Why the long faces about Houllier?

[pmk1981]

to be honest i was ok until i found out he was bring that prick thompson with him,  i could live with houllier ( even though i think he is wrong ) but that thompson makes my blood boil... remember what he said on soccer saturday when oniel left

martin oniell done a great job, you have to remember he got ASTON VILLA to 6th,  we are tallking about ASTON VILLA here,  that is an amazing achievment,  and now he is coming to be assistant manager ?? 

someone said the other day they would like to see thompsons reactiion when steve G scores a 25 yard winner in the last minute against us....

[hilts_coolerking]

Houllier hasn't managed in England for 6 years.  Only last season, MON supporters were telling us how much harder it is to achieve a 6th place finish now than it was when O'Leary did it.  Which was 6 years ago.

[Toronto Villa]

Personally, I'm not against the appointment, even if he wouldn't have been my choice, but I also don't expect him to do any better than MON did.  THis season is up in the air as it'll be transitional, but after that I expect us to settle back down into 6th again.

Fair enough, and I think you're right that 6th this season may be a good achievement. However, it's what else he does that is more important. I've said before that this squad as it is today is good enough with the right manager for minimum 8th. We need some fresh faces in January for sure, and for the first time in a long time we can all look forward to a transfer window in great anticipation. What I want from Houllier is that we progress as a club from where MON left us. That we broaden our reach for players, that we become technically better and maintain our ability to challenge on multiple fronts, especially in Europe.

Well, Houllier's transfers and Liverpool were pretty hit and miss, much like MON's for us.  So it will be foreign players who we are arguing the toss over and not British ones, but things won't change, IMO.

His footballing style also seems to be very defensive, so those crying out for a more expansive game will be disappointed.

Things will be different, but overall results won't improve.  And I do hope to be proven wrong on that!

The difference being though John is that he's got over the hump. That is, where MON fell short Houllier has found ways in England and France to get his team to finals and win things.

[peter w]

Eh? Getting Aston Villa to 6th is a great achievemnet? Blimey, where next for him to do his brillaint work? Colchester?

[Toronto Villa]

to be honest i was ok until i found out he was bring that prick thompson with him,  i could live with houllier ( even though i think he is wrong ) but that thompson makes my blood boil... remember what he said on soccer saturday when oniel left

martin oniell done a great job, you have to remember he got ASTON VILLA to 6th,  we are tallking about ASTON VILLA here,  that is an amazing achievment,  and now he is coming to be assistant manager ?? 

someone said the other day they would like to see thompsons reactiion when steve G scores a 25 yard winner in the last minute against us....

yeh, if he does I'm sure Thompson will peg it across the pitch sliding on his knees to where the Liverpool fans are pumping his fists. Come on, get real.

[pmk1981]

Eh? Getting Aston Villa to 6th is a great achievemnet? Blimey, where next for him to do his brillaint work? Colchester?

i couldnt beleive what i was hearing when he said it the cheeky scouse prat

[pmk1981]

Toronto,
Do you get to many games ?  Got a season ticket ?

[Toronto Villa]

Eh? Getting Aston Villa to 6th is a great achievemnet? Blimey, where next for him to do his brillaint work? Colchester?

i couldnt beleive what i was hearing when he said it the cheeky scouse prat

Because he's on TV as a SKY pundit. His job is to speak his mind and be controversial if he wants. He is completely biased as a TV pundit as he should be. That's what he is PAID to do. When he is PAID to coach Villa that is what he will do to the best of his ability.

[Toronto Villa]

Toronto,
Do you get to many games ?  Got a season ticket ?

what has that got to do with anything?

edit: sorry, was that a serious question?

[peter w]

Wooooahhhh, there fellas, let's not go down that route again. We've actually done well with these debates recently without descending into nonsense.

[Toronto Villa]

Wooooahhhh, there fellas, let's not go down that route again. We've actually done well with these debates recently without descending into nonsense.

that's why I had to ask. That's a path covered in broken glass.

[magic monks]

Toronto,
Do you get to many games ?  Got a season ticket ?

Yeah Toronto, no season ticket = no opinion, that's the rule. No exceptions.

[Chris Smith]

Houllier hasn't managed in England for 6 years.  Only last season, MON supporters were telling us how much harder it is to achieve a 6th place finish now than it was when O'Leary did it.  Which was 6 years ago.

While you were telling us it was a piece of piss, so no doubt the new man will do it while at the same debating existentialism and smoking a Gitanes in the dug out.

[peter w]

Wooooahhhh, there fellas, let's not go down that route again. We've actually done well with these debates recently without descending into nonsense.

that's why I had to ask. That's a path covered in broken glass.

I know. We went down there not long ago and I thought it was a good debate about supporting Villa from overseas. That's why bringing it back up again isn't really going to be productive. Not from your side I hasten to add.

[Concrete John]

The difference being though John is that he's got over the hump. That is, where MON fell short Houllier has found ways in England and France to get his team to finals and win things.

True, yet he had a comparative larger spend when at Liverpool than we have enjoyed under Randy.  For instance, he spent £14m on one player over 6 years ago and despite the market inflation since then, that's still above our transfer record.  He also inherited two youth products called Michael Owen and Stephen Gerrard, who I'm sorry to say are better than anything we have coming through.

I'm not knocking him, but based on my evaluation of his merits as a football manager I would not expect him to do any batter tha Martin O'Neill with the same resources to work with.