:: Liverpool step up search for new manager :: Liverpool will not make a decision on the future of manager Gerard Houllier until the end of the season. The Sunday Mirror says the Reds board have decided to act swiftly if the Merseyside giants fail to secure a place in the Champions League and will not hesitate to axe Houllier. Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry - Houllier's biggest ally at the club - believes the manager should be allowed to complete the season despite a serious drop in morale. It is a view shared by several key figures who believe they will be left with Red faces if a change is made now, plus proposed 2004 transfers could collapse. It's a difficult and frustrating predicament for the club's executives to deal with but I have every confidence that they will make the right decisions. Meanwhile, Liverpool have stepped up their search for a new manager and have reduced their shortlist from 7 potential candidates to 6. Sources close to O'Neill have informed agents said to be representing Liverpool that he is interested in the job but that he has concerns as to what role Gerard Houllier would play if he remains at the club. Sven-Goran Eriksson - who has been heavily linked with taking over at Chelsea in the summer - is another name 'rumoured' to be on the club's shortlist of managerial candidates. Chairman David Moores is said to favour a return to the old 'Bootroom' style of appointing a figure with strong links to the club. There is talk that Dalgish could return as manager supported by Ian Rush and John Aldridge. Whether or not anything like that will happen, we'll just have to wait and see. source: tribalfootball/KOPtalk