''We're not fickle, we just don't like you''

Dr. Nick

....banner at Villa Park.

I don't like him either, I also think he's a terrible manager. Neither do I like his general demeanor, he wants to be everyone's friend - he gives me the creeps TBH

Chucky the tree

wow, post of the year....

casanova_kid

He has nothing to work with to be honest.

blu_sonic

didn't do too bad at leeds if risdale hadn't interfeared

Töpher

casanova_kid wrote:

He has nothing to work with to be honest.

Pretty much it, tbh. He's had bits of money to spend, but for the most part Villa are plagued by injuries to an already small squad.

He can't win really, when he came in he was told he had to get rid of lots of players to reduce the wage bill, and now he's a small squad and not allowed complain about it! :rolleyes: lol

Lemlin

He's a good manager. Did well at Leeds and look how ell he did at Villa when he first arrived. He hasn't been given alot of money and, in all fairness, the Villa squad needs to be overhauled.

wynters

Whoever brought that banner into the ground should be ashamed of themselves.... that kind of negativity can affect a team as young and inexperienced as ours.

It hurts me to admit it, but Villa fans ARE the most unrealistic and fickle going - always too quick to point the finger and look for a scapegoat, but that's the mentality now for a generation of supporters who've known nothing other than Deadly Dougs way of prematurely wielding the axe on managers who can no longer provide a smokescreen for his own failings. Maybe if those same so-called 'supporters' cheered instead of booed it might actually help the team!

O'Leary CANNOT be blamed for injuries, the most haphazard of individual errors by players during games, and not having enough money to buy much needed players. We practically had 6 youth team players on the pitch at the end of the Everton game last week - Ridgewell, Davis, Luke Moore, Whittingham, Craig Gardner, and Gabriel Agbonlahor - and some Villa fans think we should be beating a side as experienced as Everton AT Goodison Park!!!.... they need their heads examined!

O'Leary might be a smarmy git sometimes, but he IS a good manager. He tries to play attractive football and he has a long term plan for the club that he must be given the time to implement. It's upon his recommendations that the club have (already) began construction work on what will be the best youth academy in the country bar-none. In a few seasons time, maybe the next generation of Rooneys and Walcotts will be playing for Villa. With a manager who has a reputation of giving young players their chance, and a facility like the soon-to-be £8m complex at Bodymoor Heath, there's every chance they will.

There's no way a club like Villa will ever compete against the Abrahmovic's and Glaziers of this world on financial terms, so developing the best youth team structure is the only way a club like us can get to that top level, and O'Leary is the best man going for that job.

Changing the manager now would set the club back 3 or 4 years, because that's how long it would take a new manager to assemble his own squad at the rate Villa buy players. No decent manager going would touch that job with a bargepole if O'Leary were to be sacked. We've no money unless a takeover goes through, but if a takeover does happen, the new owners might want to appoint their own man.

With a track record like Dougs, I just hope O'Leary gets the time.

PHB

O'Leary should leave that club, he wants to build from the youth, wants to do a long term plan, and Doug consistantly ruins it, terrible Chairman.

Töpher

PHB wrote:

O'Leary should leave that club, he wants to build from the youth, wants to do a long term plan, and Doug consistantly ruins it, terrible Chairman.

But they're in the process of building the new youth complex, which will be the best in England, at O'Leary's request.

dbnavan

I really like O'Leary, no disrepect to Stauton but before Stans first game I wanted O'Leary to get the job, he has been very unfortunate with the two chairmen he has had to work with.

Dr. Nick

Chucky the tree wrote:

wow, post of the year....

wow, another wow post from chucky :rolleyes:

blu_sonic

I think O'Leary at the right club could do a lot, the interferance of chairmen have been the ruin of him.

Maybe he should take up the Hearts post? I hear the chairman is very hands off up there, lol

Loomis

Dr. Nick wrote:

....banner at Villa Park.

I don't like him either, I also think he's a terrible manager. Neither do I like his general demeanor, he wants to be everyone's friend - he gives me the creeps TBH

Built a Leeds team from scratch in his first appointment as manager,got them finishing consistently within the top three in the Premiership and a semi-final appearance in the Champion's League on their first attempt (I think,correct me if I'm wrong-either way first,second,third attempt it doesn't matter-he did it) before his team was sold piece by piece.Ye,he has no ability really.

Mossy Monk

one of the better managers in the league. how the hell can he do anything with Doug Ellis in charge is beyond me

Dr Galen

you have to wonder what could have been at leeds. i know maybe o'leary went a bit mad with some of the money (seth jonson anyone..) but all in all he did very well. and its not easy having bundles of cash to throw around.

villa could be the making of him. if he gets a good shot at it and gets left alone, they should be a decent side in the next few years.
any word on new investment for the club?

jank

what will be the best youth academy in the country bar-none.

Why is it going to be the best?

zAbbo

Mr. Anderson wrote:

Built a Leeds team from scratch in his first appointment as manager

I think you'll find George Graham essentially laid the foundations for that team.

masterK

The problem with Villa fans is that they think they are a big club and expect to see themselves up the top to the league, it's been like this an awful long time with them through several managers.

O'Leary has had to work on scraps for the most part at Villa. The real problem at Villa is Doug Ellis, countless managers have come and gone without achieving much during his reign, it's fairly obvious the club will never go anywhere as long as he is there.

Kingp35

nurse_baz wrote:

you have to wonder what could have been at leeds. i know maybe o'leary went a bit mad with some of the money (seth jonson anyone..) but all in all he did very well.

O' Leary gets some undeserved criticisms from people that dont know the true story behind the Leeds fiasco. O' Leary had absolutely nothing to do with the transfers fees or wages of players. He simply went to Risdale with the names of the players he wanted to sign and Risdale went out and got them. He was the man in charge of wages and transfer fees, not O' Leary.

O' Leary did very well with Leeds and if we had made the champions league that year instead of coming 5th it could have been so much better. He is a manager that I would love to see back at Leeds sometime in the future because I feel he has unfinsihed business with the club.

Nike_Dude

The problem is that there are too many clubs out there that think they should be up battling for champions league spots and uefa cup places. Its frustrating to see your team finish mid table every year but its better than battling relegation (just ask steve bruce) So blaming the manager isnt always the solution. Just how deadly doug has lasted so long is a mystery to me I think he should shoulder most of the blame. Saying that though I dont think it was the greatest idea ever for o leary to start questioning the fans, once they really start to lose support for you it takes a lot to get them back onside

Lemlin

I think he'd be good for a club like Newcastle. They have quite a young squad and O'Leary showed that he works well with younger players at Leeds and they'd give him the money to build up the club. That said, he mightn't want to deal with Shepherd after Ellis.

NotWormBoy

As someone who doesn't support AV, I don't like O'Leary, but I think he's better than he was made out to be at Leeds. And he has been unfortunate at Villa, although that is the managers lot sometimes.

I see Villa as a top half of the prem team. Or at least, that they should be.

Boro

Didnt he spend a lot of money in the summer though? Those players he bought in havent really done much for him. Milner has been a success, but is only on loan. One of the criticisms I have seen of DOL is that despite being a great defender in his day, his teams seem to lack the ability to defend properly. Its not a question of personnel, its training and routine that they seem to lack.

Also, playing with young players should not be an excuse. Nearly every team has had to have youth players in their lineups due to injuries/whatnot. Look at man city or middlesbrough (or even arsenal).

Dr Galen

Kingp35 wrote:

O' Leary gets some undeserved criticisms from people that dont know the true story behind the Leeds fiasco. O' Leary had absolutely nothing to do with the transfers fees or wages of players. He simply went to Risdale with the names of the players he wanted to sign and Risdale went out and got them. He was the man in charge of wages and transfer fees, not O' Leary.

O' Leary did very well with Leeds and if we had made the champions league that year instead of coming 5th it could have been so much better. He is a manager that I would love to see back at Leeds sometime in the future because I feel he has unfinsihed business with the club.

dude i completely agree with you. i was meaning to point out the fact that IMO he did get a lot of stick not all of which was deserved. as for not reaching the CL that year i agree that things may have been mighty different. tho wouldn't the bubble have just burst at a later date instead?

Kingp35

nurse_baz wrote:

tho wouldn't the bubble have just burst at a later date instead?

Yeah it certainly would have all right. Shocking financial management of a club that I think will never happen again because all have seen what happened to Leeds.