‘A week ago, after the defeat at Birmingham City, phone-in callers with Scouse accents were jostling one another aside to tell the world that Houllier had lost his touch, that his team had no width and his summer signings had been uniformly disastrous. Yesterday morning Rogan Taylor, described as the "director of football studies" at Liverpool University, told the nation that this was the worst Liverpool team he had seen in 40 years.
Houllier is a proud man. Proud of the World Cup winner's medal that the French team had specially struck for him in 1998, proud of his Legion d'Honneur, proud of being called to manage one of England's most illustrious clubs, proud of the way he rebuilt Anfield's morale and of the five trophies he brought to the club in that remarkable spell two seasons ago. But until his achievements in English football include the league championship or the European Cup, he will not be able to relax enough to admit his mistakes, which is one way of establishing a deposit of trust on which to draw in difficult times.’