A sad end for Houllier at Aston Villa
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Gerard Houllier brought to an end his stint at Aston Villa on a sad note as health problems plagued him, not allowing him to do his best work. While his health problems were very serious this time, this is not the first time they have haunted Houllier. The first major setback for his career was back in 2001 when he went through an open heart surgery while being in charge of Liverpool. He suffered chest pain during a home match against Leeds. He returned to take charge at Anfield and stayed there for three years until he got sacked. Then after leaving Liverpool, he led Lyon to two French titles and then joined the FFF in 2007. Then only he was called by Aston Villa for a three year deal only in the last September. And he was glad to join the great team. He left the role of a technical director at France Football Federation (FFF) and joined Aston Villa.
He managed the Villa team well enough to see it through this year. Villa avoided relegation safely and one of his major decisions in the club was to sign the English player Darren Bent. He paid Sunderland 18 million Euros to capture the services of Bent. Bent proved quite handy as he scored nine goals in sixteen matches to help save Villa from relegation. Gerard, unfortunately, was not able to make it to the last month of the season as health problems came to haunt him. It was expected that he would leave the post when the doctors said that Gerard would take time to recover and being in the dugout would only worsen his health. Hence the decision came of Houllier and Aston Villa severing ties through mutual consent.
The French tactician expressed his disappointment at leaving Villa midway through his contract. He so wanted to come back during the pre-season training but his health would just not permit him to do so.
“My health has improved considerably since I was taken ill on 20 April. I now intend to take the next few months to concentrate on recuperating fully before I may return to football”.
Houllier also expressed his pride in being the manager of Aston Villa and wished all the players luck and a good career. Bent was especially more disappointed as Gerard brought him in the side with a lot of expectations and it has to be said that Bent stood up to meet all of them. He was personally disappointed at Gerard’s exit. “He showed a lot of faith in me, but your health comes first and, if he’s not well enough to come back, then he needs to take a break”, said Bent.
The entire Villa family wished Gerard luck and prayed for his quick recovery.Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner said: “I would like to thank Gerard for his considerable efforts over the past nine months and for the dedication, commitment and work ethic he has demonstrated as Villa manager.We regret the circumstances of Gerard’s departure and, naturally, we wish him well in his continued recovery.” Villa has already started the search of looking into a new manager. Everton manager David Moyes, Fulham boss Mark Hughes, former England coach Steve McClaren and Villa assistant McAllister are all hopeful for the post and have been linked to the job.
