Houllier opts for humour over horror

WHEN you have been forced to confront your mortality as recently as Gerard Houllier, the result of a football match is not, despite Bill Shankly’s famous observation, more important than life and death.

Which is perhaps why Houllier was able to garnish Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Aston Villa, their 11th consecutive match without a win in the Barclaycard Premiership, with a splash of humour.

At least statisticians, Houllier claimed, had been kept trying to find fresh historical landmarks to coincide with Liverpool's dreadful run the worst sequence since Bob Paisley's day, the worst since before Shankly, worst since Everest was conquered, that sort of thing.

"Maybe they might have to say since the First World War if we don't start winning," said Houllier, with a lightness of touch which belied the pressure he must be experiencing after taking just four points from a possible 33.

Houllier might smile but three unpalatable facts must be faced.

One: the £10 million spent on El Hadji Diouf and the £4 million parted with for Salif Diao was the worst football business done on Merseyside since the days of Stan Collymore.

Two: Liverpool's need for a wide player grows more desperate each week.

Three: Liverpool 2003 appear to have totally lost touch with the ethos which made the club the most dominant force in British football for more than a quarter of a century. 'Pass to a team-mate in a better position and move' was a philosophy which made Liverpool great. Under Shankly, Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish.

Under Houllier, hard-won possession is surrendered so cheaply by such as Diao, Diouf, John Arne Riise and Danny Murphy it is no wonder the aura of invincibility which once defined Anfield appears to have gone.

Houllier, who insisted last week that he would never quit his beloved

Anfield, was swift to clutch at any available straw, saying: "We must have faith. It is a challenge, but we showed we had character. I said to the boys at the end of the game, 'I care about you. I trust you. We are in this together. You don't have to feel guilty. If we stick together it will come and the reward will be greater'."

The feeling is not universal as proved by the damning verdicts delivered by Houllier's phone-in critics.

"The manager has got to go" and "He has taken the club as far as he can" were again typical of the vehemence rising against the Frenchman, whose perpetual tinkering with formations the same Liverpool side has not been fielded in consecutive matches since December 2000 has contributed to the free-fall in confidence.