Soccer: Gerard Houllier has seven days to convince the Liverpool board he should remain in charge at Anfield, with the club's refusal to offer any public backing merely helping to fuel rumours of the manager's imminent dismissal.

The Frenchman should learn if he has a future on Merseyside at a board meeting scheduled for next Thursday, though the club maintained a stubborn silence yesterday in response to suggestions Houllier could be removed from the position he has held on his own since November, 1998.

That merely added to the ominous sense of intrigue, with a number of directors on Liverpool's eight-man board known to favour a change. Houllier is aware he must convince the chairman, David Moores, who remains instinctively supportive, of the viability of his future plans if he is to survive.

The chairman's 51 per cent stake ensures he will have the final say on whether the manager is backed or sacked. Moores remains ever conscious the 56-year-old has steered Liverpool to four major trophies and salvaged a chance of returning to the lucrative Champions League, having cited a fourth-place finish as the "minimum acceptable requirement" at the turn of the year.

Houllier has one season to run on his £1.5 million-a-year contract, with the club having long intended to review his performance this summer. The majority of the eight men board are thought to be highly sceptical about the merits in retaining him.

Houllier has already earmarked potential signings for next season, with negotiations ongoing over the potential £7.5 million purchase of Alan Smith from Leeds and Djibril Cisse sure to join for £14 million on July 1st. But Houllier must also offer an insight into how the team's style of play will improve next year.

"I have been holding meetings with staff preparing for next season," said Houllier yesterday. "I have been discussing contracts and other moves, as well as when the players will report back."

Yet his chances of staying will hinge on his success in persuading the board he can muster a more coherent challenge - Liverpool finished 30 points behind Arsenal and only 27 ahead of Wolves this season - for a first championship since 1990 next term.

The directors' main doubts surround the manager's prowess in the transfer market, the memory still lingering of the £18 million misspent in 2002 on El Hadji Diouf, Bruno Cheyrou and Salif Diao. That has made them wary of giving him carte blanche to spend the windfall expected either from the negotiations with the Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, or from other investment offers the club's financial advisers Hawkpoint Partners Ltd hope to attract.

Last week's attack on his record by the would-be board member Steve Morgan prompted Houllier to seek his own assurances. He aired his grievances during a meeting with the chief executive Rick Parry on Tuesday, only to come away more concerned. Sources at the club still suggested last night the manager would most likely "hang on by the skin of his teeth".

Parry, Moores' confidant and the financial mover and shaker at the club, has also traditionally been supportive. Yet both were alarmed at Houllier's outburst last Friday after Morgan's scathing assessment of the Frenchman's record. Rather than maintain a dignified silence, Houllier vented his fury at the building tycoon's criticisms.

With a scheme promising to put £73 million on the table, swelling support for Morgan's bid in the stands, that was no time for Houllier to lose his cool. Negotiations with Morgan have long since stuttered, though the doubts over Houllier's future have been exacerbated by his attempt to buy into the club. The chairman has long endured a fractious relationship with Morgan, an outspoken critic of the current regime.

The worry is that fans' support for Morgan could quickly turn into antipathy for Moores. Given the frustration among Liverpool's fans at Houllier's management over the last two years, wielding the axe might seem an easy way of seeing the would-be director off the scene.

"Things are going to change," admitted Steven Gerrard, whose frustrations at the way the season has gone have been shared by Michael Owen. "If I come back (for pre-season) and there are only one or two new faces here, then I don't think that will be good enough for this club. I've been promised this won't be the case."

Things are going to change. Kenny Dalglish is expected to return, most likely to act as a go-between between board and fans. There is also talk of making Houllier technical director, though that is a position he is unlikely to relish given his hands-on approach. For the Frenchman, it remains the dug-out or nothing at Anfield.