by jonnymac1979 » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:35 am
I like the guy. I think he has given his best shot at trying to make the club great again. The team he inherited was awful. I was at Roy Evans' last game in charge against Tottenham in the Worthington Cup.
The team that night? November 10 1998.
Friedel
McAteer
Staunton
Leonhardsen (Riedle 45 )
Fowler
Owen (Murphy 82 )
Heggem
Ince
Bjornebye
Carragher
Thompson
Subs not used: James, Kvarme, Harkness,
I know this seems like a different lifetime ago now but he took over alone immediately after that game and for a time undeniably made us great again and one of the most feared teams in Europe. He was one of the most celebrated managers in Europe at the time.
Over the last two years though, the team has neither moved forward or evolved into the complete team, which we undoubtedly had the potential to do. A combination of bad signings (the Senegalese players, Biscan, Ziege etc....) and letting other players go who were not replaced (McAllister, Litmanen....) has taken its toll on the team.
Unfortunately, he is being baited by the media, he's being portrayed as a bumbling fool and he is mocked all of the time. I do think it's wrong, but he is the manager of Liverpool Football Club and we as fans demand greatness. Houllier has given us lots of memories and I thank him for that, I will support him while he is manager, but it doesn't mean I like the direction the team is going in. He is too loyal to some players (Biscan, Murphy, Heskey) where once he just kicked them out of the club at the merest sign of weakness as a player (McAteer, Westerveld, Fowler...).
Will the Gerard Houllier who turned the club around in such a short space of time please stand up?
Should he leave the club soon, and it wont be before the season ends, if at all, I think it is only going to get worse. Let's see what the close season brings.