By Alex Trickett BBC Sport Online

Like any great symphony, a managerial career conducted in modern football will always have its crescendos and lulls.

Gerard Houllier has already learned this during his tenure at Liverpool.

Although Houllier's era of sole command sparked a small improvement in the Premier League, he was unable to prevent the club tumbling out of the Uefa Cup to Celta Vigo.

And Liverpool fans were made to swallow a bitter pill when they fell to bitter rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup.

Seventh place in the league showed promise but brought no place in Europe.

Verdict: Too soon to judge but plenty of room for improvement.

Liverpool's path into the new millennium was a rocky one.

Abject failure in the cup competitions was compensated in part by a league finish that restored the club to Europe for the following season.

Perhaps Houllier's biggest impact was in the transfer market, where he found a few players who were to become important Reds.

Stephane Henchoz, Dietmar Hamann and Emile Heskey were snapped up.

On the down side, so too was Erik Meijer.

Verdict: 7/10 The jury was still out.

This was Houllier's break-out year, capped by a superb cup treble that included wins over Birmingham (Worthington), Arsenal (FA) and a 5-4 thriller against Alaves (Uefa).

Liverpool's league position also improved and, for the first time in a long time, they looked capable of mounting a domestic challenge to United and Arsenal.

If there was a negative, it came in the transfer market, where Houllier paid out for Nick Barmby, Christian Zeige and Jari Litmanen, none of whom settled at the club.

Verdict: 9/10 Lots of silverware and a golden touch.

Health came first for Houllier when he was rushed from Liverpool's game against Leeds in an ambulance and had to have emergency heart surgery.

After a long spell of custody from his number two Phil Thompson, the Frenchman came back to preside over a memorable win against Roma in the Champions League.

His team fell - creditably - in the quarter-finals of that competition.

And they topped Manchester United in the league for the first time since Premiership football began.

Verdict: 8/10 No cups but plenty of progress.

A work in progress, but Houllier has cause for optimism and concern.

It will please him that the club are on top of the Premier League and that they appear to have the deepest squad in England.

But the manner of Liverpool's loss in the first group stage of the Champions League - drawing twice with unfancied Basle and being outplayed by Valencia - hints at a lack of creative quality.

New signings El Hadji Diouf, Milan Baros, Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou have shown glimpses of flair.

But will they prove good enough to help Houllier orchestrate another Liverpool dynasty?

Verdict: 7/10 Only time will tell if the current crop has what it takes to match Anfield's past heroes.