Who is Gerard Houllier: Former Liverpool and Aston Villa Manager Died at 73

Gerard Houllier. Photo: Alchetron

Who is Gerard Houllier?

Gérard Houllier, OBE (French pronunciation: ​[ʒeʁaʁ ulje]; born 3 September 1947) is a French football manager and former player. His past clubs include Paris Saint-Germain, RC Lens, and Liverpool, with whom he won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup in 2001. He then guided Olympique Lyonnais to two French titles, before announcing his resignation on 25 May 2007. He became manager of Aston Villa in September 2010, before stepping down in June 2011 following frequent hospitalization over heart problems. He also coached the French national team between 1992 and 1993. He assisted Aimé Jacquet in the 1998 World Cup, was part of UEFA's and FIFA's Technical Committee in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals, and Technical Director for the French Football Federation during the 2010 finals. Since July 2012 Houllier is Head of Global Football for Red Bull. He is responsible for the Austrian side FC Red Bull Salzburg, Germany's RB Leipzig, and the New York Red Bulls from the US as well as the Red Bull Brasil and the Red Bull Ghana academies.

Club Career Gerard Houllier

Houllier entered Lille University to pursue a degree in English, but in the first year his father's serious illness forced him to drop out of full-time study and start work, eventually as a school teacher, while he completed his degree part-time. As part of his degree, he elected to spend a year in 1969–1970 in Liverpool as an Assistant at Alsop Comprehensive School, and while there he attended his first Liverpool F.C. match on 16 September 1969 – a 10–0 thrashing of the Irish team, Dundalk. He also played for an amateur local side, Alsop. He was an enthusiastic footballer, but never threatened the professional ranks as a player. He was deputy headmaster of the École Normale d'Arras until at the age of 26 in 1973 he began his full-time managerial career as player-manager of Le Touquet.

Managerial Career Gerard Houllier

In France

Later, Houllier moved to Arras as youth coach, and Nœux-les-Mines as head coach where he won two consecutive promotions into the second division before moving to Lens in 1982. He took Lens to promotion and qualification for the UEFA Cup before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 1985, and PSG won the French title the following year. In 1988, Houllier was appointed technical director and assistant to the French national team, under manager Michel Platini. He became manager in 1992, but resigned in November 1993 after France failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals.

In October 2011, a new book on football coaching - Secrets de coachs (Coaches' Secrets) - was published. In that book, Houllier blamed France's 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria on winger David Ginola's missed cross that allowed Bulgaria to launch a decisive counterattack and score their winning goal against France in the final minute of the final qualifying group match in Paris on 17 November 1993. In response to Houllier allegedly making disparaging remarks on Ginola and referring to Ginola in offensive terms in that book in relation to Ginola's fatal error in that match, Ginola filed a lawsuit for alleged defamation against Houllier.

The lawsuit was dismissed by a French court in April 2012. Houllier remained with the team as a technical director, however. In 1998 France won the World Cup, and Houllier was recognized for his contributions to the game. He was the technical director for the French Football Federation during France's first-round debacle at the 2010 World Cup – criticizing coach Raymond Domenech for his isolated method of management. In the wake of that debacle, Houllier did not call for the then president of the French Football Federation, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, to resign; instead, he stated that Escalettes should remain in his post, according to Peoplepill.

Liverpool 1998 – 2004

Photo: The Mirror

After the tournament, Houllier headed to Liverpool, supposedly as a replacement for the retiring Ronnie Moran, a long time member of the Liverpool coaching staff. Somehow though, Houllier ended up being appointed as co-manager alongside Roy Evans who had done a very decent job over the previous several seasons rescuing the club from Graeme Souness’s less than successful tenure but had probably hit something of a glass ceiling in terms of league position.

The dual-manager thing went as well as you might expect and Evans resigned in November, leaving Houllier in sole charge. You can see Houllier’s Premier League stats at Liverpool here, but during his time in Merseyside he also won the FA Cup, the League Cup twice and the UEFA Cup, Liverpool’s first European silverware for 15 years at the time.

In the end, Houllier seemed the victim of staleness on top of heavy criticism for a number of poor signings and was replaced by Rafa Benitez in 2004, who would go on to win the Champions League in his first season. As I mentioned before, it shouldn’t go without note that seven of the starting XI in Istanbul were signed by the man so berated for the quality of his signings. as reported by Astonvillacentral.

Lyon 2005-2007

After Lyon had racked up four straight Ligue 1 titles, Houllier continued the domestic trend, extending the title run to six championships, but a Champions League quarter final exit at the hands of AC Milan in his first season and a round of 16 defeat to Roma the following year, despite topping out their group which contained Real Madrid both seasons, meant his remit to turn domestic dominance into European success was not fulfilled.

During his two seasons with Lyon, Houllier usually employed a 4-5-1 system, but favoured a more attacking 4-3-3 in the Champions League, spearheaded by our very own John Carew, often flanked on either side by Florent Malouda and Sylvain Wiltord.

Aston Villa

On 8 September 2010, it was announced that English club Aston Villa had appointed Houllier as their new full-time manager, following the resignation of previous boss Martin O'Neill the month before. In his first press conference at the club it was revealed that he hadn't signed a contract yet and wouldn't be able to take charge until a later date, because of commitments with the French FA.

On 20 April, Houllier was admitted to hospital after falling ill in the night. His condition was said to be stable, but he was not able to be at Aston Villa's training session the following day, and was not able to attend their match against Stoke City on 23 April, or any subsequent matches of the 2010–2011 season. Gary McAllister took charge of all first team affairs in his stead. On 1 June, Gerard Houllier stepped down as manager of Aston Villa by mutual consent.

Gerard Houllier Death

Gerard Houllier had a very long history of medical problems and today he died due to heart surgery. Many people who know Gerard Houllier are mourning over the demise. his surgeries are started in 2001 and after that, he faces many surgeries and medical issues that cause his ill health. Many famous and prominent players of Football are regularly sharing pictures of Gerard Houllier and many are giving very soulful tribute to him. Liverpool has paid tribute to the former Manager of French Football Gerard Houllier. Michael Owen also shares some pictures of Gerard Houllier on his Twitter account.

Gerard Houllier Quotes

✺ I used to stand on the Kop when I was here in 1969. The atmosphere and passion on the pitch as well as the terraces was intoxicating and Liverpool became part of me from that day on.

✺ There are those who say maybe I should forget about football. Maybe I should forget about breathing.

✺ Liverpool players must play like a lion, give his all. There must be determination, commitment and resolve to be a Liverpool player.

✺ You can't build a cathedral in a day. A look at the club's history tells you these things take time.

✺ When I see the Bill Shankly statue, I look at the sentiment on the base. It says: 'He made the people happy’. Well now the modern Liverpool is making the fans and the city happy. And that makes me so proud.

✺ Players have responsibilities, because, whether they like it or not, they are public figures. They have to be aware that the people who come to the ground spend fortunes in relation to what they earn.

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