welcome back gh Former Liverpool and Lyon boss Gerard Houllier has been appointed the new manager of Aston Villa, succeeding Martin O'Neill. The 63-year-old left the post of technical director at the French Football Federation to return to English football after six years away. Full story to follow
Best of luck Ged, good to see ye back! Some great memories come back when he was manager of LFC, a man who gets overlooked quite often unfortunately
Best of luck to him , found him very bitter with his comments about Rafa but I have alot of love for him with his time with us, It will be strange seeing him managing the opposition, Do we play Villa at home on the last day of the season ??
Good luck Ged, brought us some good times, some bitterness at the end, but some good times nonetheless
Thanks for the memories Ged, and good luck with Villa, personally speaking have no respect for him after the recent comments about Benitez.
I still hold a grudge against him over the Fowler espidoe, but all the same i wish him well with Villa..As ive said before i wonder how former liverpool players like Friedel and Warnock will feel about him been their manager.
Phil Thompson today lifted the lid on why he turned down the opportunity to be reunited with Gerard Houllier. Houllier offered the former Liverpool captain the chance to assist him in his new role as Aston Villa manager in what would have been a repeat of their double act at Anfield from 1998 until 2004. Thompson, however, chose to decline the invitation and instead concentrate on his TV career. He explained: "Sometimes in life you get presented with an opportunity that is too good to be true but, ultimately, has to be turned down. "Had circumstances been different, I would have been delighted to accept the chance to join Gerard Houllier and work with him and Patrice Bergues once again at Aston Villa. "But I had to weigh up the pros and cons and while it was both flattering to be asked, not to mention hugely enticing, I really had no other choice but to turn the offer down. "When you work with Gerard, you are signing up to 12 hour days; on top of that, you have to go to reserve games, scout players and also head off to check up on forthcoming opponents - in other words, you have to be totally committed. "Now don't get me wrong, I would love to throw myself at such a challenge again but, at the same time, I do not want to uproot my wife and my two boys; I'm not someone who could live away from them through the week. "What's more, the thought of doing a daily commute on the M6 does not appeal. We all know that stretch of road, at the best of times, can resemble a car park but to do the job properly, you really have to be living in the vicinity of the training ground. "I would have been cheating Gerard, the club and the fans and that would not have been fair; Aston Villa are a terrific club with a great history and I remember only too well being on the end of a 5-1 drubbing there in 1976. "It's fantastic to see Gerard back in the game and I have absolutely no doubt that he will do a terrific job. "He has got a wealth of knowledge, knows the game inside out and it will be a fantastic occasion when Liverpool tackle Villa at Anfield in the first weekend of December. "So those people who watch me on Soccer Saturday, you have been warned - I'll be ranting and raving on television for a good while yet."