Gerard Houllier

[EIM]

Morte.

[Capybara]

I've just heard this. Very sad.

[hobbes]

Very sad news. He "got" Liverpool in an instinctive way. A good manager of a fairly limited team. That last few weeks of the 2000/2001 season when we won the FA Cup, Euro Vase and got the Champs League place in the space of a week were wonderful.
Arguably he built the side that with the addition of a bit of Spanish nous won the Big Cup in 2005.
He came back far too early from his heart surgery and I think that's what did for him in the end at Liverpool and perhaps from then on. He always seemed a bit fragile after that.

He always seemed a decent bloke in interviews too.

[Patrick Thistle]

Ah, that's sad news. I always quite liked him. Had that Gallic reserve.

[longeared]

He nearly became Wednesday manager in the summer of 1998. He was the initial favourite after we sacked Ron Atkinson, we met with him a few times and it ended up dragging on, he flirted with Celtic briefly and then it all eventually petered out and he went off to Liverpool in that weird job share with Roy Evans. It later emerged that it had all fallen through because we couldn't agree a clause in his contract relating to compensation if we sacked him. Erm, yes, quite, especially as we ended up with Danny Wilson instead. Still it's nice to think of the parallel universe where we end up signing Hyppia and Francesco Sanetti scores a brace in the 2001 cup final.

I always think Liverpool would have won the league in 2002 if he hadn't had his heart attack - they had a good side that year, but had a poor spell either side of Christmas while Thompson was still in charge and a better manager would have been able to arrest that slump and get them back on track quicker.

[Jah Womble]

RIP - decent manager and seemed a likable soul.

He won five trophies in 2001, which is no mean feat.

[Toby Gymshorts]

RIP Gerard. If nothing else, thank you for Sami Hyypia.

hobbes I think his "getting" Liverpool was probably due to him spending time in the stands as a fan.

[Antepli Ejderha]

This year just keeps on getting worse.

Always struck me as a gentleman and a decent guy. RIP.

[torres]

Aye sad news. This has been a really bad year for deaths in the football world.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Ah, sad news. That summer of 2001 was simply glorious. It had been six years since Liverpool won a thing (and that was a League Cup) and suddenly it was four proper cups and a Community Shield in the space of six months. Brought through Stevie G and Michael Owen and turned them into world class players. And aside from anything he did in terms of trophies, he seemed a really, really nice bloke. Possibly too nice to be a manager in the Prem era really.

[Sits]

Ah no that’s a shame. RIP

[Nesta]

Sad news.

That job share did bring about for my money the funniest WSC cover gag ever: NEW DOUBLE ACT AT LIVERPOOL "It's goodnight from me" "And it's goodnight from him"

[Guy Profumo]

Aw shame.


RIP

[G-Man]

Houllier has departed not too long after another former France coach, Michel Hidalgo.

[Various Artist]

Gosh, I hadn't heard about either until this minute. RIP both.

And yes, M. Houllier seemed like one of the 'good guys', and it's a great shame he never seemed to fully recover his vitality after that heart attack.

I'd also completely forgotten about this:

That job share with Evans was bizarre, wasn't it? A compromise reached because they couldn't bear to sever the last link to the Boot Room.

– and I can't think of any better alternative to RC's suggestion there, which sounds absolutely like the reasoning that must've been used at the time.

[Sporting]

Is the Boot Room still there?

[Diable Rouge]

Just as well there are only 18 days left in 2020 - RIP.

[Snake Plissken]

Always seemed a complete gentleman to me, and not a half bad manager to boot. RIP.

[Third rate Leszno]

Very sad about this. Houllier was a decent manager and an absolutely lovely fella. He was the first 'outsider' manager that Liverpool had had, and in a city and a club that can be quite insular and sceptical of outsiders he could easily have crashed and burned. He got it though, his intelligence and natural warmth meant he came across really well and right from the start it meant that most fans took to him and felt like he was one of them.

He played a huge part in lifting the club out of the post-Souness doldrums and that time coincided with me becoming a bit of a glory hunter and tagging along with Mrs TrL to games, as well as making our first trips to European aways. That UEFA cup final in Dortmund was one hell of a day out - thanks Gerard.

[anton pulisov]

Had no idea until now that he was a ch'ti. Makes me warm to him more.

RIP Gerard Houllier

Hou Hou Hou Hou

[Sean of the Shed]

As well as his 5 in a year at Liverpool it's also worth noting that he won two titles with Lyon and was the first ever manager to win the title at PSG as recently as 85/86. Hard to believe what an achievement that was back then at a club that has more recently won seven of the last eight Ligue Un titles.

[gt3]

Very sad. he's still highly thought of by any rational Villa - despite the comment about not minding losing to Liverpool. The club was already heading down to relegation and he faced an impossible task. Was clearly a decent cove and it is sad news. RIP.

[anton pulisov]

He never got over David Ginola refusing to waste time in the corner, though.

Looking back at the highlights of France-Bulgaria, it was an absolutely wonderful control and finish from Kostadinov, and a very good Bulgaria team who were playing for the win and went on to do great things at the World Cup. We have much to thank David Ginola for, if you ask me.

[G-Man]

As well as his 5 in a year at Liverpool it's also worth noting that he won two titles with Lyon and was the first ever manager to win the title at PSG as recently as 85/86. Hard to believe what an achievement that was back then at a club that has more recently won seven of the last eight Ligue Un titles.

PSG were financially doped back then already, though at the time that sort of thing was still in its infancy. That awful club was pleasantly underachieving for the better part of three decades, with Houllier providing them with brief relief

[Satchmo Distel]

France were dull in Euros 92 and 96 and I doubt they'd have lit up USA 94 like Bulgaria did. I don't have many memories of Liverpool in 1998-2002 to be honest; I assumed Arsenal and Man U were at a different level so am surprised to see that Liverpool finished above Man U in 2001-2002; I assume an excuse will be along shortly :-).