Aston Villa: Dr Jozef Venglos backs Houllier appointment at Villa

Sep 6 2010 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

“I have met him many times and I am respecting him very much. He has shown his qualities in different countries.

“I think he will do a good job and I wish Villa, the officials, the players and Gerard very much luck because I am always following the football club and their results.”

Venglos, now aged 74, is still heavily involved with European football as the Slovak Football Federation technical development committee chairman.

The president of the Association of European Coaches has also developed a close friendship with 63-year-old Houllier through other UEFA and FIFA meetings.

“I have worked many years with him,” said Venglos.

“We’ve had symposiums and he came and gave lectures.

“Generally our contact with each other is nice and friendly, and we are speaking of course about football lots of times.

“We share what we think of football and our opinions about certain situations which happen in the game.

“Gerard Houllier, you can be sure, is coming always as a top professional with his methodology, with his approach and know-how.

“He’s an excellent manager, an excellent person and a person who knows many, many things and who respects other people too.”

Villa officials insist the hold-up over unveiling their new boss is due to minor complications rather than anything untoward.

Rather than a director of football, Houllier will be employed as a traditional ‘hands-on’ manager with responsibility for team selection, transfers and scouting.

Villa want caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald to stay on but he will be left to decide whether he prefers a first-team coaching role or a return to managing the reserves.