Heskey backs Houllier exit

Ironically, many Liverpool fans would point to the Frenchman's staunch faith in the underperforming forward as a key reason in his ultimate failure at the club, but Heskey has not chosen to stand by the man who made him a record £11m signing on Merseyside.

"He's a good manager. But I think he went a bit stale and that happens with managers, just like Peter Reid at Sunderland.

"Liverpool are such a big club that they need to be challenging with the top two. He's taken them far but he'd taken them as far as he could."

"It was a sad day, given what he had done at the club. No one can say that he has not done a good job as he's won trophies there," Heskey added.