...we just don't like you.

[dave.woodhall]

I'll never understand him. Given the situation at Villa in those days he didn't have to do anything much to get everyone onside. He didn't have to play the fans like Gregory, or come out with the one-liners a la BFR. Just keep his gob shut and let the anti-Ellis feeling do the rest. Instead he alienated us, the press, and eventually the players.

We always seemed to be his rebound relationship after his break-up with Leeds and I did hear that he never got over the fact that when they sacked Eddie Gray in 2004 they didn't beg him to return. 

[villabear]

I think I've said before but my memory of him is at the pre season tournament in Dublin where he totally ignored his new clubs fans to give that Leeds stupid 'salute' as both teams walked out. It didn't go down well with our group if I remember right.


I think my view was slightly tainted as me and the wife picking Florence for a lovely romantic break only for it to coincide with it being chosen as a new venue as Hapoel Tel-Aviv needed to play them at a neutral ground. It may be a massive stereotype but my memory is of thick Yorkies shouting at Italians because the couldn't understand them.  I saw a grown man of about 50 years old in Leeds full kit wanker' mode pissed and abusing all and sundry. A truly horrible club.

[SoccerHQ]

We played some nice football in that 2003-04 season, and he got the best out of Angel. But I never really warmed to him, I don't know why. I don't hate the bloke, but he never seemed to get what Villa are about. He seemed to view us as a bang average club, which I found irritating.

Oh well, he's never going to be a manager of a top club again. Interesting read, though. Cheers, Matt C.

Yeah same for me...he always seemed condescending about us in interviews even in his good first season (plenty of times he would just rattle on about Leeds or a lack of money in post match interviews).

Something you can put up with when the team is winning but not when we went to pot under him halfway through his reign which meant the famous banners came out.

[SoccerHQ]

I never liked him

But you can watch highlights from his first season on YouTube and I honestly think some of the footballl we played was first best since Brian little - better than mon's team just without the same cash to back it up on real quality 

I agree. The Leicester, Chelsea and Blues home matches, we played some excellent stuff.

Second half of the season was fantastic, we weren't far off making the top 4 which was miraculous considering we were in the bottom 3 going into December.

A shame the old Villa mentality of bottling crucial games came to the fore....we really should've beaten Bolton over two legs in the cup but had a terrible first 30 minutes which cost us the tie and then messed up the Man. United game on the last day of the season which they finished with 9 men.

[SoccerHQ]

Am I dreaming this  , but didn't he once say as our manager " We can't compete with the likes of Charlton ."

Even if he didn't , he is still a Gobshite.

Charlton signed Smertin or someone from Chelsea and we couldn't afford the loan fee.

[Sexual Ealing]

At least Dave O'Leary has stopped talking about Dave O'Leary in the third person.

[robbo1874]

Results wise, he was one of the better managers we've had in the recent past.

That all gets overlooked though when you take into consideration what a total bell-end the pug-nosed ****** is.

MacLeish, sherwood, lambert all worse managers, but far more likeable. O'Neill was probably the only one to beat him in both the results and personality stakes.

[Kimaster1976]

The Charlton game that is being mentioned and quoted about I was actually there on a bday trip to London for the weekend. It was an horrendous 0-0 draw and sections of the away support were very vocal of there displeasure at what they were seeing.

O'Leary afterwards stated just because we are Aston Villa and won the European Cup 20 years ago it does not give us the right to be coming to places like Charlton and winning, and how fans needed to get into the real world that just because we were a big club it doesn't make us one now.

The game itself included an extraordinary 20 minute substitute cameo by J'Lloyd Samuel where he looked like a total clown with everything he did, the entire stadium including the Villa fans were laughing at him, he was a total trainwreck like he was on drugs.

[PeterWithesShin]

Samuel played the full game in that 0-0.

[KevinGage]

I'll never understand him. Given the situation at Villa in those days he didn't have to do anything much to get everyone onside. He didn't have to play the fans like Gregory, or come out with the one-liners a la BFR. Just keep his gob shut and let the anti-Ellis feeling do the rest. Instead he alienated us, the press, and eventually the players.

We always seemed to be his rebound relationship after his break-up with Leeds and I did hear that he never got over the fact that when they sacked Eddie Gray in 2004 they didn't beg him to return. 

Aye.  You'd have to go some way to be more unpopular than Herbert at that point. But pigface managed it.

[villabear]

One of Royston Vasey's finest.

[Jane]

Just the most hideous manager. Shudder.

[brontebilly]

Horrendous pr*ck of a man. Looked down on Villa like a piece of crap at the end of his shoe. Did the same at international level until Jack Charlton well and truly softened his cough.

Did well for the first couple of years on a shoestring budget so he definitely had management ability despite his odious personality. Solano, reintegrating JPA, Barry even McCann and Sorensen were solid signings on the cheap. Played good football too for the most of it. The last season was vile, didn't Arsenal do up by 5 or 6 near the end of it?

[Bad English]

Fucking Shitbag!

[Gregorys Boy]

What a cock and an egomanic! He deserves credit for what he did at Leeds (though of course he was lucky) but he should just admit that he was poor at Villa better yet just keep him mouth shut.