Gerrard backs Houllier for Irish job

It was fitting that Steven Gerrard chose Paris to throw his weight behind those calling for his former manager Gerard Houllier to replace Steve Staunton as the manager of the Republic of Ireland.

The Frenchman, 60, has refused to comment on the link with the Irish job but is thought to be keen on the idea and the FAI will be interested to hear such a leading figure in the game giving his old boss a glowing reference in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower yesterday.

Gerrard agrees that Houllier taking sole charge of Liverpool in the closing stages of 1998 was a situation not dissimilar with the current state of the Irish national team and the England midfielder believes Houllier is an ideal candidate to inject new life into a team that failed miserably to qualify for next year’s European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

Houllier’s spell in charge at Anfield, which came to an end in the summer of 2004, is not recalled fondly on Merseyside, despite him delivering a uefa Cup, an FA Cup and two League cups. Having finished second in 2002, his decision to spend e30million on El-Hadji Diouf, Bruno Cheyrou and Salif Diao taints his legacy but the stabilising job he did in his early seasons is without question and Gerrard, who was given his Liverpool debut by the Frenchman, thinks he can do the same for Ireland.

Speaking at the launch of the new adidas Predator PowerSwerve boots, Gerrard said: “He’s certainly a fantastic manager, a great guy and he’s got some really interesting ideas about football. He turned Liverpool around, he was very professional and if the Irish manage to get their hands on him, they’ve got themselves a very good manager.

“He’s a good man-manager and he knows how to get the best out of players individually. He’s very professional, he’s worked in French football for a long, long time and he’s had a bit of success.

“I think he proved himself at Liverpool. He came in and there were some big names in that dressing room. He changed the club and he changed an awful lot of things that helped improve the players’ performance on the pitch. His training methods are good and tactically he was spot on. We had success in Europe and on the domestic front. Personally I can’t speak highly enough of the man. I really enjoyed working with him.

“He got me six or seven medals that I’ve got at home and I’ve got a lot to thank him for. I think he can make a success of the Irish job certainly. There’s good players there and they’ve got passionate support and he’s certainly a passionate man and he’d definitely help Ireland.”

For the first time, Gerrard admitted yesterday that his form was seriously affected by coming back too soon after breaking a toe in a Champions League qualifier victory over Toulouse in August. The 27-year-old played the following game against Chelsea and was absent for just three weeks before rushing back to action as England beat Israel 3-0 at the start of September.

Gerrard was criticised for his subsequent performances as Liverpool stuttered after that international break, with Rafael Benitez’s side failing to build on their impressive start to the campaign, drawing four out of five matches in the Premier League. A draw with Porto and a defeat by Marseille have also left their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

The 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday meant that Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League but have drawn half of their 16 league matches this term. However, Gerrard has now scored five goals in six matches and feels he is almost back to his prodigious best.

The Liverpool skipper is similarly bullish about his team’s prospects of winning a first title since 1990 despite their stuttering form and problems in front of goal, which are illustrated by the fact they have not scored more than twice in a Premier League match since September 1.

Gerrard added: “I’m happy at the moment and I’m getting closer to where I like to be. I like to play at a consistent level. The broken toe had me out for three or four weeks but I came back much too early on it. I was still playing on it when I came back and that set me back another couple of weeks and I struggled with my form and fitness.

“But I’ve managed to get it right in the last three or four weeks. It was affecting my form. I was going into games worrying about my toe, worrying whether it was going to be sore. Injuries play a big part in players’ form and that one certainly played a big part in mine.

“There’s still a long way to go and we have a game in hand on many teams. It was important that we beat Fulham because it keeps us right just to stay in there. We’ve got some big names out at the moment. If we can get them back and find some consistency we believe we can stay involved.

“Draws have been our problem and the idea is to turn those draws into wins and be a bit more ruthless in front of goal. Defensively we’ve been fine and if we convert those draws into wins and get those big players back, we’ll be fine.

“We certainly create the chances. I think we created 21 against Blackburn but we just weren’t ruthless enough in front of goal.

“If we’d turned that draw into a win, we’d be two points better off and we’d be right back in there with the big boys.”

Just like Houllier might be, if Ireland comes calling.