O’Leary – Do I Not Like That?

David O’Leary in a ‘do I not like that moment’?

Well, according to an interview with Janine Self at The Sun, O’Leary says he is hurting because of where Villa are in the league and he intends to do something about it. With over 4000 badges sold so far asking him to leave, he might have a fight on his hands, but with Villa anything is possible?!

He said: “I don’t like where I am this season.’

Now before you all get up in arms and even more upset, I’m sure he means in the league, not at which club he is at! ;-))

He explains: “I’ve been playing and managing at the top for 30 years and this is the first time I’ve been near the bottom.’

Well, not exactly near the bottom, although he did play for Arse. (Sorry, one of those days!)

Adding: ‘It makes me even more hungry and determined to put us back where we should be.”

He also says: “It’s the first time I’ve had a few banners and a few disgruntled fans but that doesn’t hurt me because I can understand their frustration. What hurts me is people questioning my belief in this club. I love Aston Villa. I want to take the club into Europe, I want to be at a club that is challenging.’

And at last he takes some accountability, “Having said that, we should have been in a higher position this season. We should be doing better and the buck stops with me.”

Well, partly stops with O’Leary, the rest has to move upstairs and stop with Ellis.

O’Leary also says that the local press have it in for him.

He told sky sports news: ‘I’m frustrated and disappointed because I don’t like it, I’ve never been used to spending my time where I am, and somebody’s got to put this club right and I’m determined to do it. I can’t control the local newspaper and local journalist, who has been banned by the two previous managers, who is a West Brom supporter writing about Villa and trying to stir things up and get the fans against me.’

I believe he is talking about Bill Howell who has been very vocal recently and someone has said he has now been banned from the press conferences. I’ve also been led to believe that there is a long line of other reporters WANTING to be banned from forthcoming conferences as I’m told they are like groundhog day!

O’Leary continues: ‘Without doubt [it’s a vendetta]. One thing is that genuine fans don’t get mugged by that, don’t get taken in by it. I ask them to actually read and look at what he is writing. Is he really representing Aston Villa?’

To be fair, he rarely represented the fans point of view when VFC were organising the marches etc but it does seem some find it easier to slate the managers than the real problem at Aston Villa, old Herbert himself.

He also told Sky Sports News: ‘I want to do well for Aston Villa, make this club right. I know we’ve got big expectations but I try to be honest and tell them. I don’t want to give them hopes that are unrealistic for them as I don’t want to let them down, but I share totally what they want – a football club to be challenging, which is what the Midlands deserves.’

Don’t want to let us down? Hmmm, a bit late for that this season surely? I guess a couple of local derby wins could cheer us all up though, so come on O’Leary, give us that at least, it is after all the vision for Ellis, that Villa are the top club in the Midlands, whether we are 16th or not doesn’t seem to matter.

On a more positive note, he is still talking about the chance of finance in the summer, lets hope he knows something that we don’t because if there are interested parties, it would make sense if they have approached and spoken to the manager.

‘We’ll deal with that (finances) in the summer.Let’s hope we do get that, let’s hope the future is sorted out in the summer. If it is, it will be brilliant for everybody. The fans will know the way forward and we’ll all be better for it.’

Silly me, could have sworn he came to Villa Park to prove he wasn’t a cheque book manager, since then all he has ever done is talk about the finances. I’d be more inclined to see ‘smaller’ clubs above us in the league and look what they have that we don’t. A good manager perhaps?