Tom Lappin: Gerard Houllier back treading fine line between villain or hero

Published on Friday 10 September 2010 20:08

GERARD Houllier at 63 remains a football manager whose career eludes rational assessment. He is revered or reviled, according to the vested interests of whomever you are asking. His return to the Premier League with Aston Villa is surprising.

At 63 he had seemed to reach a point in his career where the venerable football statesman shuffles around various UEFA or FIFA committee rooms or adopts lordly but detached roles as "general manager" or "director of football".

Liverpool fans veer between nostalgia for the trophies he collected (notably that six-month spell in 2001 when his team collected the League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup, Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup) and an awareness that his injudicious transfer dealings in the summer of 2002 resulted in an enfeebled title challenge.

The encapsulation of Houllier's reign at Liverpool must have been the 2001 UEFA Cup final in which Liverpool beat Alaves 5-4, a match where the manager's inability to instil some tactical discipline in his players was all too apparent. I watched that 2001 final in abar in Galicia, with the barman becoming increasingly frustrated. Every time he turned his back to deliver a plate of calamares to a customer, another goal would go in. "Futbol ingles.Estupendo!", he murmured. It means "fantastic", but the linguistic echoes of stupidity are hardly accidental. Liverpool's only cool-headed player that frantic night was a Scot, Gary McAllister.

McAllister's experience, Dietmar Hamann's solidity, and Michael Owen and Emile Heskey's burgeoning partnership, allied to the potential of youngsters like Steven Gerrard, Danny Murphy and Jamie Carragher gave Houllier the basis of a powerful side, but he never quite managed to get them playing in a cohesive and consistent style. His transfer decisions also squandered resources at a time when Liverpool was a thriving club, rather than the toxic debt it has become in 2010.

His decision to invest 10 million on El-Hadji Diouf while remaining unwilling to make Nicolas Anelka's loan deal a permanent transfer looks the most baffling, although, in Houllier's defence, at the time it was Anelka who had the reputation as the tempestuous sulk, and Diouf was supposed to be the exciting and quick-thinking forward.

Houllier's heart problems in October 2001, and subsequent recuperation, won him a lot of sympathy and admiration on Merseyside. It lasted about a season, before results went awry, and Houllier retreated into peevish resentment of press criticism. By the time of his departure in 2004 he was in danger of becoming ridiculous, with his fixation on every critical comment in the sports pages, and his ailing team. All the same, those who clung to the notion of Houllier as a misunderstood master, would have some justification in suggesting that Rafael Benitez's unlikely Champions League triumph in Istanbul in 2005 was achieved with a squad Houllier built. Back in France, Houllier's reputation had been dented by the memory of his failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Houllier, always assiduous in massaging his image, blamed that on David Ginola (Ginola has threatened to spend some of his shampoo-ad riches on a legal writ if Houllier repeats his accusations), and managed to glean some reflected glory for his behind-the-scenes contribution to the 1998 World Cup win.

He added some more silverware to his CV in his spell in charge of Olympique Lyonnais. Houllier's brief at Lyon was to consolidate the French league domination achieved under Paul Le Guen, and to make a serious challenge in the Champions league. His success was fair-to-middling. He won two more titles with the club, but couldn't make the Champions League breakthrough. Houllier's biggest problem was the ebullient Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, who kept a tight rein on all transfer dealings.

That might seem sensible given Houllier's past record. If he is hoping that he might have more leeway at Aston Villa, a rude awakening is likely. Randy Lerner might be the shy, retiring type, but he keeps an eye on the purse-strings. Martin O'Neill was dismayed to find that his two key midfielders, Gareth Barry and James Milner were sold to Manchester City, without any eye-catching acquisitions to soften the blow.

Houllier will also inherit a disgruntled squad. Many of the players, especially those who came through the youth ranks, supported the candidacy of the amiable and popular Kevin MacDonald. It was an unpropitious start when Phil Thompson revealed he had turned down the offer to be Houllier's assistant. At Liverpool Thompson was the conduit between Houllier and the players.

The implication is that Houllier still wants to have that degree of detachment, still needs an English intermediary. Early results will be the key. Houllier is not at his best when subjected to critical scrutiny, although a man who began his career teaching in a Liverpool comprehensive should be no stranger to intemperate abuse. Villa fans will be hoping that Houllier, in what should be his last club management job, has attained a degree of serenity that he can transmit to his players. An away fixture at Stoke on Monday night will at least offer a vivid refresher course in the rude vigour of English football.