Into the fire: Gerard Houllier eventually did make it into the Celtic dugout but it was as Liverpool's manager. Pic: ©SNS Group
Gerard Houllier has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to manage Celtic in 1998 after Liverpool offered him the chance to become joint manager at Anfield with Roy Evans. Houllier, who was being lauded in France for his contribution to their World Cup win, was weighing up an offer to succeed Wim Jansen before the English club came calling.
Houllier had been out of management since being sacked as French national coach in 1993 but retained a role as technical director with the French Football Federation.
After his country’s World Cup success on home soil, he was offered the chance to stay with the federation but also had an offer from the Glasgow club to make a return to club management 10 years on from his last club job with Paris Saint Germain.
Celtic eventually moved for Jozef Venglos, who failed to build on Wim Jansen's title winning success before stepping down after a year in charge. John Barnes followed, presiding over a disastrous eight months at the helm before he was sacked, eventually paving the way for Martin O’Neill’s success with the Hoops from 1999 onwards.
O’Neill took over from temporary manager Kenny Dalglish before leading Celtic to the 2003 Uefa Cup final amongst a haul of seven trophy wins. But it could have all been different if Houllier hadn’t dithered over whether to swap France for Scotland, leaving time for Liverpool to make their swoop.
“I was 51 and I had two options before me,” Houllier told Lavoixdessports.com. “I could stay as technical director with the French Football Federation or go back into the fire.
“I had the offer to sign for Celtic. But then Liverpool came for me and I went there.”
Houllier assumed full control of the manager’s job at Anfield when co-manager Roy Evans stepped down after just four months and went on to spend six years with Liverpool.
He led the Reds to five major honours, including a Uefa Cup final win over Alaves in 2001 in an epic 5-4 victory at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion, in which former Scotland captain Gary McAllister contributed a man of the match performance.
He then moved on to manage Olympique Lyonnais, succeeding Paul le Guen, who had switched to Scotland to manage Rangers. Houllier spent two seasons at the Stade Gerland, contributing two Ligue 1 titles to their seven-in-a-row run before stepping down to take a break from the game.
