very interesting article in todays mirror-
Houllier's Aston Villa team selection at Manchester City in the FA Cup understandably infuriated fans. And it even exasperated most of the Midlands press too.
Because while Houllier has publicly been quoted stressing he is "not in PR", he has actually tried to woo the locally-based press and give us an admirable insight into his personality, methods and plans.
The Frenchman was kind enough to invite a number of Midlands-based radio, TV and written reporters to Villa Park two weeks ago for a meal.
Houllier really looked after us all in the club's excellent Villa Midlands Food (VMF) restaurant where we were treated to a three-course meal and a selection of good wines.
None of those invited were naive enough to believe Houllier wanted to pick our brains on who to select or hear our life stories.
Houllier, who is both experienced and intelligent, almost certainly intended to ensure some favourable future coverage by opening up to us and showing himself to be a decent person.
And he succeeded as not only did he give us a valuable, positive perspective on his new regime, Houllier was also very personable.
Even BBC Radio 5Live's excellent Midlands reporter Pat Murphy, who had steeled himself to be unmoved by any charm offensive, admitted afterwards how much he had enjoyed the evening.
But all Houllier's hard-work and schmoozing was swiftly undone by his team selection at Eastlands in Villa's limp 3-0 defeat last Wednesday.
I was at the game and was simply stunned by Houllier's line-up with a quarter-final at home to Championship Reading up for grabs and it was inevitable he got a terrible press the next day .
It was another blunder by Houllier up there with his homage to former club Liverpool in Villa's defeat at Anfield last December.
And Houllier's attempts in the post-match press conference at Eastlands to justify his selection immediately afterwards were equally unwise as he confessed he didn't think Villa could beat City .
Houllier has also developed a rather odd habit of saying one thing to the press and then doing a complete U-turn.
For example, when Houllier arrived, he said Ashley Young was a winger for England so would play on the wing for Villa - then played him in the hole.
Houllier said before January he had no plans to get another striker - then went and spent £24million on Darren Bent.
When Bent joined, Houllier insisted John Carew was still part of the squad - then offloaded the Norwegian to Stoke days later.
And just last week he claimed Barry Bannan would not be going out on loan - and he has now joined Leeds until the end of the season!
But despite Houllier's penchant for gaffes and about-turns, following his recent meal with the press I must say his philosophy on the game makes complete sense.
Houllier spoke to us all individually about his views on how the game should be played, his tactics and coach Gary McAllister described a normal week training at the club.
Their decision to implement an attractive, attacking 4-2-3-1 formation should eventually help Villa play 4-3-3 which top sides like Spain and Barcelona use.
And new Cameroon midfielder Jean Makoun, 27, who cost £6million in January, looks like one to watch.
Fans might not appreciate fully just what Makoun is capable of after his red card at Blackpool and subsequent three-game ban.
But he will be available for Villa's next game at home to Wolves and should be a key player in the run-in.
Houllier and McAllister have high hopes for Makoun after their ProZone stats showed he successfully completed over 100 passes in the game last month at Old Trafford.
Apparently very few players ever complete over 100 passes - unless you are talking about Barcelona aces like Xavi and Andres Iniesta - and Makoun did it against no lesser opponents than Manchester United.
Robert Pires' recent display against Blackburn has also finally offered a glimpse into why he was offered a contract while Villa are working hard to improve Bent's weaker left-foot.
Houllier said he spent a lot of time helping Michael Owen during his time at Liverpool to get the striker to shoot more with his left foot.
And it famously paid off when Owen scored a dramatic late winner in the 2001 FA Cup final against Arsenal.
Now at Villa, Houllier's methods are clearly bringing the best out of those open-minded players willing to embrace the change such as Stewart Downing.
While others with supposed tendencies to moan or mess around - like Stephen Warnock - have been ostracised for fear of affecting the main group of players.
At the weekend, another misfit, Stephen Ireland was heard grumbling about having to relocate from Manchester to Birmingham to play for Villa, well surely that is not too much to ask if you are being paid £65,000-a-week.
Houllier has had the balls to introduce unpopular rules and methods since arriving in September for the long-term good of the club.
In return, club officials and Houllier himself accept this season represents a period of transition.
For while results have been slow to improve on the pitch, change off the pitch has been dramatic.
Now mobile phones are banned at the training ground, players must have a home or base locally in the area and training is a lot more regimented.
It has clearly caused problems among the squad but Houllier and Villa are right to demand more from their squad after the club's wage bill rose to a whopping £80m a year.
Under Houllier and McAllister, when the team is playing just on a weekend like at the moment, players will take part in a tough 90-minute training session on a Monday and Tuesday.
These are compromised of a 15-minute warm up to stretch every main muscle in the body before series of drills lasting no-more than six-eight minutes (that's apparently the average attention span of a professional footballer), some possession work and then an eight-a-side game to finish up.
Wednesday would be off for the players to rest before Thursday and Friday are spent predominantly practising set pieces, shape and working on the tactics to combat specific opposition ahead of Saturday's game.
And it certainly seems as if training at Villa now is a lot more constructive than previously.
But of course it is not being translated into results which is Houllier's biggest problem - because contrary to that favourite football chant, I really believe he does know what he is doing.
And if Houllier can get Villa winning again then fans will surely forgive him for his PR bloopers at Anfield or Eastlands.
Read more:
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/james-nursey/James-Nursey-on-Aston-Villa-Why-fans-should-look-beyond-the-PR-gaffes-to-see-how-Gerard-Houllier-has-changed-club
