Gerard Houllier

[Damo70]

I would rather have given the McAlister / Houllier another season to see what they could have done, rather than McLeish (who should never have been appointed as manager of our football club)

I still to this day can't work out how you can relegate Small Heath and then immediately get the Villa job. Can you imagine Marco Silva winning the EFL cup this season and then getting Everton relegated only to take over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool in the summer.

[Damo70]

Because what we really need is another 2010-11 debate.

Fair point. Debates like this are best left for International breaks and close season when we need to find something to talk about. 

[Legion]

I liked him.

[dave shelley]

I liked him.

So did I and would have liked to have seen what he could have done with us as I felt he was moving us in the right direction. 

[LeeB]

I didn't like him, thought it was a shit appointment, but by Christ compared to his replacement he was like Rinus Michaels

[pauliewalnuts]

I thought he was an arrogant arse and Petrov's story about him makes him look a twat, but as Lee said above, compared to McLeish he was a footballing God.

[Clark W Griswold]

He was as good an appointment as you could expect under the circumstances but by the end of the season i was thoroughly unimpressed, despite not wishing him the health issues obviously.

[Risso]

Couldn't stand the bloke or his constant Liverpool obsession.  Touching the Anfield sign as he walked out on to the pitch when we played the Scousers, for crying out loud.  He was obviously better than McLeish, but to be honest if he'd have stayed it would all have been a disaster eventually as Lerner's heart clearly wasn't in it.

[Bad English]

A bit harsh, BE.
We all knew he had a lot of time for Liverpool, but, for me, did it really matter? .

It's not the Liverpool stuff. It's all the stuff he did previously in France too. Prize wanker who puts the blame on everyone but himself.

[cdbearsfan]

He was shite, and he made us look incredibly small time with the Liverpool thing and the pathetic surrender at Man City. The fact that his replacements were shite too doesn't change that. Just because I think Boris Johnson is a twat doesn't mean I have to like Theresa May.

[cdbearsfan]

The last goal of Houlliers reign? Surely that was Downing Vs Liverpool? Beat them 1-0 on the final day.

Gary McAllister was manager, not Houllier.

[Deano's Mullet]

The last goal of Houlliers reign? Surely that was Downing Vs Liverpool? Beat them 1-0 on the final day.

Gary McAllister was manager, not Houllier.

I honestly forgot about that.  Seems a life time ago now. Why did he not last to the final game?

[brontebilly]

The last goal of Houlliers reign? Surely that was Downing Vs Liverpool? Beat them 1-0 on the final day.

Gary McAllister was manager, not Houllier.

I honestly forgot about that.  Seems a life time ago now. Why did he not last to the final game?

Illness, McAllister took over for much of the second half of the season. Results improved under McAllister particularly in later weeks so we somehow ended up ninth for a finish. McAllisters management career hasn't exactly kicked on since but did a decent job for us that time in tough circumstances.

Some interesting observations from Houllier in the interview about the club at the time but castigating likes of Warnock for not moving closer to Birmingham while not having an issue with Young commuting from London ranks of hyopcricy. Jean Makoun was also one of the worst players, and waste of money, I've seen in a Villa shirt, glossed over above. Bradley did well post Villa if I recall.

[Risso]

Houllier was surely still technically the manager while he was ill?

[cdbearsfan]

Well, maybe. But he wasn't on the touchline or in the dressing room. So "manager" in name, but not in reality.