Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Ger Regan on December 14, 2020, 10:16:11 AM
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News coming through that Houllier has passed away at 73. Sad news.
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Very sad news.
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Very sad news.
Rest In Peace Gerard.
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Blimey that's a shocker, RIP Gerard.
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Sad news. Seemed like a thoroughly decent chap. Didn't quite work out at Villa Park although it did seem to be coming together towards the end of his season with us and one of the great 'what ifs?' is what would have happened next if he'd stayed.
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Bloody hell
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Sad indeed and far too early. I wonder if this was related to his aneurysm issue he had many many years ago?
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Oh wow. That is very sad indeed.
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Often wondered what might have been had his health and fitness been better when he came to Villa Park.
He always seemed to be a thoroughly decent bloke - similar in many respects to Sir Graham.
A sad loss.
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RIP.
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That is such a shame. I really liked him.
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A real shame and definitely one of those what might have been Managers. RIP.
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Sad news indeed, RIP Gerard
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Very sad. RIP Gerard Houllier.
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A class act and a gentleman.
If only.....
RIP Gerard.
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RIP Gerard. Always came across as a lovely bloke.
Condolences to his family
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Adieu, Gérard.
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Just terrible news. RIP
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Sad news. R.I.P Gerard.
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RIP Gerard shame the fans will not be able to pay their respects on Thursday
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Very sad news.
He was a nice man.
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Sad news. Seemed like a thoroughly decent chap. Didn't quite work out at Villa Park although it did seem to be coming together towards the end of his season with us and one of the great 'what ifs?' is what would have happened next if he'd stayed.
Yep. Certainly seemed to have twigged a few of the wasters who stayed on and stank the place out for a few seasons after he departed.
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RIP
Didn't quite work out for him at VP.
Condolences to his family.
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Now that's a real shame: he seemed like a thoroughly decent man.
RIP Gerard and my condolences to his family and friends.
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Sad news this. RIP
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Sad news, a very good and decent man.
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RIP thoughts to his family and friends
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My old man has just phoned and told me of his passing. We will never know how things would have turned out if he hadn't been taken ill during his spell with us. RIP Gerard.
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RIP Gerard.
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Sad news. Seemed like a thoroughly decent chap. Didn't quite work out at Villa Park although it did seem to be coming together towards the end of his season with us and one of the great 'what ifs?' is what would have happened next if he'd stayed.
Sums it up nicely, RIP!
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I think it's a bit unlikely it would have worked out had he stayed, even if he had been fit enough. Lerner's interest and ability to support the team was on the wane and as we've seen you really need a committed and engaged (not to mention minted) owner to have a chance, whoever the manager is.
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
And Jean Makoun II, don't forget!
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
He did. That looked like an emergency signing to stave off relegation though rather than any long term strategy for success. The year after was when it was really evident that we were on the start of the downward spiral. We sold all the mainstays of the O'Neill years in Young, Milner and Downing etc.
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Sad will always wonder what he might have achieved with us.
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
And Jean Makoun II, don't forget!
Jean II Makoun to be more precise!
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RIP Gerard.
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RIP Gerard, always came across as a decent bloke.
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
And Jean Makoun II, don't forget!
I shan't forget Jean's jumper at his unveiling. Magnificent.
On a serious note, I remember seeing Houllier at the Emirates when we lost 2-1 there under Lambert and he looked absolutely shocking. Gaunt, slow and frail. I wondered if the operation he had which ended his spell with us, had taken its toll, and that was 7 years ago.
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
He did. That looked like an emergency signing to stave off relegation though rather than any long term strategy for success. The year after was when it was really evident that we were on the start of the downward spiral. We sold all the mainstays of the O'Neill years in Young, Milner and Downing etc.
Although at the time there were plently that thought replacing them with Albrighton, Ireland and N'Zogbia looked pretty decent business. Although hindsight proved me, err they, very, very wrong. I'd say it was a season or so later that Lerner's lack of interest became evident.
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
And Jean Makoun II, don't forget!
Jean II Makoun to be more precise!
Yes, it was, wasn't it?
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RIP Gerard, one of life's decent individuals. I too felt that we were improving when he was taken ill. Many thanks Gerard and condolences to your family and friends.
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Sad news indeed - I can confirm that he was a thoroughly decent guy - a close friend of mine is an eminent heart surgeon on Merseyside and was part of the team that operated on Gerard when he was taken ill whilst managing Liverpool. He was obviously extremely grateful to the team that saved his life, but went the extra mile to make sure he thanked them all personally. RIP Gerard
Just spoken with an ex work colleague who's partner is the LFC official photographer - they were in Paris in the summer celebrating her 50th birthday - Gerard got wind of them being in France and treated them to a slap up meal in Paris - my buddy said he was a lovely fella and His partner was devastated at the news of his passing ...one of football's decent guys
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Very very sad
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Very saddened by this. He had plenty of detractors but I honestly felt had he stayed healthy we have turned the corner much faster and built from there. Players who offered nothing would have gone. The players we were immediately linked with were in many cases up and coming talent. I would have enjoyed having one or two very decent French players. And certainly when I watch Toronto’s Michael Bradley play I certainly wished we’d given him more of a chance.
2020 continues to be a very challenging year. RIP Gerard.
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It was an exciting time when he joined us. To my memory it's the only time we've appointed a manager successful in both England and Europe. What might have been. Rest well.
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Sad news. Condolences to his friends and family.
He seemed like a lovely guy and very popular throughout the game.
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A charming gentleman of the game - and there arn't many of those about anymore
I always thought he was just on the cusp of turning us around - sadly health issues put a stop to all that
RIP
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A proper gentleman of the game in an era where there aren't many of them. Such a shame that his tenure was cut short at Villa Park just as he was beginning to build something good. RIP Gerard Houllier.
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Sad news but not a huge shock. He's had very serious heart problems for years. We were starting to play some decent stuff towards the end of his time with us.
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Best and worst games under Houllier (RIP) for me.
League Wolves 2-1 away win (Heskey 88th minute winner)
League Man City 1-0 home win (Bent's debut goal, but also personal for me because of a Man City supporting boss who was a right w-nker)
League L'pool away 3-0 loss (team played with too much respect for L'pool, but Villa fans were class on the night..."let's cheer like we've scored a goal")
FA cup Man City 3-0 away loss (A weakened team played in the last 16 of the cup resulting in capitulation on a long weekday evening annoyingly. Also personal see above)
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Very sad news RIP Gerard.
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Best and worst games under Houllier (RIP) for me.
League Wolves 2-1 away win (Heskey 88th minute winner)
League Man City 1-0 home win (Bent's debut goal, but also personal for me because of a Man City supporting boss who was a right w-nker)
League L'pool away 3-0 loss (team played with too much respect for L'pool, but Villa fans were class on the night..."let's cheer like we've scored a goal")
FA cup Man City 3-0 away loss (A weakened team played in the last 16 of the cup resulting in capitulation on a long weekday evening annoyingly. Also personal see above)
The signing of Bent and his winning goal on his debut was probably the highlight. The Citeh cup loss was the low point. If I remember right one of Houllier's first games was at home to Manure and we went 2-0 up with quite a young line up but Manure pulled it back to 2-2.
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File under good manager but wrong fit wrong time, along with doctor Jo.
73 is no age these days. RIP.
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For all the rumours of players he was supposed to have fallen out with he was clearly loved and highly respected by a lot of others. Was watching Darren Bent and Danny Murphy earlier and read some stuff from Carragher. This from our wonderful former skipper Stan
https://twitter.com/player4playerfc/status/1338471233692852225?s=21
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Adieu, Gérard.
Surprised you didn't go with 'Gérard REP Adieu".
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I think he'd have been a good manager for us given the right circumstances. RIP.
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Very sad news RIP Gerard.
I’m with darren. RIP.
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Adieu, Gérard.
Surprised you didn't go with 'Gérard REP Adieu".
I didn't want to overdo it ;-)
Edit: My brain doesn't work like it used to. Only just got it. Very good!
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In hindsight, he would have been ideal for the club had there been settled structure in place to build something.
He wasn't the right fit for a club fighting fires while it began to slide down a hill
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73 is no age, and always seemed like a true gent in a similar way to Graham Taylor and Jimmy Armfield. Rest in Peace and condolences to your family.
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I wasn't a huge fan of his tenure for various reasons (primarily him being the replacement for MON in the first place) but no one can doubt his love of of football and he had the right ideas to get us going again but problem was short term he couldn't get most of the senior players onside. And the ones he did like Downing and Young were about to leave the club.
Did love him giving debuts to or regularly playing Clark, Albrighton, Bannan and lesser extent Hogg, the Fonz and Baker. Given they've all had solid career with Albrighton doing it in the premier league I imagine they all owe Gerard some thanks for guiding them on the right path as happened at Liverpool with those famous players coming through.
Of course the years after he left softened my views as it was clear what a poisoned job Villa had become. He was unlucky to replace MON when he did, a year earlier and he'd still have had Milner and more money to spend on defenders more to his liking rather than Dunne and Collins who simply weren't.
Certainly someone who lived and breathed Football and I think I can remember it said he didn't realise how big we were until his first matchday at VP so like quite a few outsiders who've joined us down the years.
R.I.P. Gerard.
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Lerner bought him Darren Bent at that stage didn't he?
And Jean Makoun II, don't forget!
Jean II Makoun to be more precise!
Makoun had early issues with pace of the league but you could see his quality on the ball, I reckon with another continental manager who valued possession the next season he'd have proved a good player for us as he'd played for good teams in France.
Instead McLeish just lazily froze him out in favour of likes of Chris Herd....
Our midfield decisions at that time summed up the odd thinking at club at the time. Reo-Coker actually played well under Houllier but we kept on playing him every week seemingly thinking he was going to sign a new deal at expense of Makoun and also Michael Bradley who also came in that window. Bannan was also developing nicely at that time.
For next season could've had a starting midfield of Cabaye- Makoun-Bradley with likes of Bannan continuing to develop without pressure of starting every week and also Stan as backup. Instead our midfield became very poor and after we sadly lost Petrov we ended 2011/12 playing likes of Warnock and Heskey in central midfield.
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RIP GH
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Makoun didn't really do very much when he went back to France, or anywhere else after that.
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At the time we'd signed him he'd been a regular for Lille and Lyon in CL so came with decent pedigree....and a nice jumper!
He just got lost in the strange transition to McLeish who'd probably never heard of him.
Michael Bradley went to Chievo and Roma and played very well in Serie A for a few years so he was certainly a what if given Americans generally adapt pretty well to premier league.