Official - Houllier leaves by mutual consent (p.28)

[kippaxvilla2]

Quitters never win and winners never quit.

[KevinGage]

Would like to reiterate the points of others wishing Gerard all the best.

Good health and a happy retirement.

Same.

Can never honestly say I warmed to him, but I respected his past record. And by all accounts, he put in a lot of hours with us on a daily basis -which may or may not have contributed to the recurrence of his illness.

I must say I never seen these examples of the improvement in our style of play though.  We looked laboured when we had the likes of NRC trying to stroke it about and play possession football and our best form -both at the beginning and at the end of the season- coincided with the time when we utilised our strengths.

That said, with the benefit of a pre season he might have been in a position to acquire players better suited to his plan. We might have tapped the free/ cheap market and found some gems, particularly with his knowledge of French football. He might have also addressed the most obvious concern (the backline). That alone would have gone some way to making us a better side. We'll never know.

My other concern is that Darren Bent was his signing and if he did nothing else (apart from signing him obv) he played him in a way that got the best out of him. You accept with Bent that he isn't necessarily going to play a huge part in the overall pattern of team play. His hold up play and close control (although improved) are probably average at best. He's there to finish, pure and simple.

A new manager might expect more from a forward (more than goals! What more is there?) and Bent seems to be a confidence player. Even if he's regularly starting, if he doesn't feel the manager has complete faith in him (see 'arry at Tottingham)  it can affect his game.

[Chris Jameson]

Come on then Malcolm, back up your blatant bullshit and nonsense with some form of explanation. Go on, dare you, give it a go for once in your life.

What bullshit ?

Simply I don't think the management are dealing with the media well. I don't think they handled the Mon departure well, the subsequent PR re the new choice of manager well, the subsequent visit to hospital of Houllier was better, but I'd have thought it obvious Houllier returning as was was impossible, so something should have been done and earlier.

I don't think the way the story has broke, no it hasn't yes it has, no it hasn't is, satisfactory and should have been handled better.

My apologies to all if this view is not the required one on here at the moment

I appreciate you are on some puerile wind-up pretty much all the time and of course anybody who happens to hold views that differ to some of your bonkers theories is some sort of playground bully in your strange world but whilst i'm no apologist for the board I really can't see how they could have handled the situation with O'Neill or Houllier any differently. From what little I know (and I suspect the press and even you) about the current situation the club are taking their time to assess the situation and do what is best for both parties.

[NeilH]

Come on then Malcolm, back up your blatant bullshit and nonsense with some form of explanation. Go on, dare you, give it a go for once in your life.

What bullshit ?

Simply I don't think the management are dealing with the media well. I don't think they handled the Mon departure well, the subsequent PR re the new choice of manager well, the subsequent visit to hospital of Houllier was better, but I'd have thought it obvious Houllier returning as was was impossible, so something should have been done and earlier.

I don't think the way the story has broke, no it hasn't yes it has, no it hasn't is, satisfactory and should have been handled better.

My apologies to all if this view is not the required one on here at the moment

I appreciate you are on some puerile wind-up pretty much all the time and of course anybody who happens to hold views that differ to some of your bonkers theories is some sort of playground bully in your strange world but whilst i'm no apologist for the board I really can't see how they could have handled the situation with O'Neill or Houllier any differently. From what little I know (and I suspect the press and even you) about the current situation the club are taking their time to assess the situation and do what is best for both parties.

Here bloody here. There are many things that the board have been accused of over the last 12 months, but on this they have handled themselves very well and with the best interest of the club and Gez at heart.

[holtepaul]

I have no issue with Gerard - i think he has had to sort a hell of a lot of mess that was left for him. It didn't go right, but maybe it wasn't his fault, and I think if it wasn't for his health he would have got it right.

However, we just can't take the chance of this happening again, especially with the large squad overhaul that will take place - this needs someone who will definately be around for at least 4 or 5 years.

So Gerard goes with my best wishes, will certainly earn a clap from me if he attends, and with no malice.

I also thank him for Darren Bent !!!

[eastie]

He did some good things and some bad things , I liked the style of pass and move football and given a pre season may have made more progress- good luck GED and enjoy your retirement with your family.

[holtepaul]

Wonder where this leaves Makoun ?

I mean, lets face it, whoever comes in will want Bent, but Makoun ?

[PaulWinch again]

Makoun has plenty of talent and will be a good player for us.

[The Situation]

I'm probably one of of a few who's a little sad to see Houllier go.

Yes, he didn't do as well as we expected, but he had to deal with many circumstances when he initially became manager.

Ever since the signing of Bent we've done really well bar 3 or 4 results.

Would of liked to see what Houllier could of done next season, but his health is the most important thing. Life goes on.

[Michel Sibble]

Gone by Wednesday, says BBC 5 Live's Pat Murphy.

Not exactly earth-shattering, and Murphy is trying to sound like he was on top of this story all along, when we all know who broke the news first.

On vous salue, Monsieur Houllier. C'est pas trop tard de passer une longue vie active!

[garyshawsknee]

I'm probably one of of a few who's a little sad to see Houllier go.

Yes, he didn't do as well as we expected, but he had to deal with many circumstances when he initially became manager.

Ever since the signing of Bent we've done really well bar 3 or 4 results.

Would of liked to see what Houllier could of done next season, but his health is the most important thing. Life goes on.

Ditto to that,didn't help himself at times,but took over in bad circumstances,with a squad stuck in the ways of the old regime.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Will the french fitness coach leave or stay ?

[Ger Regan]

I think that other than the signing of Bent, the reign of Houllier has been an unmitigated disaster.  Rubbish football, rubbish PR, rubbish results, rubbish defending and all sorts of baffling player decisions.  Again other than Bent, (and possibley Walker) I think all of his transfers have been crap as well.

Unmitigated disaster? I'd like to know what your definition of that is, because for me, that sort of terminology should only be used for relegation, not an admittedly average season.

[holtepaul]

Ger, come on kid, I actually like Gerard - but this season WAS a disaster.

We were two weeks from going out the league - with three games to go, we were one point out of the bottom three (and as it turned out, Wigan won their last two, so did Blackburn, and Wolves won one, and Blues and Blackpool both picked up points.

Therefore, it was the totally unexpected wins against Arsenal and Liverpool that kept us up - and as Gerard was in hospital at the time, I don't think even his greatest fan can say he helped to acheive those two results.

So, whatever the reasons, who-ever was at fault, there is no doubting, this season was a total disaster, and we are very lucky to get away with it !

[Bully2345]

The wins against Arsenal and Liverpool didn't keep us up. We were on 42 points. Birmingham were relegated on 39 points