Ill Houllier 'comfortable'

Gerard Houllier is reportedly comfortable in hospital after the Aston Villa boss was taken ill on Wednesday evening.

The 63-year-old French tactician was forced to undergo life-saving 11-hour emergency heart surgery in October 2001, to repair an aortic dissection, which resulted in a five-month absence from the dug-out when he was in charge of Liverpool.

However, Houllier made a full recovery and has gone on to continue in football management without any problems since the operation.

But, the former Lyon coach has been under pressure since arriving as Villa chief last September as the side have been in a near constant fight against the threat of relegation.

Successive victories over Newcastle and West Ham in the past fortnight have seen the club reach the 40-point mark and move to the verge of guaranteeing their Premier League status.

Villa's next game is against FA Cup finalists Stoke at Villa Park on Saturday and it remains to be seen whether Houllier will be able to sit in the dug-out for the encounter, with assistant boss Gary McAllister standing by to take charge.

Source: Sport.co.uk

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