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There wasn’t exactly a lot for Liverpool fans to celebrate last season.

Sure, there was a spell at the turn of the year when Brendan Rodgers’ side were producing some of the most impressive football in the country.

Ultimately, though, it was a campaign of disappointment, disgruntlement and no little despair.

Not helped, it must be said, by a succession of new arrivals failing to live up to expectation or their often sizeable price tags.

Now the Reds want to party like it’s 1999. Sort of.

Similar to back then, the Anfield side have splashed out during the summer transfer market by bringing in seven new signings.

But if Christian Benteke, Robert Firmino, Nathaniel Clyne, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, James Milner and Adam Bogdan come close to matching the achievements of the septet secured by Gerard Houllier that pre-season, Liverpool fans can expect a significant upturn in fortunes.

So, what happened to the (mostly) magnificent seven?

Sami Hyypia

There was a general shrug of the shoulders when the Reds splashed out £2.5million to bring the big Finnish centre-back to Anfield from Dutch side Willem II in May 1999.

It would become arguably the biggest bargain in the club’s history. Ron Yeats, then Liverpool’s chief scout who recommended the club signed Hyypia, admitted: “When I was told how little money Liverpool had spent on Sami, I nearly fell off my chair!”

Hyypia would stick around for 10 years, serving the club with distinction as centre-back, first alongside Stephane Henchoz and later Jamie Carragher at the heart of the Reds’ defence.

With a total of 464 games – 205 of which were as captain – and an impressive return of 35 goals, Hyypia won the FA Cup twice, the League Cup twice, the UEFA Cup and, of course, the Champions League. What’s more, he remains a really top bloke.

His last job in football was a brief spell in charge of Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion last season.

Vladimir Smicer

Paddy Berger’s mate was next up on Houllier’s shopping list, arriving from Lens for £3.75million the following week.

His Anfield career was perhaps best summed up by his first home appearance against Watford when he began promisingly but then picked up an injury and was sidelined for a month.

When on song, Smicer revelled playing in between the lines in what became dubbed (at least in these quarters) as the “position of least responsibility”.

In between the injuries, the Czech schemer played a part in each final of the cup treble in 2000-01 and the League Cup success two years later.

Smicer scored 19 goals in 184 outings, 74 of which were substitute appearances. Incredibly, he lasted the full 90 minutes on only 27 occasions.

His last act as a Liverpool player was to score in the penalty shoot-out in Istanbul and then celebrate by striking up a never-ending cigar in the team hotel. He’s now sports manager of the Czech Republic national team.

Titi Camara

Let’s be honest, next to nobody had heard of the Guinean when he arrived from Marseille in June 1999 for £2.6m.

But he soon became a firm favourite with Liverpool supporters, not least thanks to a blistering strike that helped earn a 2-1 win at Leeds United in only his second appearance.

The most significant moment of his Anfield career came when scoring the only goal in the home game against West Ham United, just hours after learning his father had died.

“He was crying after he scored because it was such an emotional day,” said Houllier, but a falling out with the Reds boss meant he was gone by December 2000 having failed to add to his 37 appearances and 10 goals of his debut campaign.

After hanging up his boots, Camara returned to Guinea and move into politics, becoming sports minister for two years until October 2012.

Stephane Henchoz

The day after Camara’s signature was confirmed came the arrival of the man who would go on to become Hyypia’s defensive partner throughout the Houllier era.

Blackburn Rovers’ relegation meant Henchoz was free to leave should his £3.5m release clause be met, which Liverpool duly triggered.

After injury delayed his debut until late September 1999, the Swiss didn’t look back and went on to win the FA Cup (saving a goalbound effort from Thierry Henry in the final), League Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001 and the League Cup again two years later.

By the time Rafael Benitez arrived, though, he had been in and out of the side through injury and was usurped as a regular centre-back by Jamie Carragher and, yes, Igor Biscan.

All told, Henchoz made 205 appearances while infamously scoring no goals. Mind you, his last kick as a Liverpool player was to net in a League Cup penalty shoot-out win at Tottenham Hotspur.

Sander Westerveld

At £4m from Vitesse Arnhem, Westerveld didn’t come cheap but arrived with a growing reputation in Holland.

And during his first season with the Reds, he continued to build on that promise with some impressive displays in the wake of inconsistent predecessors David James and Brad Friedel.

But despite claiming the cup treble the following season, it all began to unravel for Westerveld, whose confidence was badly shaken by a series of daft errors and excuses such as claiming ice on the ball was responsible for conceding a Boxing Day winner at Middlesbrough.

Matters came to a head at the start of the 2001-02 season when Houllier responded to another Westerveld blunder by signing Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland... on the same day.

He retired only two years ago and is now goalkeeping coach at his final club, South African Premier Soccer League club Ajax Cape Town.

Erik Meijer

Mad Erik, as he was known, may have cost nothing and didn’t exactly contribute much in terms of goals – two on this first start against Hull City in the League Cup but then nothing else – but was a big favourite with both fans and his team-mates.

While limited in terms of ability, his work-rate was infectious and helped inspire others, particularly during parts of the season when injuries left Liverpool short of attackers.

But the arrival of Emile Heskey in March 2000 signalled the beginning of the end for Meijer, who was gone by the following Christmas.

The Dutchman now works as a pundit for various media outlets.

Didi Hamann

Hamann was the summer’s big money buy, signed in July 1999 for £8m having spent only a season at Newcastle United after racking up the silverware in his homeland with Bayern Munich.

It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts – he sustained an ankle injury on his debut and was ruled out for almost two months – but Hamann made up for lost time by becoming one of the first names on the teamsheet under Houllier and then proving pivotal in the first 18 months of the Benitez era.

He started all three finals in the cup treble of 2000-01 and also won the League Cup two years later but, of course, is best remembered for coming off the bench in the Champions League final in Istanbul and turning the game before scoring in the penalty shoot-out – despite having broken a bone in his foot.

That was intended to be his last game. Instead, Hamann was persuaded to stay on for another season when, with his last touch for the club, he netted in another shoot-out, this time against West Ham United, to help the Reds win another FA Cup.

A wily campaigner – nobody knew how to win a free-kick by the touchline quite like Didi – he was in his prime during his Anfield career, ending with 11 goals in 283 appearances.

Hamann is now a regular on television and radio, usually in his guise as a former Liverpool player.