Has Houllier changed our club for the better?

[KevinGage]

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.

It's very impressive.

But those three trophies (individually and combined) were second fiddle to the big one, the league. Did they justify the huge outlay he made between 1998-2001?

Liverpool fans are still divided on that one today.

He was in the fortunate position where he was given the backing to outspend every club in the land pre Chelsea, yet his success rate when you look at those deals overall was more miss than hit.

[Nev]

I can't wait until he's had a chance to build his own side.

And then decides that the opposition are too strong and elects to wave the white flag. No end of transfer windows, previous achievements, extra training sessions, good football, patience from the fans or anything else for that matter will make any difference if he does not alter his approach.

Hou's half built side with confidence and swagger was destroyed by his own cowardice, rendering the Bolton defeat as a more significant setback that it would've been. And now the pressure is on for the Wolves game.

This is the sort of future I envisige, and it's one I'd rather not have for our football club.

[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.

It's very impressive.

But those three trophies (individually and combined) were second fiddle to the big one, the league. Did they justify the huge outlay he made between 1998-2001?

Liverpool fans are still divided on that one today.

He was in the fortunate position where he was given the backing to outspend every club in the land pre Chelsea, yet his success rate when you look at those deals overall was more miss than hit.

I'm not going to criticise him not being able to land a league title in a time where arguably the greatest manager there has ever been was cleaning up and Wenger's Arsenal sides were some of the best in history.
The facts are he won loads of trophies and it didnt stop when he left Liverpool either.
I wouldn't compare him to Roy Evans, who managed one Carling Cup win, for instance.

It would also be fair to say that Houllier assembled the team that won the Champions League too.
Was his outlay any more than Fergies (who had an even better youth crop than Houllier) for instance? Or Chelseas? Arsenals? Newcastles? I don't know.
Compared to what it delivered - 2 League cups, UEFA Cup, FA cup, UEFA Super Cup, arguably the Champions league, genuine league challenges etc. I'd take some of that alright.
Let's not make light of cups we would absolutely dream of winning again.

I can uderstand criticism of his record at Villa so far. It's not impressive but there are reasons and difficult circumstances. Its not a crutch he can use forever but his record is superb quite honestly. Few managers compare to it. Very few we've had too.

By the way, I would swap the League title for the UEFA Cup (as it was), League Cup and FA cup in a heartbeat. Easiest decision ever. I dont care what bollocks Liverpool fans come out with.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

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.

It's very impressive.

But those three trophies (individually and combined) were second fiddle to the big one, the league. Did they justify the huge outlay he made between 1998-2001?

Liverpool fans are still divided on that one today.

They are spoilt bastards though.
In the same season they won the FA, League and UEFA cups, yet a lot of their supporters were still moaning at the time.
They've never got over losing their position of kingpins that they had in the 70's and 80's.

[dave.woodhall]

I can't wait until he's had a chance to build his own side.

And then decides that the opposition are too strong and elects to wave the white flag. No end of transfer windows, previous achievements, extra training sessions, good football, patience from the fans or anything else for that matter will make any difference if he does not alter his approach.

Hou's half built side with confidence and swagger was destroyed by his own cowardice, rendering the Bolton defeat as a more significant setback that it would've been. And now the pressure is on for the Wolves game.

This is the sort of future I envisige, and it's one I'd rather not have for our football club.

You don't know that, but so what?

[Nev]

I can't wait until he's had a chance to build his own side.

And then decides that the opposition are too strong and elects to wave the white flag. No end of transfer windows, previous achievements, extra training sessions, good football, patience from the fans or anything else for that matter will make any difference if he does not alter his approach.

Hou's half built side with confidence and swagger was destroyed by his own cowardice, rendering the Bolton defeat as a more significant setback that it would've been. And now the pressure is on for the Wolves game.

This is the sort of future I envisige, and it's one I'd rather not have for our football club.

You don't know that, but so what?

No one can predict the future and I'd venture to say that one would be foolish to try and do so. Speculation is the only thing we can really do and that's what my post was all about, and that speculation was based on the evidence presented so far.

I hope Hou is a success at Villa, but I  had also hoped that this would be our year for the Cup.

[dave.woodhall]

I can't wait until he's had a chance to build his own side.

And then decides that the opposition are too strong and elects to wave the white flag. No end of transfer windows, previous achievements, extra training sessions, good football, patience from the fans or anything else for that matter will make any difference if he does not alter his approach.

Hou's half built side with confidence and swagger was destroyed by his own cowardice, rendering the Bolton defeat as a more significant setback that it would've been. And now the pressure is on for the Wolves game.

This is the sort of future I envisige, and it's one I'd rather not have for our football club.

You don't know that, but so what?

No one can predict the future and I'd venture to say that one would be foolish to try and do so. Speculation is the only thing we can really do and that's what my post was all about, and that speculation was based on the evidence presented so far.

I hope Hou is a success at Villa, but I  had also hoped that this would be our year for the Cup.

I first hoped that in 1965.

[eastie]

I think by Xmas we will have a good idea of where we are heading , there will no doubt be a lot of ins and outs this summer but I'm hopeful if he can bring in the kind of players to suit his style that we will be battling around the top 6 next season, as it happens it looks certain that 6th this season will not get a European place , due to blues and either Bolton it Stoke being guaranteed a place.

[WikiVilla]

to suit his style

& what exactly is his style ?? Tip tappying around on the halfway line and forgetting to defend ?
I've seen very little of this "style" that I want at our football club

[Mazrim]

I think the fact that we concede so many daft goals colours some people's opinions of our "style". We can play some really good stuff and if we kept it just a bit tighter, it would be remarked on more often. But thats understandable.

There is more sophistication currently and I dont want to go back to the very one dimensional football we were playing over the last year or two. All it will take is to get the few defenders and new goalie we need and we wont be so vulnerable. Plus some of the kids to gain experience.
Its coming but it will take time.

There is definitely more style about our play but style doesnt keep clean sheets. Houllier knows this. He'll know what needs to be done. Too many senior players are letting him down and are also not appearing on the pitch enough to make a difference.

[Risso]

I think the fact that we concede so many daft goals colours some people's opinions of our "style". We can play some really good stuff and if we kept it just a bit tighter, it would be remarked on more often. But thats understandable.

There is more sophistication currently and I dont want to go back to the very one dimensional football we were playing over the last year or two. All it will take is to get the few defenders and new goalie we need and we wont be so vulnerable. Plus some of the kids to gain experience.
Its coming but it will take time.

There is definitely more style about our play but style doesnt keep clean sheets. Houllier knows this. He'll know what needs to be done. Too many senior players are letting him down and are also not appearing on the pitch enough to make a difference.

Couldn't all of the teams at the bottom say the similar things though?  I mean, Wigan and West Ham try and play football as well, and I'm sure they realise that they concede too many goals as well.

[Chris Smith]

to suit his style

& what exactly is his style ?? Tip tappying around on the halfway line and forgetting to defend ?
I've seen very little of this "style" that I want at our football club

No, that's a very poor assessment of the way we play. You're not Alan Shearer by any chance are you?

[eastie]

Pass and move wiki , pass and move !

Players comfortable in possession who can pick out a teammate and move to create space and angles , rather than just hoof it up to the big man as some teams do - we are becoming a fluent attractive team to watch and once makoun is settled and the keeper and defence sorted watch us go.

[Clampy]

I like what he's trying to do but it's a shame that he's making such hard work of it.

[eastie]

Agreed clamps, he has shot himself in the foot needlessly on occasions but we are seeing signs of improvement- that said however if it goes wrong on Saturday then this site could go into meltdown- it's such a huge game and a win would put us well on the way to safety.