RIP Gerard Houllier

[Roboklopp]

Same Shaggy, but you’re right about it not being the time and I’m gonna chose to see things the way Fredo says now...on this at least!

[Shaggy]

And almost immediately binning ****s like Ince and getting rid of that "I'm the guvnor" bull**** and making it a team ethic. Crazy to think that not all that long ago we were still stuck in a timewarp, a drinking culture and with the likes of Ince giving it the Billy Big Bollocks. You wonder where we might be now if we hadn't brought in Houllier. Probably not a stretch to say he saved the club from terminal decline and mediocrity.

[Fredo]

RIP Gerard Houllier

Ha, yeah, “the guvnor” One of the first things he did I think was to boot out Ince. Was Ruddock still there when he took over? He didn’t last long as well.

[Fredo]

His first full season he brought in Hyppia and Henchoz and Westerveld came in as no 1 keeper. Did we also sign Heskey that year? I think we did.

[Shaggy]

His first full season he brought in Hyppia and Henchoz and Westerveld came in as no 1 keeper. Did we also sign Heskey that year? I think we did.

I think Heskey came later (£11m - seemed a fortune at the time!)

I went to Hillsborough on the first day of the season when Hyypia, Henchoz, Hamann, Smicer and Titi Camara made their debuts. Maybe Westerveld as well. Hamann hobbled off after about 20 mins. I remember after about 20 seconds Hyypia let a ball bounce over his head instead of heading it away first time and I said to my mate "oh dear, he looks ****"

We had a big Guinea flag in the Leppings Lane for Titi. Won 2-1 I think. Benito Carbone pulled one back for them.

[Fredo]

My bad yes, he signed Erik Meijer who became a cult hero, then the year after we signed Emile. Titi Camara was a great signing, a great guy and still very fond of Liverpool. These were great years.

[Roboklopp]

I remember Gerrard playing at RB vs Arsenal and playing in a fantastic ball for Titi to score the winner.

There was one game Titi scored after his Dad died too.

[Shaggy]

I remember Gerrard playing at RB vs Arsenal and playing in a fantastic ball for Titi to score the winner.

There was one game Titi scored after his Dad died too.

v West Ham (I think?), and kneeled down near the post possibly weeping after he scored.

Such great memories. I was supposed to be having a dry week but I'm toasting Houllier tonight. He brought us all so much joy that I just couldn't just do a couple of posts and move on. I remember singing his name for what seemed like hours in a square in Barcelona in 2002 (CL, we drew 0-0 in an utter snorefest - a Houllier gameplan perfectly executed ....Milan Baros came on as sub to make his debut)....if someone said he'd be dead less than 20 years later and all I gave him was a couple of posts on the internet and then moved on then I'd never have believed it. So here we are. Houllier!

[Fredo]

He seemed to have carte blanche to nearly every player in the French league at the time. Camara, Smicer, Djimi Traore, and the talented teenagers, Le Tallec and Sinama-Pongolle, Rigobert Song (signed from Metz) who was a centre back but ended playing mostly right back for us. Bruno Cheyrou (was very highly rated in France), Gregory Vignal and many more who probably never made it in the first team.

[Slinky Skills]

Thanks for the memories Ged - will never forget the UEFA cup final, what a game that was

I’ve followed LFC for a long time but Geds arrival coincided with the early days of the internet and the arrival of the fan forums (koptalk for me) so I think there is some extra resonance in that I’d never discussed a previous manager (and LFC in general) as much as we did in those early days!

RIP & YNWA

Great post mate.

I'm really sad as I was only 19 when we won all those cups. I worked In Asda with some great lads, mostly Liverpool fans but a good mixture of football fans and just going out and getting hammered watching the finals followed by a few ales in the beautiful sunshine and just having a good time were things that'll stay with me forever. They were great times back then, life was much easier back then with less stress and he helped turn this club around big time.

[Exiled_red]

I have a huge fondness for the Houllier era, as it came at the age that I was old enough and had the money to travel to Liverpool and go to the matches the 1999-00 season was the first season that I really went to the games regularly, through from then to 2005 I went to as many games as I could which was obviously mostly under Houllier including 3 cup finals, great memories

[Shaggy]

He seemed to have carte blanche to nearly every player in the French league at the time. Camara, Smicer, Djimi Traore, and the talented teenagers, Le Tallec and Sinama-Pongolle, Rigobert Song (signed from Metz) who was a centre back but ended playing mostly right back for us. Bruno Cheyrou (was very highly rated in France), Gregory Vignal and many more who probably never made it in the first team.

I remember Cheyrou making his debut in a pre-season friendly v Lazio (?) at Anfield and he looked an absolute world beater, literally strutting around rolling his foot over the ball like Zidane. Told all my mates he was going to be a sensation.

[Slinky Skills]

I always go on about this but it was one of my best memories as a Red. I was in the Everton end that day (pic of Ged below), the Gwladys St end behind the goal at the other end.



We'd kept quiet for the first goal, and the second goal (and I think Fowler missed a pen too which we kept quiet and still for). We were ****ing steaming so we were doing very well to keep quiet. Then Gary Mac curled that in right at the death and me and my mate Steve went ****ing nuts. We ran for the stairway, up the stairs, and ran a gauntlet of raging Evertonians who were spitting on us and some lashing out with stray fists and kicks as we danced past them. We knew it was the last kick so carried on for the streets and me and my mate just danced around hugging in the streets outside Goodison. A ****ing wonderful memory. Thanks Ged.

So long suckers!

[Fredo]

I remember Cheyrou making his debut in a pre-season friendly v Lazio (?) at Anfield and he looked an absolute world beater, literally strutting around rolling his foot over the ball like Zidane. Told all my mates he was going to be a sensation.

I watched a lot of French football at the time and I was convinced he'd be a world class player. I was over the moon when we signed him.

[Irishnev]

I remember Cheyrou making his debut in a pre-season friendly v Lazio (?) at Anfield and he looked an absolute world beater, literally strutting around rolling his foot over the ball like Zidane. Told all my mates he was going to be a sensation.

‘THAT’ summer - I still maintain if we signed Duff instead of the other 3 and a decent midfielder we’d have win the league