MONTEGO BAY, St James — Theodore Whitmore, head coach of Jamaica’s Senior Reggae Boyz, has joined a those paying tributes to the late football Coach Gerard Houllier who died on Monday at age 73 after a brief illness.

Whitmore was part of the Technical Study Group at the 2014 Fifa World Cup Finals in Brazil, headed by the former Liverpool, Paris St-Germain (PSG) and the French national team coach who also spent time at Lyon in the French League 1 and Aston Villa. Whitmore said he “was deeply saddened” to learn of his passing.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Whitmore said he “found Houllier to be very knowledgeable of the game, enthusiastic, approachable and he never missed names, just a few of the qualities I saw in him the month I spent with him.”

Whitmore said the French-born Houllier “enjoyed great success in football and a true testament is what he achieved at Liverpool winning the treble. My thoughts are with his loved ones at this difficult time.”

Houllier guided Liverpool from 1998-2004 and led them to five major trophies, including the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup treble in the 2000-01 season.

He made his managerial name with Lens and PSG in France in the 1980s before taking over the French national side in 1992, but “Les Bleus” failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals.

In 1998 he moved to England and took charge of Liverpool as joint manager alongside Roy Evans, and took over full time three months later when the latter resigned.

In October 2001, Houllier fell ill at half-time during Liverpool’s match against Leeds and required life-saving heart surgery.

He returned after five months as Liverpool finished second in the league to Arsenal.

He suffered further health problems during a later management spell with Aston Villa. He was admitted to hospital in April 2011 after falling ill, and did not return to work before stepping down by mutual consent in June.

Houllier died after undergoing heart surgery.

More recently, he worked as the head of global football for the Red Bull group, which owns RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg and the New York Red Bulls, as well as advising Lyon.

— Paul Reid