Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2020/2021

Casey78

That treble winning season is up there as good as anything the club has ever done. They were a brilliant few months with the 3 Cup Finals. The FA Cup win against Arsenal was just pure magic, and then the crazy UEFA Cup final. It really was a special time to be a LFC fan.
It felt like Liverpool were really back.
Thanks for the memories Gérard Houllier.
RIP
YNWA

duffman13

Uefa Cup final was one of the maddest games I ever watched (not a pool fan) Great drama and a golden goal to finish it off. Houllier seemed like a gent and 73 is no age these days. Much like Wenger at Arsenal, Houllier really initiated a huge change in culture. Crazy to read that 9 of the 11 in the 05 final were signed or brought through by Houllier.

atilladehun

So sad. 2001 was such an adventure. The first season of that winning feeling in a long time. He brought big names to the club too. Made us feel like an international club.

monkey9

Gerard Houllier provided me with some of my favourite ever Liverpool moments, seemingly all at once.

He changed us from winning to losing to believing we can win again.


I recall losing at Leeds probably this month twenty years ago and i felt that was a watershed. Nobody says it, but that's that match for me that changed everything.

Once we beat Birmingham in the League Cup Final, it was all systems go.

His era ended naturarally, it really was time to go.

But i loved Houllier. He put in place the structures for Rafa to come along and do what what he dd and just keep this club up there throughout all the Chelsea and Man City money.

Klopp wouldn't be our manager if it wasn't for Houllier.

Wuff Wuff

seems irrelevant right now but we drew RB Leipzig in the Round of 16

banie01

Lads the Houllier news has caught me far more than it had any right too.
I shed a tear

2001 in particular, I was living in Spain, Me and a mate slogged to Barcelona for the 0-0 and being in a heap after the home win.

The Mickey mouse treble was the 1st season since '90 where I really felt we were winners again.
The club began moving to modernity in training and recruitment.
Yes there was a lot of French cross signed, more than 1 next Zidane even...

But a foundation was laid that a return to excellence was expected.
We were good enough for our history.

Thank you Gerard, and RIP.
YNWA.

AndyBoBandy

Casey78 wrote: »

That treble winning season is up there as good as anything the club has ever done. They were a brilliant few months with the 3 Cup Finals. The FA Cup win against Arsenal was just pure magic, and then the crazy UEFA Cup final. It really was a special time to be a LFC fan.
It felt like Liverpool were really back.
Thanks for the memories Gérard Houllier.
RIP
YNWA

Fowler's goal in the 'Worthington' League Cup Final.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcxxgt1f3e8

Ikozma

Anfield needs a gerard houllier statue now, he was the man who woke the sleeping giant

brevity

Very sad news.

Ikozma

Someone mentioned a thread lock as a mark of respect, I think that's a good idea tbh

Fitz*

RIP Gerard Houllier.

Gave the club, the players & the fans some amazing memories. When they needed it.

eigrod

Ikozma wrote: »

Someone mentioned a thread lock as a mark of respect, I think that's a good idea tbh

Personally I think it better to leave open - plenty will want to pay respects and/or post a memory.

yourdeadwright

eigrod wrote: »

Personally I think it better to leave open - plenty will want to pay respects and/or post a memory.

I was going to say this Gerard will be show love here for the day and he deserves it,

Gerard was the first manager to ever manage us in the Champions league , really did get us back to the big time

monkey9

Wuff Wuff wrote: »

seems irrelevant right now but we drew RB Leipzig in the Round of 16

I forgot all about that, that's a grand draw we'll beat them. But the news this morning has just floored me.

monkey9

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I was going to say this Gerard will be show love here for the day and he deserves it,

Gerard was the first manager to ever manage us in the Champions league , really did get us back to the big time

The day the twin towers fell. A mad day.

yourdeadwright

monkey9 wrote: »

The day the twin towers fell. A mad day.

I had forgotten that ,Boavista went 1 nil down in the first minute and drew 1-1

gimli2112

I always remember the 2001 League Cup in Cardiff fondly, felt like we were back in the big time. Playing Birmingham in Wales for a League Cup. Really brought us out of dark times.

I always had an issue with how Fowler was treated but I idolised Fowler. It is an important aspect of a manager in that you have to be ruthless in your decision making.

Dillonb3

RIP Ged, really helped reorganise the club and got us back winning trophies and competing in Europe. Never forget the treble season of 2000

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

giveitholly wrote: »

The thing is when will they be back and when they do come back will another 4 or 5 be flogged to death and injured because they are being played constantly

I think it gets a bit lighter over the next few months bar the week after Christmas. Only one cup game. Alsi, they have an 8 day break after the Palace game.

yourdeadwright

gimli2112 wrote: »

I always remember the 2001 League Cup in Cardiff fondly, felt like we were back in the big time. Playing Birmingham in Wales for a League Cup. Really brought us out of dark times.

I always had an issue with how Fowler was treated but I idolised Fowler. It is an important aspect of a manager in that you have to be ruthless in your decision making.

I'd played ball with a lad who was at the club at the time , he trained occasionally with the first team and said Fowler's issues with Gerard where because of change in culture at the club nothing else ,

Fowler had come form the Roy Evan's 90s team who had no real leaders (why they never won things) and his unprofessionalism( more like messing) was something Gerard would not put up with ,

Said Robbie was a good trainer and that but it was he would act the maggot in situation where you shouldn't really Almost a jack the lad in too many situations

Gerard was trying to stamp his authority on the squad and with the emergence of Owen , Robbie gave Gerard the big name figure he could use to show he was the boss,

In a way it was the perfect storm for the boss and extremely bad timing for Robbie ,

rob316

He stopped the rot and made us competitive again, it wasn't the best football but he won trophies and I'll always fondly remember that treble season after a fairly barren 90's. RIP

Enzokk

I would echo what many have said, RIP Gerard! He was the manager that started us challenging for trophies for me. He was a gentleman by almost all accounts as well.

cj maxx

RIP

SlickRic

he was also the man who nurtured one Steven Gerrard into arguably the best player we've had the privilege of seeing play for Liverpool.

i know he wrote a message on his Instagram, but it'd be worth hearing what Stevie says about him, whenever he's ready to speak about it.

fergiesfolly

Houllier was the first manager since Dagleish and the last until Klopp that made me think Liverpool could challenge for top honours and league title.
So as a United fan, I wasn't his biggest fan.
Very very good coach though and seemed like a decent man too( hard to find in football)
RIP

~Rebel~

Ah that’s gutting... the Owen interview on Carra’s podcast is a great little insight to that time at the club. They really seemed to have that same togetherness we see now again. RIP.

BorneTobyWilde

R.I.P

Gérard Houllier

yourdeadwright

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Houllier was the first manager since Dagleish and the last until Klopp that made me think Liverpool could challenge for top honours and league title.
So as a United fan, I wasn't his biggest fan.
Very very good coach though and seemed like a decent man too( hard to find in football)
RIP

He was a fantastic Liverpool manger but I think you forgot Rafa won a Champions league & came runners up in another , that is challenging for top honours,

steve_r

This is lovely and sincere from Danny Murphy
https://twitter.com/talksport/status/1338449649254981632?s=21

I’ll always remember Anfield singing his name after the heart attack, I remembered how moving that was, and how he spoke afterwards about how much that meant to him.

The trophies I saw Liverpool win in 2001 were the first I experienced as a true fan (too young for the others). As a young lad I loved every second of it and I’ve him to thank for it. Best some great teams like Barca and Roma to win the uefa cup, incredible uefa cup and FA cup finals and great wins in the league over that very strong United team.

I’m glad there will be some fans in the stadium to give him a good send off.

Cyrus

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I'd played ball with a lad who was at the club at the time , he trained occasionally with the first team and said Fowler's issues with Gerard where because of change in culture at the club nothing else

thinly veiled i know Richie Partridge post :)

HalloweenJack

A Chelsea fan here.

Can't really put into words why but Houllier, along with Wenger, was one of the first rival managers that I liked. There was something about him that made him stand out from the other managers in those brief snippets of press conferences that I saw back in those days, maybe it was how he seemed to take things so seriously or the little bits of humour he sprinkled in. The one thing I do remember is that I respected him and certainly feared that Liverpool were on the up under him.

I was shocked and saddened to see that he'd died. RIP.

w/s/p/c/

Was sad to hear the news about this earlier this morning.

He modernized Liverpool and it paid dividends with the trophy haul, made us all as fans, believe again. Some great memories of 2001, fantastic times.

I don't think he ever got the credit he deserved after he departed, but I read somewhere today that "He made Liverpool great again".

Can't argue with that.

RIP

yourdeadwright

Cyrus wrote: »

thinly veiled i know Richie Partridge post :)

Close but not him i never shared a dressing room or a pitch with Richie, but he was certainly there the same time ,

JP Liz V1

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

R.I.P

Gérard Houllier

RIP a true gentleman by all accounts, put Liverpool back on the map as champions and challengers

aaronjennings

I started supporting Liverpool in January 2001

Gerard Houllier was the first Liverpool manager I've ever known

A sad day today, a bona fide Liverpool legend

Agent Coulson

I have always said I felt Gerard Houllier was underappreciated as a Liverpool manager he came into a club that has let the Spice Boy culture fester and 90's celebrity culture seemed more important that actually winning trophies to some of that squad. He got rid of it by bringing in hard working players who as Danny Murphy said would run through walls for him he then gave the young talented academy players a chance and they repaid him.


I always love how connected he was to the club and becoming Liverpool manger was like a dream job for him going back to his student days when he spend a year in Liverpool coaching a school team and going to Liverpool matches in the late 60's and early 70's while learn English.

It also should not be forgotten that he has played a huge role in French football that lead them to be a dominant nation winning the World Cup and for FIFA and in the last 10 years being the head of Red Bull's global football organization and that has developed so many talented footballers now playing all over Europe.


RIP and thank you for the memories Gerard.

yourdeadwright

Not sure how old most are on here are so not sure if you remember but it was made a big deal when Gerard arrived at the club that he in fact once lived in Liverpool in 1969-1970 as part of his college degree,
He worked as an assistant in Aslop school and even played for there local Aslop Sunday league side,
that year was his first game he ever saw at Anfield and it was a 10-0 victory against Dundalk of all people

RonanG86

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Close but not him i never shared a dressing room or a pitch with Richie, but he was certainly there the same time ,

Michael Foley-Sheridan?

happyoutscan

Remember living in Mainz around the time when he signed Hyypia, Henchoz etc and bought a copy of The Kop magazine that had a run-down on the signings. First and only time I bought it I think.

Must have read it a few hundred times over there when on the throne as I had nothing else to read in English! Hyppia, Henchoz, Sander W(whom I never liked) and Erik Meier I think.

I still have it somewhere packed away I think.

He gave us some great times and by all accounts was a genuinely nice, decent person.

RIP Gerard.

marklazarcovic

in my head all day since i heard, kop singing gerarrrd gerrrrad hoooliiiehhh ...fcuk you covid,weds night would have been a great send off for him on the kop from us.

RIP

Charlie19

marklazarcovic wrote: »

in my head all day since i heard, kop singing gerarrrd gerrrrad hoooliiiehhh ...fcuk you covid,weds night would have been a great send off for him on the kop from us.

RIP

Under the circumstances, they'll still do us proud.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Not sure how old most are on here are so not sure if you remember but it was made a big deal when Gerard arrived at the club that he in fact once lived in Liverpool in 1969-1970 as part of his college degree,
He worked as an assistant in Aslop school and even played for there local Aslop Sunday league side,
that year was his first game he ever saw at Anfield and it was a 10-0 victory against Dundalk of all people

Wasnt he the first non "bootroom" appointment?

ShamoBuc

Charlie19 wrote: »

Under the circumstances, they'll still do us proud.

Every one of those will belt out his name, loud and proud.

He was a gent of a man.

citytillidie

RIP to the man who helped change Liverpool into a modern team and club

Cartman78

2001 was an epic year to be a Liverpool fan after a barren period.

I was messing around doing a postgrad in college with a couple of other Liverpool die-hards and the rollercoaster of watching the matches dovetailed nicely with our dynamic social lives at the time.

The FA Cup Final was the highlight for me I have to say....Arsenal were much much better than us at the time and should have been out of sight but little Mickey Owen popped up with two cracking goals. Myself and my two mates burst out crying at the end.... apparently large amounts of Bulmers can make you very emotional.

RIP Gérard.

RonanG86

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Wasnt he the first non "bootroom" appointment?

He's seen as such, but it was probably Souness. Although he was an ex-player, he'd never coached at Liverpool and had managed Rangers first.

There's an argument for Kenny too, I'm not sure he was ever formally part of the coaching staff before getting the manager's job.

eigrod

RonanG86 wrote: »

He's seen as such, but it was probably Souness. Although he was an ex-player, he'd never coached at Liverpool and had managed Rangers first.

There's an argument for Kenny too, I'm not sure he was ever formally part of the coaching staff before getting the manager's job.

He was the first appointment with no previous links to the club since Shankly in ‘59.

Daemonic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRgNL29F-ME

thenightman

Liverpool were a joke defensively when he took over from Roy Evans. Houllier really instilled some organisation and discipline into the club, along with signing Hyypia for a relative pittance, drumming out Ince the poser and the initial link up of Heskey and Owen was inspired. That 2001 season was amazing, the FA Cup Final in particular was ridiculous, honestly couldn't believe Liverpool had won it at the time against an excellent Arsenal side. They kicked on the next season too, finishing 2nd but it all went south soon after which I'd imagine sadly had a lot to do with Gerard's health issues.

I'll always fondly remember him anyway, a thoroughly decent man who brought success back to the club and built the foundation for seasons to come.

chicorytip

One good season doth not a successful manager make. In fact, looking at his overall career, he was useless. He was the man who signed Bernard Diomede f.f.s.