Boumsong slams Houllier

kida

Boumsong levels blast at Houllier

Auxerre`s French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong has confirmed he will join Rangers and blamed Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier for the breakdown in talks with the English club.

For a long time it looked as though the Cameroon-born player would move to Liverpool but he has confirmed he has signed a five-year pre-contract with the Glasgow club.

'I have effectively signed a pre-contract with Rangers for the next five years,' he told his personal website www.jeanalainboumsong.sports.fr.

'Rangers came to get me and I had a very good contact with them.'

Some in France are surprised that Boumsong opted for Scottish football rather than the Premiership but the player said: 'Maybe Rangers can be a springboard for me, a stage, but my objective is to be in a competitive team from next season and rival the best teams in Europe.

'I know some people will criticise my choice a lot but I have taken this decision and I have no regrets.'

However, Boumsong then blamed Houllier for the breakdown in talks with Liverpool.

'At the end of last season, Liverpool and Auxerre reached an agreement,' said Boumsong. 'This agreement, Gerard Houllier told me, had to be submitted to the Liverpool board.

'I awaited confirmation, but nothing came. After waiting until November I understood Houllier did not want me.

'I found this attitude a bit surprising. The way he treats players tarnishes the grandiose image of this club.'

Boumsong also revealed that Inter Milan had made an approach to acquire his services but did not follow it up with a firm bid

Shred

Sounds like sour grapes to me:

From Houllier's Agm Speach:

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.

Obviously he was speaking about Boumsong there and I assumed at the time that the other player he was speaking about was Anelka , but I could be wrong:eek:
I seem to remember that the reason LFC didn't sign Anelka was to do with the price and the weekly wage he was asking for amonst other things....

kida

From bbc web site

"The player gave me his word that he would join Liverpool, and we even shook hands," said Houllier.

"Everything was clear, including his salary and the length of his contract.

"I then learned that he and his agent had decided to sell him to the highest bidder from among Inter Milan, Juventus and Rangers.

How naive is he, of course he is going to go to the highest bidder.

uberwolf

but that would suggest that he'd ruled out liverpool, and turned back to the other teams with a offers on a postcard style auction. Not allowing LFC into the auction.

TwoShedsJackson

Why is Henry at Arsenal then? He could earn a much better wage, which he himself has said, if he went to Barca or Real or several clubs in Italy. He chooses to stay at Arsenal.

Perhaps Houllier hoped Boumsong wouldn't simply jump at the highest wage on offer, and would instead consider the merit of likely European football with Liverpool versus guaranteed CL with a team from a backwater league who will likely never get out of the group stage at present.

Evidently he was wrong.

kida

So , correct if I am wrong - Hoo-Hoo thought he should sign for a club who at best have an outside chance of CL ahead of Juve,Milan or Rangers(bar Rangers all who repectable CL records) and get paid less for doing so.

He really needs to move into the real world-not his little fantasy world.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by kida
So , correct if I am wrong - Hoo-Hoo thought he should sign for a club who at best have an outside chance of CL ahead of Juve,Milan or Rangers(bar Rangers all who repectable CL records) and get paid less for doing so.

He really needs to move into the real world-not his little fantasy world.

Maybe first team football was his main priority.

super_furry

Houllier hits back at Boumsong lies from www.liverpoolfc.tv

Gerard Houllier has hit back at claims made earlier this week by Jean-Alain Boumsong that the Anfield manager had gone back on his word over the transfer of the French defender to Liverpool.

Boumsong claimed that the Liverpool boss had led him to believe that he was joining the Reds only for the manager to have a sudden change of heart at the last minute. Houllier, however, insists Boumsong is not telling the whole truth on the matter.

"What Boumsong has said is both deceitful and incorrect, and Auxerre and their directors know this full well," claims Gerard. "The player gave me his word that he would join Liverpool, and we even shook hands. Everything was clear, including his salary and the length of his contract.

"I then learned that he and his agent had decided to sell him to the highest bidder from among Inter Milan, Juventus and Rangers. Signing for Rangers is making a choice based on money, and as far as I was concerned the matter was finished. I wish him good luck, but if he really wants me to tell the whole truth about this business it is going to be very bad for him. I have got all the relevant faxes in my possession to show to anybody who wants to know what really went on."

It's basically all about the money for Boumsong. He agreed a deal with Liverpool, was offered more money and the Reds refused to be held to ransom. If money is more important to Boumsong than playing for the Liverpool shirt, I'm glad he's not there. He's joined the second best team in a two-team league for money, not for the challenge or the glamour ties of travelling to Motherwell or St Johnstone. Sure he might get to play in the Champions league, but he'll get six games at most and that will be it.

Liverpool don't need players like Boumsong and thankfully his ex-Auxerre team-mate Djibril Cisse seems to care more about his football than his bank ballance.

ronanp

super_furry nailed it: LFC don't go for mercenaries.