Houllier Officially Sacked

Oriel

Liverpool will announce the departure of manager Gerard Houllier on Monday, BBC Sport has learned.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/3741257.stm

bbop

a sudden sense of joy has overcome me

SheroN

damn.

zAbbo

Good Riddance

sikes

oh crap, just don't let him come to spurs!!!

and also liverpool hands off all the managers we have been linked with.

i think that just leaves glenn hoddle and dave pleat!!!

super_furry

Terrible shame. He should have been allowed to see out his contract and given one final crack of the whip - the signs were there that he was ready to make the changes that he needed to. Now I just hope we get someone dencent in and don't go for the cheap, easy option in Curbishley, O'Neill or God forbid, McLaren.

The dignity and pride with which Houllier has carried himself throughout this whole sorry farce speaks volumes about him. Allez allez.

jesus_thats_gre

Fingers crossed but its still just speculation!!!

LizardKing

Liverpool to make an announcement at midday according to

Liverpools Official Site

jesus_thats_gre

Oh happy days.. please to be god!!!

Skynews for me at 12!!!

Pigman II

You gotta love the way some Liverpool supporters have secretly been hoping they wouldn't get CL qualification in order to see the back of GH.

I guess in some cases you can have your cake and eat it.

cournioni

Damn... I thought he was a good manager.

johnor

Ok Houllier is gone....good thing for some liverpool fans. Who will take over next tho? They must sign the correct players and achieve what? What are realistic aims for Liverpool considering United, Arsenal & Chelsea have had better seasons this season and will be building for next season...Is 1st/2nd a realistic target considering they will be playing champions league next year too, they will need a bigger squad etc.


Anyway considering 4th was the minimum for Houllier this year and he is been sacked, whats the target/minimum for the next manager or whould he be given 100+ million and 4/5 years too??

thegills

Don't be too quick to slag off 'Pool. Remember how long it took Fergie to finally win something. Remember the elation when Utd. won the Cup Winners Cup against Barcelona. Remember the elation when Utd. won the FA cup in 2004!!

LizardKing

Hes Gone ........ Ahhhhh I hope we get a decent manager now :dunno:

leeroybrown

Posted by Pigman II
You gotta love the way some Liverpool supporters have secretly been hoping they wouldn't get CL qualification in order to see the back of GH.

Secretly? A decent chunk of the Liverpool supporters on this board have openly said that they would have gone without CL football if it made the difference between Houllier staying or going. It's a really good outcome for them.

I think it's the right time to do it. The season is over and they have plenty of time to bring in a top quality man to fill the job. If they kept Houllier for another year and things didn't significantly improve then Liverpool would be looking towards the 06/07 season before they were in a stable position to challange and possibly losing some players before his tenure ended.

watman

From Liverpoolfc.tv

Liverpool Football Club today announced they have parted company with manager Gerard Houllier. In an emotinal final interview with the website, Houllier insists he hopes the Reds can go on to win the title.
Sitting next to Rick Parry, Houllier spoke passionately about his time at the club, thanked the players and supporters for all their backing and insisted that while he'd have rather stayed as manager, he leaves Anfield on good terms with everyone.

"I have four special memories that I take away with me. Michael Owen scoring the winner against Arsenal with his left foot, Gary McAllister being handed the Man of the Match award against Alaves, the mosaic when I was recovering from heart surgery and Steven Gerrard taking his daughter around the pitch on the last day of the season.

"I arrived here six years ago as a Liverpool supporter and I leave as an even bigger supporter. I may have left Liverpool, but Liverpool will not leave me. I will return to watch the team as a fan."

jesus_thats_gre

Its sad it had to happen, but it really had to happen!!!

LizardKing

I Really think he thought he'd get another season at least ... anyways we may see a big clear out now with a new manager and a bit of Thai money ...

I'd say Diouf and Diao and a few others will be gone too ...

It will be interesting next year ...

GuanYin

I don't think it was so much that GH was a bad manager but just not the right manager for liverpool.

Good for all concern that ties were severed amicably.

Be interesting to see who wants the job though.

yom 1

Well he "Turned the Corner" of the dark days under souness but it is the right time to leave. He gave us a good year in 2001 and the memory of beating United in the cup final but he was never going to win the premiership

Good Luck Gerard


Even Better Luck for your Successor

Shred

I do feel sorry for the man, but it's in the best interests of the club and that's all that matters.

kida

I am afraid the damge might be done - this needed to be done at the end of last season.

They will need 100M plus to get the players needed to challenge for the league - the top 3 are that far ahead of the rest. There won't be much money generated by the sale of the current crop of wasters. The only ones they could get decent money are the ones that they can't afford to sell. (Owen, Gerrard and a pre-pool Kewell)

Bannor

Originally posted by syke
Good for all concern that ties were severed amicably.

Depends on what you consider amicably... Moores did not speak to Houllier after a meeting early last week, instead he went on holiday. Parry jetted off to Valencia to try and sign Houllier's replacement, Valencia told him to feck off. Houllier heard that he was being replaced as manager through the French FA. Neither Moores or Parry had the balls to tell him themselves. Houllier had to call Parry and say "I've been told that you have directly approached Valencia about Benitez replacing me as manager next week. What's that about?" to get the truth.

There is nothing amicable about this - Houllier is furious with Moores and Parry and the way they have conducted themselves. The amicable facade is just for the media.

The Rooster

Originally posted by johnor

Anyway considering 4th was the minimum for Houllier this year and he is been sacked, whats the target/minimum for the next manager or whould he be given 100+ million and 4/5 years too??

It wasnt the position that got GH sacked, it was the points difference. 28 behind Arsenal, only 26 ahead of Wolves.

Anybody heard anything on the positions of Phil Thompson and Sammy Lee?

Will Houllier be a contender for the Spurs job? Or the South Korea job!

Big Nelly

Jan 1999: Jean-Michel Ferri from Istanbulspor £1.5million

Jan 1999: Frode Kippe from Lillestrom £700,000

Jan 1999: Rigobert Song from Salernitana £2.7m

Feb 1999: Djimi Traore from Laval £550,000

May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

Jun 1999: Titi Camara from Marseille £2.8m

Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m

Jun 1999: Sander Westerveld from Vitesse Arnhem £4m

Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m

Jul 1999: Vladimir Smicer from Lens £4m

Mar 2000: Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m

Jun 2000: Bernard Diomede from Auxerre £3m

Jul 2000: Nick Barmby from Everton £6m

Aug 2000: Christian Ziege from Middlesbrough £5.5m

Sep 2000: Gregory Vignal from Montpellier £500,000

Nov 2000: Daniel Sjolund from West Ham £1m

Dec 2000: Igor Biscan from Dynamo Zagreb £5.5m

Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m

Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m

Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m

Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m

Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m

Jan 2002: Abel Xavier from Everton £800,000

Jun 2002: El-Hadji Diouf from Lens £10m

Jul 2002: Bruno Cheyrou from Lille £3.7m

Aug 2002: Salif Diao from Sedan £5m

Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m

Total: £128,600,000

Pick one good player out of the lot????? challenge of the day!!! haha

Bannor

Originally posted by The Rooster
Anybody heard anything on the positions of Phil Thompson and Sammy Lee?

Radical shake up of back room staff on the cards. The rumour that I've heard from two sources is that the new manager will be allowed to appoint their own staff apart from Sammy Lee who is being retained and Ian Rush who is being given a permanent coaching role. Have also heard that Moores will be stepping down as chairman during the summer, there's a third offer on the table for the club's shares and Moores will be diluting his stake in the club.

jongore

Ah well, what a pity, never mind.

I'm sure that another manager can keep Liverpool at their current level of midiocrity.

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by neilbrady79
Jan 1999: Jean-Michel Ferri from Istanbulspor £1.5million

Jan 1999: Frode Kippe from Lillestrom £700,000

Jan 1999: Rigobert Song from Salernitana £2.7m

Feb 1999: Djimi Traore from Laval £550,000

May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

Jun 1999: Titi Camara from Marseille £2.8m

Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m

Jun 1999: Sander Westerveld from Vitesse Arnhem £4m

Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m

Jul 1999: Vladimir Smicer from Lens £4m

Mar 2000: Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m

Jun 2000: Bernard Diomede from Auxerre £3m

Jul 2000: Nick Barmby from Everton £6m

Aug 2000: Christian Ziege from Middlesbrough £5.5m

Sep 2000: Gregory Vignal from Montpellier £500,000

Nov 2000: Daniel Sjolund from West Ham £1m

Dec 2000: Igor Biscan from Dynamo Zagreb £5.5m

Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m

Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m

Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m

Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m

Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m

Jan 2002: Abel Xavier from Everton £800,000

Jun 2002: El-Hadji Diouf from Lens £10m

Jul 2002: Bruno Cheyrou from Lille £3.7m

Aug 2002: Salif Diao from Sedan £5m

Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m

Total: £128,600,000

Pick one good player out of the lot????? challenge of the day!!! haha

Whoever stood for you should be banned and so should you... This is the crap that got the board shut down. If you have nothing valuable to add, then get lost.

To answer your question:

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m
Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m
Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m
Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m
Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m
Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m
Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m
Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m
Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m
May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

The majority of the above have proven themselves..

To add someone you omitted, Pongolle!!

Big Nelly

Calm down mate!! sorry but I thought the point of boards was so you could put forward ur point of view???is it not??the point I was making is that for 128mil he aint bought that great of players!!

Also most of the players you have mentioned below haven't proved themselves over a long timein premiership except

Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m
Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m
May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

The rest are only ok or have only played 1 season in premiership!!

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m...........1 season where he said himself he was useless
Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m.....injuryed most of season
Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m.....terrible season this year
Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m.......good but how many games has he played???
Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m.......will say nothin!! Forlan
Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m........only few games and injuryed most of season
Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m....untested


I rest my case

Thanx 4 The Fish

Am glad that he has gone, now will we see a good english manager in there ? Curbishley looks like a good prospect or maybe steve bruce if he'd go.

Anyway, if Rainieri leaves Chelsea, he may be a good replacement.

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by neilbrady79
Calm down mate!! sorry but I thought the point of boards was so you couldput forward ur point of view???is it not??the point I was making is that for 128mil he aint bought that great of players!!

Also most of the players you have mentions below haven't proved themselves over a long timein premiership except

Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m
Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m
May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

The rest are only ok or have only played 1 season in premiership!!

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m...........1 season where he said himself he was useless
Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m.....injuryed most of season
Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m.....terrible season this year
Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m.......good but how many games has he played???
Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m.......will say nothin!! Forlan
Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m........only few games and injuryed most of season
Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m....untested


I rest my case

You have no case to rest "mate"....

Big Nelly

Calm down Jebus!! Jebus!!

redspider

So Gerard Houllier is gone. This is what I had called for.

My opinion is as it has been stated on this forum before. He has had the necessary time and resources given to him for his approach to develop the club. He has had some success with that approach but he had taken the club as far as he was going to take them. Sure, he could have been given one more year with lots more money but its a good time to change tack.

Being in the CL is very important to attract a new manager and I was very glad we got the coveted 4th position. I think people that hoped that we would not finish 4th to quicken the exit of GH is a mis-guided opinion.

I think that GH will be seen as someone that was professional. He knows a fair bit about the game and he has done well with some mediocre players. Hyypia and Henchoz performed stellarly at times. However, some of his signings did not prove fruitful and this was discussed on another thread (ie: all managers have a hit and miss with players that they sign). However, I did feel that this year and last year that GH did not say the right things publicly to motivate the fans, the players, etc. In a way he was over protective. Do we have a situation where a real fan of Liverpool, as GH is, having diffculty in ruthlessly managing the club? Its an interesting thought.

Now for the replacement. I'm not happy with the shenanigans thats going on in terms of the club's ownership: the Thai deal, the Morgan offer failing and now the lack of a clear succession plan for the manager position. Hopefully the position will attract high calibre candidates, but the ownership path ahead and the amount of money made available is still unclear and that wont help.

In terms of the candidates:

Curbishley - no, I dont rate him as good enough or big time
O'Neill - yes, worth a try
Benitez - I dont think he will leave Valencia
Mourinho - yes, but Chelsea beckons
Quieroz - does he have enough English?
O'Leary - He might do ok
Ranieri - a nice guy, as long as he doesnt have too many players to choose from!
Strachan - not too bad but doesnt have the big time experience and
I dont think he will take us above GH's level
Hoddle - no way
Peter Reid - not big time
McLaren - no, I dont rate him
Thompson - does his experience of 2001 not warrant a temp run

If the rumour that it is a major backroom clear-out then who knows whats going to happen ..... It would have been much better if a replacement was agreed bofore Houllier left. It is clear that GH wante to stay, and he has been treated ok or most of the season, just gettinga little bit ratty at the end. There is no easy way to leave under these circumstances and GH was professional until the end apart from his outburst last week.

Its an important change for Liverpool as managers are only changed every 5 years or so. I have stated in another thread that O'Neill is not a god and wont work miracles with Liverpool, but out of the currently known list, is he the person that would be the best choice?

mr_angry

I think credit should be given to Houllier for what he did achieve. Off the pitch, he really modernised the club, and he did win a significant amount of silverware during his time at the club. The problem was that the club has stopped moving forward in the past 2 years, and is clearly going in the other direction. As far as I can see, there was nothing more Houllier could give to the club to turn things around - he was out of ideas.

I don't think they need to go out and spend £100m+ during the summer either. There is the nucleus of a good squad there, and the most important thing is to get the existing players to play to their maximum ability (which clearly hasn't been the case for the past 2 years). What annoys me is people like Mickey Owen coming out and saying that if things don't improve, then he's off. From what I can see, he's underperformed last year (especially considering Liverpool's chances-to-goals ratio), and its people like him that should be taking a long hard look at themselves instead of blaming the situation around them.

eyerer

Originally posted by Bannor
Radical shake up of back room staff on the cards. The rumour that I've heard from two sources is that the new manager will be allowed to appoint their own staff apart from Sammy Lee who is being retained and Ian Rush who is being given a permanent coaching role. Have also heard that Moores will be stepping down as chairman during the summer, there's a third offer on the table for the club's shares and Moores will be diluting his stake in the club.

third bid?
interesting

i think they were right to get rid of houllier, though perhaps last year would've been better
didn't expect improvement this year, and there was none
appointing a new manager last year would've meant no competition with chelsea with, though mourinho has said he would prefer liverpool anyway

leeroybrown

I also agree that Liverpool don't need to go out and spend £100M rebuilding the squad. TBH, if they had a centre back with some pace beside Hypia, were coached to play decent passing football they'd probably be significantly closer to the top three.

phenom

Well it was just going to be a matter of time. I read yesterday that Gh said he was going to stay for next season but it looks like that was wrong. Out of that list there have been a few players which have been good for the team but very few of them. the money he spent on some of the players was not worth it.

Mar 2000: Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m

He was definitley not worth that much but either was El hadji Diouf some of the others. If you look at that list most of them are not there now so maybe now they should get rid of a few players and bring in some new faces to build up the squad. Its going to take a while to build it back up but with the help of a good manager they should get it done.

johnor

Gotta remember that there are other big jobs available too....

Hitzfeld left Bayern during the week, Juve job is available, Chelsea of course, InterMilan rumoured to be interested in Benitez...All big clubs, Chelsea's spending power would appeal to alot of coaches too wouldnt it? As I said before I reckon a coach might prefare Liverpool over Chelsea, only because they will get 3/4 season at it where as with Chelsea its win or go....

I'd of thought Quireoz would have enough English, being linked with spurs today but then again who isnt? As i said would love to see him come back to OT, he has said he wouldnt have left for any other club, offer of Real was too good to turn down.

Interesting to see the Charlton CE said he cant garuntee Curbishley will stay at Charlton, apparently he can listen to offers from other premiership clubs...

Mighty_Mouse

Jan 1999: Jean-Michel Ferri from Istanbulspor £1.5million

Jan 1999: Frode Kippe from Lillestrom £700,000

Jan 1999: Rigobert Song from Salernitana £2.7m

Feb 1999: Djimi Traore from Laval £550,000

May 1999: Sami Hyypia from Willem II £2.6m

Jun 1999: Titi Camara from Marseille £2.8m

Jun 1999: Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn £3.5m

Jun 1999: Sander Westerveld from Vitesse Arnhem £4m

Jul 1999: Dietmar Hamann from Newcastle £8m

Jul 1999: Vladimir Smicer from Lens £4m

Mar 2000: Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m

Jun 2000: Bernard Diomede from Auxerre £3m

Jul 2000: Nick Barmby from Everton £6m

Aug 2000: Christian Ziege from Middlesbrough £5.5m

Sep 2000: Gregory Vignal from Montpellier £500,000

Nov 2000: Daniel Sjolund from West Ham £1m

Dec 2000: Igor Biscan from Dynamo Zagreb £5.5m

Jun 2001: John Arne Riise from Monaco £4m

Aug 2001: Milan Baros from Banik Ostrava £3.4m

Aug 2001: Jerzy Dudek from Feyenoord £4.85m

Aug 2001: Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m

Sep 2001: Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle from Le Havre £6m

Jan 2002: Abel Xavier from Everton £800,000

Jun 2002: El-Hadji Diouf from Lens £10m

Jul 2002: Bruno Cheyrou from Lille £3.7m

Aug 2002: Salif Diao from Sedan £5m

Jul 2003: Steve Finnan from Fulham £3.5m

Jul 2003: Harry Kewell from Leeds £5m

Total: £128,600,000

Never mind team!!! Out of the above 100 million worth of talent who would get in the squad of a top 3 team!!!!! feckin 0!! Most of them wouldnt make the reserves at United Chelsea or Arsenal. The man was completely demented!!The worst eye for talent ever seen. A few fine examples of value for money:
Titi Camara from Marseille £2.8m
Nick Barmby from Everton £6m
Sander Westerveld from Vitesse Arnhem £4m
Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m
Christian Ziege from Middlesbrough £5.5m
Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m
Salif Diao from Sedan £5m!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sikes

wonder if any1 can answer my question.

what type of set up has liverpool got. ie have they got a director of football or did houllier do all the transfer and contract stuff too.

cos if thats the case then surely liverpool will be lookin for a british manager as that type of set up is pretty much unique to england.

on the continent, as i have found out through months of waiting and wondering about the spurs job, things are for the most part done differently. what they have their seems to be the coach who looks after the players and tactics and thats it, then a sporting director buys and sells and deals with the contract stuff.

this is the last thing i wanted to happen. a "bigger" club in england lookin out for a manager. i think it will be oneill as he was rumoured to be set to join spurs until late last week when he stalled. perhaps just a coincidance

egan007

Originally posted by Mighty_Mouse
Never mind team!!! Out of the above 100 million worth of talent who would get in the squad of a top 3 team!!!!! feckin 0!! Most of them wouldnt make the reserves at United Chelsea or Arsenal. The man was completely demented!!The worst eye for talent ever seen. A few fine examples of value for money:
Titi Camara from Marseille £2.8m
Nick Barmby from Everton £6m
Sander Westerveld from Vitesse Arnhem £4m
Emile Heskey from Leicester £11m
Christian Ziege from Middlesbrough £5.5m
Chris Kirkland from Coventry £6m
Salif Diao from Sedan £5m!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sander Westerveld was and still is an excellent goalkeeper

Chris Kirkland will be one of englands greatest ever

uberwolf

Originally posted by sikes
wonder if any1 can answer my question.

what type of set up has liverpool got. ie have they got a director of football or did houllier do all the transfer and contract stuff too.

cos if thats the case then surely liverpool will be lookin for a british manager as that type of set up is pretty much unique to england.

As I have said elsewhere, I've a feeling that if LFC can attract a big name European manager then there is a good chance that Daglish will be brought in in some capacity to maintain the bootroom vibe, and to provide that english expertise that will be required.

Big Ears

Originally posted by egan007
Sander Westerveld was and still is an excellent goalkeeper

Chris Kirkland will be one of englands greatest ever

I agree totally , and 1 bad game does not make Jerzy Dudek crap . ( that game was last season too right ? ( the Forlan one ))

If one game can make u crap then every keeper in the premiership is crap .

mike65

I hate being on the road when important news breaks!

Well dispite what I was saying only a week or 10 days back he did'nt have another season! I think the board has handled this very poorly - leaving Houllier turning in the wind for too long instead of being clear both with him and us as to what was happening - sure we all started to guess in the end but a simple back him or sack him statement should have been issued. I can understand why le ex-boss is furious.

As for the future, who the hell knows in the next few weeks every manager you ever heard of will get a mention bar Fergie and Wenger.

Mike.

uberwolf

what do people think the deadline on the announcement of a new manager should be? and his moving in to the hotseat(same time)? And what of the takeover bids, including this mystery 3rd bid! Clearly all should be settled asap so players et al can be well settled before the new season, but does this mean pre: euro 04 or earlier again? or is sufficent distraction(euro) to allow the board more time?

Bannor

Originally posted by uberwolf
what do people think the deadline on the announcement of a new manager should be? and his moving in to the hotseat(same time)? And what of the takeover bids, including this mystery 3rd bid! Clearly all should be settled asap so players et al can be well settled before the new season, but does this mean pre: euro 04 or earlier again? or is sufficent distraction(euro) to allow the board more time?

I expect the new manager to be in place within weeks. Parry has said that the club haven't spoken to any candidates yet which is a bit of a white lie - he approached Valencia about Benitez last week.

His criteria for selecting a new manager suggest that it won't be an English based manager and they're not looking to rebuild the squad. The man appointed will have to work with what he's got and add a couple of players maybe.

"The criteria for anybody coming has to be exactly the same as applied to Gerard, and the common sense thing is - who is the candidate most likely to help us challenge for the title next year?" said Parry.

"That's easier said and a bit more difficult done, but it's absolutely the thing that is uppermost in our minds.

"It's got to be about raising the standard further and getting us back to being a contender.

"A track record is obviously important. If you are looking at someone's ability to win trophies, proof of doing it clearly helps.

"Commitment, enthusiasm and hunger are important too. But quality will be the watchword."

"A track record is obviously important" - this would rule out Curbishley, Strachan.

Potential candidates which would meet the criteria:

Jose Mourinho (Porto) - If Porto win the final on Wednesday then Mourinho is expected to be appointed Chelsea's manager on Thursday afternoon. Previously expressed a preference to manage Liverpool over Chelsea, so if the Liverpool board want him then they'll have to move quickly.

Rafa Benitez (Valencia) - He has been give a deadline of Friday to sign a two year contract extension with Valencia. He has also been told that he has to sell players before he can buy new ones. Parry has already spoken to Valencia.

Fabio Capello (Roma) - He's having talks with the club president this week regarding his future at the club. He's had quite a few spats with the president and players this season so he could well be out of the club by next weekend.

Ottmar Hitzfeld - His record is comparable with Capello's winning League titles with the clubs he has managed (Dortmund, Grasshopper and Bayern) but also winning in European competition (Dortmund, Bayern). On the downside I don't think he spaeks English which could prove to be a problem.

Martin O'Neill may have done relatively well in England and achieved everything in Scotland, but his achievements pale by comparison to the four listed above.

mike65

I just spotted this on the lfc site and its a reminder of why the Houllier revolution was required -

One of Houllier's key moments in his first few months was the arrival of Jean-Michael Ferri for £500,000. Ferri, a French midfielder, played roughly 30 minutes of football for Liverpool but during his time at Anfield, he weeded out the troublemakers. Some of the first team however, were well aware of Ferri's real role at the club.

Houllier also brought in Phil Thompson as his assistant manager. He said he wanted to work alongside someone who knew the club inside out.

One famous story is that of when Thompson, a successful player with Liverpool in the 70's, brought in his large collection of winners medals from his playing days.

"This is what it means to play for Liverpool Football Club," he declared. Club captain Paul Ince thought otherwise and produced a cheque book from his pocket...

The players found it hard to adjust to Houllier's new styles. They didn't take well to some of the training methods and that summer, Houllier knew exactly who was trying to undermine his authority and he wielded his axe. Out went Ince, McManaman, David James and Jason McAteer.

Its just a pity his footballing brain was'nt as good as his
teacher nouse....

Mike.

PHB

Quieroz was assistant manager at Man United for a couple of years, does nobody remember that?

Guy:Incognito

Quote

The players found it hard to adjust to Houllier's new styles. They didn't take well to some of the training methods and that summer, Houllier knew exactly who was trying to undermine his authority and he wielded his axe. Out went Ince, McManaman, David James and Jason McAteer.



Getting rid of McAteer was one of his better moves.

Bout time they sacked him, better late than never, eh?

zAbbo

Originally posted by PHB
Quieroz was assistant manager at Man United for a couple of years, does nobody remember that?

I thought it was just the one season he was assistent?? if even that, after Brian Kidd took the Rovers job

johnor

No maclaren came in after kidd, in terms of long term....

I think Benitez will end up staying in Valenica, he wants to take on the CL next season and believes with a little money he can achieve his goal. Valencia are 70+ mil in debt tho, Carew will be off loaded but there is talk of Ayala moving too....surely we would bring alot of funds in and maybe Benitez could buy some good replacements, they are desperatly looking for a striker. With the right one they could be even better....


I reckon Mourinho is the man to back, think Chelsea might get ONeill!! strange as it sounds...As bannor has said in this or one of the other manyh liverpool threads, the next coach will bring his own staff in, i read that mourinho wants to bring 2/3 coachs from porto with him.....ONeill to chelsea i put down to that dirty Kenyon undermining ManUs long term plans...

cant back any of it up just know thats what ill be putting my shiny euro on....