Gerard Houllier – An Obituary
Gerard Houllier, the manager who won five trophies for Liverpool in 2001, passed away this week at the age of 73.
He famously became part of the first joint-managerial team in Premier League history back in 1998, when he joined Roy Evans in the dugout at Liverpool. Evans had been the manager up to that point, and the arrangement only lasted three months before Evans walked out, leaving Houllier in sole charge.
Houllier’s managerial career began in the lower divisions of his native France before he moved to Lens and then Paris Saint-Germain. He would win the French title in his first season at PSG but left two years later to become Michel Platini’s assistant of the French national team.
After France had gone almost twenty games unbeaten in the run up to Euro 92, expectations were high going into the tournament. Unfortunately, they went out in the group stages along with England and Platini was dismissed. Houllier stepped up to take the manager’s role.
France looked as if they were going to qualify for USA ’94 under Houllier’s reign, but a costly error by David Ginola in the dying seconds of their final qualifier at home to Bulgaria meant the visitors qualified at France’s expense. It cost Houllier his job, but he stayed in the France national team set-up. He became the manager of the Under 18 team and then the Under 20’s.
In the summer of 1998, Liverpool announced that Houllier would become Joint-Manager with Roy Evans. It was to prove unsuccessful and only lasted until November of that year.
The Frenchman oversaw a massive rebuilding of the first team, with several big-name players leaving and being replaced by relative unknowns from the continent. This eventually paid dividends as Liverpool won the LEague Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2000/01 season.
Houllier was rushed to hospital at half-time of a league match against Leeds United. He had a heart condition and his assistant Phil Thompson took over first team affairs while he recovered.
The club finished second in that season, their highest Premier League position at the time. The League Cup was won the following season but Houllier left the club at the end of the 2003/04 campaign after the board asked him to stand down.
A year later, Houllier was back in management, this time back in his native France with Olympique Lyonnais. He helped them win two league titles but the Lyon board wanted to see success in Europe and this did not come. Houllier left at the end of the 2006/07 season.
In September 2010, Houllier returned to English football to take over from Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa. He had to miss several of the final games of the season due to ill health and he left the club at the end of the season. This was to prove to be his last job in management.
Houllier died on Monday after another operation on his heart. He was much-loved by all of the clubs he managed, especially on Merseyside. The 2001 UEFA Cup Final sticks out in the memory as being one of the most memorable matches during his time at Liverpool. His side beat Alaves 5-4 in one of the most entertaining European Finals of all-time.
About Author
