Gerard Houllier

[eamonn]

I’m a bit sceptical about all these signings that were supposedly lined up, especially considering that all McLeish talked about later that summer was the need to reduce the wage bill.

Although I’d have loved Cabaye in hindsight.

A lot is made of the potential Cabaye purchase, but less is said about his fairly disastrous last few signings for Liverpool, who included Cheyrou, Diao, Diarra, Djiouf and Cisse, who were all a bit on the crap side.

Igor Biscan!

[Damo70]

A while back someone posted a link on H&V to a list of the worst value Premier League signings and a number of Houllier's Liverpool signings were on the list.

As for McLeish the best move he made was Robbie Keane on loan. He scored three goals in six games late on in the season, and we finished only two points ahead of the relegation places.

[SoccerHQ]

A while back someone posted a link on H&V to a list of the worst value Premier League signings and a number of Houllier's Liverpool signings were on the list.

As for McLeish the best move he made was Robbie Keane on loan. He scored three goals in six games late on in the season, and we finished only two points ahead of the relegation places.

Thinking about it that Wolves game was huge. We were 2-1 down at half time and then Keane practically won it on his own with two great goals. Yet another in the long line of players we should've signed earlier in his career.

Few weeks later he went back to MLS, Bent got injured at similar time and we went into freefall (well just drawing games).

[dave shelley]

A while back someone posted a link on H&V to a list of the worst value Premier League signings and a number of Houllier's Liverpool signings were on the list.

As for McLeish the best move he made was Robbie Keane on loan. He scored three goals in six games late on in the season, and we finished only two points ahead of the relegation places.

Twas me.

[KevinGage]

A while back someone posted a link on H&V to a list of the worst value Premier League signings and a number of Houllier's Liverpool signings were on the list.

I'd be surprised if most of his signings weren't on the list.

He inherited Carragher, Gerrard, Fowler and Owen and they were his best players. 

Vastly overrated manager, IMO. 

Always sticks in my mind that he threatened to sue Sander Westerveld when he left and said he wasn't given proper support. The arse.

And when we were after Baros in 2005, he said he couldn't understand why Baros would want to go to a mid table club like Aston Villa. That's without even getting into the 7-12 passion-killing when he arrived and Liverpool PR gibberish. At a time when he was being paid very handsomely to manage the finest football club in the world.   

[danno]

Hypia and Henchoz weren't bad. I think maybe 6 ?? of the team that won the champions league in 2005 were Houllier signings. Although in fairness someone winning the European cup after he left might be proof he was crap!

[passitsideways]

I wonder when exactly Lerner made the decision to turn off the tap - I wonder if it came as a response to Houllier's health issues and not wanting to back a spending spree to tempt a more ambitious manager to come, or whether he was planning to do it regardless. If it was the latter, it's rather difficult to believe that Houllier's supposed transfer plans would've come to fruition - I think Cabaye would have happened, that story's been making the rounds for a long time now and I think Cabaye himself said he was ready to come before changing his mind because Houllier was leaving, but that wouldn't have left much money to replace Young and Downing adequately.

[dave.woodhall]

From what's been hinted, it was something Houlier did that made Lerner think that being stitched up two summers in a row was quite enough, thank you very much.

[SoccerHQ]

Cahill only actually signed for Chelsea for 7m in Jan 2012 so he'd have been within our budget.

The strategy really changed in summer 2012. As others have said likes of Hutton, Given, N'zogbia and Jenas were all experienced international players when they signed.

[Toronto Villa]

I can well imagine that after MON fucked him and everyone else over Lerner probably became a paranoid mess. Probably explains why he then went for the unbelievably shit but safe and honest pair of hands in TSM1.

[Sexual Ealing]

I can well imagine that after MON fucked him and everyone else over Lerner probably became a paranoid mess. Probably explains why he then went for the unbelievably shit but safe and honest pair of hands in TSM1.

Nothing explains that.

[passitsideways]

Cahill only actually signed for Chelsea for 7m in Jan 2012 so he'd have been within our budget.

The strategy really changed in summer 2012. As others have said likes of Hutton, Given, N'zogbia and Jenas were all experienced international players when they signed.

From what I remember, we got 15 million for Young and 19 million for Downing, and we paid 9.5 for N'Zogbia and 5 or so for Given, which leaves about 20 million. I think Hutton was basically a like-for-like replacement, maybe slightly cheaper on the wages, for Luke Young, who was sold to QPR. Then there was the Jenas loan which was cut short by his injury, but even then they farmed Makoun out in order to do that.

All that makes me think the austerity measures were already in place by then, and that the only reason any money was spent at all was because they couldn't just sit entirely on the money for Downing and Young.

I'm not sure Cahill was ever a go either, he did go cheap to Chelsea in the winter transfer window because I think at that point he only had six months left on his contract, but he would've cost twice that much in the summer.

With an indifferent Lerner at the helm the crash was inevitable but I think most people agree that completely blowing up the slight progress made during the Houllier season (Albrighton and Bannan looking like decent prospects, occasional periods where the football looked progressive) by picking McLeish was the biggest catalyst. Surely there would have been someone out there who, without being absolutely brilliant, could've at least continued on with whatever Houllier was instilling - I'd much rather have crashed and burned spectacularly with someone like Bielsa at the helm, for one...

[JJ-AV]

I sort of remember this coming up years ago and Cabaye being touted, but also a French goalkeeper and another defender. Any ideas who they were?

[passitsideways]

I sort of remember this coming up years ago and Cabaye being touted, but also a French goalkeeper and another defender. Any ideas who they were?

Nicolas Douchez was the GK, I'm pretty sure, I remember it, because, well, juvenile.

The defender, who knows, honestly we probably needed an entire new back 4 at the time

[brontebilly]

Cahill only actually signed for Chelsea for 7m in Jan 2012 so he'd have been within our budget.

The strategy really changed in summer 2012. As others have said likes of Hutton, Given, N'zogbia and Jenas were all experienced international players when they signed.

Given, Hutton and Jenas' careers were all regressing at that point. The first two were direct replacements for Friedel and L Young. From what I recall, Jenas' career was badly affected by injury at that point, hence was a loan. With likes of Reo Coker and Carew also leaving that summer without replacement, we were in severe cost cutting mode by then.

I had high hopes for Nzogbia, and at half the price we got for Downing he seemed great value, but he was a disaster. But what hope had he realistically trying to replace both Young and Downing. If anything McLeish was a bit unlucky. The football was rank (Hutton infamously selected on right wing v Spurs) but we seemed set for a mid table finish until a dreadful run of  illness/injuries to experienced players like Petrov, Bent and Dunne hit us late on and nearly doomed us.