Gérard Houllier’s posthumous standing rises as Liverpool recognises a pioneer | OneFootball

Gérard Houllier, Liverpool manager from 1998 to 2004 and a former PSG coach, is now held more fondly by Reds fans than at his 2004 exit, reflected in tributes around Anfield.

L'Équipe reports that PSG’s travelling support typically march before Tuesday’s tie, and are unlikely to pause at The Men That Built Anfield, where a 2024 stone honours Houllier as “Le Boss”.

Houllier managed PSG from 1985 to 1988, then Liverpool from 1998 to 2004, winning five trophies in 2001. His legacy later felt underplayed, influenced by Rafa Benitez’s 2005 Champions League win and a sour end marked by recruitment errors and Robbie Fowler’s 2001 exit.

That view has shifted. A mural unveiled two years ago at 330 Anfield Road now includes him, and local store Hat Scarf Or A Badge still sells Houllier shirts, with demand rising around 2001 anniversaries, older fans crediting his stricter standards.

He is increasingly viewed as a pioneer, as Liverpool’s first foreign manager, having handed Steven Gerrard his 1998 debut and restored a European edge.

His death in 2020, days after heart surgery linked to his 2001 aortic dissection while in charge, resonated across the city, which had rallied around him at the time, even beyond the Liverpool end. Surgeon Abbas Rashid led the 11-hour operation in 2001. Eight days later, Houllier was discussing tactics with Michael Owen and Emile Heskey from his hospital bed, and Houllier and Rashid later became close friends.

Source: L'Équipe