Gérard Houllier

[Tom13]

Yeah very sad this

R.I.P.

[VillaChris]

12 hours ago, villalad21 said:

I remember i was excited when we signed Makoun.

Was a great player for me at the time on Football Manager  shame it didn't work out for him at Villa.

I do really wonder what could have been had Houllier not become ill. Anyways rest in peace.

So was I...just for the jumper!

We were supposed to be signing Cabaye if Houllier had stayed on following season so potential midfield for 2011/12 of Cabaye-Makoun-Michael Bradley (remember him) would've been far more interesting and would've had likes of Petrov and Bannan as decent backup.

Instead under McLeish we had Heskey, Chris Herd and Warnock having spells in central midfield.

I agree it was the right sort of idea as next manager after O'Neill but just the wrong guy to implement it e.g. someone over 60 with dodgy ticker that sadly took him out of action 6 weeks before end of the season.

The results weren't great and that was always a problem considering we'd finished 6th three straight years and there was still a belief when he turned up that we should be challenging for top 4 which quickly became misguided when you saw how much of a void Milner leaving had left.

10/11 is one of the strangest seasons I've ever seen from us. O'Neill fiasco then started off with 2 wins out of 3 (with the one in the middle being a 6-0 loss to promoted Newcastle) then Houllier came in middle of September and really could've done with a pre season but we know who's fault that is....anyway results and performances were o.k until we lost all our midfielders and forwards in one go around November.

Even then we outplayed Man. United with an under 20 midfield but results then did go south and we finished 2010 in the bottom 3 and fans calling for his sacking after losing at home to Sunderland. Then we signed Bent and picked up again, then start losing again and we pretty much remained in bottom 6 until the final two games against Arsenal and Liverpool. Remembered our level from previous two years, won both and somehow finished 9th.

As far as middling mid table finishes go, that certainly wasn't a boring season from start to finish!
 

[VillaChris]

12 hours ago, Zatman said:

Sad news and he has always seemed a nice guy in interviews. 

As for his time here its hard to judge as just one window but i think he tried change thinks too quickly in mid-season. He fell out with senior players as well but we might never know who was on that infamous transfer list the following summer with players like Cabaye maybe even Hazard 

Cabaye was coming in for sure. He said in an interview in his first months at Newcastle that he'd agreed to join us but then Houllier left and he wasn't sure and Newcastle got wind and signed him.

From memory Adil Rami and Loic Remy were also heavily rumoured. Perhaps would've also tried to get Kyle Walker here full time but that would've been very difficult to pull off.

[VillaChris]

8 hours ago, Annoyman said:

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

He also sold Friedel pretty quickly at Liverpool. Can remember Mysteryman regularly posting on here at the time and saying Warnock was going to be sold that January so another player who had some issues although think we just bomb squaded him for a few months and he was restored under McLeish.

That's the problem here I think. Brilliant to be promoting young players and looking towards more progressive style but in short term needed to keep the senior ones motivated to keep picking up results and that didn't happen bar Heskey and Young doing alright. Downing in fairness actually had fantastic season so he's one that certainly prefered it under Houllier compared to MON style.

[Keyblade]

I'll never forget how our fans used to abuse him on social media (thankfully not directly as this was before everyone and their momma had an account). It's just stuck with me. It was the start of a dark era, and it was ironic because Gerard was trying to drag us kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

[TrentVilla]

Nice guy and sad news.

However there is a lot of revisionism in my view about his time here.

[The Fun Factory]

Still our best non UK or Irish manager by a considerable distance. Not a huge about of competition in fairness.

[Demitri_C]

I think his appointment of McAllister was really good too. He did really well when he took over while houllier was ill.

Houllier was also the first person to drop gabby

[Zatman]

24 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I think his appointment of McAllister was really good too. He did really well when he took over while houllier was ill.

Houllier was also the first person to drop gabby

Did he? Gabby was injured a bit that season and Gabby came back to score vs West Ham

[villa4europe]

18 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Did he? Gabby was injured a bit that season and Gabby came back to score vs West Ham

And from memory came back like a brick shit house

My theory at the time was that based on Michael Owens downward trajectory of his career after he lost his speed houllier had instructed an injured gabby to put some mass on and get more about his game, obviously that could be and is likely to be complete bollocks

I will probably always think that someone at villa told gabby to bulk up and it started during that injury spell, not saying he ruined him because gabby did plenty of that himself but this was the beginning of the end 

Scored double figures in each of the 3 seasons before houllier 

[Demitri_C]

1 hour ago, Zatman said:

Did he? Gabby was injured a bit that season and Gabby came back to score vs West Ham

I might be wrong but if im not mistaken didnt houllier say he needed to bulk abit? 

I remember he was injured but then it was the start of gabby not being automatically 1st choice 

[Zatman]

8 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I might be wrong but if im not mistaken didnt houllier say he needed to bulk abit? 

I remember he was injured but then it was the start of gabby not being automatically 1st choice 

Houllier put him on the wing more  with Young as a 10 but he wasn't dropped

[VillaChris]

7 hours ago, Zatman said:

Did he? Gabby was injured a bit that season and Gabby came back to score vs West Ham

Gabby was on the bench a fair bit after Bent signed and Houllier wanted rid of him end of the season. He'd signed a 5 year contract earlier in the season and was still only about 23 so we'd have probably got a decent fee for him in those times compared to what he became a few years later.

[Zatman]

 

[Keyblade]

7 hours ago, villa4europe said:

And from memory came back like a brick shit house

My theory at the time was that based on Michael Owens downward trajectory of his career after he lost his speed houllier had instructed an injured gabby to put some mass on and get more about his game, obviously that could be and is likely to be complete bollocks

I will probably always think that someone at villa told gabby to bulk up and it started during that injury spell, not saying he ruined him because gabby did plenty of that himself but this was the beginning of the end 

Scored double figures in each of the 3 seasons before houllier 

 I think it was the opposite. I distinctly remember Houllier lamenting Gabby putting on so much muscle, remarking that the wiry, lightning quick Gabby was better. 

That was all Gabby's idea. He wanted to deal with some of the brick shithouses of the time such as Vidic. Not sure if it was worth it in the end because when he wasn't 100% at it, he started to get fat. Messed with his metabolism too early.

[Keyblade]

Here's an article on the matter:

Quote

Gérard Houllier tells Gabriel Agbonlahor to lay off the weights

This article is more than 10 years old

• The Aston Villa manager fears his striker has become too bulky
• Agbonlahor to return for Carling Cup tie at Birmingham City

 

Gabriel Agbonlahor has been told to tone down his trips to the gym by the Aston Villa manager, Gérard Houllier. Photograph: Simon Dawson/Associated Press

 

Gérard Houllier has told Gabriel Agbonlahor to stop lifting weights to improve his physique because he has become "too stocky". The Aston Villa manager, who has also reminded Agbonlahor that he needs to deliver on the pitch after he was recently rewarded with an improved contract, believes the England striker was much more effective before he started building extra muscle in the gym.

Agbonlahor began to bulk up in the summer before last, when he made a concerted effort to become stronger. He said he wanted to ensure that he could not be "bullied" by central defenders. "I want to be able to hold my own physically against the likes of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry," said the England international at the start of last season.

Martin O'Neill, Villa's manager at the time, was worried that Agbonlahor might lose some of his pace because he had gained so much muscle. Although Agbonlahor said that would not happen, Houllier shares O'Neill's concerns and has told Agbonlahor, who has only recently returned from a groin problem that sidelined him for six weeks, that he needs to forget about weight-training and concentrate on rediscovering his best form.

"[Gabby's] not in the gym now," Houllier said before Villa's Carling Cup quarter-final against Birmingham City at St Andrew's tomorrow night. "When you build up too much it affects your joints and muscle. The fact is, I think he should stop – he's too stocky. The Gabby I saw when I was watching TV in France was different from what I see here. He was thinner, more wiry and wow, quick. Yes, I've told him to lay off the weights. Sometimes they do too much."

Agbonlahor has madeonly nine appearances for Villa this season and completed 90 minutes only once, against Bolton Wanderers in September, mainly because of injuries. He missed Saturday's defeat by Arsenal after struggling with a virus but is expected to return to the starting line-up at St Andrew's, where he has scored the winning goal on his last two visits.

Houllier is hopeful that the 24-year-old can get his season back on track and justify the club's faith in him. "He signed a new contract and the contract is trust. We trust him and he trusts us, so he has to deliver," the Villa manager said. "He's shown that in terms of speed and goalscoring he has qualities of a high level. Some players have improved in terms of games and in training. Unfortunately for him – [with] his injuries – he needs a succession of games."

Clicky

[TheStagMan]

So sad to hear this news. I genuinely think he could have been very good for us, but the ownership shitshow, coupled with his poor health put paid to that.

RIP

[rodders0223]

Houllier wanted to instill a winning culture it seems, a professional culture.

Players like Gabby and his band of merry ***eholes had come accustomed to playing Saturday, coming in for recovery, sodding off until Wednesday, have a kick about on Thursday and doing some shape on Friday.

The idea that they had to train everyday was shocking.

 

In time, I think that was Keane's issue as well.

 

[Demitri_C]

Yeah i think when houllier was here was the beginning of the gabby pace slowing leavjng him. Once that went gabby couldn't do much more