We're in the Champions League qualifiers...originally, that was enough. Now, things have changed. Let's not turn this into a discussion on whether he should or shouldn't be sacked, just whethe or not you think we'll see him next season.
He might be gone, but then again he might not, it's really a tossup, but if I had to say either way, I would say that it looks like he's going to be gone.
I think he is gone, but they are trying to convince him to stay as Director of Football or some other title. I would imagine he is resisting this idea. He is a stubborn proud man and I don't blame him.
I suspect he's gone, but for Christ sake can we not bring in Dalglish -- nostalgia is wonderful and I love to sing The Fields of Anfield Road but after his stint at Celtic it's evident he's not the man to run a football club today.
Well, you've touched on the real question lurking beneath the fifty-six (or is it fifty-seven?) "dump Houllier" threads over the past two seasons, LB. If not GH, then who? Hitzfeld seems the only plausible candidate to me at the moment. But I know you didn't want this thread to go in that direction, Six, so I'll get back on topic: I believe he won't be gone, if at all, until the financial/investment issue is sorted. Pretty hard to woo a successor unless you can show him what resources he'll have to work with. ----
I don't think Gerard Houllier will be sacked at this stage, but he would be on notice next season... the team must aim for the title and to do well in Europe and not just settle for finishing 4th.
It depends on a variety of things, I suppose. For a start though, nothing will happen, I don't think, until next week at the earliest. There is a board meeting on Thursday. The dilema is partly exacerbated by the fact that Houllier is entering the final year of his contract. That means that the board has to make a decision on his future in the next six months in any case. Let's say Houllier is still in charge in August and we kick off League and European campaigns with him. It would then be quite a balancing act ... if we come out of the traps like the clappers and are making good progress towards a marked improvement over the past two years, what do the board do? Entering negotiations about his contractual status will be intepreted as a sign off renewed long-term commitment (even if the eventual outcome of those negotiations is more nuanced than that - a rolling one-year contract, for instance). But if they do nothing, the Houllier's position becomes equally untenable because his success in rejuvenating the side is not met by a commensurate reaction from the board and the media can continue on their merry way, speculating that he is on his way the minute a down-turn in our fortunes appears. Which is the other salient issue - for three straight seasons now, we have had a blip/fvcking disaster over the winter. So do the board wait until Easter - and the run-in - before making any form of move on Houllier's status? If things go badly, do they sack him in the final third of the season and with this year's transfer money well and truly spent? Or do they again limp home and deal with the matter in the summer. Looking at it this way, it appears clear to me that we have two options: renew Houllier's contract this summer (with the above option of a one-year rolling deal the most likely) or sack him this summer. Early this summer. In the next week or so, in fact. A third option is that the board decide to part company but leave it until Euro 2004 is under way so that it is not the media circus it would otherwise be. Liverpool, don't forget, have not sacked a manager since 1956. Anyway, to answer this thread, I think his time may finally have run out.
Here is a quote from Houllier: "I am carrying on my work as normal and have been holding meetings with staff preparing for next season. I have been discussing contracts and other matters, as well as when the players will report back. So I am carrying on my work as normal and with the same dignity as normal." To me that sounds like the words of someone who knows they are out of a job. Djibril Cisse said: "From my point of view, it does not matter if Gerard Houllier is at the club, absolutely not," Cisse stated. "I want to wear the shirt of this club. Whatever the position of Houllier it will not change my attitude." Thats not a very nice thing to say about your new manager, now is it. It makes me think that Cisse knows Houllier is out, otherwise he wouldn't make such statements. Maybe I'm reading into things too much, but I think we will be looking for a new manager by next.
I`ve been following this story the last couple of days and it looks like he might be the first Liverpool manager to be formally sacked for 50 years (Roy Evans was forced to quit). There are a couple of things for the board to take into account. The two ECL qualifiers will be important games. Houllier knows the team and it might be better he takes them into those games. If the board replace him and the new man loses them and Liverpool go out, the board come under pressure. They could also make an appointment for somebody like Curbishley to work with Houllier for what could be announced as his last season, before Curbs takes over full time. If Liverpool go out of the ECL, GH is pushed upstairs and Curbs takes over. If they go through Houllier takes the team to the end of the season. The fans would know there will be a change of manager next season and won`t be as aggitated, as they were this season, if things don`t go so well.
All of but the last two. Since Don Welsh in 1956, we have only had seven managers, remember. Souness left "by mutual consent", Evans was given the kindest sacking in the history of the game. All the others left at the height of their powers.