Has Houllier changed our club for the better?

[eastie]

This new ruling about finance that FIFA are bringing in could see a few changes in the league and cut the gap a bit- we have a great young crop coming through and  in 3 years they will be established .

[hawkeye]

The orinal question has got some what mislaid on this forum. The answer is an unequivicable NO.
Since ha came in there has been player anarchy, defencive colapses, PR nightmares and relegation as a real possibility.
Oh yeh we play more attactive football at times, but keep getting beat, some improvement.

[Ian.]

I still maintain it wouldn't have mattered who took the managers job after MON left, whether it was Kev Mac or anyone else we would still be in this position and the season would have been one we all wanted to end quickly with us safe.
Certain players from the start were not up for it this year, god knows why. I'll be glad to see the back of a lot of them.

Going back to the original question, not yet he hasn't but he will change our club for the better.

[LeeB]

But I think I'm just beginning to realise what a rotten core of a squad he's inherited. Reminds me a bit of The Damned United.

Aint that the truth.

It's seems amazing the resistance he's encountered just trying to get the players to behave like professionals.

It seems clear to me that many players were quite happy with their less demanding routine, and if this is true then they were never going to acheive anything for us, regardless of who the manager was.

It's also made me think it might explain why a proper professional like Milner fucked off at the first opportunity.

[ozzjim]

Said on another thread somewhere it reminds me of the Leeds situation, but GH has been too stubborn to walk away from it or bow to the ringleaders. I think if we can get through and stay up, in 12 months time we will be thankful for him being at the club. Mad Martin could see what was coming and walked before his rep could have been tarnished with it.

[LeeB]

Said on another thread somewhere it reminds me of the Leeds situation, but GH has been too stubborn to walk away from it or bow to the ringleaders. I think if we can get through and stay up, in 12 months time we will be thankful for him being at the club. Mad Martin could see what was coming and walked before his rep could have been tarnished with it.

Bannan, Albrighton, Clark, Baker, Lihaj, Hogg, Herd.

All have played this season, all have promise, all wouldn't been within a country mile of the first team if O'Neill was in charge.

Beye, Warnock, Dunne, Carew, Young (L), Collins.

All have had run-ins with Houllier, all are on the slide, all are more interested in self-preversation than working for the team. All can fuck off.

[Clampy]

But I think I'm just beginning to realise what a rotten core of a squad he's inherited. Reminds me a bit of The Damned United.

 
 It's also made me think it might explain why a proper professional like Milner fucked off at the first opportunity.

I think the extra £60k a week might have played a part as well.

[sfx412]

Every Villa fan I know feels that GH has been a disaster this season.   So do all the non Villa fans I know.   The non forum community definitley feel he hasn't improved us this season - quite the opposite.

There's plenty on here and elsewhere, don't.

[Risso]

Every Villa fan I know feels that GH has been a disaster this season.   So do all the non Villa fans I know.   The non forum community definitley feel he hasn't improved us this season - quite the opposite.

There's plenty on here and elsewhere, don't.

I'd say "Gerard Houllier's claret and blue army" isn't exactly sung regularly at games is it?

[KevinGage]

This new ruling about finance that FIFA are bringing in could see a few changes in the league and cut the gap a bit- we have a great young crop coming through and  in 3 years they will be established .

If we go down it will be other sides who see the benefit of that crop though.
I don't think we will, but then I didn't think we'd be half way through March -with just two months of the season to go- 2 points above the drop zone either.

[Irish villain]

If we can stay up (which I still think we will) we will probably see the clear out continue over the summer with a number of real professionals coming in. I think GH, if given the time, will change the philosophy of Aston Villa, and that will be for the better. There will be discipline, dedication, little pampering and an overall better attitude from players.

Like others, I was calling for his head a few months ago because it seemed we were headed for the drop. I still think he made a lot of mistakes when he first arrived and should have remembered that Rome wasn't built in a day. He antagonised fans and certain senior players whom we needed to get performing with the window closed. I think a couple of months of GH stock taking and observing the squad/methods he inherited would have served us better.

I think he is building a better club but that won't be reflected in the results until he can get rid of the players with bad attitudes and continue to bring in players in the mould of Makoun/Bent etc.

[peter w]

Said on another thread somewhere it reminds me of the Leeds situation, but GH has been too stubborn to walk away from it or bow to the ringleaders. I think if we can get through and stay up, in 12 months time we will be thankful for him being at the club. Mad Martin could see what was coming and walked before his rep could have been tarnished with it.

Bannan, Albrighton, Clark, Baker, Lihaj, Hogg, Herd.

All have played this season, all have promise, all wouldn't been within a country mile of the first team if O'Neill was in charge.

Beye, Warnock, Dunne, Carew, Young (L), Collins.

All have had run-ins with Houllier, all are on the slide, all are more interested in self-preversation than working for the team. All can fuck off.

And to be fair if we hadn't had the injuries we had, and Milner hadn't have gone, then it would be unkikely that we would have had to rely so heavily on the kids that in the main aren't ready yet.

[Dante Lavelli]

I like what Houllier is trying to do. I think he has made brave and courageous decisions with the aim of improving Villa, knowing that if the decisions backfire (and they did) that it would be his reputation that would be damaged. Therefore he deserves respect.

Whether he is the right man for the job is another question. I watched the inter v bayern match the other day and it was noticeable that the inter players ran to leonardo when they scored at the end. Similarly Barca hoisting Guardiola after the chimps league the other year. Even the Man U players seem to like Ferguson.

Houllier does not appear to be that liked or respected by players (bar carragher). The situation at villa will no doubt improve when the older heads move on but I'm not sure houllier's people skills will ever be sufficient to propel this club forward to regular chimps league condensers.

...I still wish we'd gone for klinnsmann. Oh well.