I have explained how it arose and I do acknowledge that my virtual exoneration from blame of Houllier – as will be evident from what I’ve said earlier – was included somewhat tongue-in-cheek in order to turn on its head the notion of his culpability in the eyes of his critics.
My real targets in ‘Against the Tide’ were not those who merely consider Houllier is not the man for the job. If that is their opinion then good luck to them. Rather it was aimed at those who had insulted and sneered at Houllier in the public domain. I found that – and still do find it – unforgiveable.
Those that criticise are a different matter altogether. Clearly run-of-the-mill fan criticism can never be a problem with a fellow fan. It is simply par for the course. It is only when the prevailing anti-Houllier mindset precludes as being acceptable/the future benchmark anything other than a six-nil victory over moderate opposition that I do begin to squirm slightly. Such closed mind activity was rife after our home wins against Fulham and Charlton. I found it deplorable and challenged it vehemently on the spot.
But enough of this tidal talk. What of this broader perspective? Besides, title talk is what we’d rather I guess. So I promise not to mention tides again till we sign …King Kanoute.
Sorry.
The entire Houllier affair has brought into the debating arena a great many aspects concerning Liverpool FC and football generally. From the alleged contrasting playing philosophies of LFC and Gerard Houllier to the contrasting degrees of fan loyalties of different eras; from the contrasting definitions of what constitutes success to the contrasting tolerance levels of failure.
As with any other areas of life any ensuing debates often serve to raise more questions than they provide answers. As ever, only historical context will provide us with more of the latter.
In such context it is interesting to concentrate on Steve Kelly’s own perspective on Gerard Houllier. It is one which relies much on his own historical interpretation.
Steve as most will know is one who has never truly warmed to Gerard Houllier. This, it transpires, is partly due to a prior warning he received from some Gallic friends about Houllier’s apparent cautious footballing philosophy and partly what he himself has witnessed in the flesh since the man landed.
On the basis of this evidence it is not hard to see a person of cynical tendency such as Steve veer towards a perception of Gerard Houllier as a football manager incapable of escaping from the defensive strait-jacket that has, inarguably, featured prominently in his reign to date. Neither is it difficult to see why it may have worried him so much to face being lumbered indefinitely with such a none spot-changing animal in charge of his beloved Reds.
Indeed, this is precisely the same area in which many anti-Houllierites tend to concentrate their efforts at discrediting the manager. The gist of such logic runs that the most successful sides of recent years have also tended to be the most attack-minded and most adventurous. Thus, if the Liverpool manager opts by virtue of his cautious nature to exclude himself and his team from such playing style, then it follows by definition that we are also excluding ourselves from ever embracing that same elite and exclusive company of teams competing meaningfully for Premiership and Champions League honours.
Apart from Bayer Leverkusen and er…ourselves last season of course. Oh dear, if only life were that simple and logical and conformist perhaps we could all be winners.
Or losers.
My own point in all this is simply to challenge some of the ridiculously convenient pigeonholing and hypothesising that seems to abound and which frequently attempts to write off Houllier as some sort of makeweight in all these lofty power games. I suspect, in all fairness, it is simply a natural by-product of all the scrutinizing and analysing that goes on. Frankly, though, it just doesn’t add up.
The fact is football simply defies being compartmentalised in such a way. Taking Gerard Houllier’s reign to date there have been many footballing high spots. Not enough to mask the tag of drudgery which perhaps has at times been deserved but they are there all the same and cannot be denied even by Houllier’s sternest critics. The reputation may well be justified in some instances. The reality is, however, it is essentially one that has been bestowed on us by the media and thereafter by the prevailing perception foisted upon us by the daft, blind and ignorant.
Every season has its share of drudgery. I guarantee that every single one of the forty odd years I’ve watched Liverpool there have been spells when the football served up by teams graced by even those most gifted of Red performers has been rank and dire. Admittedly the bad spell this season probably does rank amongst the worst. Then again there has never been a season when so many key performers failed so badly for such lengthy periods.
Contrast the football quality now those key players are back to the peak of their game. Good football is about good players performing. Always has been. Always will be. And we have some really decent players on our books with more coming through and more hopefully to come this summer. We also are a young side with most of the team still some way from peaking and even the older players with some mileage left in them.
More pertinently to this trilogy of pieces, good managing is about continuity and evolution. It is also about slotting the right animal in the right place and right environment. In Gerard Houllier Liverpool has in place a genuine workhorse who is slavishly devoted to this football club, its fans, the city and the people of the city. In those respects he is arguably the nearest thing we have ever had to Bill Shankly. No disrespect to any of our other legends but that is my honest assessment. Like Shankly, too, Houllier is a proven winner. As yet that likeness does not extend to major trophies. His reign, however, is still in its infancy.
In terms of his footballing philosophies or, should I say, the lack of them of which he is accused. I’m sorry but the fears about Gerard Houllier’s cautiousness and defensive mindset prevailing for his entire managership are just not convincing enough to warrant his jettisoning. Sure a large chunk of this season has seen us as sterile as many of us can remember. Yet as I mentioned above, the reasons for it are staring in the face anybody who really does want to see them. The key players flopped. For a protracted spell. No more nor less.
Yes there were other extenuating circumstances and the manager himself has to ask himself why he never brought in at least one tried and tested new face either pre-season or as the season unfolded and why he persisted in team formations and selections that were not helping the cause. Those shortcomings, however, were not at the core of our collapse. That is evidenced by what transpired when players actually started performing to something like their abilities culminating in the current final assault on a Champions League place.
There is nothing I have seen in Houllier’s era so far that would convince me he does not desire the kudos that would come his way if he was to create a winning team that was also capable of playing sparkling football. As I mentioned earlier, there have been times – I would extend this to many times but as it is a game of opinions I won’t go there since some of my fellow Reds never saw a solitary commendable performance against Fulham a match where I saw some great football – when his teams have opened up and played delightful football.
Perhaps this has not been accomplished with what some might brand as a cavalier approach but whenever did any Liverpool team adopt that sort of gay abandon? Not even the Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge era at its peak saw us play like ‘Brazilians’. Indeed, whenever have you seen the ‘Brazilian’ type teams play like ‘Brazilians’. Real Madrid at Old Trafford perhaps if you get my drift but that’s about it.
This is not intended as some rose-tinted eulogy. Things this season until recent months have been dire. All that I’m trying to point out is that there are reasons for what went awry this season and they’re not all down to Houllier. Also the glories of recent years may not have been the Premiership or Champions League pinnacles but glories they nevertheless were. Also when the team do perform at their best they aren’t half bad and it is noticeable recently that they are developing more of a Liverpool pass and move ethic.
Finally, regarding these timescales which keep being quoted. Honestly to read the way some of these fellows on the websites go on about what Houllier promised to win within five years you’d honestly think it was as if the guy had undertaken delivery of some battleship cruiser to North Korea by the summer of 2003. Though Houllier has always dangled the carrots of achieving the top honours within five years such platitudes are surely not intended for absolute literal consumption. Nor should four less esteemed trophies along the way be dismissed quite so glibly.
There can never be guarantees in football. It is not in the game’s nature. Take Phil Thompson’s apparently idle boast several weeks back for which he was pilloried. Just as everybody had dismissed his claim that we would win our final six games it suddenly begins to look as if it’s a possibility. Fact is it could just as easily go tits up. But that’s football. The point is that all anyone can wish for is that you have in place a management team of capable people doing their level best. I cannot see anything other than such an assembly at Liverpool just now. Sure it’s far from perfect. Then again what isn’t?