Houllier: My way or the highway

Gerard Houllier is determined to mould Aston Villa his way and the players that do not like his methods will be shipped out.

Out-of-favour midfielder Stephen Ireland, who joined Villa in an eight-million-pound deal in the summer, has been told he can leave and fellow Irishman Richard Dunne looks like he could be the next player to be shown the door.

Dunne was dropped for last Saturday’s victory over West Brom and will sit on the bench again this weekend against Wigan. Houllier insists Dunne was not selected for tactical reasons and reports of a training ground bust-up have been scoffed at by the Frenchman.

“I’ve read about dissent in the squad over training methods but it is not true,” he said.

“I know it is different to what it was before but it is not true and the players will adapt gradually.”

“You adapt or you die. We are changing a lot of things and that upsets the comfort of some players.”

The former Liverpool manager has no time for whingers, he said.

“We know that we are changing things, we know that sometimes people are whinging and moaning but they have a fantastic job. They are paid high wages to play,” Houllier said.

Houllier was pleased with the way his team bounced back from defeat at Liverpool by beating West Brom last weekend and knows the Wigan game will be tough.

“They are a good footballing team. I like what they do,” he said.

It is not clear whether Ireland will travel to Wigan with the team and Houllier was unsure if Ireland really wanted to leave, but he confirmed the club would want their monetary investment back.

“I think so. The club probably would. Was he involved in the game against West Brom? No. So he won’t be involved in the game against Wigan,” he said.

It seems that owner Randy Lerner will not be providing large funds for the January window.

“Hopefully there will be at least one signing or two. Is that enough? We are surviving this year and also we have got some young players coming up,” Houllier said.

England striker Gabriel Agbonlahor has recovered from a chest infection but Ashley Young is sidelined with a knee injury.

Houllier said that Young’s replacement will be his only change from the side that beat West Brom last Saturday. That means Ireland will not be in the squad and Dunne will be one of the substitutes.