Don't know if anyone else here feels the same as I do but I am elated to see Tigana, but not necessarily Fulham, crash out of the FA Cup. Ever since that Eddie Lewis bull$hit he pulled with Arena (you'll remember that Eddie didn't even sniff the field until Arena tries to bring him in to training camp, Tigana inexplicably refuses, then voila! *pun intended* Eddie starts the very next game). Ever since then I've loathed Tigana and am delighted to see Fulham struggle till the day Tigana gets his walking papers (seemingly soon). I also feel the same way about Houllier and the way Friedel got treated there (if memory serves he really only had one bad game and then never really got another shot to start). I keep hoping for Liverpool's woes to continue ONLY because I can't stand Houllier. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same way or if I'm just too vengeful for my own good. By the way, the fact that they're both French is just icing on the cake
While I agree with you about Tiggy, you are a little of base on Houllier. Keepers are a different bread, and even Brad will tell you his play while at Liverpool wasn't his best. While Brad wasn't getting the PT he would have liked, Liverpool didn't stand in his way when another team was interested, and allowed Brad to leave on a free. Tiggy, on the other hand made things difficult during the WC buildup and afterwards over a few hundred thousand pounds.
Also - Houllier became coach after Brad had already been signed. Most managers switch/sign goalkeepers when they take over a team (Houllier signed Sander Westerveld, who was simply better than Friedal at that point in his career). It usually isn't personal. Brad never expressed any criticism about the way Liverpool handled the situation (especially since they gave him a free transfer to make it easier for him to latch on with Blackburn). Houllier, present problems notwithstanding, is much classier than (shady transfer) Tigana.
That's true. Roy Evans bought Brad into the Liverpool squad when David James was having problems but, just as he got to Merseyside (after the work permit issue had been cleared up), James started playing very well, and it was a few months before Brad got the opportunity to play (I think James picked up a slight injury). Unfortunately, though, buying him was the wrong solution to the problem. Liverpool were leaking goals not (entirely) because of James, but because the defenders in front of him were horrible. Instead of slightly improving the goalkeepers (the gap between James, who still hasn't improved much, and Friedel, who has, was much smaller then), Evans should've picked up a few competent central defenders (Rigobert Song?) instead of trying to convert Veggard Heggem and Jason McAteer into right backs.
I remember Brad being criticised for not being able to hold on to the ball at Liverpool. Here is an article from last year that talks about his improvement, when he was really starting to turn some heads. http://www.soccernet.com/england/news/2002/0225/20020225brfcvthfcfriedel.html My favorite part: I wonder what tune this writer is singing these days.