A magnificent treble and five trophies in all seemed to bo ushering a brave new era for Liverpool, as the club’s fans danced joyously to Houllier’s, regimented rhythm. The Anfield faithful however remained quietly cautious, despite the success. For the impressive trophy haul would only ever offer its true meaning and worth if it turned out to be the harbinger of things to come. The first step on a road which led to regular challenges for the very highest honours domestically and abroad – a sustained pursuit of silverware. Unfortunately for Houllier and the Liverpool fans it proved to be nothing of the sort.
Over the course of Gerard Houllier’s five year’s in charge at Liverpool, despite many average signings, and charges of negative tactics, his eventual downfall can be attributed to just two decisions- the perseverance with Emile Heskey, and the signing of El-Hadji Diouf.
It’s easy to say that Liverpool should never have bought Emile Heskey in the first place, that he was never going to become the striker that some suggested he could become. Taking a closer look, it is clear that Heskey seemed like a good purchase at the time. He was young and possessed a good deal of potential. Houllier was perfectly entitled to think that splashing out £11m on the Leicester-born striker would eventually prove a sound investment. Indeed, Houllier considered Heskey as his grand project, hoping to buff-up the rough diamond that the undoubtedly was and transform him into a sparkling diamond, unleashing his potential. Heskey was dubbed as Owen’s perfect foil in attack.
But, Heskey delivered one potent season, the treble year, while the rest of his Liverpool career was filled with occasional flashes of the real, bulldozer-esque Heskey and too few goals. Heskey is capable of scaring the life out of defenders with his strength and pace – but a lack of inner confidence and self-belief meant that he rarely played that way for Liverpool. In an ideal world Houllier should have cut his losses on Heskey two seasons ago, with Mellor and Baros biting at the bit to partner Owen, Liverpool fans believe these two should have been given far more of a chance. The Heskey situation seemed indicative of Houlliers reign in general - stubborn and unwilling to admit his mistakes.
Ironically, one of Houllier’s final tasks as Liverpool boss was to off-load Emile Heskey to Birmingham for almost half the price he paid for him. Sorry Ged, but that was at least 18 months too late. Heskey’s Liverpool record, appearances: 218, goals: 58.
The Frenchman’s second fateful mistake was the signing of the self-styled serial killer, El-Hadji Diouf after promising displays for Senegal in the 2002 world cup. Diouf was soon on his way to Anfield, as Houllier looked to add the final piece of the Jigsaw to the squad, outlaying some £10m on the attacker. But rather than spear-head Liverpool to the lofty heights of the title and European glory, the resulting two years revealed an arrogant and petulant player who went nowhere near to justifying his substantial price tag.
Then, in the UEFA cup against Celtic, Diouf’s nasty side came to light, a side that went against the very grain of the Liverpool way when he spat into the Glasgow crowd. It was clear that he didn’t quite hold the same scruples and traditions expected of a Liverpool player.
During these same two years, Gerard Houllier experienced a catastrophic period at the helm of Liverpool. FA Cup defeat to lowly Crystal Palace, Champions League embarrassment at the hand of Basle and a 4-0 demolition by bitter rivals Man Utd. But by far the hardest pill to swallow for the tortured Anfield support was the 11-match winless run during the winter months of the 2002/03 season. That knocked the stuffing out of the team, the fans and Houllier himself.
Liverpool fans now look upon the current squad and see the ranks swelling with the burden of expensive flops, suggesting perhaps, that Liverpool are in a worse condition than when Houllier took over. What is undeniable however is that the clubs infrastructure is solid thanks to Houllier, internally it is run the correct way and the clubs expensive yet professionally run youth academy is sure to offer up some gems in the near future which the new manager, Benitez, will reap the benefits from.
With Steven Gerard resisting the lure of Abramovich’s millions at Chelsea, relieved Liverpool fans can rightly look upon the future and Benitez’s imminent revolution with some optimism. Señor Benitez, it’s over to you.