G.H. Question.

[Dhav]

you are right .....as has Wenger, Maureen, fergie etc

The difference being that mistakes made by those managers hasn't tied their hands in future transfer dealings the way Houllier's has tied Rafa's - which is why comparing Houllier's transfer mistakes to the mistakes of those 3 is ridiculous. How can you bracket Houllier's transfer dealings with those of Wenger, whose net spend at Arsenal is something ridiculously low compared to Houllier's £70m odd? Compared to Wenger, Houllier was comically inept in pratically every department.

[Rich]

I think that is being unfair on Houllier.... Yes he made mistakes in some of the players he signed. But generally he did pick up good players - I think that he struggled to get the best out of them though. Ultimately this cost him his job.

For all the bargains and good players Wenger has signed, he has bought some utter rot too. Maybe not on the same level as Diouf, Diao and Cheyrou though....

[red g]

The difference being that mistakes made by those managers hasn't tied their hands in future transfer dealings the way Houllier's has tied Rafa's - which is why comparing Houllier's transfer mistakes to the mistakes of those 3 is ridiculous. How can you bracket Houllier's transfer dealings with those of Wenger, whose net spend at Arsenal is something ridiculously low compared to Houllier's £70m odd? Compared to Wenger, Houllier was comically inept in pratically every department.

I am in no way sticking up for the french howard wilkinson. but thats a poor argument.....I agree with you on Wenger absolutely he has picked upsome real gems which has meant his transfer deficit is minimal and houiller in every way is not as good as wenger. But if you look at Man u and chelsea if they werent very wealthy clubs they would be in the same position as us, fergie has spent a fortune over the last few years and got jack**** in return its just Scum can afford it......surely its not GH's fault liverpool couldnt?

[paulcooper4]

houlliers biggest problem wasnt buying poor players. all managers do that. houlliers problem was not being able to admit hed made a mistake and move them on. he would just keep playing and playing them in the wild hope that no-one would notice hed bought a bag of ****e. rafa has made mistakes buying players too (as did paisley and shanks), but the difference between ged and rafa is that rafa moves them on if they cant do it for him

[brendan]

I think that is being unfair on Houllier.... Yes he made mistakes in some of the players he signed. But generally he did pick up good players - I think that he struggled to get the best out of them though. Ultimately this cost him his job.

For all the bargains and good players Wenger has signed, he has bought some utter rot too. Maybe not on the same level as Diouf, Diao and Cheyrou though....

That's the problem, really.

His failures were high-profile and came towards the (rather miserable) end of his tenure. No surprise that some of the (being polite) posters with a rather short-term memory seem to have so much hatred and scorn reserved for Houllier.

Wenger has had some disasters, but all he needs to do is point at Thierry Henry, one of the greatest signings of all time.

I have the utmost respect for GH - even in those rather dark last 18 months or so - but you can only look at the likes of Diouf and Diao and just shake your head sadlt. Disastrous.

[DeeGame]

The dsame Traore that Benitez gave a new four year contract to

Well if he never got a new contract i doubt we would of got £2m for him from charlton.

[DeeGame]

And his wondergoal at Burnley

Yes that was a brilliant back heel.... shame it was in the wrong goal though

[brendan]

Well if he never got a new contract i doubt we would of got £2m for him from charlton.

So it was a brilliant move from Benitez?
Perhaps we should put all our ****e players on long contracts.

[Mumsafan]

So it was a brilliant move from Benitez?
Perhaps we should put all our ****e players on long contracts.

I thought we had

[Rich]

I only think Traore was offered a new contract because of our uncertainty over the Left side of defence. Rafa wouldn't have been sure that he was going to get Aurelio and we only needed an injury to either Warnock or Riise for the **** to hit the fan. Let's not forget the rogue of an agent in all this too - Willie McKay (spelling?!?) who will have been telling his player to request a move if a new contract hadn't been agreed.

For me, Rafa did the 'sensible' option in retaining a player until a better player become available for the budget allocated to that position. Aurelio arrives (along with good cover for the CBs) therefore Traore can leave.

Everybody is happy? no?

[red g]

So it was a brilliant move from Benitez?
Perhaps we should put all our ****e players on long contracts.

Not that i am sure, but i bet you the new contract he signed was significantly less than what GH paid him. and we did get 2million of him so we did well out of it

[Rich]

Not that i am sure, but i bet you the new contract he signed was significantly less than what GH paid him. and we did get 2million of him so we did well out of it

I reckon Traore would have received a pay rise to be honest....

[Dhav]

I am in no way sticking up for the french howard wilkinson. but thats a poor argument.....I agree with you on Wenger absolutely he has picked upsome real gems which has meant his transfer deficit is minimal and houiller in every way is not as good as wenger. But if you look at Man u and chelsea if they werent very wealthy clubs they would be in the same position as us, fergie has spent a fortune over the last few years and got jack**** in return its just Scum can afford it......surely its not GH's fault liverpool couldnt?

Those clubs could afford to make mistakes in the transfer market - we couldn't. Therefore there was greater responsibility on Houllier's shoulders to ensure he spent the money wisely and to ensure that the players he was getting were up to the job and represented good value.

We cant take gambles in the transfer market like Manu U and Chelsea can.

[Rich]

Those clubs could afford to make mistakes in the transfer market - we couldn't. Therefore there was greater responsibility on Houllier's shoulders to ensure he spent the money wisely and to ensure that the players he was getting were up to the job and represented good value.

We cant take gambles in the transfer market like Manu U and Chelsea can.

Every player we sign is a gamble?!? As it is for any team.

The vast majority of Houllier signs I thought were correct - even if they didn't work out. The only really bad disasters were:

1. Diouf - Talent but his attitude should have meant that we didn't go near him with a barge-pole
2. Cheyrou - The old saying "One good season doesn't make a good player" is correct for Cheyrou. Far too light-weight to make it in England and didn't have the bottle to fight it out.
3. Diao - Physically could mix it with the Gerrard's, Essien's, Sissoko's etc of the world, but you need footballing talent too. Which Diao doesn't have.

[Dhav]

We cant take gambles the size Houllier did on let's face it, players of very questionable quality add exorbitant prices I might add