Houllier’s challenge as he takes Villa reins
NEW Aston Villa manager Gerard Houlllier will have to marry matters on the pitch with how much will be spent off it.
As the club confirms its new boss following last month’s departure of manager Martin O’Neill, the French coach may have to contend with the same financial issues which blighted his predecessor.
Leading sports business academic Dr John Beech, of Coventry University, said: “(Former manager Martin) O’Neill, an employee in a senior position, seems to have been at odds with Randy Lerner, the club’s American owner, over how much should be spent on growing the business.
“In short, he wanted to spend more than Mr Lerner thought sensible. How often do people resign in other sectors because the company is failing to spend money?
“While, in general, injecting money into a football club with little concern for achieving a profit tends to produce success on the pitch, it is only too clear that such injections are no guarantee of success.”
The appointment of Mr Houllier ended weeks of speculation and the announcement is likely to steady nerves among fans as the club chases a top four finish and entry to the multi-million pound Champions League tournament next season.
It is likely to please new shirt sponsors FxPro which officially launched its three-year deal in July only to be thrown straight into the fire with the news that the club’s star coach had left.
Kevin MacDonald had been caretaker manager and was rumoured to be among those interviewed for the job.
Aston Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner said: “Two of the key qualities which we identified as being of crucial importance in our search for the new manager were experience of managing in the Premier League and a strategy for building on the existing strengths in our current squad, and Gerard Houllier comfortably satisfies these criteria.”
Managing clubs including Liverpool, Paris St Germain and Lyon, Mr Houllier has won cups both here and in his homeland and also three French league titles.
He was a key architect of the French national academy for developing youth football, regarded as one of the world’s finest, and joins Villa from his post as technical director of France’s national team
He said: “It was a very difficult decision for me to leave the French Football Federation but I could not turn down the opportunity to manage a club whose approach, both on and off the pitch, I have long admired.”
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