Randy Lerner

[PeterWithesShin]

And I reckon Houllier would have done it whether he was manager of Bromsgrove, Villa or Real Madrid visiting Anfield, so size of club is irrelevant.

[saunders_heroes]

Remember him touching the "This is Anfield" sign in the tunnel while managing the opposition team which happened to be the Villa. Dear oh dear.

Maybe that was a superstition thing for him, it's hardly the end of the world is it? If Sir Brian touched a Villa badge, a lion rampant or whatever in the tunnel at VP before a game when he was the manager of the opposition would you really expect their fans to still be whining about it 5 years later?

No one said it was the end of the world but Christ this is the Villa we're talking about not a lower league club having a big day out at Anfield in the Cup.

But he didn't do it at Old Trafford, or the Emirates, or anywhere else. He wasn't overrawed, he didn't feel excited at his 'big day out' - Liverpool were a big part of his life, and if you can't forgive him for being a bit emotional about that I sort of worry for you.

Yeah, bless him.

[Monty]

The real comparison isn't Sir Graham or Sir Brian but Stan Petrov. If he came back as manager of someone else and visibly welled-up a bit, waved to the crowd, got superstitious about the badge, would anyone on here blame him?

Whatever that old manager of theirs said, football isn't actually more important than life or death. Houllier went through a lot at Liverpool which wasn't necessarily football-related, and he's allowed to be as emotional as he wants about that.

[silhillvilla]

Er, there was a bit more to it than him just touching the badge, there was the faux mistaken walk to the home dressing room , and worse the post match comments about if we were going to lose to anyone 3-0 he was "glad" it was them. Plus he spent most of the night doe eyed looking at the Kop etc etc.

[Legion]

Er, there was a bit more to it than him just touching the badge, there was the faux mistaken walk to the home dressing room , and worse the post match comments about if we were going to lose to anyone 3-0 he was "glad" it was them. Plus he spent most of the night doe eyed looking at the Kop etc etc.

Please provide links to support these comments.

[PeterWithesShin]

Er, there was a bit more to it than him just touching the badge, there was the faux mistaken walk to the home dressing room , and worse the post match comments about if we were going to lose to anyone 3-0 he was "glad" it was them. Plus he spent most of the night doe eyed looking at the Kop etc etc.

Please provide links to support these comments.

He did say that, which was daft to say out loud but no doubt the truth. I'm sure if Brian 'had' to lose a game 3-0 he'd rather it be against us than West Ham as an example.

[saunders_heroes]

Er, there was a bit more to it than him just touching the badge, there was the faux mistaken walk to the home dressing room , and worse the post match comments about if we were going to lose to anyone 3-0 he was "glad" it was them. Plus he spent most of the night doe eyed looking at the Kop etc etc.

Please provide links to support these comments.

The "if we were to lose 3-0 to anyone" quote is true from what I can remember.

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm also sure that both would have preferred not to lose 3-0 in the first place.

[silhillvilla]

Er, there was a bit more to it than him just touching the badge, there was the faux mistaken walk to the home dressing room , and worse the post match comments about if we were going to lose to anyone 3-0 he was "glad" it was them. Plus he spent most of the night doe eyed looking at the Kop etc etc.

Please provide links to support these comments.

Gérard Houllier has been forced to issue a statement to clarify the ill-advised comments he made after Monday night's defeat at Liverpool, when he infuriated Aston Villa supporters by suggesting that the fact he had lost 3-0 to his former club softened the blow.

Fans used message boards and forums to vent their anger at Houllier's remarks as well as his conduct – the Villa manager marked his return to Liverpool by touching the "This is Anfield" sign and waved at the Kop at the end of the game after his name was chanted. When he was interviewed after the match, Houllier said: "If I have got to lose 3-0, I would prefer it to be to them as I like Liverpool."

That remark particularly badly received by Villa supporters who were already concerned at a run of four straight defeats that has left them within two points of the relegation zone and ended their interest in the Carling Cup.

Aware of the unrest that his behaviour has caused, Houllier sought to defuse the situation by claiming that his post-match comments were intended to be humorous. There was, however, no apology, and it remains to be seen what sort of reception he will receive when Villa host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday in a game that has now taken on added significance.

"To the fans who travelled to Liverpool and to all Villa supporters, let me assure you that we are working as hard as we possibly can to achieve the level of success which this great club aspires to," Houllier wrote on the Villa website. "Everybody is hurting because of recent results and I and my staff are working on putting this right.

"No one likes to lose 3-0 against any team and, if comments I made in the immediate aftermath of our defeat by Liverpool have been misconstrued – comments which were intended to be humorous, by the way – let me put them into context. The experiences I enjoyed with Liverpool some years ago will always stay with me, as will many experiences I have had in football both before and since, and I have taken all these experiences into my job as manager of Aston Villa.

"I understand the fans' feelings of hurt and disappointment at the moment – I am hurting as much as anybody, believe me – and I say emphatically that we will battle through. Building lasting success at Aston Villa is my focus and my commitment to this challenge is resolute.

"It is down to us collectively as a club to work hard to bring joy and success to the fans because the fans are the most important. They are passionate, vocal and fantastic, which I stated when I first came here. They know we are in this together and their support will be vital on Saturday for our game against West Bromwich Albion."

[Monty]

Yep, that looks like a rational adult trying to explain to hysterical children what a joke is.

[aj2k77]

When you're in a bad run, it's freezing cold and you are getting a spanking, the last thing you want to hear is the manager making stupid comments like those and acting like his fit girlfriend from when he was 18 just walked in the room and winked at him. Defend him all you like but it was a bit insulting and pretty stupid. If it was a joke, it was a shit joke.

[Legion]

Fair point about the after-match comments.

[silhillvilla]

Yep, that looks like a rational adult trying to explain to hysterical children what a joke is.

Nah he was a bell end that night. Can't remember how we did v WBA on the Saturday lol

[saunders_heroes]

Yep, that looks like a rational adult trying to explain to hysterical children what a joke is.

I'm sure every Villa fan out there were pissing themselves laughing when he said it right after the 3-0 stuffing. A joke indeed.

[brian green]

The comparison with Stylian Petrov is on the money. How many Villa fans were critical of his ties with Celtic and playing his farewell game in a Celtic shirt? None.

How many Villa fans became outraged when there was not a single picture of Paul McGrath in a Villa shirt in the original version of his biography? None.

The Houllier at Anfield sagaette has become a scab to be picked at. At worst a minor error of judgement at best an outpouring of understandable emotion.