Gerard Houllier has finally been confirmed as new permanent manager at Aston Villa, succeeding Martin O’Neill. He has resigned from his position of technical director at FFF.

I’ve put together a mini-biography here and compiled his Premier League statistics while at Liverpool here for anyone who is interested.

Gerard Houllier
I am very happy and proud to join this great and historic club. It was a very difficult decision for me to leave the FFF [French Football Federation] but I could not turn down the opportunity to manage a club whose approach, both on and off the pitch, I have long admired.

Aston Villa is one of England’s biggest clubs and has an amazing set of fans. This is a tremendous challenge and one I am very much looking forward to taking on.