I woke up to google alerts about Houllier taking the job at Dynamo Kiev. I'm not sure what to think about this. I'm not his biggest fan but I don't know how much better the possible replacements (Perrin, Puel, or Deschamps) are going to be. Edit: Houllier denies it. Interesting.
houllier just rejected the rumor I feel bad for the man, at least the french press aren't as pesky as their british counterparts
Yeah, it must be tough to be linked with a move away from the club every day. Yesterday it was Manchester City, today it's Kiev. But the weird thing is that this was everywhere (though it started out in Le Parisien). Don't journalists check their facts before publishing a report so confidently? I had a mini-heart attack this morning.
to spite whom? JMA has made it clear this is all nonsense. if anything ged is probably flattered by the attention.
Just today, Houllier said he's happy at Lyon "for now" and needs to think about where his life is going. Despite assurances otherwise, he has exactly committed for the following season. And then Aulas said this: I believe Aulas when he says he would prefer Houllier to stay (though I think it's more a question of stability than satisfaction with his services), but I don't think Houllier is happy at Lyon. He's getting a lot of crap from the press, and Aulas has basically stated that Lacombe is the most important person in the club, which must annoy Houllier further. Running Lyon is a lot of stress, and he doesn't love Lyon the way he does Liverpool. So I don't think his staying at the club would have anything to do any emotional ties to Lyon.
JMA and GH apparently have an excellent relationship, (so much so that it got nanar a bit jealous i think). you could read into these statements that for reasons of health or family houllier would like a less demanding position as NT coach somewhere (remember the oz rumors). ...just the facts ma'am crap from the press? stress? it's 10 times worse at 'pool or newcastle or even aston villa! of course his heart would be at liverpool, but no one's offering him the position, are they?
the weirdness with Houllier continued when i was watching the Fox Soccer Report today and when they started talking about Liverpool and the CL final they showed a picture of Houllier with the Liverpool logo next to him as if he was the current coach at Anfield.
Houllier will leave http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070525_154229Dev.html http://fr.sports.yahoo.com/25052007/70/ligue-1-houllier-claque-la-porte.html
And I'm sure Deschamps can do a better job than that. It sounds likes its already a done deal with him? Is this a good thing? I know that he got Juventus back up, but it was the serie b.
I don't think he can. Neither can Puel, actually. Puel has free rein at Lille while Deschamps is having the same problems at Juventus that Houllier is having at Lyon. As wonderful as Lacombe is, I think he's part of the problem. The best managers in Europe all demand freedom to do as they please - it's really hard to work with a sporting director who has more power than the manager, especially when it comes to player management. It's a rare man who can accept having a "boss." Alain Perrin, in France Football, admitted that he would be okay with working under Lacombe.
Lippi to Lyon ? Can you believe it ? http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070525_204724Dev.html
From what i heard on TV it's more like Lippi to Juventus and Deschamps to Lyon. Deschamps is a fantastic coach. If he goes to Lyon, they can win the CL. Look what he did with Monaco (CL final) and he did'nt have the players Lyon has. IMO Deschamps > Lippi, Leguen, Houiller, ...
lame if lyon get deschamps then the stranglehold over the league will for sure continue. what a pile of balls. here's to guy lacombe to lyon!
Italian media is reporting that Didier Deschamps resigned from Juventus. http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieB/Squadre/Juventus/Primo_Piano/2007/05_Maggio/26/deschampsdimesso_2505.shtml
I don't think Deschamps has done enough to warrant saying he's better than Lippi. He still hasn't won any domestic leagues, unless you count Serie B with Juventus. That said, he's a good hire.
if Deschamps comes i feel confident that OL will at least make it to the semi-final of the CL nest season
i was surprised and disappointed about GH leaving, but the reasons given were much as i suspected; he just doesn't feel up to working that hard at 60, expecially with the new stadium etc... i think either deschamps or lippi could be good choices. lippi seems farfetched but apparently he's called the OL offices several times recently. deschamps resignation from juve is unrelated to the OL situation. as for his getting along with lacombe, i don't see a problem. no manager truly has free rein since he doesn't have the pursestrings, and didi's problems at monaco was not having a boss but having bosses that had never been players and really knew SFA about football. his juve problem seems to be that he was never considered good enough to really manage them, he just filled a thankless role no one else wanted... and a pink slip is the thanks he gets.