Houllier takes over as coach of Lyon

FORMER Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier has been named the new coach of reigning French champions Lyon. Houllier, ousted from the Liverpool hot seat last summer, will replace Paul Le Guen, who announced he was leaving the club after three seasons in charge during which time he won three league titles.

Lyon have won the league for the past four years, the first time under former France coach Jacques Santini.

After Le Guen's hugely successful period with the club, which also took them to the brink of the final stages of the Champions League, Houllier's European experience is likely to have been decisive. Lyon have failed at the quarter-final stages of Europe's premier club competition for the past two seasons (2004 and 2005).