Liverpool FC Forum

[agoodmentality]

i wish are fans and the scouse press would give GH the respect he deserves, instead he's ridiculed.
he started his job with two or three great players and the rest overpayed british leauge players.
people say we were higher up in the league with Evans, but was the competition really as hard then? GH came in and shook up the whole club, from tea lady to top striker, he come in and turned all Nepolean on everything.
out went the expensive british players(we all know who they were) and in came (expensive) european internationals of a certain standard,  along with this he was about to nurture two of the greatest footballing talents to come from these shores.
our european adventures as the mighty red defense under GH were frowned on in some quarters, but do you honestly think we could defend as a team against the likes of Juve 05 and Chelski 05 where it not for matches like Barca away 01 .
of the 11 players who started in Istanbull we all know how many were GH signings, and people say, "..look what rafa done with those s*it players". I say those players have to be of a certain standard to have overcome such heights, no matter what level of coaching.

Q: which CL winning team is the one with the least amount of domestic nationals in their lineup?
A: Liverpool '05, with 2  English players

foundations laid by GH, ready for Rafa to build.

GH I salute you!

[AussieKopite]

He has a point. Although, it was definitely time for GH to go.

[Garymac]

What fondations in are team am i supposed to thank him for???

[Ola Mr Benitez]

Houllier had our team playing boring football that rested on the ability og Michael Owen to get an early goal (on his own) and then the rest of the team to defend and not put a positive foot forward. 

Our most succesful season under Houllier was when he missed most of it and Phil Thompson was at the healm.

nuff said!

[tubby]

I suppose you could say that 9 of the 11 starters in Istanbull were from the GH era but he didnt use them to their posntial like Rafa has. Credit to him for the treble in 99 but he only took LFC into 2nd gear. Where as Rafa has taken them one step further.

[AussieKopite]

Rafa really did get the best out of them.

[Fowler_E7]

foundations laid by GH, ready for Rafa to build.

GH I salute you!

Foundations! GH left a terrible mess behind, and rafa had and still has a huge job on his hands thanks to Houllier, at least now the club is finally going in the right direction. Houllier got the boot and rightly so.

[Fernando Morientes > 19 <]

well said fowler

[woof woof !]

of the 11 players who started in Istanbull we all know how many were GH signings,

I saw something the other day were one of the players was saying that he and several other players would have looked to move to another club ifiHoullier had stayed any longer at LFC.

[tubby]

You cant forget how he got 10mil in compensation. We really could have used that money. But who cares hes gone now. He thinks hes gonna get Baros for cheap but no way. He done okay but mugged us at the end.

[stmichael]

I saw something the other day were one of the players was saying that he and several other players would have looked to move to another club ifiHoullier had stayed any longer at LFC.

yeah traore and baros to name but two.

wait a minute, i wish gerard houllier was still here.

   

[JC_81]

Houllier wasn't as bad as some people make out but it was definitely time for him to go.

Tactically he was good, as shown in some of our good european performances, and he had the eye for a decent player as well - Hyypia (who'd heard of him?), Henchoz (great for a few seasons after being average at Blackburn), Baros (worth twice as much now as we paid for him).

Unfortunately many of his buys were poor, especially when he was given serious money to spend - Diouf, Heskey etc.  Also I think he mut have been a poor man-manager as he just couldn't get the best out of his players for the last few seasons - Traore and Finnan under Rafa are proof of that

But for me, it was his constant making excuses to the press for our defeats that was most disappointing.  It seemed that he just could not accept the blame for his own mistakes, and that spelled thew end for him because this caused the players to lose belief in him as well IMO.

[7_Kewell]

if GH had stayed Gerrard, and many others, would have gone.

[neilE]

if GH had stayed Gerrard, and many others, would have gone.

not sure about that - Stevie had said he would leave if Houllier was sacked, and he nearly left last summer out of misplaced loyalty. Don't forget Stevie was only a young reserve when Houllier took over, so he's right to feel he owes Houllier something. And so do the rest of us. Fully agree myself that Houllier had run out of ideas, and credibility, well before the end of last season, but just remember where we were when he took over. We've got an excellent manager now, but Houllier did a job for us too..........

[Garymac]

If houllier is so good, why didnt you make this post at the start of last season, y didnt u say this at time gerrard was about to leave, owen had gone, we had played 2 years of mediocre football at best, when he had cost us 20 million in buying diouf, cheyrou and diao, when the youngsters didnt get a chance, when he made excuses up or anything.