Transcript of Houllier AGM Speech

LizardKing

For anyone interested ... (taken from liverpoolfc.tv)

Gerard Houllier's AGM speech in full -Part I

Good evening everybody and let me start by wishing you a happy, successful and healthy 2004. Believe me, I know how important health is. It's almost a year since we last met and I want to share my thoughts with you about where we are and where we want to go. I don't propose to talk at length, instead I hope this speech will be like a mini-skirt: short enough to grab your attention and long enough to cover the subject.

I'll start with a word about our current situation and go on to consider four different areas - the vision we have for your club, for our club, what is our mission, how do our objectives map out over the next three years and finally, what are our most immediate plans.

Let's not pretend otherwise, this has been a difficult period. I knew when I took on the job that it would not be all plain sailing. The club and especially myself have been under intense media scrutiny but it is irrelevant whether they focus on me or not because Liverpool Football Club is bigger than any individual.

The press, who are with us again this evening and who have been at every AGM in the five years since I came to Anfield, have to do a job, they have to report stories and sell newspapers but don't expect me to pick fights with them because of what is written and broadcast; it goes with the territory of the job.

But, no matter what is said, it will not distract us from what we are striving to achieve here. Their job is to write stories, the board's is to run the club and mine is to manage the team. Our vision remains united and our commitment unwavering.

That vision, shared by the board and myself, is to make Liverpool Football Club, your club, one, which demands respect, earns admiration, defines ambition and is loved by the fans. I want us to be respected because of the moral and ethical standards, which underpin the club, remaining faithful to our roots and believing in a strong set of values.

I want the club to be admired because of our incredible history and record of honours and desire to become, and remain, one of the top ten clubs in Europe. But that success must be built on the back of a well-run, financially responsible club.

Together with that respect and admiration, I want a fierce desire to keep progressing and raising our standards even further. An ambition that sees Champions League qualification as a minimum - not as an end in itself but as a means to providing the platform to win the title.

LizardKing

Part II

At any other club, as has been said, beating Manchester United and winning a major trophy and qualifying for Europe would be a cause for celebration but at this club we set our targets a bit higher. You've all received a copy of the Annual Report and you will all be aware of the Chairman's remarks that were widely reported at the time. Believe me, they didn't come as a surprise because all David [Moores] was doing was echoing my own thoughts on what we have to achieve - I told him he was right to say what he did.

I also want this club to be loved. We want our fans to be close to us, to be with us. We see them as supporters, not as customers. That is why this club will always retain a human dimension. We all want the same things and that's why we are all here together.

I see our mission as a set of four responsibilities:

Our first responsibility and first mission is to give happiness and pride to the community of fans who love and follow this club through the results of course but also the quality of our game, our attitude, the facilities we have, the plans we have for the new stadium and the image that the club portrays.

As there is no financial dimension, our second responsibility, is to give back to the shareholders some return on their emotional investment and even during a frustrating year, we did bring back the League Cup to Anfield. Any of you who were at the Millennium Stadium in March knows just how special that win over Manchester United felt for all of us.

To make our fellow workers at Liverpool Football Club proud of their job, this is also our responsibility. Not just the technical, medical or kit staff based at Melwood or the players themselves but those working in the ticket office, the club shops, the Academy and the various community projects because when people are proud and happy in their work, it brings great efficiency in all we do and all they do. We need to understand that Liverpool Football Club also has a collective responsibility to behave itself. It means ensuring the team is making the headlines on the sports pages not the front pages.

So what are our objectives over the next three years? The first point I'd like to make is that we want to keep the basis of the team. It would be a mistake to change everything. We do not want to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Secondly, we need to continually improve the squad by recruiting probably less people but ensuring they are of outstanding class and quality. Players who will bring added value to the team like the four who we bought in the summer - Harry Kewell, Steve Finnan, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec. The quality has to be right for Liverpool Football Club. If we are not convinced that their attitude is right or they do not show sufficient desire or if their motives differ from ours, then we will not sign them. There are two players, one currently at a Premier League club and one set to join a Scottish team, who are testament to that.

Thirdly, we need to keep the team young and hungry. There is nothing worse than complacency and that has nothing to do with age. Gary McAllister was such an influential signing because the desire was still there. His enthusiasm was infectious. The players can get old in their minds long before their legs go and it is important we don't lose the appetite for the game.

The fourth element will be to keep the style of play that we've seen this season and see the team continue to progress.

It would be easy for me to come here and talk about what we have achieved in recent years in terms of trophies but I thought it would be more important to explain the thinking that underlines our search for success.

But I am also a realist and I share your frustrations about what has happened over the past 12 months. Yes, it was a set-back not qualifying for the Champions League although we failed by only three points. I think the damage had already been done by the time we played the final game at Stamford Bridge. This season has also brought its ups and downs but nothing is decided in January. We are still in the FA and UEFA Cups and fourth place is still achievable despite the considerable improvement we've seen from a number of clubs this season.

Looking back at our immediate plans, I have been asked if we will be bringing new faces during the January transfer window. I have no intention of doing that. Why? Because I retain faith in my squad and the best guarantee of good performances in the second half of the campaign is continuity. If I think the time is right then I will include some of the younger players. More specifically, I think we should have all our injured players back in the next four weeks. To me, they are the new signings that we need.

Patience is not always a virtue seen in football but the side does need more time to develop the new way of playing. The performance we showed in the games against Arsenal, Everton and Blackburn are my reference points. When all our personnel are available to us, we will be a very different proposition. I understand the expectancy of this club; I accept the demands that go with my job as manager.

I cannot pick up a newspaper recently without being reminded of that reality. In fact, someone new to this country probably thinks that my Christian name is Under Pressure rather than Gerard.

I understand the focus is on me but this is not about my future. This is about the future of Liverpool Football Club. I'm determined to follow the agenda agreed between myself and the board and not one set by the media or other commentators. The fact that key players like Chris Kirkland, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have committed themselves recently to long-term contracts shows the faith they have in the direction we are going. I also believe that Michael [Owen] will put pen to paper on a new deal this year.

Anyone who promises a victory every time you set foot on a pitch is a con man but my job is to get us winning consistently again. I'm not going to offer excuses about the number of missing players we've had on a regular basis or referees decisions going against us in key games but winning regularly remains our target. It's something that we've got to start doing.

Likewise, the manager that claims that every single player brought to a club will be a guaranteed success is not going to be taken seriously. I hold my hands up and acknowledge that some of the recruits have not delivered. Some of the players bought in the summer of 2002 have fallen short of what they can bring to this side. They have not shown what made us buy them in the first place. It can take more time, as Alex Ferguson pointed out, for people from abroad to settle but they know they have to start producing. They, and the rest of the squad, are desperate to do well in the second half of the season. I can assure you that the team spirit remains excellent and a series of good results will certainly help to give confidence again.

We've got two cup competitions to look forward to and 20 Premier League games to go. It's a challenging period but an exciting one and we can't wait to get on with it.

I want to thank my staff, the technical staff, who are with us tonight, the medical staff and all the others who work at Melwood and also at Anfield. I want to pay tribute to the chairman David Moores, the Chief Executive Rick Parry and the board of directors for their support.

Finally I want to thank you for your backing and say that if we stick together, we'll come through this together.

Before I finish, I want to say a few words about Jim Aspinall, who sadly died this afternoon. My thoughts are with his family.

Thank-you.