Yeah, the way I remember it was that the deal was agreed when Ged was still here and then there were rumours that Rafa was given the choice whether to go through with the signing or not (not sure how true that was as I don't really see how they would have just ripped up an agreed deal just because we got a new manager). My feeling always was that Rafa wouldn't have signed Cissé as he was not really "smart" enough for a Rafa player, but he tried to get the best out of him. It didn't help that he broke his foot only a short time after the season had started.
Not his foot. Was a double leg break against Blackburn, about half way through the season. Absolutely awful injury - think he caught his studs in the turf as he was running. But he was back in record time for such an injury, and played a key role in the closing games of our CL campaign. Didn't excuse him shoving his wife down the stairs though.
I think the Cisse deal was made months in advance of Houllier leaving. Either the board thought there was a good chance for Houllier to stay on and pursued the Cisse deal, or they just thought they'd swoop in for a player who was a hot talent at the time before the richer clubs came calling.
Well he was asked to resign, so I'm not sure the board wanted Houllier to stick around. Maybe Moores and Parry just felt honour bound to see the deal through after sacking Houllier, but his departure seemed inevitable by the end of the season. He was just out of ideas at that point, sadly.
