G.H. Question.

[Rich]

casually missed that out to make my point

Stats don't you just love'm

[Dhav]

You guys should read Shaggy's post on KT, the mock Houllier interview where he takes credit for us winning the 2006 FA Cup (I think)

A lot of people found it distaseful but I thought it was hilarious, plus it was so true to GH's character that it could have been real

[Reina]

Brendan we lost 9 times in the league that year. We scored 71 goals whoppee, hardly awesome!! it was just we were use to the **** that h been served up previously.

Of course it was easy to get carried away with what GH achieved but I was not blinkered and never believed it would last as well as many others i watched the games with

Even in those rather succesful seasons Houllier's team was too often too clueless and got some very lucky results. Way too often it was long ball to Heskey and Owen and just pray for a miracle. Houllier usually didn't seem to have any sort of plan B. If narrow counter attacking tactics didn't work we were in trouble.

Houllier always seemed to be incredibly stubborn. He always gave more time to players like Heskey, Murphy and Smicer when it was obvious that we would never win the league with players like that. Also, what was the point of having Biscan, Diao and Cheyrou season after season? They were simply hopeless but did Houllier even try to sell them?

These things led me to believe that GH would not win the league.

Benitez has also made mistakes, like every manager. But he seems to be ready to admit his mistakes and do something about it. Morientes is gone, as is Josemi, Pellegrino, Nunez and some Houllier's garbage as well. Now we are left with a pretty talented squad that has real quality in every position and also genuinely talented back ups.

It was obvious to me that after last season we needed at least a good right winger, pacy forward with good ball controll skills (unlike Cisse) and back up at centre back. Benitez signed new players for every single one of those positions. He seems to know what he is doing and I trust him.

[univofchicago]

BUT!

rewind to this position in 2002. We had just spent £20m on players we hadn't really seen yet. How many of us were worried at that time, back then?

My point is, as much as I think we are better under Benitez, let's try not to get carried away - pretty much we all did back in 2002!

We had spent £20m "on players we hadn't really seen yet". Absolutely true. I admit that I had never seen Diao, Cheyrou and Diouf play before prior to the World Cup. However I have seen plenty of Bellamy and Pennant. I've seen lots of video clips of Gonzalez - no big deal but at least its better than nothing. I've been impressed by them all and that is why I am a lot more comfortable about our signings this season.

I will try not to get too carried away. But I'm just really excited this year. Never have been this excited before in my life about our title prospects

[Reina]

BUT!

rewind to this position in 2002. We had just spent £20m on players we hadn't really seen yet. How many of us were worried at that time, back then?

My point is, as much as I think we are better under Benitez, let's try not to get carried away - pretty much we all did back in 2002!

Sorry but I didn't like the idea of signing Diao and Cheyrou. Back in 2002 I thought we needed skillful wingers, not back up defensive midfielder or back up attacking central midfielder. I was happy about Diouf though because I thought he would replace Heskey.

Benitez has signed a right winger, a pacy forward and back up at centre back position - exactly what I thought we needed.

[Dhav]

I was a bit underwhelmed by the signing of Pennant, but he looked very impressive against HAifa and Chelsea, what we've been missing. He's got me excited.

This is the type of gamble Houllier should have been taking, on signing players to fill a position where we are weak. Like you say Reina, signing central midfielders when we had good ones in abundance was just throwing good money away. If he didn't have such a pathelogical fear of wingers may be we would have had a chance under GH.

[Rich]

I was a bit underwhelmed by the signing of Pennant, but he looked very impressive against HAifa and Chelsea, what we've been missing. He's got me excited.

This is the type of gamble Houllier should have been taking, on signing players to fill a position where we are weak. Like you say Reina, signing central midfielders when we had good ones in abundance was just throwing good money away. If he didn't have such a pathelogical fear of wingers may be we would have had a chance under GH.

I don't want to cause an arguement but you stated earlier that we couldn't afford to gamble on players - now you are saying that GH should have gambled £6.7m on a winger that has had personal problems?

(and before anybody says anything, I want Pennant to succeed and on his early showing it looks promising)

[Dhav]

I don't want to cause an arguement but you stated earlier that we couldn't afford to gamble on players - now you are saying that GH should have gambled £6.7m on a winger that has had personal problems?

(and before anybody says anything, I want Pennant to succeed and on his early showing it looks promising)

Well, I didn't mean to imply that Houllier shaould have taken gambles in the transfer market. What I meant to say is if Houllier was going to take gambles, these are the kind of gambles he should have been taking - ie at least gamble on a player who plays in a position where you have a weakness eg Pennant. £14m on astriker in Cisse, another £10m on Diouf, a combined £10m for central midfielders in Cheyrou and Diuf - purchasing players for positions where we were already strong. Thus his purchases had the effect of only improving the squad without improving the team.

If he instead went out and bought a winger like Pennant, even though it might have been a risk - there at least would have been the possibility of improving the first team as well as the squad as well as potentially giving us another option in terms of style of play.

[Rich]

Fair point - however, who is to say that the £14m was a bad investment, Houllier *might* have got the best out of him and he might have banged in goals for fun? Who knows.

I don't see Cisse as a failure, more he isn't suited to Rafa and Rafa's ethos in what he expects a striker to do.

I fully expect Cisse to bang the goals in for fun when he returns from injury.

Agreed with the £10m on Central Midfielders - the worst being Diao, I can kind of understand the reasoning behind Cheyrou, if he was the 'new' Zidane. But Diao?!? What were they thinking!

[red g]

Fair point - however, who is to say that the £14m was a bad investment, Houllier *might* have got the best out of him and he might have banged in goals for fun? Who knows.

I don't see Cisse as a failure, more he isn't suited to Rafa and Rafa's ethos in what he expects a striker to do.

I fully expect Cisse to bang the goals in for fun when he returns from injury.

Agreed with the £10m on Central Midfielders - the worst being Diao, I can kind of understand the reasoning behind Cheyrou, if he was the 'new' Zidane. But Diao?!? What were they thinking!

fully agree with that post.....Cisse needs to be the main man and also to be loved. He will be a success somewhere i am sure. Cheyrou well he was a squad member of the WC team and has a couple of caps also remembering that run of goals he did score 4 in 5 or something. He had ability. Diao is IMO the worse player the premiership has seen bar George Weah's cousin!!

[univofchicago]

I don't see Cisse as a failure, more he isn't suited to Rafa and Rafa's ethos in what he expects a striker to do.

Cisse's transfer was a failure of the board - to sanction such a high-profile move a year before it was actually supposed to happen. Houllier's future as LFC manager was uncertain, to allow 14m transfer to go ahead under the circumstances was a big mistake.