Liverpool FC Forum

by **big al** » Thu May 20, 2004 6:45 pm

For me this guy is always fair but what do you think?

MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR HOULLIER AXE
By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer

The wrecking ball is picking up momentum at Anfield.

First the bigots filled the phone-in airwaves with the sort of spiteful venom which manager Gerard Houllier never deserved.

Now dark murmurings, supposedly from the Anfield dressing room, question the wisdom of Liverpool being led into the Champions League next season by Houllier, while Celtic's Martin O'Neill is openly touted as the man to take over.

The Liverpool Board are said to be contemplating sacking a manager for the first time since 1956.

It would be a desperate way to fall but increasingly it looks to be the fate of a man who has accused Liverpool supporters of "living in the past."

On that score he's right.

Gone are the days when Liverpool could win the championship using just 14 players.

Gone are the days when they could dominate at home and in Europe with a side packed with home-grown stars, when Bill Shankly mused about building a side that was "invincible, so they'll have to send a side from Mars to beat us."

Football has moved on. It's about managers like Arsene Wenger, with a shrewd businesslike brain, a sharp eye for talent and a flair for a bargain.

And sadly it is about the likes of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - men whose entire knowledge of the game could be printed on the back of a five pound note with a thick paintbrush. Billionaires whose allegiance is as interchangeable as their underpants.

If Liverpool chairman David Moores understandably viewed the £73million package recently put forward by Liverpool businessman Steve Morgan, his biggest critic, with suspicion, then he should have run a mile and then sprinted some more when propositioned by a £60million Thai bid that is still on the table and could smear the Liverpool brand.

But one thing has not changed about football. Supporters, especially at a club with a heritage as illustrious as Liverpool's, need hope in their hearts - and on Merseyside right now hope is little more than a street which connects the city's two cathedrals.

That is why Houllier's job is on the line.

Apart from the sourest, most people accept and acclaim Houllier's successes. They recognise the restoration of discipline following the Fowler-McManaman 'Spice Boys' Anfield era and approve of the magnificence of the youth academy built under Houllier's guidance, an achievement which would make the Liverpool boss a front-runner for the FA's post of technical director should he leave the club.

They accept, too, that he won five trophies in one calendar year three years ago, including the FA Cup and UEFA Cup.

But, six years into a five-year plan, they see a team which, although it scraped into the Champions League qualifying spot, finished 30 points behind champions Arsenal in this season's Premiership.

For a club that has won a record 18 league titles and was the hallmark of excellence for so long the width of that gulf is difficult to accept.

Houllier understands football, he carries a passion for Liverpool - but there is no getting away from the fact that his big buys have been big failures.

Is it any wonder the Board, who have handed him £104m to date, now seem less reluctant to publicly support him with the likes of Diao, Diouf, Biscan and Cheyrou still walking the corridors of Anfield?

What if another £50million went the way of the last? Houllier stubbornly defends his corner, answering such questions with a Gallic bristle. But the momentum gathers.

Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen have recorded their dismay at the club's lack of progress.

And past players are wheeled out daily to compare Houllier's achievements with those of Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish.

Yes, Liverpool supporters are living in the past.

Then that is so often what happens in football when the present is too desperate to stomach and the future too dismal to contemplate.

He deserves none of the vitriol but in the end that is why Houllier will go.

by **woof woof !** » Thu May 20, 2004 6:54 pm

I think this report says it all,
They may accuse us of living in the past BUT those that fail to recognise past mistakes are bound to repeat them.

by **redspirit** » Thu May 20, 2004 6:56 pm

whatever. Keep the momentum going and hopefully "LFC sacks Houllier" will become headines

by **redspirit** » Thu May 20, 2004 6:59 pm

What does living in the past has anything to do with bad purchases, bad tactics? I doubt GH would be in deep sh*t if we were competitive.

by **SantaGiveHoullierTheSack** » Thu May 20, 2004 8:06 pm

Living in the past huh...the fans aspire past success, past dominance and what's wrong with that? If the present management cannot set their target that high, then they have joined the wrong team in the city. GH's outburst only confirms his failure, his inability to meet the club's high expectations and he is bitter when everyone make any sort of comparisons.

by **THEBARON** » Thu May 20, 2004 9:02 pm

I believe there may be some substance to the rumours that he may be going.
2 reasons:
(1). The reaction ( or lack of it ) from the Liverpool board. To date I have not heard a denial of the rumours or a public statement of support.
(2). The sudden lack of Cisse stories. For the last 6 months we've had him hyped , now nothing ..£ 14 million would be a lot if another manager came in and didn't want him.
I also heard a rumour that some of the board were not impressed by
(1).Houllier's recent press conference and the infamous walk out.
(2). His attempts to proclaim 4th place as a magnificent achievement.
I've also heard of sightings of MON but I've been hearing those for 12 months.

by **greenred** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:21 am

May 21, 2004

The Times

Liverpool start their search for successor to Houllier
By Oliver Kay

GÉRARD HOULLIER appears certain to lose his job as Liverpool manager within days after it emerged that the club’s board has already turned its attentions to finding his replacement. Houllier has yet to be told that his six-year reign at Anfield is at an end, but with the board having failed to offer any public show of support, he has resigned himself to being forced out sooner rather than later.
As with Claudio Ranieri, whose departure from Chelsea has long been a fait accompli, Houllier is holding out in the hope of being granted a stay of execution, but Rafael Benítez, the Valencia coach, is understood to be a leading contender, while Alan Curbishley, the Charlton Athletic manager, is also rated highly by the board.

Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager, is certain to be considered, but he would not be the unanimous choice of the Liverpool board, which has reservations about his tactical approach. Despite reports that a third party has been asked to sound out the Celtic manager, O’Neill has not been approached directly and is not thought to be top of Liverpool’s shortlist, if indeed such a list has been drawn up.

Part of the problem is a shortage of available candidates. Although two of Europe’s most distinguished managers, Marcello Lippi and Ottmar Hitzfeld, are due to leave Juventus and Bayern Munich respectively, Liverpool are thought to want a younger man who could bring fresh ideas. Didier Deschamps, the AS Monaco coach, and José Mourinho, the FC Porto coach, are already destined for Juventus and Chelsea respectively.

Kenny Dalglish, who has been out of front-line management since his ill-fated spell at Newcastle United was brought to an end in 1998, is expected to return to Anfield this summer, but in a non-football capacity rather than to the manager’s position that he left abruptly in February 1991. The former Liverpool forward insisted last night that he had not been approached but added that “if the club think I can help, they just need to ask”.

Contrary to reports, Houllier’s departure, with a year of his contract remaining, would not jeopardise the £13 million acquisition of Djibril Cissé, the France forward, from Auxerre.Contracts are believed to have been exchanged with the 22-year-old due to become a Liverpool player on July 1.

It would be a bitter irony if Houllier, having worked so hard to secure Cissé’s signature, were to have returned to France by the time his countryman arrives at Anfield.

by **greenred** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:23 am

Liverpool plan for life after Houllier

Dominic Fifield
Friday May 21, 2004
The Guardian

Liverpool have started their search for a successor to Gérard Houllier, despite not yet having formally told the Frenchman he is to be relieved of his duties at Anfield.
Houllier has privately resigned himself to the fact that his six-year stay on Merseyside is to end over the next few days, the decision to part company having been taken somewhat reluctantly by the chairman David Moores and his chief executive Rick Parry despite the potential salvaging of Champions League football for next season.

Two of England's most highly regarded young managers, Alan Curbishley of Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough's Steve McClaren, are believed to feature strongly on the board's shortlist. Yet with the club maintaining their silence yesterday Liverpool have left themselves in an uneasy state of limbo having failed even to deliver confirmation to Houllier that he is to leave.

The Frenchman was at Melwood yesterday, attempting to make it appear like business as usual alongside his assistant Phil Thompson and the rest of his coaching staff as he busied himself with plans for a pre-season in which he will not be involved. Moores has since departed on a family holiday to Scotland, though Parry may be moved to meet Houllier and make an announcement before leaving on a holiday of his own next week.

In the meantime transfer negotiations, aside from the completed £14.1m signing of Djibril Cissé from Auxerre which will go through on July 1, have been temporarily suspended. Yet the board's recent deliberation over resolving Houllier's future has effectively priced them out of any realistic chance of luring their first choice, Jose Mourinho, to Anfield.

Sources close to the Porto manager confirmed last night that he will be named as the successor to Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea next month following the Champions League final against Monaco. Mourinho had previously suggested that, if given the choice, he might prefer Anfield over Stamford Bridge and a tentative inquiry from Liverpool as to his availability is believed to have taken place.

However, the ambitious Portuguese has since been enticed to Stamford Bridge by Roman Abramovich's generous contract offer - he is likely to earn around £3.5m a year in west London - and intends to bring several members of his backroom staff with him upon signing a four-year contract.

Instead, and with the Valencia coach Rafael Benítez having stated his desire to remain at the Mestalla - "I fully intend to be here next season," he said, albeit in the glorious aftermath of Wednesday's Uefa Cup victory over Marseille - Liverpool are likely to look closer to home for a successor.

There is support for Curbishley, not least among the playing staff, with the club's directors impressed by his achievements at the Valley and with the style in which his team have played since establishing themselves in the Premiership four years ago. The only reservations surround his limited experience in European competition, with Liverpool facing a qualifier to reach the Champions League group stages in August.

Those same doubts would surface over an approach for McClaren, though the club's England contingent would welcome his arrival having been coached by him at international level.

Furthermore it is thought neither McClaren not Curbishley would object to working with Kenny Dalglish in his anticipated new role as technical director at Anfield.

Any formal approach to another manager will have to wait until Houllier has left the club. The Frenchman may have privately accepted the inevitable but he will not resign and risk forfeiting a financial settlement that could amount to as much as £1.5m to cover the final year of his contract.

by **greenred** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:24 am

Curbishley?

by **7_Kewell** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:28 am

the mans done wonders with little money at Charlton, but to be honest i'd rather have a 'proven' winner

by **greenred** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:30 am

Yeah,I cant understand that one at all.He would be a massive shock.

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