Houllier hints at departures

Last updated : 17 January 2003 By Kevin Smith

"We have to keep strong," said the Frenchman. "But this is an ideal opportunity to tell people that at the end of the season the strong will be even stronger, but the weak will have to go.

"Ideally, we should be in second or third place in the league, but it hasn't happened and there is a fine line between winning and losing.

"The more difficult the period is, the more you get out of it and the strong personalities and top players will emerge stronger, bigger and more clever.

"The weaker ones will disappear. Sometimes you need that sort of crisis to sort out what is going on."