Houllier faces chop as stakes get higher

WITH great dignity Gerard Houllier pledges to fight on to restore Liverpool to their former glories.

There is no doubt the Frenchman will work equally as hard as Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson, using the iron fist with which he rules Anfield because he believes he can turn around a season which is dying on its feet.

The signs are, however, that no-one believes in Houllier.

Not the supporters, who have been filling the phone-in airwaves with their vitriol for months, and lately venting their feelings from the Kop.

Not the players either, if their display in the humiliating FA Cup fifth-round defeat against Portsmouth was anything to go by.

It is a strong football man who can lose both the stands and the dressing room and still remain in charge, even if the Liverpool board for the moment remains faithful.

What appears certain, however, in the increasingly distressing story of Liverpool FC, is that Houllier has 13 league games to save his job.

Forget the UEFA Cup which resumes on Thursday against Levski Sofia if Liverpool do not gain the fourth Champions League spot in the Premiership come May, Houllier will be history.

They lie sixth, two points behind Charlton and three behind Newcastle with a game in hand on both.

We should not forget Houllier's impressive work in nurturing Anfield's youth, building their academy and ridding the club of indiscipline.

But there are three reasons why Houllier could not survive missing out on the Champions League.

The first is the obvious loss of £20million the competition conveys and which would help fund the rebuilding programme clearly essential if Liverpool are to compete with the 'Big Three' of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

The other two reasons are Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard Liverpool's prized assets, neither of whom have concealed their disappointment at missing out on pitching their talents against the cream of Europe in the Champions League.

Both stars are Liverpool through and through, but in particular the Owen contract talks, emanating from his desire to play in the top competition, are destabilising the club.

It appears to be dawning on Owen that Liverpool, under Houllier, do not and will not present such a scenario in the foreseeable future.

The multi-million pound fees splashed out on El-Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao, Bruno Cheyrou and Igor Biscan amount to some of the worst business in Premier League history.

Houllier's meddling with systems and personnel, admittedly many of them caused by a constant stream of injuries, has not helped matters.

Against Portsmouth he asked his team to play the first half in a 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by Real Madrid and they looked, well, real beginners.

Liverpool's great strength in their halcyon days was their simplicity, the fact that they played the game which suited them and let the opposition worry about how to cope.

These days Liverpool no longer possess the pass masters of old. Too often they have relied on defending deep and the pace of Owen on the break.

The system worked for a while, even winning three trophies in a season three years ago the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup and following those up with the Super Cup and the Charity Shield.

But with Owen missing for two months through injury and so little craft in the Liverpool game so far the purchase of Harry Kewell has solved little - opponents wised up and found that if the acid tip carried by the talismanic England striker can be contained, there is precious little penetration from other areas.

Too cautious, too predictable, like watching paint dry compared to the red machine of yesteryear.

How much more can the intelligent, charming Frenchman take? The smart money says 13 matches and counting.