By Gabriele Marcotti
Most people in football insist Gerard Houllier is a lovely man, and an intelligent one too. "Very clever, very bright," says Harry Redknapp, manager of Portsmouth, who host Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth-round replay this afternoon. "And a lovely guy too. Knows his football. Shame they're giving him a hard time, but that's football..."
There may well be a twinkle in Redknapp's eyes as he speaks. Even as his colleagues rally around him, many Liverpool fans have grown distinctly tired of what they consider his blend of evaded questions, convoluted excuses and, most importantly, insipid play.
If Houllier - the former schoolteacher and academic - is as intelligent as some of his friends suggest, he is living proof that it takes more than brains to manage well. The man, who like Stalin, speaks in terms of five-year plans is now in his sixth season at Anfield. Only one full-time Liverpool manager since the 1950s has a worse record in terms of wins, draws and losses than Houllier - Graeme Souness. Even Roy Evans has a better record.
Yet, when he speaks, there is an earnestness to his manner which so far has convinced the Liverpool brass that he is the right man to take the club forward, even as the Cup treble of four seasons ago begins to gather dust.
Houllier gave himself a few days off in his native France following the disappointing Anfield stalemate with Ports- mouth last Sunday. It was a chance to decompress, to get away from the barrage of criticism which inevitably followed.
Rather than facing the fire - something which, to be fair, he's done many times before - he issued the following Stalinesque communique: "Everyone on the playing and coaching staff is determined and committed to putting this proud football club where it needs to be. I have always said that we are in this together, and if we are to achieve our aims, that is the way it has to be."
Drastic times call for drastic measures and the importance of today's trip to Fratton Park cannot be overstated. Barring a simul-taneous ebola outbreak at Old Trafford, Highbury and Stamford Bridge, Liverpool will not win the Premiership, which means that, in the next five days - the FA Cup clash today and the Uefa Cup encounter with Levski Sofia on Thursday - another season could go down the toilet at Anfield.
This time, the repercussions could go well beyond Houllier and his job security. Michael Owen, whose contract expires in June 2005, will not commit unless he believes the club are "headed in the right direction". Another campaign without silverware, and he will put himself on the market, most likely to be sold this summer, since the club won't want to lose him on a free.
Auxerre striker Djibril Cisse, the man originally earmarked to partner Owen (in happier times) is now the man who could replace him, but even that move, once certain, is now in doubt. Liverpool have agreed a fee in principle with the French club, but they have until the middle of July to change their minds, something they may well do if Houllier is sacked and replaced by a manager who has other priorities or if they fail to raise enough cash by selling Owen.
But that's just the beginning. Sami Hyypia, Dietmar Hamann, Emile Heskey and Vladimir Smicer, the backbone of the Cup treble side, all go out of contract in June 2005, just like Owen. All have hefty wage packets and all but Heskey are the wrong side of 30. Difficult choices will have to be made and, under normal circumstances, they would already know if they were being offered new contracts or whether they will be put up for sale this summer. But these are not normal circumstances.
Houllier may have a contract for next season, but it's painfully obvious that Liverpool have not committed to him. Nor can they afford to re-sign the four above mentioned players, until they are sure who will lead them next season. The last thing they want to do is sign them up and then find themselves with a new manager who may not want them.
Houllier knows this all too well. A manager who has the backing of the board is free to build for the future, which means extending player deals and working to bring in new players. It's a luxury he does not have and will not have unless he keeps the silverware hopes alive by getting past Portsmouth and Levski Sofia in the next five days. Typically, he won't admit it.
"Taking into consideration everything that happened to us this season, such as losing several key players for long spells with serious injuries and being the victims of some very dubious refereeing decisions, I think it's a credit to us that we are even able to challenge for fourth place in the league and are still in the running both in the FA Cup and Uefa Cup," he says, indicating that his glass, at least, is always half-full.
But a generation of Liverpudlians over 30 who remember the European Cups before the Souness-Evans nightmare are making their displeasure known, with vocal shows of dissent, both at Anfield and on the road.
There's a certain irony in the fact that today's crucial test will come at Fratton Park, where they lost 1-0 earlier this season in what was probably their worst performance to date. It can be a chance for redemption or an incubus revisited.
The good news is that Houllier is slowly reassembling his troops. Danny Murphy is back in contention after his injury and Salif Diao and El Hadji Diouf have returned from the African Nations' Cup. Milan Baros, sorely missed after finally living up to his potential earlier this year, is also close to full fitness, though Harry Kewell is suspended.
Meanwhile, things are bleak in the Portsmouth camp, where Redknapp maintains that he is "struggling to find 16 senior pros". Pompey have no fewer than 14 unavailable players, including Anfield old boy Patrik Berger, veteran Teddy Sheringham and new signing Ivica Mornar.
Perhaps Houllier can take some solace that, while he believes events are conspiring against him in Liverpool, the big fella upstairs is lending him a hand. Now if he only could help Heskey hit the back of the net.
Posted by anfieldreds
at 4:34 AM GMT
