FA turning to Houllier

The Football Association have turned to Gerard Houllier in a bid to produce better players.

The former Liverpool manager was consulted by chief executive Mark Palios and director of football development Trevor Brooking on a fact-finding visit to France's centre of excellence at Clairefontaine near Paris yesterday.

Two months after he was axed at Anfield, Houllier looks set to become one of a panel of experts assembled by the FA in place of a technical director. The association have never permanently replaced Howard Wilkinson after he left the job for club management at Sunderland two years ago and acting replacement Les Reed was sacked in May.

Houllier, a former technical director at the French Football Federation, was a key figure at Clairefontaine before coming to England and provided thethe FA with advice in a review of coaching standards. Palios said: "This is another step in ensuring we have expert input from people of the calibre of Houllier."