We're not fickle..

[Phil from the upper holte]

I was pleased when he joined and delighted when he left.

That pretty much sums it up for me as well. He should have gone after that Doncaster debacle.

Did you have to bring that up ??

[Clampy]

I was pleased when he joined and delighted when he left.

That pretty much sums it up for me as well. He should have gone after that Doncaster debacle.

Did you have to bring that up ??

My sincere apologies Phil.

[Pat McMahon]

O'Leary was dreadful, yet in his first season we almost qualified for the Champions League. Another case of inheriting a team, yet on his final appearance at Villa Park the person who built that team was booed by sections of the Holte end.

Chris, I can't remember all the details of Graham Taylor's squad of 2002-3 (that season will forever just mean shite football and 2 awful derby capitulations to me) but the team O'Leary inherited had finished 16th.

[KevinGage]

Wasn't he youth coach or summat before taking over at Leeds?

He's clearly got delusions of granduer, and if he was chocolate he'd eat himself. But getting a team like Leeds to a CL semi final and the first 18 months of his time with us illustrate he did have something to offer. 

If you think about it, in both cases he didn't lose his job based on results. He talked himself out of it. 

[supertom]

O'Leary was dreadful, yet in his first season we almost qualified for the Champions League. Another case of inheriting a team, yet on his final appearance at Villa Park the person who built that team was booed by sections of the Holte end.

Chris, I can't remember all the details of Graham Taylor's squad of 2002-3 (that season will forever just mean shite football and 2 awful derby capitulations to me) but the team O'Leary inherited had finished 16th.

Taylor made some poor signings for sure. To O Drearys credit he signed McCann and Sorenson and they both had an instant impact in the side. Both we're pretty good initially. McCann offered some energy and blood and thunder our mid lacked, and Sorenson was...well...not Enckleman. Plus he re-instated JPA into the side and it paid dividends (initially).

Certainly if you're talking about inherited squads, O Neill inherited better than what DOL did. Likewise Houllier inherited quite a good squad too.
I would say Lambert has inherited the most bobbins squad of any of our last half dozen gaffers.

[Legion]

...I still don't like the pig-nosed numpty.

[Legion]

[Villa in Denmark]

I still can't believe that Doug gave him the job.
A checkbook manager and Doug was never going to end well.

[rob_bridge]

Great banner was that. No response required.

[brontebilly]

I was there that day, a truly dreadful 0-0 draw at home to a bang awful Fulham side on a grey day.

he were on a brilliant run for the second half of his first season. Remember a great coming from behind with against Southampton in the middle of that run.

His antics towards the end of his reign were a disgrace. Werent we hammered at Arsenal and he spent time at the end taking pictures for fans etc? Remember a couple of newspaper reports commenting on how bad it looked. Then the coup he tried to initiate against Ellis that summer probably finished him as a manager. If he had concentrated on management he could have been decent but his focus was rarely on the club.

[Ads]

The year we came back from two down at Southampton was Dollys second season, as Carthorse scored. I remember their fans singing about Rover's demise while they were two up and slinking off to face their nigh on ten year exile when the third went in.

We finished 1-1 in Dolly's first and best season at Southampton, Beatie scoring a penalty to even things up. The strangest football violence that day ever, with the Mario Bros, Spiderman, the Turtles et al piling out of Yates' to horse Southampton up the road.

There were some good aways; scoring five in 17 minutes at Leicester, coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Boro, with ten men, with a 93rd minute Crouch winner.

The second season was as bland as I can recall, with only the open day win and away day fight back against Southampton being memorable. I am fairly sure Heskey destroyed us at the Sty and they did us at Villa Park too. Beyond that, I am out.

Some good derby wins aside, his final season was an abomination and to learn the players thought he was clueless is not surprising.

[Damo70]

When he took over it was blatantly obvious we needed a keeper and a central midfielder who could tackle. He got them both and we had a good season. After that he didn't seem to have a clue apart from attempting to bring in more players when things went wrong. If you read Peter Risdale's book it is clear he is a lying, conniving backstabber. Apparently he began sucking up to the Irish FA with a view to the managers job when he was still playing and hasn't stopped since.

[danlanza]

I was pleased when he joined and delighted when he left. History will judge him as his own worst enemy, strange that he has never worked as a manager again.

Yes he did. I am sure i saw an article about him managing in Saudi or somewhere in that direction.

[Legion]

Al-Ahli.

[supertom]

He's certainly marked his card for management in this country. His ego is too big that he'd take a league 1/2 job, and no one else would take a risk on him. He's similar in a way to a few of our previous managers, like Gregory. I honestly can't see him getting a gig any time soon on domestic soil. It may well be the case for McLeish too who has failed in his previous couple of jobs now, three if you count Shitty, but they're not a prem club so they're back at their level again.