O'Leary Out To Prove Doubters Wrong

David O'Leary is on the attack as he looks to prove his doubters wrong.

The under-fire boss, installed as the favourite amongst bookies to be the next manager for the chop, has said that only a minority are against him and that he will prove them wrong.

He told the official site: 'The fans are frustrated and it's been building up for a long time. I can understand that frustration because it's built up over so many years. They want to know now what's happening. There's a certain section who take their anger out on me, but I understand why and that's up to them. But let's not judge it on what we read in the papers.'

He continued: 'I meet that many decent people who say 'Keep the faith, it will come right' and hopefully it will. You see two banners in a crowd of 32,000 people, but there's so many people telling me 'We know what you¹re trying to do'. The media doesn't really represent the man on the street, but we've all got to accept it. I was at games last season and the stick Alan Curbishley got was absolutely frightening. And the stick Alan Pardew got all the way through last year was vile ­ he got 12 months of vileness. Steve McClaren, like myself, has only had a little bit.'

He also admits: 'It's not nice and it gets to you, especially to the people I might have at the ground. But we all have to accept that's part and parcel of today's game now. That's life and you have to get on with it. It bothers my family more and yes, you want to protect them. What hurts me is that I'm trying to do desperately well for this football club. I'm trying to keep people's spirits up around the place and trying to develop the young.'

However he says he is using the abuse as a spur to make him stronger: 'When I see the reaction of the fans it makes me more determined to put things right. The more I hear, the more I want to put things right. Yes, I get frustrated, tired and bogged down of fighting the same things. But if I get it right here, I can look into some of those people's faces and say: 'I've showed you'.'

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