Villa - O'Leary's Last Big Job?

I can't remember ever having a manager this unpopular at the club? He's not liked by the fans of his old club, not liked by the fans of his current club, he's not liked in the press, he's not liked by most of the pundits, the players can't be that keen on him the way they have played this year. Seems it is just O'Leary himself who thinks he's great. Fine, we had managers like Turner and O'Neil, but they were out of their depth, not hated for turning on the fans etc. Surely something has got to be done?

Doug can't afford the compensation payment if DOL's contract is terminated. So until something else happens, regarding takeovers etc, were stuck with him.

Well if we lose on Sunday i think the fans will turn nasty towards DOL again and deadly maybe forced to wield his axe...the only thing stopping him is the price of termianting DOL's contract. Funny how he and aitken showed passion before he signed his new bumper contract extension now he couldnt care less as he wins either way

Even if he is unpopular, i still hope we win on sunday!

Dog CAN afford to sack O'Whingesalot but the point is, at this moment in time, Doug WON'T afford it. It's a question of priorities and Doug does not want to jeopodise his annual bonus due to a lack of funds in the club. However, I think that given the current situation, even Doug might be reprioritising. I truely believe that Herbert Douglas Ellis is a Villa man through and through and that he really does have the club's best intrests at heart, he is just not capable of running a club of this size any more. 10 years ago there were many who were against Doug Ellis but you can't argue with results, actually competing for honours. And to say that he's never spent money is also not true (admitedly he does not spend money now), how many clubs in England have a club record buy of over £9,000,000. Yes guys that's a 9 followed by 6, count them, 6 zeros. I agree that for various reasons he has changed manager too often and often employed new managers to save money but I beleive that it was due to errors of judgement rather than pure miserlyness (is that a word?), he genuinly did not know that investment in a manager is as important, if not more so, than investment in players. I will even credit him with, on occasion, being forward thinking. When he employed Dr Joe, it was a risk but one that could have worked out so differently. Just look at Arsene Wenger, a similarly ceribral manager with very definate ideas on how to build a club for the future. Ok, so Dr Joe was not the man for the job but it had to be worth trying. He later employed John Gregory, former assistant to Brian Little, and it was no coinsidence that when Gregory left the club to manage Wycombe, the clubs fortunes under Little took a nosedive and when he came back as Little's sucessor, things turned arround. Doug loves Aston Villa and he will do the right thing by the club in weilding his axe one more timwe, even if it's the last thing he does for us. Thanks for the finacial stability you gave us in the early days Doug. We know that over the years you've made some really bad moves due to your lack of knowledge but at least your heart was in the right place. I urge you now, show us one last time that you are still a Villain, show O'Leary the door and then pick up your hat and follow him through it.

Cool new name for Doug huh? Dog!!

More shocked in the fact you think the man has a heart rather than how you spelt his name! ;-))

The Future is bright but we need to find a manager to bring make sure we get the future. I reckon we could easily field a team whose age is under 22 but we neeed some damn good players who they can learn from and build the team around.

Doug clearly has a heart, how else could he have heart problems? :-) Oh yeh, he has heart problems, perhaps I was wrong then as it is clearly not functioning properly :-\

The more attacks on O'Leary the more his popsition comes into question

Good point Villain of the North. Proof does exist then!

Leeds let their players go on the cheap - £6M for Smith and they recieved just £3m for Kewell, Can't blame tha manager for that and what did they think he would do when told he could sign anyone ? If Blackwell was in that position he would have spent like a kiddie in a sweet shop.

Its very difficult to fathom out just how or where DOL would/will pick up the pieces when his Villa Park sojourn is over. His reputation will be pretty much in tatters, and its very difficult to see another premiership outfit throwing in their lot with him. Maybe he'll be given an opportunity in one of the lower leagues, but somehow I cant imagine DOL setting his sights so low. Doug giving him the axe though worries me. It would indicate I believe that no takeover is in the offing, and that we are stuck with Ellis for the long term, or at least until the grim reaper comes a knocking. Ellis remaining at the helm is a definite no no. O'Leary out, yes, but hopefully it will be new owners that make that decision, not the sad, tired old man we currently have directing operations.

I agree still-ian, but DOL was onto a loser as soon as he started taking it out of the fans - or when he ran across the pitch to salute the board of Villa at the Sty (attempting to undo all the good work fans and shareholders had tried to do with reference to moving Ellis on or at least getting our point over. One minute he's been full of the ' they are nice people to work for' [the board] and that 'Doug has had a hard week' because of the AGM where he was asked legitimate questions that he couldn't answer because you can't defend the indefensible. The next he is on about needing new owners, no money to spend etc. He isn't bright enough to play both sides and his attempt at the Villa politics has been nearly as bad as some of his signings. Oh, and nicely put glensider, totally agree with every word.

Blackwell doesnt know what hes talking about it was the board who sent Leeds down and then left it in a shambles.

and it couldn't have happened to a nice club! ;-))