Confirmed: Houllier is the new Villa manager

[ChrisNichollsToe]

About halfway through last season, I was fed up of H&V's anti O'Neill brigade and stopped viewing their site. Their constant opinion was we could do much better than O'Neill and should get rid there and then.

Their theory being, that if he left we'd have our pick of the best managers (outside the top 4) queueing round the block for the chance to manage us

I wonder what they're thinking now ?

Its the dregs of the managerial graveyard and nothing else it seems

Two questions.

1. Why did Martin Oneil leave?

and

2. Why do you think nobody decent seems to want to touch us with barge pole?

Sometimes as supporters, we have to lower our claret and blue tinted specs and accept that maybe everything inside the Villa Park garden is not very rosey, afterall. :winkold:

None of us know exactly how many have applied or the quality of the applicants. Even under the dark days of uncle Doug, the villa job was seen as a challenge, but a challenge managers would be willing to take.

I think everything now rests on what the boards long term aims are. If it remains the same as when they took over, then we will proberly see an apppointment that will suprise us.

If not, then we will get somebody like Curbishley, which will turn out to be an unmittigated disaster from start to finish, and im afraid Villa will, be back to the DoL/DE days.

How a summer where all we needed was three wise signings to push on to another level, as turned into this fiasco, i will never know. Unfortunately, this lot in charge will never tell us, so none of us will ever know.

Love what theyve done for us, but im worried what they are about to do to us.

Having said that, we will proberly appoint Jol tomorrow, and i can then again kiss Randies arse.

[Maradona10]

It's not that no-one wants the job, it's just shit timing!

[Hanky]

So we still haven't decided on a manager then? Well there really isn't much to choose from so I am not surprised.

[Jez]

He also likes Heskey

So does MON.

And Fabio Cappello

They are all smoking crack!

[Richard]

So Dave Woodhall spouts something on a forum that might have been fed to him on purpose, although not necessarily true.

Shock horror journo reads forum and reports it.

I suspect it is true, I also suspect it was leaked on purpose, thats the way it works at Villa now. Its all whispers and rumours, we even appear to have officially endorsed leakers these days, who certain sections of fans hang on their every breath treating it as gospel (not necessarily DW in this instance as I'm not aware of what he posts on H&V as I don't read it). This manipulation of ideas by rumour is getting rather depressing

Yes seems to have been the case for a while to be honest I have felt and people too keen to retain the priviliege of being on the inside track as well.

[bickster]

My feelings on Houllier. He swapped John Carew (who clearly from things said in the past does not like Houllier) for Baros (a player he had previously bought but shown the door at Anfield when he wanted more time to sign a contract - talk was he was talking to Man Citeh, in the end he sulked and signed for us). John Carew is still here with a pretty good scoring record, Baros lasted only 1 season a Lyon before being shipped off again (and his goalscoring record was worse than Carews there)

He also likes Heskey

Probably cos he scored 20 odd goals in a season for him

Houllier has also won numerous trophies.

Talk about focusing on the negatives

You want me to continue... Before Liverpool he was Involved with the French FF and knew their youth coaching inside out, he tried to bring that knowledge with him to Liverpool by signing lots of young French talent, unfortunately he let Arsene Wenger sign all the good ones first

You want the Ginola argument?

Presumably this Houllier thing is as a DOF with KMac as coach, well him and Roy Evans tried that joint thing at Liverpool, that didn't work either.

You want to ask Liverpool fans what they thought of him? There were larger sections of their fanbase that detested him than we ever had with MON, they played one way and one way only, it was centred around Michael Owen and his pace, when Owen was injured (often) they didn't change the tactics to suit the players that were picked, no they played it all through the middle still. When Owen lost that yard of pace, they still did the same thing week after week after week. Liverpool were one of the most boring teams to watch. If people thought MON's football was dull, in comparison to Houllier's tactics it was like watching Brazil

MON gets criticised for spending whatever it was on Stewart Downing (quite rightly too) well in 2002 Houllier spent £10mil on Diouf, thats like £15mil in todays prices

People criticised MON for being bloody minded, well Houllier had all that in spades at Liverpool too, with himit was my way or the highway, he even said as much in press conferences

Substitutions - You think MON's subs were baffling? Liverpool were playing away in Europe and were cruising, I think it was Leverkusen, the home side need to score twice and Houllier took off Hamman (DM) and brought on Smicer (winger), Liverpool went out of Europe because of that substitution

There are plenty of negatives with Houllier, nice bloke but he made some baffling decisions. In fact Liverpools best league finish in his reign as sole manager (in the histor of the PL too I think) was 2nd, it was the year he spent most of the season recovering from his heart attack and Phil Thompson was in charge

[ChrisNichollsToe]

So we still haven't decided on a manager then? Well there really isn't much to choose from so I am not surprised.

It could indicate the reverse. We might have a lot of applicants including some late ones. It makes sense to to see what they have to say, or we might miss out on our special one

[Jez]

My feelings on Houllier. He swapped John Carew (who clearly from things said in the past does not like Houllier) for Baros (a player he had previously bought but shown the door at Anfield when he wanted more time to sign a contract - talk was he was talking to Man Citeh, in the end he sulked and signed for us). John Carew is still here with a pretty good scoring record, Baros lasted only 1 season a Lyon before being shipped off again (and his goalscoring record was worse than Carews there)

He also likes Heskey

Probably cos he scored 20 odd goals in a season for him

Houllier has also won numerous trophies.

Talk about focusing on the negatives

You want me to continue... Before Liverpool he was Involved with the French FF and knew their youth coaching inside out, he tried to bring that knowledge with him to Liverpool by signing lots of young French talent, unfortunately he let Arsene Wenger sign all the good ones first

You want the Ginola argument?

Presumably this Houllier thing is as a DOF with KMac as coach, well him and Roy Evans tried that joint thing at Liverpool, that didn't work either.

You want to ask Liverpool fans what they thought of him? There were larger sections of their fanbase that detested him than we ever had with MON, they played one way and one way only, it was centred around Michael Owen and his pace, when Owen was injured (often) they didn't change the tactics to suit the players that were picked, no they played it all through the middle still. When Owen lost that yard of pace, they still did the same thing week after week after week. Liverpool were one of the most boring teams to watch. If people thought MON's football was dull, in comparison to Houllier's tactics it was like watching Brazil

MON gets criticised for spending whatever it was on Stewart Downing (quite rightly too) well in 2002 Houllier spent £10mil on Diouf, thats like £15mil in todays prices

People criticised MON for being bloody minded, well Houllier had all that in spades at Liverpool too, with himit was my way or the highway, he even said as much in press conferences

Substitutions - You think MON's subs were baffling? Liverpool were playing away in Europe and were cruising, I think it was Leverkusen, the home side need to score twice and Houllier took off Hamman (DM) and brought on Smicer (winger), Liverpool went out of Europe because of that substitution

There are plenty of negatives with Houllier, nice bloke but he made some baffling decisions. In fact Liverpools best league finish in his reign as sole manager (in the histor of the PL too I think) was 2nd, it was the year he spent most of the season recovering from his heart attack and Phil Thompson was in charge

Interesting points Bicks.

If you were Randy who would you go for?

[Woodytom]

My feelings on Houllier. He swapped John Carew (who clearly from things said in the past does not like Houllier) for Baros (a player he had previously bought but shown the door at Anfield when he wanted more time to sign a contract - talk was he was talking to Man Citeh, in the end he sulked and signed for us). John Carew is still here with a pretty good scoring record, Baros lasted only 1 season a Lyon before being shipped off again (and his goalscoring record was worse than Carews there)

He also likes Heskey

Probably cos he scored 20 odd goals in a season for him

Houllier has also won numerous trophies.

Talk about focusing on the negatives

You want me to continue... Before Liverpool he was Involved with the French FF and knew their youth coaching inside out, he tried to bring that knowledge with him to Liverpool by signing lots of young French talent, unfortunately he let Arsene Wenger sign all the good ones first

You want the Ginola argument?

Presumably this Houllier thing is as a DOF with KMac as coach, well him and Roy Evans tried that joint thing at Liverpool, that didn't work either.

You want to ask Liverpool fans what they thought of him? There were larger sections of their fanbase that detested him than we ever had with MON, they played one way and one way only, it was centred around Michael Owen and his pace, when Owen was injured (often) they didn't change the tactics to suit the players that were picked, no they played it all through the middle still. When Owen lost that yard of pace, they still did the same thing week after week after week. Liverpool were one of the most boring teams to watch. If people thought MON's football was dull, in comparison to Houllier's tactics it was like watching Brazil

MON gets criticised for spending whatever it was on Stewart Downing (quite rightly too) well in 2002 Houllier spent £10mil on Diouf, thats like £15mil in todays prices

People criticised MON for being bloody minded, well Houllier had all that in spades at Liverpool too, with himit was my way or the highway, he even said as much in press conferences

Substitutions - You think MON's subs were baffling? Liverpool were playing away in Europe and were cruising, I think it was Leverkusen, the home side need to score twice and Houllier took off Hamman (DM) and brought on Smicer (winger), Liverpool went out of Europe because of that substitution

There are plenty of negatives with Houllier, nice bloke but he made some baffling decisions. In fact Liverpools best league finish in his reign as sole manager (in the histor of the PL too I think) was 2nd, it was the year he spent most of the season recovering from his heart attack and Phil Thompson was in charge

Again, all totally negative.

Listen gerard houllier wouldnt be my first choice by any means but hes shown he has a knack of winning things. Maybe his signings are really bad? But that would make his achievements even more impressive if he won trophies with shite players?

You dont win any league twice on the bounce and win it on seperate occasions with 2 different clubs without having half a clue.

Wasnt he involved in the 1998 France world cup winning team.

I am definately against him as a DOF as I believe in 1 man in charge.

But whoever comes in, we might as well focus on the positives.

I know hes younger but can you really say that David Moyes has achieved more than Houllier or Curbishley for that matter.

Curbishley took Charlton a lot further than Moyes has taken Everton. Thats not saying I want curbishley either, we just seemed to be so focused on who we think is the right man, when really we havent got the first idea

[briny_ear]

Interesting to see people swinging behind Houllier.

That's a good reaction if he gets appointed, because we will have no choice but to support him and hope he does well.

Get ready for some great press conferences - The Guardian once described him as

a man whose Blue Peteresque qualities are such that, with just a sheet of toilet paper and a strip of double-sided sticky tape, he can make enough excuses to fill a whole interview.

[Richard]

If this goes on much longer, Il totally pass caring. Maybe thats the boards ploy to please the fans??

or make them more apathetic

Do you ever have anything positive to say about the club?

Yes plenty as it happens

I was thrilled with the 3-0 of wet spam

Delighted by the draw with Vienna

and ecstatic with the win against Everton

I have also posted a thread about how good I thought Ireland looked in spells against Vienna at home

Does that justify things for you?

I jmean can I now be free to post my opinion on matters? Do I qualify?

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

Bicks, you've just completely put me off the idea of having Houllier at the club! Some good points nonetheless; particularly about Phil Thompson basically being in control during their best spell.

Phil Thompson anyone?

[PaulMcGrath_5]

If this goes on much longer, Il totally pass caring. Maybe thats the boards ploy to please the fans??

or make them more apathetic

Do you ever have anything positive to say about the club?

Yes plenty as it happens

I was thrilled with the 3-0 of wet spam

Delighted by the draw with Vienna

and ecstatic with the win against Everton

I have also posted a thread about how good I thought Ireland looked in spells against Vienna at home

Does that justify things for you?

I jmean can I now be free to post my opinion on matters? Do I qualify?

That record seems to be broken.

[bickster]

Interesting points Bicks.

If you were Randy who would you go for?

I really don't know but unemployed managers at this time of the year, really are out of a job for a reason

Of the names mentioned, none of them are particularly great are they?

Not one of them inspires me with any confidence that I'd think about any of them.If I was Randy I'd tear that list up and start the search again and probably think about paying someone some compensation to take their manager off them

[tomav84]

ill reserve judgement until the man actually starts the job, whoever that is. every manager has made mistakes in transfer market, including the so-called messiah (shorey, harewood, heskey, etc). im sure houlier still thinks now 'i cant believe i swapped carew for baros...'

the only man who IMO has proven that he is not upto the job is kev mac...everyone else is on a clean slate for me.

[Richard]

Interesting points Bicks.

If you were Randy who would you go for?

I really don't know but unemployed managers at this time of the year, really are out of a job for a reason

Of the names mentioned, none of them are particularly great are they?

Not one of them inspires me with any confidence that I'd think about any of them.If I was Randy I'd tear that list up and start the search again and probably think about paying someone some compensation to take their manager off them

Yes I'd say that position covers me as well.

It is not ideal, I'd actually question when is alist of applicants ever ideal as those not in a job are out of work for a reason normally and are the usual suspects.

Good managers are normally in work already and if you want one of them then you have to pay the compo and get one. Restricting your search criteria to those not at a club sort of limits the skill pool you have to pick from and does not suggest a quality appointment.

[Jez]

Of the names mentioned, none of them are particularly great are they?

Not one of them inspires me with any confidence that I'd think about any of them.If I was Randy I'd tear that list up and start the search again and probably think about paying someone some compensation to take their manager off them

Then you have the problem that say Moyes or Jol for example actually wanting to leave their current clubs...?

Personally i would go for a lower league manager who have learnt the hard way, but we've ruled that out with the premier league experience criteria.

I also see why they want that to try and carry on MON's work..

[bickster]

Bicks, you've just completely put me off the idea of having Houllier at the club! Some good points nonetheless; particularly about Phil Thompson basically being in control during their best spell.

Phil Thompson anyone?

Sorry Its true though, apparently Houllier has won "loads" of trophies. Sure he won a few French Titles but in England he won three cups in one season (FA, League and UEFA) and never really sustained a league challenge with Liverpool. His successor (who was also pilloried) did substantially better for a lot of the time (Two CL finals, winning one). The Liverpool fans had far more time for Benitez than they did for Houllier

[Pilchard]

Good managers are normally in work already and if you want one of them then you have to pay the compo and get one. Restricting your search criteria to those not at a club sort of limits the skill pool you have to pick from and does not suggest a quality appointment.

:nod:

I'd also question the need to use the services of a 'head hunting' company when you are looking at the unemplyed.

[roadoftrinity]

Then you have the problem that say Moyes or Jol for example actually wanting to leave their current clubs...?

Personally i would go for a lower league manager who have learnt the hard way, but we've ruled that out with the premier league experience criteria.

I also see why they want that to try and carry on MON's work..

Agreed, Paul Lambert for me, non of the out of work managers linked inspire me at all so give someone a chance from the lower leagues. Or O'Driscall from Doncaster.