very bad choice who will do irrepairable harm to the team. gh is not a great manager but there are far worse out there

therefore i conclude that we just relax . even if gh stays it can't get much worse- combine injuries, wierd calls, mike missing sitters- i'm not a believer in excuses but the combination is not statistically going to happen again so it should get better- i would rather endure 1 more year of gh than get a real idiot messing things up completely

[SantaGiveHoullierTheSack]

Leon, I can relate to how you feel. As a fan who supported Liverpool since 1974, and attended every game he can, now live thousands of mile away but watched every game live on satelite, I can understand your frustration.
Houllier need to jump or be pushed at the end of the season. The board cannot hide behind the 'not a sacking club' principle anymore. Remember we broke the tradition by hiring a manager who have no previous tie with the club, dismantle the old boot room and the Kop stand, why not sack this clueless underachiever
Our previous regimes have set high standards for the current team to measure to, instead we have became a laughing stock whereby finishing 4th is consider a great achievement. The board cannot be weak and they must be ruthless if we are to compete with the likes of English and European elites. We are a couple of seasons, a manager and 5-6 players short of turning the corner (mind you, not Houllier's defination of corners).
Houllier is just a sad man trying to save his ar5e. Some advice...don't take your fans for granted. Results don't lie. We have bought into your "5 Years plan" ruse before, don't think you can fart your way out again!

[oldredeyes]

I think the general opinion is very much as you put it in your post Leon. The reason you didn't get the initial response is because most of us are simply exhausted talking about the failings of GH - and we now seek action by what has become a very unstable Board of Directors.
GH felt he was coming to Anfield in the same way that the great Shanks came - he thought the fans would warm to him in the same way, and for a while they did warm to him (but never with the strength of feeling shown to Bill Shankly).
I was a kid on the KOP when Shanks made his first bow at Anfield and from the start we knew we had a man worthy of our attention, affection and loyalty.
He was an honest man!
Bill gave us no false promises or excuses just bloody good management and an unbelievable talent for getting the best out of ordinary players and stars alike.
Any dreams that GH had of emulating the great man have long since gone and GH is left with broken dreams, a broken team and a million broken hearted supporters around the world.
I liked GH as a man when he arrived but he has gone as far as he can go with Liverpool and I hope he resigns quickly and takes on a more appropriate job elsewhere.
And make no mistake, the man who follows GH will have a big job to do. He will need to be ruthless with staff and players and he will need to send a loud warning out to other premiership clubs that we are on our way back. He will need to regain the respect, pride and ambition that we have lost in recent years.
A tall order? Not really,
A man from a Scottish mining village took on an even greater task in Liverpool during 1959 and turned our team into the best football outfit in the world.
It can - and will be done again- but not with GH.

[greenred]

Yep,im afraid its all been said already.We end up saying the same things over and over.Houllier must show some honour and resign at the end of the season.He has failed,his time is up.