Liverpool FC Forum

[Fowler_E7]

Brian Reade from the Mirror, 26th May 2004, St Mick? 

Come on fella, post your source.......

are any of his posts his? honestly. 

yeah all the post under a paragraph are his own work, well possibly 

[darwisigila]

i still remember how boring and dull liverpool play under Houllier...my brain seem want to explode. liverpool under houllier never likely to score and we also don know how to pass the ball. i don understand why people talking how good gh is when we lost one game.

[akumaface]

I think GH was old school, stubborn and not willing to change and can't really adapt to the new era of football (EPL to be precise). As for Rafa, he has a more scientific approach. More tactical and set a standard in modern football management. He has the ability to get more out of the so called journeyman players. It also appears to me that Rafa is a more reasonable person then GH as GH appears is a more bias person I might say. Some of you may say Rafa is bias against Cisse. But I honestly believe (along with my own observation) Rafa assessment of Cisse must be only based on his ability (he sees him everyday in training and knows whether someone is a good striker or not). I had said before, Cisse to me is lightening quick but that's about it. He lacks touch and his shooting is erratic. Although it might harmed Cisse's feelings but he should look at himself to see if the criticism is legit or not. Having confidence is one thing but without realizing his own ability, no one would give a DAm..n about him.

[Ace Ventura]

i still remember how boring and dull liverpool play under Houllier...my brain seem want to explode. liverpool under houllier never likely to score and we also don know how to pass the ball. i don understand why people talking how good gh is when we lost one game.

Do you only remember the last season and a half under Houllier ?
I must of put this on about 3 different threads...but i will say it again,

Did we play 'boring' 'negative' football in the treble winning season ?

Over 100 goals in all competitions, the most exciting Uefa cup final i can ever remember...although i dont really watch them anymore.

I had a season ticket, we beat Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield, the scum home and away...the blue sh@te home and away.
With Owen Heskey Fowler Gerrard and Murphy all into double figures in all competitions.

Very boring & negative 

[Ace Ventura]

By the way the previous post is not meant to say i want him back, or didnt want him to go.
He took the club as far as he could, made mistakes and then we were going backwards at the end.
I am made up that we got Rafa in...who is doing a brilliant job....but to criticise Houllier based on the last season and a half either indicates how long some people have supported the club, or just how short memories some people have.

[andy_g]

its all obviously a bunch of ifs and buts... but if houllier was still here then just maybe the price paid for cisse woouldn't have been an issue. houllier obviously bought cisse because he had a plan for him and knew exactly how he wanted to use him in his own system. cisse would have had a load of starts (and obviously history would be different so he wouldn't have broken his leg), more than likely would have been playing in a 4-4-2 alongside baros and would probably have scored a lot more goals than he has under rafa.

thats looking at it positively, of course - houllier also had a plan for diao and diouf and cheyrou and vignal and so on which didn't exactly work out. however, i'm convinced we'd be looking at a different cisse. maybe not electric but at least playing regularly, more confident and playing in a system more suited to his needs.

[Paul C]

Yes i dont know if any of you guys can recall, Cisse before joining us said he would only be coming over if Houllier is still the manager.

He didn't, he said that he wants to play for Liverpool and it doesn't matter who the manager if weither it be Houllier or not.

[teamleader1]

I have to dissagree that houlier left at the right time-
He should have been shown the door at least 12 months earlier- I along with many feel that his era was by far the lowest we have ever sank as far as entertainment and standards are concerned.
As for the treble I was at the time made up but honest enough to admit that we were lucky and could have easily lost out in all of them- The saving grace was the fact that we all thought that the standards we had been brought up on would return and these early cup successes were a well deserved bit of luck and a springboard to recapturing the glory years
Sadly it turned out that this standard was the best we could expect and it was all down hill from there
Ive been lucky enough to see some great liverpool teams under great managers and to even contemplate that we in any way shape or form would have benifited from still having that imposter back at anfield truly baffles me

Ive been brought up on class liverpool sides and would rather give up going the game than settle for what houlier had to offer
To me Rafa is a class act and IMHO will get it right and will entertain us along the way
I dont agree with all his decisions and I have a moan like we all do but compared to Houlier hes faultless

                               IMHO 

[Ace Ventura]

I have to dissagree that houlier left at the right time-
He should have been shown the door at least 12 months earlier- I along with many feel that his era was by far the lowest we have ever sank as far as entertainment and standards are concerned.
As for the treble I was at the time made up but honest enough to admit that we were lucky and could have easily lost out in all of them- The saving grace was the fact that we all thought that the standards we had been brought up on would return and these early cup successes were a well deserved bit of luck and a springboard to recapturing the glory years
Sadly it turned out that this standard was the best we could expect and it was all down hill from there
Ive been lucky enough to see some great liverpool teams under great managers and to even contemplate that we in any way shape or form would have benifited from still having that imposter back at anfield truly baffles me

Ive been brought up on class liverpool sides and would rather give up going the game than settle for what houlier had to offer
To me Rafa is a class act and IMHO will get it right and will entertain us along the way
I dont agree with all his decisions and I have a moan like we all do but compared to Houlier hes faultless

                               IMHO 

Think you are being a bit harsh there mate.
I agree that we did sink so low, and it was some of the worst football i have seen during the last season he was in charge.
But i think after taking us forward in the previous season Moores loyalty although misplaced was justifiedat the time.
With regards to the treble season, you are so harsh its untrue.
Yeah we were not great in the finals and they all could of gone the other way.
Fact is though...they never.
The players showed guts and character in all 3 finals, and what your not remembering is winning a cup is not just based on the final.
We won in Rome, got a great draw in the Nou camp and fully deserved to be there and go on to lift the cup.
The F.A cup the draw was very kind, but we still beat Leeds away...that was the big one.
Tranmere destroyed the blues and at Goodison, but there was no way we would ever lose there no matter what.
The point i'm trying to make is Houllier was doing a good job until the surgery...and the transfers in summer 02, he doesn't deserve so much stick and should be welcomed back at Anfield whenever he wants to pay a visit.

[JBG]

While I believe that the time was right for Gerard Houllier to leave when he did, I do believe that had he stayed for another season, he would have done a bit better than his last two seasons.

Houllier was very keen on Sean Wright Phillips and he had a big influence over Michael Owen. I believe that had Houllier stayed, these two players would have turned out for Liverpool last season.

He still would have been miles off the pace of Chelsea and I don't think he would have gotten us much further than the Champions League quarter finals, but I do think we probably would have been 7 or 8 points better off in the Premiership. Houllier's 2004/05 Liverpool side could potentially have been a very good counter attacking side. Imagine the speed of Cisse, SWP and Owen on the break?

However, I think it was correct to change managers as I don't think Houllier's approach was enough to win the Premiership. I think Rafa's system is the correct approach. However, Rafa's problem was that he inherited a side thats built for counter attacking, not pressing the game further up the pitch. For example, Sammi Hyppia is a superb defender when he plays deep, not so when he's further up the pitch. Rafa has had to make do with these type of players and realistically, it will probably take him at least another two years before he has the kind of players who can properly play his system.

[zarababe]

May be the question is .. should we have allowed Dalglish to leave for?  is the decline of the club not associated with him..

[Ace Ventura]

Houllier was very keen on Sean Wright Phillips and he had a big influence over Michael Owen. I believe that had Houllier stayed, these two players would have turned out for Liverpool last season.

I really dont believe for one minute that Owen would have turned down Real Madrid based on loyalty towards Houllier.
Like someone else has already said on the matter...it was under Houllier that he let his contract run down.

[JBG]

May be the question is .. should we have allowed Dalglish to leave for?  is the decline of the club not associated with him..

It wasn't a matter of letting Daglish go. He left on his own accord and Liverpool couldn't persuade him to stay.

His 1990/91 team had problems but there's a fair chance that Daglish would have successfully rebuilt it had he stayed, and the 1990s might have been completely different. 

[teamleader1]

ACE
Maybe your right -I might be being a bit harsh- but its not without credit

Its a fact that under houlier the great games are countable on one hand and it really rankled with me that the likes of man u and arsenal played more fluent football in 45 minutes than we witnessed in 4 games
Im sorry its come across to harsh and your aurgument has merit but its only my opinion of the man
Ive never felt like not going the game under any other manager than him
The standared of football and tactics was awful-he had his chance and fell well short of the mark both on the field and off it
this is only my opinion and I totally respect your point of view Ace

[Ace Ventura]

ACE
Maybe your right -I might be being a bit harsh- but its not without credit

Its a fact that under houlier the great games are countable on one hand and it really rankled with me that the likes of man u and arsenal played more fluent football in 45 minutes than we witnessed in 4 games
Im sorry its come across to harsh and your aurgument has merit but its only my opinion of the man
Ive never felt like not going the game under any other manager than him
The standared of football and tactics was awful-he had his chance and fell well short of the mark both on the field and off it
this is only my opinion and I totally respect your point of view Ace

I'm sort of in a strange position regarding Houllier, i am not a massive fan, nor am i majorly critical of him.
He had his moments and brought us back into the European limelight again.
I totally respect your poin of view...but have my doubts whether they are clouded and your not thinking beyond the last season and a half or so.
But i am with everyone who feels he had taken the club as far as he could, and we would of declined further had he stayed in charge...he seemed to have lost something, the excuses made for some defeats were quite embarassing at times as well.
But he seemed to genuinely love the club and i would have alot of time for him if he come back to Anfield either as a manager, or just to watch us play.