Liverpool FC Forum

[ckay]

But he opted for Smicer and then Diouf.

[azriahmad]

ckay, you forgot to mention that he signed Bruno "the new Zidane" Cheyrou...only we were not told which Zidane, the one that mattered is Zinadine Yazid Zidane.

Henry was largely played in the wings ad Monaco and Juve. Wenger converted him into a central striker at Arsenal. If it were up to Houllier, he would see Henry's "potential" either at holding midfielder or as a pacey centre back and played him in either of these positions as he has "potential" unseen by others. By the time he is finished with Henry, he could be as good as "the next Thuram" Traore...

I think Anelka was also at Clairfontaine when Houllier started the academy.

[Sean]

Houllier recommended Cantona to United.

[stmichael]

houllier turned down the chance to sign cantona if i'm not mistaken.

[zackboxer]

I think Israel came into it somewhere, if it was Bulgaria who beat them I think it meant that Israel qualified ahead of France. But I might just be brain dead and imagined it

The French needed 2pts to qualify and had home games against Israel and Bulgaria left to play. The French lost 3-2 to Israel and then got beat 2-1 by Bulgaria!!
Sweden and Bulgaria qualified.

[zarababe]

The French lost to Israel...and only last night England drew with ....Japaaaaan

Houllier laid the foundations of French success...and has perhaps done the same for LFC.. he took us as far as he could...bring on Benitez now and we'll see how he completes the buidling blocks to success!

[Boocity]

The French needed 2pts to qualify and had home games against Israel and Bulgaria left to play. The French lost 3-2 to Israel and then got beat 2-1 by Bulgaria!!
Sweden and Bulgaria qualified.

Thanks for that. I knew Israel came into it somewhere. I thought I was going mad

[banana]

For a national coach to claim that he laid the foundations for success is absolutely r.ubbish. It is the players and their coaches work in training every day of the year that counts. He has little influence on players careers and development. This should be clear for everyone.

[stmichael]

For a national coach to claim that he laid the foundations for success is absolutely r.ubbish. It is the players and their coaches work in training every day of the year that counts. He has little influence on players careers and development. This should be clear for everyone.

yeah, if we win euro 2004, is eriksson going to turn around and thank the likes of howard wilkinson and glenn hoddle for putting the foundations in place? exactly.

[greenred]

I looked at a post by Greenred in another topic about Benitez.

He is just a spanish bloke who nobody wanted as Liverpool manager until the last week.

It got me thinking.  After reading this board for the last few months, it seems clear that only a few of us follow Spanish football (myself not included, i'll watch it when it's on, but I don't follow it).

thanks for the quote jonnymac.The full quote though should have read "We will all give our complete support to Benitez if he ever arrives,until then though he is just a spanish bloke who nobody wanted as Liverpool manager until the last week." I had heard of Houllier before he arrived but I certainly never considered him as Liverpool managment material.I reckon we were conned over Houlliers appointment.I got the impression that he would act as a technical coach,working with younger players and using his contacts to spot the best young players on the continent.They sold him to us as a lifelong Liverpool fan who had stood on the Kop cheering on the team.I notice they are trying to do something similar with Benitez now.As we all know now poor Roy Evans was just being kept on to appease the supporters,first chance they got,he was out the door while Houllier was being portrayed as some sort of managerial guru.Well he wasnt.Houllier was never good enough for Liverpool football club and I dont trust Moores judgement now either.

[Big Niall]

It was actually both Bulgaria and Israel, they were the last two games at home (I think) and they conceded a last minute goal in both of them. They only needed to keep a clean sheet for one minute IN ANY OF THE GAMES and they'd have qualified,

Of course GH found a scapegoat, I don't remember Kenny blaming Barnes for Arsenals 89 win(still hurts though)

[banana]

Agreed Stmichael. It is the clubs that develops the players. SGE depends on Wenger, Fergusson, Robson etc. to produce talent for him. For Houllier to take credit for France achievements after his sacking is r.ubbish. Under Houllier France did not even qualify for WC 94. They had a shitload of top players like Boli, Desailly, Papin, Lama, Ginola, Deschamps ... Not only should they have been in WC 94, they should have been in the semi finals. Houllier was sacked. Then Liverpool came along.  Houllier had been out of club management for more than 10 years when Liverpool signed him. Being technical director, national coach, doing administrative work is completely different from coaching a team. Originally I think Evans was supposed to handle training while Houllier was going to be more involved in administrative tasks. However when things turned sour, Evans resigned and Houllier had to take care of everything.

[stmichael]

i was thinking last night about why english clubs have to appoint managers who have "won things at the highest level" to satisfy supporters. this doesn't happen in countries such as spain for example. when valencia appointed benitez, he had just got tenerife promoted from the spanish second division. they took a chance on him and it paid off.

however in this country the fans are all saying "what has he won?" "he's not proven" "we need a big name". no wonder the up and coming english managers don't get a chance at the bigger clubs.

[greenred]

Agree with st michael.If you follow the careers of the great coaches they all did their best work when they had been "promoted" to a bigger job or club.Its rare for a successful coach to replicate that success elsewhere.

[XSD]

Houllier came to Anfield as a manager with no real achievements, Benitez is a proven winner at the top level. There is your difference.