Aston Villa aim to secure Gerard Houllier’s services within 24 hours
Aston Villa are currently a manager less club, however the team is more than keen on appointing Gerard Houllier to take over the reins at the club as successor to Marin O’Neil as early as the next forty eight hours.
Houllier is currently spending his week in England to decide whether or not he wishes to return to the Premier League after an absence of six years.
The manager emerged as the prime contender to take over the managerial role at the club, after a series of searches launched by owner Randy Lerner, who is rather keen to appoint the manager sooner rather than later.
Houllier was amongst the short listed managers who were interviewed last week. Other managers interviewed include Kevin MacDonald and former West Ham manager Alan Curbishley
Despite a hectic selection process, rumours are indicating that former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is the favourite to join Villa as their manager in the coming few days.
However, the reserve team chief at the club, Mac Donald has his coaching skills very highly regarded by Lerner and by current Aston Villa players as well and this could prove fruitful to land him some sort of a role with the first team.
Houllier managed to give very little to no information away, when questioned about his future, while he was attending Jamie Carragher’s testimonial at Anfield.
Houllier is currently the technical director for the French national team, but has managed to come under scathing criticism for a more than disappointing campaign by the French during the World Cup in South Africa.
There were numerous questions regarding the soon to be manager’s health conditions, as he suffers from heart problems which proved to be his downfall during the latter part of his career with Liverpool.
He was however reassured by Aston Villa that his personal health was not a cause for concern.
The officials at the club and the owners of the team wish to bring in a new manager as soon as possible, so that the manager could stamp his authority on the team immediately after the players return from international duties on the 13th of September.
Houllier turned 63 last week. He left Anfield close to six years ago and has since been employed as the technical director by his country’s national team. However, he was appointed on that post after he decided to part ways with Lyon in 2007.
Houllier led the Liverpool team that he managed to win a UEFA Cup, the Far Cup and the League Cup treble in the 2001 season.
Villa strongly believes that the manager has the resume that would help see the team progress in the right direction. After already getting three consecutive finishes in the top six, the team will be looking to go a little further in this coming season.
Houllier has repeatedly proven himself on the domestic level in both France with Lyon and in England with Liverpool. The manager has all the required credentials and requirements that would guarantee that he has more than a decent run in with Aston Villa.
However the manager has not been as successful with any of his teams in Europe. He has never won the UEFA Champions League or the Europa League with either team that he has managed. The best he has done is when he won the UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool. However, Villa wouldn’t be too worried about this, considering the team is currently not in any European competition and their primary focus is to do well at the domestic level.
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