He won trophies with Liverpool, managed the French national team and was once voted World Manager of the Year, but it was the way he conducted himself as much as the success he had which made Gerrard Houllier such a popular figure.
At the age of 73 the former Reds' boss has sadly passed away, leaving behind a big impression on English football and the Premier League.
With six years at Anfield and one season at Aston Villa, his last management role, Houllier made a big impression, but it could have all been so different for the manager.
For a time in the late-1990s, there was a distinct possibility the Frenchman would become the 21st incumbent of the managerial hotseat at Hillsborough.
But, the unlikely marriage of Sheffield Wednesday and Houllier never quite materialised and both the club and the Frenchman went their separate ways.
It could well be described as a sliding doors moment in the Owls' history.
Houllier would go on instead to join one of Wednesday's Premier League rivals, Liverpool, and he delivered six trophies at Anfield between 1998 and 2004.
However, there was a window when the South Yorkshire arrival of the Frenchman looked likely to happen.
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Houllier was technical director at the French Football Association in 1998, prior to the World Cup in France that summer.
Wednesday had dispensed with the services of Ron Atkinson shortly after the season had finished - the Owls finishing 16th in the top flight that year.
They were on the search for a new boss with the board, led by Dave Richards, looking further afield at potential replacements.
South Africa coach Philippe Troussier was under serious consideration but the Owls then turned their attentions to his compatriot Houllier.
As Tom Whitworth's book, 'Sheffield Wednesday: Through the Modern Era ' recalls, there were a number of meetings between Houllier and the club that summer.
"I knew the club and I knew some of the players. And I had a good relationship with Dave Richards," Houllier said.
"He was very keen to sign me.
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"I explained a few ideas of how I wanted the team to play and things like that and I had a good feeling about what we could do at Sheffield Wednesday.
"I practically gave my agreement to join."
Houllier admits that he wanted a "divorce clause" inserting into his contract - but that the club seemed reluctant to do so.
He said: "This was where if the club for one reason or another had to sack me, they would pay me a certain amount of money.
"I'd never been sacked in my life, but things don't always go your way and sometimes a club has to take a decision.
"So I just wanted protection for myself.
"Dave Richards was very good about this part of the negotiations and told me that their lawyer would get in touch to agree the sum of the clause.
"The lawyer came to me, it took him some time to do so, and I said I wanted this amount of money.
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"It wasn't even a year's contract. But he said, 'It's too much. Can you lower it?' 'No,' I said."
Houllier eventually moved to Liverpool and would go on to win half-a-dozen trophies with the Reds.
That haul included the three-trophy triumph of 2001 when the Reds lifted the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup.
As for the Owls, they appointed Danny Wilson, a former Wednesday player, after headhunting him from neighbours Barnsley.
But it proved a nightmare appointment and just two seasons later Wednesday were relegated from the top flight. Wilson was axed in March 2000, shortly before the club's fate was confirmed.
Looking back on the episode, Houllier admits that had the clause been inserted into the contract offer, then he would have had no hesitations over moving to S6.
"It's not Dave Richards's fault. Unless he gave instructions to the lawyer to make things linger," he said.
"I don't know. I don't think so.
"It's more to do with the fact that they were slow in finalising the divorce clause and the contract.
"If they had agreed on the terms of the divorce clause, I would have been Sheffield Wednesday manager."