NormandyVillan

I was accused of having it once by some bastard who was out to get me.

I agree. I hope Houllier asserts but without the monumental ego. Or without the paranoid personality disorder? I couldn't help thinking about O'Neill when reading that, among other things, people suffering from PPD: • Are unforgiving and hold grudges • Are hypersensitive and take criticism poorly • Read hidden meanings in the innocent remarks or casual looks of others • Perceive attacks on their character that are not apparent to others; • Are generally cold and distant in their relationships with others, and might become controlling and jealous • Cannot see their role in problems or conflicts, believing they are always right • Have difficulty relaxing • Are hostile, stubborn, and argumentative • In many cases ... become involved in legal battles, suing people or companies they believe are "out to get them." It just all seems to fit... Anyway, whatever it is with O'Neill, Houllier comes across as a much better balanced character. He'll defend himself against scathing attacks which he sees as unjustified (as recently with regard to France's disastrous World Cup), but won't go into long embarrassing diatribes just because another manager happens to mention his team and "long balls" in the same sentence.

He was an English teacher in a French secondary school (a long time ago).

Not exactly happy. The President of the FFF was quoted as saying on French radio on Wednesday: "Je vais effectivement le laisser partir à Aston Villa. Il m'a exposé ses arguments, il souhaite vivre une aventure du terrain, c'est ce qui lui manque, l'adrénaline sur un terrain de football, c'est sa motivation, il n'y en a pas d'autre. C'est un choix que je respecte même s'il me crève le coeur." ... "Je lui ai donné tous les arguments possibles pour qu'il reste tout en respectant son choix" Basically that means he tried every possible argument to persuade Houllier to stay, but he understands how keen he is on the Villa job so he is letting him go, "even though it breaks my heart".

I presume because the French journalist asked him a question concerning them. Something like "do you see Aston Villa as being as big a club as Liverpool?". And he gave an honest answer. Why is this so important?

Anyone who had difficulty accepting that would be a serious contender for being the most deluded football fan on the planet!

Has anyone heard anything whatsoever from/about O'Neill in the past month? Since that brief message thanking everyone (except the Board) the day he left, I haven't heard a single quote from him. Not a word on why he left, not a word on what he plans to do now, nothing... Has he gone into hiding? Holed up in a monastery? Or have I missed something?

A bias to Liverpool built into the computer program? Those bastard Google programmers... Seriously though, I think Houllier was just assessing where Villa stand as a club in terms of recent history. He is quite clearly correct to say that objectively we're not on Liverpool's level on that basis. There is NOTHING AT ALL in that article to suggest that 7th to 12th is his objective.

Yes, that would be a respectable start. I'll be gutted if we only win 5-0.

Sums up my feelings on the events of the past month very well. Overall I'm glad that this change has come and we can have a fresh start.

I think it should be "les bordeaux & bleus" but not 100% sure. Anyway... welcome Gérard!

We'll tell you if and when stuff starts to go missing. Hide the Kleenex BOF because when PT gets a runny nose...... Scousers have served us well in the past. Withey, Morley. Christ they won us the European cup. Ron Saunders, does he count? Dennis Mortimer...

Yes he was so poor at Lyon that they won the French League back-to-back By successive margins of 15 and 17 points, far more than in any other year in the recent period in which Lyon dominated the French League. They also comfortably finished top (unbeaten) in their Champions League group ahead of Real Madrid 2 years running. They were unlucky to go out in the quarter finals against Milan in 2006, when they looked good enough to win the competition. He may have had a mixed record at Liverpool, but "a poor record at Lyon" is a rather surprising claim! It's true he inherited an already very good team at Lyon, but he did improve their points total in League. If he does the same at Villa, I'll be happy enough with that kind of "poor" performance.

Which is what makes the exchanges on his thread interesting. Personally I like the fact he puts some feeling into his posts. I would rather have his style than a series of bland, dispassionate, "corporate communication" type responses. If he was weighing up every word he wrote to ensure that he caused no offence to anyone, it would make for pretty boring reading and tell us nothing. Not that he shouldn't be a little bit careful in what he writes, of course. But I don't think he's said anything 'over the top'.

Just one of a series of disgraceful nosist comments posted on this board in the past few hours. There should be no place for nasal discrimination in modern football! Who asked you? Just keep your nose out of this I feel I should point out that I personally have a quite normal-sized nose, and a fairly a straight one. Not that it matters of course. Some of my best friends have big noses, and I think I think it’s great when huge-conked and straight, normal-nosed people can get on well and relax together. But I don’t personally share Phil Thompson’s nasal orientation, and wish to make that clear... Anyway, back on topic... I would be OK with Phil Thompson at Villa. Could even turn out to be a very choice.

Just one of a series of disgraceful nosist comments posted on this board in the past few hours. There should be no place for nasal discrimination in modern football!

But that IS what struck me when watching Villa play. Especially in some home games when the onus was us to win. Some examples: Man City at home: 1-1 around the 75-minute mark and we were dawdling over every throw-in as if we were happy enough with that result. Liverpool at home: looked happy to give Liverpool the initiative all game. The fact that Liverpool were only making marginally more effort to win the game made for 92 minutes of tedium until Torres finally punished Villa for their lack of ambition. Man United at home: content to hold on for a draw for about an hour against 10 men. I can't be bothered to look up the exact figures, but I'm pretty sure that Villa have drawn more matches overall than any other Premier League team over the past 4 years, and by quite some margin. I don't think that was entirely by chance either.

:shock: :shock: seconded Why the shock? I still can't get over all the cracking play I've seen from Villa in the last couple of seasons. The 1-0 v Hull away the season before last. The 0-1 v Liverpool last season, the 0-3 at Arsenal, the 0-0 at Spurs, both games against Wolves... Scintillating, spectacular and breathtakingly brilliant from first to last. What a silly post... how about the Blackburn 6-4 game, the 1-3 at Anfield, the second half away at Reading, the 0-1 at Old Trafford... it's easy to make a point if you ignore the exceptions. Yeah sometimes we ground out dull nil nils, sometimes we didn't create chances...but we aren't Brazil and you shouldn't expect to be wildly entertained every time you go to a game. Well, I never said there were no exciting games, or that we should expect them all the time. I was just responding to the idea that "under MON we played very attractive football all the time", which is frankly begging for a sarcastic response.

:shock: :shock: seconded Why the shock? I still can't get over all the cracking play I've seen from Villa in the last couple of seasons. The 1-0 v Hull away the season before last. The 0-1 v Liverpool last season, the 0-3 at Arsenal, the 0-0 at Spurs, both games against Wolves... Scintillating, spectacular and breathtakingly brilliant from first to last.

Thank god for posting that, i can now go to bed in a better mood 8) Houllier as Manager im happy with, Macca as first team coach im also happy with. Good night all I'd be happier with that too, but I've just thought of possible snag with having Houiller as manager. Isn't "Gérard Houiller's claret and blue army" going to be a bit hard to sing, especially for several minutes at a time? Oh well... at least it's not Vahid Halilhodzic.

In hindsight, surely getting rid of O'Neill at the end of last season would have been a good thing? The options in May would have been a lot better than when he decided to quit in August.

whats the news then MM? whats the likely outcome? Second interviews?

I agree. Criticising his transfer record is one thing, but what has Houiller done to deserve epithets such as “that French clearing in the woods”? To me he always comes across as a decent and intelligent bloke, and someone who commands respect. I remember him speaking to Steven Gerrard on a TV link-up after a Champions League match a year or two ago. This was several years after Houiller left Liverpool, but Gerrard still greeted him with “hello boss” and a shy smile. He looked like a little boy on his best behaviour in front of the headmaster. If Houiller comes to Villa, I really don’t know if it will be a successful move or not. But I think he would at least deserve to be given a chance and some respect.

The article's already out of date. He's been 63 for the past 25 minutes.

Now we're talking...