Has Houllier changed our club for the better?

[hartman_1982]

Houllier certainly lacks man management skills, which hasn't been helped by the attitude of some of his players.
Ultimately though the manager is responsible for organising and motivating his team to produce a good performance and get a result, he hasn't done either very successfully so far.
I'm not convinced he will ever be the greatest motivator, but once he has had the time to build his own team,(next season) i would hope we see a better organised team.

I don't buy into this "he is a bad man manager" stuff. He is a very professional manager who expects the same from his players. He came in and laid down the law regarding fitness and conduct at our club. This is the bare minimum I, as a fan, would expect when we are paying these player millions of pounds a year. Bizarelly some of our "professional footballers" didn't believe in this and have kicked up a fuss. If they don't want to work hard foir thewir salaries then they can bugger off. Unfortunately it wont be untill the summer that the bad eggs have been go rid of and if GED produce a similar transfer window to January in the summer, then I am convinced good things lie in wait.
He is working on our players individually to develop the technical side of their games. As a result, in the last two months I have seen a marked improvement in the attacking football that we play. It is free flowing and far more entertaining to watch than anything we produced under MON. It takes time and a lot of bravery to try and completly change the footballing philosphy of a football club. Yes we have been sloppy form set pieces and yes once we go ahead, I never actually believe we will see out the game, but I honestly believe these are temporary problems. I am fully behind GED and I fully expect him to resolve our defensive problems over the summer.

[levico]

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone. All MONs little foibles (that stopped us getting into the top 4) seem trivial compared to the gigantic mess GH has taken into. I know it's been said but to allow yourself to believe that GH is building something here is just plain delusion.

[pauliewalnuts]

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone. All MONs little foibles (that stopped us getting into the top 4) seem trivial compared to the gigantic mess GH has taken into. I know it's been said but to allow yourself to believe that GH is building something here is just plain delusion.

Why is it?

[Chris Smith]

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone. All MONs little foibles (that stopped us getting into the top 4) seem trivial compared to the gigantic mess GH has taken into. I know it's been said but to allow yourself to believe that GH is building something here is just plain delusion.

I disagree, I was a big supporter of the job MON was doing but I can see clear signs that GH could be very good for us.

We have one glaring deficiency in the way we deal with set pieces but our general play has been improving steadily. In the last two games we have scored 6 but could easily have doubled that with the number of chances we created. If we address the defensive issue over the summer then there are plenty of reasons for optimism next season.

[Risso]

The trouble we'll have is that I think we're in for a lot of players coming and going in the summer, which will obviously lead to more upheaval.  It's all very well saying that he'll sort the defence out, but if say Ashley Young and Gabby move on, then he'll have to sort out the forward as well.

[WikiVilla]

Change that to Defence + Keeper and I'd largely agree.
We just need to survive and see this season out

[Chris Smith]

The trouble we'll have is that I think we're in for a lot of players coming and going in the summer, which will obviously lead to more upheaval.  It's all very well saying that he'll sort the defence out, but if say Ashley Young and Gabby move on, then he'll have to sort out the forward as well.

Yes, agreed if we have major upheavals then it might be one step forward two steps back.

[hartman_1982]

He overhauled the squad at Liverpool with great success, he will do the same here IMO.

[andyh]

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone. All MONs little foibles (that stopped us getting into the top 4) seem trivial compared to the gigantic mess GH has taken into. I know it's been said but to allow yourself to believe that GH is building something here is just plain delusion.

I disagree, I was a big supporter of the job MON was doing but I can see clear signs that GH could be very good for us.

We have one glaring deficiency in the way we deal with set pieces but our general play has been improving steadily. In the last two games we have scored 6 but could easily have doubled that with the number of chances we created. If we address the defensive issue over the summer then there are plenty of reasons for optimism next season.

I agree with this to a certain extent, but I don't think we should get caried away with the number of chances created against Blackburn and Bolton.
Blackburn are a team in freefall, and it took a penanlty and an OG before we started to look comfortable against them.
Bolton, well, there is another team that leaks in as many as they score. Even the rags, created numerous chances against them on Saturday.

I think Wolves will be a tougher game on Saturday and I worry that yet another of the 'winnable' 11 is going to slip by without us getting maximum points.   
 

[Risso]

He overhauled the squad at Liverpool with great success, he will do the same here IMO.

Did he?

For every decent player he bought (eg Hyppia) , there was at least a couple of duds, and he was lucky enough to inherit young players of the exceptional calibre of Owen, Gerrard and Carragher.  Despite spending a fortune and winning a few cups, the league success Liverpool fans were really after never looked a reality, and his best effort was one second place, the same as Roy Evans managed.

[Mazrim]

Hang on a sec. He won 3 trophies in one season. That's an incredible acheivement.
In an era dominated by Arsenal and Man Utd too.
There's no way that can be considered as anything other than exceptional.

[Chris Smith]

Hang on a sec. He won 3 trophies in one season. That's an incredible acheivement.
In an era dominated by Arsenal and Man Utd too.
There's no way that can be considered as anything other than exceptional.

Yep, when was the last time we had a manager who could claim anything similar?

[Matt C]

As others have said, we just need to scramble through the end of the season and PL safety and then he can make the major changes that he wants to.

[WikiVilla]

As others have said, we just need to scramble through the end of the season and PL safety and then he can make the major changes that he wants to.

He can make changes, but I'd guess he'll be on a budget - largely self funding (ie deadwood out first)

[Mazrim]

Actually, after checking, he won the FA Community shield and UEFA Super Cup in 2001 too so that's 5 trophies. 5!!!!!
I know it was 10 years ago but the point being that he built a team within, what 2? 3 years? to accomplish this.
I dont know if he can any more, but I dont think after a season when we're still reeling from the mess MON left us in is the right time to judge that. Not for me anyway.