Sylvain Wiltord hates Gerard Houllier ?

[SportBoy333]

What's with these rumors that Wiltord is not happy about the possibility of Houllier becoming the manager and he might quit Lyon if Houllier is hired. It seems from what I've read that he does not want to play for this guy at all.

[guignol]

a poster on olweb gives this interpretation of wiltord’s feelings.

In 1993, when France was eliminated from the WC, Houllier, then coach, instead of assuming responsibility for a disastrous qualification run, including fiascos against Israel and Bulgaria, preferred to find a scapegoat. he put all the blame on David Ginola, calling him a “criminal” for his last minute cross against Bulgaria that led to Khostadinov’s goal, instead of blocking the ball in the corner to run out the last seconds and save the nil that would have sent les bleus to the USA. All this in spite of Ginola’s having been the best player in the last two matches. What follows we all know; Ginola hounded off pitches all over France, eventually going to Newcastle to be 1999's Player of the Year but never being called up for France again.

Houllier also had the destiny of a club like Liverpool in his hands, one of the greatest in the world, but besides a couple of lesser trophies, never could make it more than a pale outsider, for behind MU and Arsenal. And he continued to concentrate on finding scapegoats instead of taking a manager’s responsibility. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4465-860649,00.html

also interesting. You have to know that Le Guen is a player’s coach; he doesn’t watch drills, he does them. And he wins all the bicycle races at the preseason camp. Compare with:
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Coupe_PSG_OM_rivalite.html

[lefutur]

Very interesting Guignol. I take it you would rather not see Houllier step in for LeGuen either?

[guignol]

my personal choice, since it can't be DD, would be tigana.

i'm not saying managers must have been players, but i think that's what would best keep the great atmosphere on the team going. tigana had his squabbles with JMA, but he communicates well with players.

[guignol]

i'm resurrecting this thread to bring the houllier situation up to date.

i was far from keen on him, but he seems to be settling in well. i've been to 2 practices, the atmosphere seems very good and although he doesn't participate in drills like le guen did, he seems more present and "hands on" than PLG was.

apparently he's a good communicator and to come to the title issue (nino) houllier has called on him with coupet, cacapa and govou to be a team leader and things between them seem to be upbeat; they even shared a joke last friday.

[lefutur]

I noticed the two of them sharing a high five after Wiltord scored the first goal against Le Mans. maybe they buried the hatchet.