Gerard Houllier - the great imponderable

[dave.woodhall]

A few words.

http://thebirminghampress.com/2020/12/gerard-houllier-the-great-imponderable/

[Mister E]

"Robert Piers" on a short-term contract? - he was peerless until stranded on the quay.

[Pat Mustard]

That last sentence is absolutely spot on - I wonder what would have happened if rather than his enforced retirement that Houllier had been able to move upstairs in some capacity and oversee structural change to the playing side that was sorely needed post-MON?  The 10 subsequent years might have been slightly easier to bear, but at least it finally feels like we have got back to the place where the structure of the club is solid and we have a manager who is looking beyond the end of each season.

[rob_bridge]

Not all his fault but you have to wonder why there was no contingency planning if O'Neill walked out as the rumours were he was unhappy for the prior months.

In the end it always struck me as a bit of a panic appointment, there was few others available seemingly.

I always thought the DoF, Technical Development role (ha like Villa were professional enough to countenance such a structure under Lermentable) would have been good fit for him. That said if McAllister was his pick as Head Coach maybe not.

In the end i really just don't think he got Villa (McNeill and O'Leary being the other 2) as his heart laid elsewhere and not just Liverpool.

The wrong fit at the wrong time as manager for us would be how I sum it up.

[Damo70]

Not all his fault but you have to wonder why there was no contingency planning if O'Neill walked out as the rumours were he was unhappy for the prior months.

In the end it always struck me as a bit of a panic appointment, there was few others available seemingly.

I always thought the DoF, Technical Development role (ha like Villa were professional enough to countenance such a structure under Lermentable) would have been good fit for him. That said if McAllister was his pick as Head Coach maybe not.

In the end i really just don't think he got Villa (McNeill and O'Leary being the other 2) as his heart laid elsewhere and not just Liverpool.

The wrong fit at the wrong time as manager for us would be how I sum it up.

I wasn't a big fan of him during his spell with us. But going from him to a bloke who had just got Small Heath relegated was batshit crazy.

[darren woolley]

Spot on Dave.

[rob_bridge]

Not all his fault but you have to wonder why there was no contingency planning if O'Neill walked out as the rumours were he was unhappy for the prior months.

In the end it always struck me as a bit of a panic appointment, there was few others available seemingly.

I always thought the DoF, Technical Development role (ha like Villa were professional enough to countenance such a structure under Lermentable) would have been good fit for him. That said if McAllister was his pick as Head Coach maybe not.

In the end i really just don't think he got Villa (McNeill and O'Leary being the other 2) as his heart laid elsewhere and not just Liverpool.

The wrong fit at the wrong time as manager for us would be how I sum it up.

I wasn't a big fan of him during his spell with us. But going from him to a bloke who had just got Small Heath relegated was batshit crazy.

Let us be polite and say the appointment of managerial replacements in terms of continuity of style, background and experience of was not a strong point of the Lerner regime.

Oh yeah Oh Eck was probably the best thing to happen to GH and Gary Mc's in terms of hindsight reputational uplift - took all of 2 weeks to reappraise them.

[Risso]

I wasn't a big fan of him during his spell with us. But going from him to a bloke who had just got Small Heath relegated was batshit crazy.

I think it was General Krulak's comment "Imagine what Alex could do with Randy's backing!" (or words to that effect) that was the final nail in the coffin for any belief I had in the Lerner years.

[ChicagoLion]

Fair assesment, I agree that at least it looked like we had a manager who had a plan. It should have been a safe pair of hands for a couple of years and mid-table stability.

Then Randy lost the plot completely.

[brontebilly]

A few words.

http://thebirminghampress.com/2020/12/gerard-houllier-the-great-imponderable/

Was MON that popular by the end? Seem to recall there being quite a bit of criticism in his last months that he didn't at all take kindly too. Think we ended up with an amazing ninth place finish too!

Houllier was just a poor fit really, by the time he had to stand aside we were in big trouble. McAllister did a very good job really in getting everyone back onside for a final push up the table. It still beggars belief that Alex McLeish was seen as the solution that summer, we went in free fall from that point for a number of years.

[jwarry]

Quite surprised by these comments. I thought he was on to something but didn’t quite have the tools to work with - he even managed to get wee Barry looking like a worldbeater for a couple of weeks! Like some, I would love to have seen how it would have developed and I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have endured the poisonous years we did experience.

[dave.woodhall]

As I said above, I think he was so fixated with the long-term that he ignored the present. Once we went back to basics results improved.

[SoccerHQ]

Quite surprised by these comments. I thought he was on to something but didn’t quite have the tools to work with - he even managed to get wee Barry looking like a worldbeater for a couple of weeks! Like some, I would love to have seen how it would have developed and I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have endured the poisonous years we did experience.

The results weren't great and that was always a problem considering we'd finished 6th three straight years and there was still a belief when he turned up that we should be challenging for top 4 which quickly became misguided when you saw how much of a void Milner leaving had left.

10/11 is one of the strangest seasons I've ever seen from us. O'Neill then started off with 2 wins out of 3 (with the one in the middle being a 6-0 loss to promoted Newcastle) then Houllier came in middle of September and really could've done with a pre season but we know who's fault that is....anyway results and performances were o.k until we lost all our midfielders and forwards in one go around November.

Even then we outplayed Man. United with an under 20 midfield but results then did go south and we finished 2010 in the bottom 3 and fans calling for his sacking after losing at home to Sunderland. Then we signed Bent and picked up again, then start losing again and we pretty much remained in bottom 6 until the final two games against Arsenal and Liverpool. Remembered our level from previous two years, won both and somehow finished 9th.

As far as middling mid table finishes go, that certainly wasn't a boring season from start to finish!

Perhaps he'd have stayed on if the health issues hadn't occurred in April 2011 even if that meant going to DOF role with Gary Mac as head coach. I have my doubts on that working aswell but given the alternative was McLeish yeah I'd have been up for it especially if he was lining up the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Loic Remy and Adil Rami as rumoured who all proved themselves in major leagues from that point onwards for other clubs.

[Risso]

O'Neill didn't start off with any wins, it was that toxic arsehole MacDonald.

[SoccerHQ]

O'Neill didn't start off with any wins, it was that toxic arsehole MacDonald.

Yeah forgot to put episode after MON but despite all that turmoil we did get 6 points out of first 9 but the trauma of Newcastle probably hinted at what lay ahead long term.

One little thing I forgot that I think turned a few against GH that season was some of the comments he said after the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool mid season. I can't recall his exact words but it was a bit of a clumsy post match interview after a poor performance, we'd also lost to SHA the week before in the league cup so think he lost a decent chunk of fanbase from that period and things were always bubbling under despite some decent results later on in the season particularly from the boost of signing Darren Bent.

Of course if anyone of us could've forseen McLeish being the next up I'd imagine 99.9% would've been fully behind him wanting to get rid of Gabby, Warnock, Friedel, Dunne and Collins rather than it probably being about 60-40% at the time.