Mazrim Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Top man. Top manager. Rest in Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Goodbye Houllier, there are more than a few clubs and its fans saddened by this news. I wish you and I think I speak for the rest of VillaTalk as well that now is your next Jouney, have a safe one and I'm sure up there somewhere is a football match or managers job with your name on it.. Have a safe Jouney Gerard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vreitti Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Disregarding the current incumbent, he was actually the last decent manager we've had. Rest in Peace Gerard. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, VillaAlex said: RIP Pretty much had to say what was already said. Always remember the 2-2 Vs Man utd under Gerard where he played Bannan, Hogg, Albrighton etc. We were brilliant that day, still can't believe we did not win. Usual Man United curse... my memory of that game was ashley young scored a penalty jumped in the crowd got booked, vidic already on a yellow scored jumped in the crowd no booking no matter what vidic could not be sent off vs aston villa my main memory of houllier's villa was man city away at christmas, balotelli hattrick, pires coming on at 4-0 down and the grumblings being very loud Edited December 14, 2020 by villa4europe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, VillaAlex said: RIP Pretty much had to say what was already said. Always remember the 2-2 Vs Man utd under Gerard where he played Bannan, Hogg, Albrighton etc. We were brilliant that day, still can't believe we did not win. Usual Man United curse... Yes I remember that. I took a work colleague of mine who was a red (I know boo hiss) and to be fair he kept quiet even when they equalised late on. I thought we would beat them that day and it was such a young scratch side as well. I think some of the more old school players like Dunne, Collins, Gabby and even Petrov took a deep dislike to Houllier which didn't help. Signing Bent kept us up and it was frankly ridiculous we got a top 10 finish that season. However if Houllier stayed on even as a DOF I am sure we would have done better than the Mcleish/Lambert/Sherwood/Garde era. Edit- bloody hell that was 10 years ago! Edited December 14, 2020 by The Fun Factory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekka Posted December 14, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 14, 2020 A lovely man who deserved each and every bit of success he achieved. Thoughts for his family. Repose en paix monsieur. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-Reacho Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Sad news indeed. I remember various pundits that were close with him saying about what an exciting summer Villa had ahead after Houllier's first season in charge. He was not only changing the playing style on the pitch but also the culture off it - trusting young academy players with responsibility and leadership. Sadly it was never to be and then McLeish was just another lurch backwards in terms of playing style and culture.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoyman Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Really sad to hear this, he was obviously extremely well-liked and respected in the game and did a lot to get Liverpool back towards the big time There were a few really memorable moments in that 2010-11 season, like the City and Utd games mentioned above, the win at the Emirates and casually beating Liverpool in the beautiful sunshine at VP on the last day, with news of Blues' baffling and hilarious implosion filtering through. I think Ged was probably sadly already phasing out of the role for those last two because of his health. It felt a bit implausible and unwarranted that we snuck into the top half on the back of that at the time, but little did we know we'd never get near those heights again for ten years (Pires didn't really work out, but I do remember him being raucously applauded off after turning in one last absolute masterclass in midfield against Blackburn at VP) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoyman Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 (edited) 57 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said: I think some of the more old school players like Dunne, Collins, Gabby and even Petrov took a deep dislike to Houllier which didn't help. There was definitely pre-existing beef between Houllier and Carew which would have been an exacerbating factor and, John's cult hero status aside, that was probably more Carew's fault than Houllier's. Houllier expected a level of professionalism that was probably quite a shock to the system for a lot of those guys after being managed by an old school/tactically retrograde Clough disciple for four years Edited December 14, 2020 by Annoyman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 I gave him a hard time whilst he was here as I believed that we required evolution whilst he seemed to want to go with revolution in terms of our playing style. In hindsight he was probably right and had he been able to stay around for 2 or 3 years we may well not have become premier league bottom feeders then dropped. RIP Gerard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Just read the sad news. Thoroughly likeable guy, accomplished manager. Wish we could've seen a bit more of him at Villa. RIP, Gerard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 I thought he did a decent job at Villa considering the boardroom was on fire. I know there had been some stories from ex-players about him being a bit odd on the training ground but I'll take them with a pinch of salt. I didn't know until today that he'd actually lived in Liverpool some 20 years before he took the manager's job at Anfield and had an affinity with the club and city as he'd done a residency as part of his teaching degree there, the school he was based at is on the northern corner of Stanley Park. RIP Monsieur Houllier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaFaninLondon Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 His health had been bad since he could no longer manage more than one season with us, which went back to his heart problems at Liverpool, but still very sad news. Yes we struggled for much of the time he was here (finishing 9th in the end), yes much of his success came at Liverpool earlier on, but there is also a lingering in my mind of what might have been had Houllier been able to stick around as our manager. I actually feel, given Houllier's ability to sign that higher calibre of player through his close contacts in the game, and his penchant for technical football, that it's a shame he didn't join in 2006 instead of O'Neill. I think his approach would have benefited us more long term despite O'Neill's success while he was here and had he had the money that O'Neill had he would have made the team a much bigger prospect in world football. RIP 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 3 hours ago, The Fun Factory said: Yes I remember that. I took a work colleague of mine who was a red (I know boo hiss) and to be fair he kept quiet even when they equalised late on. I thought we would beat them that day and it was such a young scratch side as well. I think some of the more old school players like Dunne, Collins, Gabby and even Petrov took a deep dislike to Houllier which didn't help. Signing Bent kept us up and it was frankly ridiculous we got a top 10 finish that season. However if Houllier stayed on even as a DOF I am sure we would have done better than the Mcleish/Lambert/Sherwood/Garde era. Edit- bloody hell that was 10 years ago! I remember people being incensed by him clapping the Kop after we lost something like 3-0. Also happened to be the site of a rare David N'Gog goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, Keyblade said: I remember people being incensed by him clapping the Kop after we lost something like 3-0. Also happened to be the site of a rare David N'Gog goal. He touched the this is anfield sign before the game and then clapped their fans at full time People lost their shit over it, there were calls to sack him over it from memory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 1 minute ago, villa4europe said: He touched the this is anfield sign before the game and then clapped their fans at full time People lost their shit over it, there were calls to sack him over it from memory I think it didnt help we were absolutely disgraceful that night and Liverpool were managed by Hodgson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 It still doesn't make sense that after making the big change and bringing in a Continental manager like Houllier after MON, we panicked and went for McLeish. That just smacked of Lerner giving up on Villa, and basically he had. Houllier was the last 'what if' off his time at Villa Park in that could we have evolved into a respectable top ten prem club holding our own, instead of circling the drain for the next five years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 1 hour ago, The Fun Factory said: It still doesn't make sense that after making the big change and bringing in a Continental manager like Houllier after MON, we panicked and went for McLeish. That just smacked of Lerner giving up on Villa, and basically he had. Houllier was the last 'what if' off his time at Villa Park in that could we have evolved into a respectable top ten prem club holding our own, instead of circling the drain for the next five years You could see why the likes of Gabby and Dunne etc were happy under McLeish, it was the status quo as before. Houiller came with fresh ideas, regimented training methods with a focus on fitness (instead of being gassed come 60 minutes under MON), and standing up to what sounded like a toxic dressing room culture. Was it perfect? No, but I credit him with giving youth a chance and trying to bring a more technical-minded, continental style of play. It's still amazing how McLeish kept the side up, but I do think the seeds were planted before him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osmark86 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Rest in peace Gerard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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