No question, Houllier made some dubious transfer decisions in his time but Ciggy's list of good Houllier buys in the initial post (Hamman, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise, Finnan, Kewell...and I'd add Dudek for his Istanbul heroics alone) got me thinking...
Who would you rather have in charge of the LFC transfer kitty, GH or Jose Mourinho? Think about it...who has Jose brought in over the last two years?
1) Carvalho (solid but not great as a defender, although he is a world-class w.anker...Gallas should be playing in the centre instead)
2) Ferreira (solid but not a world-beater...better than Johnson, though)
3) Del Horno (a feckin' joke! Bridge is better.)
4) Essien (has quality but has underperformed this season and the system doesn't get the best from him)
5) Maniche (
)6) Jirosek (
)7) SWP (paid silly money for a lad that rarely makes the bench, probably so his rivals wouldn't sign him...lunacy)
8) Drogba (infuriating but fairly effective, TBH...perhaps Jose's best signing)
I may have missed some but the point is that Jose's signings have not set the league alight. Indeed, were it not for the established quality in the side already (Terry, Galas, Cech, Lampard, Duff, Cole, Crespo, Gudjonssen, Makelele, Robben)...where the feck would Chelsea be now? The guy seems to be a good motivator and gets his team playing as a cohesive, hard-to-break-down unit, but his eye for talent in the transfer market has been appalling. He's lucky that Roman doesn't feel the financial pinch when his transfers fail.
Given the quality, longevity and ongoing importance of some of Houllier's buys (noted above)...I'd definitely give him a transfer kitty ahead of Jose!
