Page 1 of Liverpool sack Houllier...

Liverpool will announce the departure of manager Gerard Houllier on Monday, BBC Sport has learned.
Houllier`s Anfield reign is scheduled to end with official confirmation from the club at 1200 BST.

He arrived at Anfield in the summer of 1998 and took sole charge from Roy Evans later that season.

Liverpool will start the search for his successor immediately, with Charlton`s Alan Curbishley and Valencia coach Rafael Benitez the early favourites.

However, the agent of Valencia chief Benitez told BBC Sport on Sunday that Liverpool had not made contact with his client.

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish had been linked with a return to the club, but BBC Sport understands this is unlikely.

Houllier has paid the price for Liverpool failing to mount a serious title challenge last season, even though he guided the club into the Champions League.

It brings to an end a tenure that enjoyed its major successes, with the FA Cup, Uefa Cup and Worthington Cup won in 2001.

Houllier also won the Worthington Cup in 2003 with a 2-0 win against Manchester United, but he has been the subject of fierce criticism this season.

Liverpool have yet to formally start the search for his successor, with the Anfield hierarchy determined to avoid getting into a long-running saga of the kind which has engulfed Chelsea.

As a Liverpool fan, I hope the Anfield board can pry Martin O`Neill away from Celtic rather than get a foreign manager who is unfamiliar with the premiership - you only need to see how long it took Ranieri to get himself accustomed to the pace of English football for an example of this.
Both the Liverpool board and fans want success next season so may not accept a manager who will take a season or two to settle in.

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rather than get a foreign manager who is unfamiliar with the premiership - you only need to see how long it took Ranieri to get himself accustomed to the pace of English football
Not sure that is very fair on foreign managers, especially when Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 and then did the double in his second season. :)

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I think Liverpool could do a lot worse than get Ranieri in. O`Neil is the no-brainer choice, but i dont think he will be easy to pry away from celtic.

And i dont think we will ever see Big Kenny back at the `pool.

I dunno, it a difficult one, because there are not many great managers, and even less out of contract, at the mo.

When the mighty Derby kept swapping managers every few months, I found myself thinking `Right, Since we are rebuilding and we are going to have to rely on bringing fresh talent through, why dont we get Nigel Clough onboard now, even as an assistant manager`. I personally think NC is going to be the next succesful english manager. Having been (dragged?) to quite a few Burton Albion games, I can say he certainly has managed to make a silk purse from a sows ear.

I think Wenger is the exception to the rule - I would guess that a manager who is used to the Premiership would achieve success in a shorter time than one from Seria A or La Liga. If Liverpool do appoint Rafael Benitez I hope he can prove me wrong. Also I agree with nickthegun that they could do worse than Ranieri who just seems to be getting used to English football at the time when Chelsea want to sack him!

rumour has it that l`pool aren`t interested in o`neill as it would mean wholesale backroom changes that aren`t in keeping with their philosophy of keeping old l`pool players as coaches.

whoever comes in is going to need a big broom to clear out all those mediocre players.

mgns

Didn`t Liverpool have one of there best runs when Houllier had his heart problem under Phil Thompson.

After Houllier`s heart op when Phil Thompson was in charge, Liverpool had a great run but I don`t see Phil Thompson as a permanent manager - I think the fans and board want a `big` name with experience of the transfer market.

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Didn`t Liverpool have one of there best runs when Houllier had his heart problem under Phil Thompson

Havent Liverpool had one of their best runs in the last 10 years under houllier?

They havent been contenders for nearly 15 years. In that time Arsenal and the scum have well and truly stolen the march on them and i dont think they will ever pull level. They were not succesful during the real boom period of 96-98, which i think will leave them playing catch-up for a while.

I think `pool fans will have to face facts that they are not even top three anymore and that 4th is, in fact, the best they can ever hope for. I mean during souness`s reign they managed a meagre two 6ths and an 8th, ffs!

TBH I think the way that Houllier has been vilified by a section of the Liverpool support actually says more about them than him.
He achieved the target the club realistically hoped to achieve , champions league spot.
He has won 5 major honours and one Super Cup ? in his time at Liverpool, which by any club other than Arsenal or Manchester United`s standards is an excellent return.

Yes Liverpool were one of the giants in European football as were so many others who achieved greatness like Nottingham Forest, Dukla Prague or Barcelona. Football is a sport where teams do succeed and achieve greatness then the majority of them fail to maintain the standards their predecessors set.
The trouble is that supporters of many clubs seem to believe they should not have to wait for success and that in essence "They deserve better". Absolute scheitte.
Supporters should think themselves fortunate that their team is actually challenging for a european spot.
I for my sins, and plenty of them :D follow Falkirk and am extremely proud to be a Falkirk supporter. The only silverware I have seen them lift was the Challenge Cup a fair few years ago and while I would love to see them win much more silverware I accept the realities of sport. The realities that there can only be so many winners and that invariably or inevitably we will not be one of them. That does not mean the club show a lack of ambition , it merely shows that some teams and their support have realistic ambitions as opposed to so many at "Bigger" clubs who demand success even though their team may not be quite as good as they believe.

Anyway bets of luck to Mr. Houllier in the future. I sincerely hope that he finds another club where he may reward the loyalty of supporters of whichever club he manages by winning 5 or 6 trophies in his time.

Choagy :)