27 November,2010 07:37 AM IST | | AFP
As Arsenal prepare to face Aston Villa today, Arsene Wenger has expressed surprise at his friend and fellow Frenchman Gerard Houllier's decision to return to club management.
The Arsenal boss Wenger has known Houllier since the 1970s but thought his days in the dugout were over after he went back to his former role of technical director of the French Football Federation.
Houllier had been out of management for more than three years when Aston Villa came calling in September, with the 63-year-old having decided he needed a break following a spell at Lyon.
Wenger, speaking yesterday ahead of the trip to Villa Park, said "I wasn't surprised that Aston Villa took him but I was surprised -- because he was in a position as director of the French Football Federation -- that he chose to leave his job and come again into a hotseat after what he has gone through."
