Houllier not official Villa manager yet

(GSM) – New Aston Villa manager Gérard Houllier has revealed he is still to sign his three-year contract at the Midlands club.

But Houllier maintains it is nothing to worry about ahead of Wednesday night’s Carling Cup clash with Blackburn Rovers, which is set to be his first match as club manager.

When asked if he had signed the contract, Houllier said: “No, not yet but it is okay.

“The word is more important than the rest. You mean physically? No, but don’t be worried.

“This is not important – I think at Liverpool, I didn’t sign until November or December.”

Houllier maintains he has faith in Kevin MacDonald although the latter rejected the opportunity to be among the former Liverpool manager’s first-team backroom staff.

Instead, MacDonald will revert to his role as reserve-team coach. However, Houllier understands the former caretaker manager’s disappointment and insists he has the utmost confidence in MacDonald’s abilities.

Houllier said: “I understand why he didn’t want to be there. Let’s be honest, he was a bit disappointed because he was interviewed like the others.

“But I trusted him to be my number two and I trust him to be the reserve coach which, to me, is someone you work with all the time. He is part of my staff.”

63-year-old Houllier wants to end the club’s 14-year trophy drought and present silverware as a reward for the fans.

Houllier said: “Winning a trophy would be fantastic for the club and a huge reward for the fans. It will come.

“Maybe what the club needs is more ambition and to show its fighting teeth. Sometimes when you are a good club, everything is fine and the comfort is there.

“Maybe what we need is to get out of this comfort zone and get results a bit more.

“The passion is there but the ambition to win things would do well at this club.

“The image is a nice club. We want to be a winning club, and a nice winning club.”

Houllier continued: “Winning that first trophy with Liverpool was crucial. It took a lot of pressure off the team. It came as a relief. We had actually won something.

“Even Chelsea lifted their first league title after winning the League Cup.

“I remember speaking to José Mourinho and saying, ‘Don’t neglect this cup because, if you win it, on the back of that, confidence grows’.

“That is exactly what happened. After that we practically won everything at Liverpool and we want to win something at Villa.”