Gérard Houllier

Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁaʁ ulje]; 3 September 1947 – 14 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2001. He then guided Lyon to two French titles, before announcing his resignation on 25 May 2007. He became manager of Aston Villa in September 2010. He also coached the France national team between 1992 and 1993. He assisted Aimé Jacquet in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, was part of UEFA's and FIFA's Technical Committee in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, and technical director for the French Football Federation during the 2010 finals. In June 2011, he stepped down from club coaching, leaving his managerial role at Aston Villa, following frequent hospitalisation over heart problems.

From July 2012 until his death, Houllier had been head of global football for Red Bull. He was responsible for Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, Germany's RB Leipzig and American club New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Brasil, as well as the now dissolved Red Bull Ghana academies. He became the technical director of women's football clubs Lyon Féminin and OL Reign in November 2020.

Early life

Born in Thérouanne, 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 the city of 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 Irish club 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 reaching age 26 in 1973, when he began his full-time managerial career as player-manager of Le Touquet.

Managerial career

Early career and France national team

Between 1976 and 1982, Houllier was head coach of French amateur club Nœux-les-Mines. Despite limited resources, the team achieved promotion during his tenure, rising to the Division 2. He then moved to Lens in 1982, coaching them to promotion to the top division and qualification for the UEFA Cup, before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 1985, where PSG won the French title the following year. In 1988, Houllier was appointed technical director and assistant to the France national team, under manager Michel Platini. Houllier became manager in 1992, but resigned in November 1993 after France failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals.

In the 2011 book Secrets de coachs, Houllier singled out winger David Ginola for blame in a crucial defeat to Bulgaria during the qualification campaign. Ginola filed a lawsuit against Houllier for defamation, but this was dismissed by a French court in 2012. Houllier remained as technical director for the national team until 1998, a role which included the coaching of France's junior sides. In 1996, Houllier's under-18 side won the European Under-18 Championship, and several members of his youth teams, such as David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry went on to form part of France's victorious team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Liverpool

In July 1998, Houllier was invited to become joint team manager of Liverpool, together with Roy Evans. The arrangement did not work out and Evans resigned in November after losing to Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 at home in the League Cup on 10 November 1998. Prior to the defeat, Liverpool were eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Spanish side Celta de Vigo. The departure of Evans left Houllier in sole charge of the team.

Houllier began what he described as a five-year programme to rebuild the team, and restore discipline to a squad that had been labelled widely as "Spice Boys", as well as begin a continental approach, both tactically and in terms of personnel, to the game starting in 1999. That summer, Paul Ince, David James, Jason McAteer, Rob Jones, Tony Warner and Steve Harkness were all sold, while Steve McManaman left on a free transfer. Simultaneously, eight new players were signed: Sami Hyypiä, Dietmar Hamann, Stéphane Henchoz, Vladimír Šmicer, Sander Westerveld, Titi Camara, Eric Meijer and Djimi Traoré. The club's youth players such as Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard also became a cornerstone of the team. Liverpool's training facilities at Melwood were thoroughly overhauled.

The rebuilding continued in 2000 with the signings of Markus Babbel, Nicky Barmby, Pegguy Arphexad, Grégory Vignal, Emile Heskey, Gary McAllister, Igor Bišćan and Christian Ziege, as well as the departures of David Thompson, Phil Babb, Dominic Matteo, Steve Staunton, Brad Friedel and Stig Inge Bjørnebye. The efforts yielded a result in the successful 2000–01 season, when Liverpool won a cup treble of the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup and finished third in the Premier League, hence qualifying for Champions League. In August 2001, Liverpool won the Charity Shield against Manchester United and UEFA Super Cup against Bayern Munich.

In October 2001, after falling ill at half-time at Liverpool's Premier League match with Leeds United, Houllier was rushed to hospital for an emergency operation due to the discovery of a heart condition, an aortic dissection. With the help of caretaker manager Phil Thompson, he guided Liverpool to a second-place finish in the 2001–02 FA Premier League season, at the time their best record in the Premiership. Houllier returned to active management of the club after five months, although significantly weakened by the heart condition.

In the 2002—03 season, Liverpool finished in the fifth place in the Premier League, failing to qualify for the following season's UEFA Champions League after a final-day defeat to Chelsea. Critics blamed Houllier's unsuccessful summer signings in 2002, namely El Hadji Diouf (Lens, £10 million), Salif Diao (Sedan, £5 million) and Bruno Cheyrou (Lille, £4 million), and his failure to make Nicolas Anelka's loan move permanent in favour of signing the ineffective Diouf. Houllier's failure to replace creative talents such as Gary McAllister and Jari Litmanen was also criticised. In March 2003, Liverpool defeated Manchester United 2–0 in the League Cup Final. In October 2003, Houllier appointed Steven Gerrard club captain. With Liverpool failing to mount a title challenge in his last two seasons despite substantial investment in players with what was perceived as negative one-dimensional tactics and unattractive football, a poor youth policy, his constant mention of "turning corners" and a lack of support from fans, these factors led to Houllier's departure from Liverpool on 24 May 2004. Having qualified the club for the following season's Champions League, Houllier left Liverpool by mutual consent, after reluctantly agreeing to a board request that he leave the club. He was replaced by Valencia coach Rafael Benítez.

Lyon

On 29 May 2005, it was announced that Houllier had signed a two-year contract as manager of the champions of Ligue 1, succeeding Paul Le Guen. Lyon had just won their previous fourth successive championship and Houllier was hired to convert this domestic dominance to the European stage. Despite continuing this dominance of Ligue 1, Lyon lost to Milan in the quarter-finals of the 2005–06 Champions League while they crashed out to the inexperienced Roma in the first knockout round of the 2006–07 Champions League. Houllier also suffered a cup final defeat (Coupe de la Ligue) to Bordeaux. However, in April 2007, Houllier won his second-straight (Lyon's sixth-straight) Ligue 1 title after Toulouse's loss to Rennes. The 2006–07 season proved to be his last with the club: on 25 May 2007, he stepped down due to a fractious relationship with outspoken chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, who was frustrated at the club's inability to convert domestic dominance into European success. An official statement on Lyon's website stated that Houllier asked to be released from the last season of his contract and that request was granted by the president. Houllier also said that he needed a break after experiencing two seasons with Lyon.

Return to the France national team

Houllier was reappointed to the role of technical director for the France national team in September 2007, replacing interim-incumbent Jean-Pierre Morlans. Despite the team's poor performance during UEFA Euro 2008, Houllier advised French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes to keep faith with manager Raymond Domenech. This decision attracted criticism as France went on to be eliminated in the first round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Escalettes resigned from his post after the tournament, but Houllier chose not to step down. In an interview with Stéphane Mandard of Le Monde, he denied responsibility for the failed campaign, stating that his responsibilities did not extend to the first team and that he was not Domenech's line manager.