Confirmed: Houllier is the new Villa manager

[Rob182]

could be a terrible decision with Houllier

He is 63 with medical issues.

He signed some shocking players at Liverpool

Hasnt managed in 3-4 years.

He signed Heskey for Liverpool

He got rid of Carew at his peak for Baros.

Friedel and Warnock reportedly had bad relations with Houllier.

I cant see this being very well thought out by Randy and Co.

If you can be bothered, check the last 5 pages for previous responses to the exact same concerns from other posters.

:yawn:

[John]

If thats the case why not give the job to sven

I had heard his interview did not go well Ash. I guess he may have wanted money for players in January or higher wages than we were prepared to pay him or to bring in his own staff or more than a one year deal or all of these things.

[Jez]

could be a terrible decision with Houllier

He is 63 with medical issues.

He signed some shocking players at Liverpool

Hasnt managed in 3-4 years.

He signed Heskey for Liverpool

He got rid of Carew at his peak for Baros.

Friedel and Warnock reportedly had bad relations with Houllier.

I cant see this being very well thought out by Randy and Co.

Still got medical issues, how did you come about this? He seems to have been resting up for quite a few years...

He signed some good players at Liverpool too.

So did MON.

He got rid of Carew because he had Benzima coming through.

Friedel and Warnock do not run Aston Villa, they are professional football players; i'm sure they will get over it if they even have a problem.

I can see it being very much thought through by Randy, as he has done with almost everything he has done at Villa, unless you know otherwise.

So its not the end of the world i'm sure.

All a bit meh and un interesting but it could be a hell of a lot worse.

[fran_villa]

does anybody know what type of formation GH had Lyon playing,i wonder will it suit Ireland playing off Gabby ie,4-5-1 or 4-3-3..

[Genie]

I had heard his interview did not go well Ash. I guess he may have wanted money for players in January or higher wages than we were prepared to pay him or to bring in his own staff or more than a one year deal or all of these things.

If we turned anyone away for any of those reasons (except for the higher wages) then we're a joke. Any top manager wants money for his own players, his own staff and a decent length of contract.

[avfc89]

General's thread has been locked, what's going on?

[lexicon]

Houllier:

PSG

1 × French League: 1985–86

Liverpool

1 × UEFA Cup: 2000-01

1 × UEFA Super Cup: 2001

1 × FA Cup: 2000-2001

2 × Football League Cup: 2000-2001, 2002-03

1 × FA Community Shield: 2001

Lyon

2 × French League: 2005-06, 2006–07

2 × Champions Trophy: 2005, 2006

These are facts. Who the **** cares who we sign if he gets the job done?

[Demitri_C]

'a' treble. not 'the' treble

oh sorry we have won so many terbles in our time. still more than what w ehave won in last 10 years.

i agree with lexi i couldnt care less who he signs if he brings success here

[markavfc40]

General's thread has been locked, what's going on?

He has decided not to post for a while.

Posted this about 30 mins ago:

General Krulak here:

1. Having spent a good deal of time trying to keep Fans up to date on the current situation at the Club...and having many of my comments end up in the Press (normally out of context or simply misquoted and wrong)...and having some on the site either 1) not believe me or 2) continue to say the same things after being provided the best facts I can give, I have decided to drop off this site until things have settled down a bit. It is unfair to the Club to have me misquoted in the paper...and it is unfair to the Fans. As I have said all along, Randy will do the best he can to get the "right" man for the job. There is not much more I can say.

[Jez]

Aston Villa: Dr Jozef Venglos backs Houllier appointment at Villa

Sep 6 2010 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

GERARD Houllier’s impending Villa Park appointment has been given a ringing endorsement by the club’s first and only other foreign manager, Dr Jozef Venglos.

Houllier is likely to be unveiled as Martin O’Neill’s successor on Thursday rather than today or tomorrow as expected after a slight delay over the finer details of his role.

But Venglos, who was a pioneering pathfinder during his ill-fated spell in the claret and blue hotseat two decades ago, has given Houllier a glowing reference.

The Czechoslovakian coach infamously struggled as Villa narrowly avoided relegation from the old First Division during his one year in charge in 1990-91. However, it has since been suggested that Dr Jo’s management methods were ahead of their time and paved the way for the influx of foreign coaches to the Premier League.

Venglos is confident Houllier and Villa will be a perfect match when the Frenchman officially becomes only the second overseas manager in the club’s history. His comments come as former Liverpool coach Houllier yesterday revealed for the first time that Villa are pursuing him, saying: ‘The club has taken this initiative’.

Venglos said: “I know Gerard very well – he’s a very good friend of mine.

“I am sure that Aston Villa and Gerard Houllier are right for each other.

“It is a very good, well-run football club and Gerard is an excellent, experienced coach so they will work well together.

“I am sure that he is a top personality in football and he has been doing the job of the technical director in French football.

“He has very good contacts, very good organisation and I know him well through my involvements with UEFA and FIFA.

“I have met him many times and I am respecting him very much. He has shown his qualities in different countries.

“I think he will do a good job and I wish Villa, the officials, the players and Gerard very much luck because I am always following the football club and their results.”

Venglos, now aged 74, is still heavily involved with European football as the Slovak Football Federation technical development committee chairman.

The president of the Association of European Coaches has also developed a close friendship with 63-year-old Houllier through other UEFA and FIFA meetings.

“I have worked many years with him,” said Venglos.

“We’ve had symposiums and he came and gave lectures.

“Generally our contact with each other is nice and friendly, and we are speaking of course about football lots of times.

“We share what we think of football and our opinions about certain situations which happen in the game.

“Gerard Houllier, you can be sure, is coming always as a top professional with his methodology, with his approach and know-how.

“He’s an excellent manager, an excellent person and a person who knows many, many things and who respects other people too.”

Villa officials insist the hold-up over unveiling their new boss is due to minor complications rather than anything untoward.

Rather than a director of football, Houllier will be employed as a traditional ‘hands-on’ manager with responsibility for team selection, transfers and scouting.

Villa want caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald to stay on but he will be left to decide whether he prefers a first-team coaching role or a return to managing the reserves.

Quick Vote

Would you be happy with Houllier as manager?

Yes

68.5%

No

23.6%

Wait and see

7.9%

Clicky

[smetrov]

General's thread has been locked, what's going on?

He has decided not to post till after the management issue has been resolved.

Posted this about 30 mins ago:

General Krulak here:

1. Having spent a good deal of time trying to keep Fans up to date on the current situation at the Club...and having many of my comments end up in the Press (normally out of context or simply misquoted and wrong)...and having some on the site either 1) not believe me or 2) continue to say the same things after being provided the best facts I can give, I have decided to drop off this site until things have settled down a bit. It is unfair to the Club to have me misquoted in the paper...and it is unfair to the Fans. As I have said all along, Randy will do the best he can to get the "right" man for the job. There is not much more I can say.

Curbishley is now favourtite .....has GH snubbed the short term contract ?

[lmarsha_926]

This was the team that beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the Champions League in 2005

Coupet

Reveilliere

Cris

Cacapa

Berthod

Malouda

Juninho

Diarra

Tiago

Wiltord

Carew

[Chindie]

Surely O'Leary was foreign as well?

Good old Evening Mail.

[Stephen_Evans]

I wonder if we are waiting to see if England win on Tuesday and that makes another potential manager available for interview. :winkold:

I suspect that GH's wife still needs a little persuading on his taking the job or that he wants to bring his own man in rather than use KM as first team coach and Randy may be having a problem with that should GH make this a deal breaking issue.

I had thought we would have someone in place within 4 weeks but it seems this may run and run. Is this now the longest period during a season that we have gone without a permanent manager in place?

No. Gap between Alex Massie's resignation and George Martin's appointment was longer.

[DelboyVilla]

Surely O'Leary was foreign as well?

Good old Evening Mail.

No they mean proper foreign i.e. smells of garlic and eats odd food like snails, frogs and horses???

[DANVANDAL]

Next Permanent Aston Villa Manager - on Paddypower This market is currently unavailable.

Been like that since this morning.

[MaxVillan]

Villa fans need to get a **** grip. We arn't United, Houllier is a good manager for us. How many Spurs fans were happy with redknapp? O bet Villa fans wouldn't have been happy with Redknapp. Think liverpool fans are happy with Hodgson? he's a step down for them.

Let's face it, we're not a massive club outside of this country, we're not going to attract managers like klinsmann or hitszfeld, so get real for gods sake.

Stop getting on Houllier and randys back before anything has even happened. What happened to just supporting the team?

[GaztonVilla]

Ok whats happening.. The markets have disappeared from Paddy Power and SkyBet.

Gone.

[dukes]

I think he was shortlisted for the sha job actually before Mcleish. He was most definietly strongly linked to that role IIRC

I said I recalled him being linked to the sha post at some point and then found an article linking him to the sha post.

Can you tell me how that is anti board?

1. You actually said he was strongly linked, and shortlisted, but your source (goal.com) is akin to a blog.

2. It's anti-board, because you are using it to suggest that we are appointing a manager who is only of enough calibre to attract the blues. a comment you know full well will wind people up on here.

[DelboyVilla]

Ok whats happening.. The markets have disappeared from Paddy Power and SkyBet.

Gone.

they probably think GH is a done deal??