Leighton Castle and ex manager David O Leary remember fans banners when Aston Villa were not performing in Premier League
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David O Leary
David O’Leary addressed the banners displayed by Aston Villa fans during a period of underperformance when sections of the fanbase were losing patience. The banners appeared during a 0-0 draw against Fulham at Villa Park, expressing the fans’ discontent.
David O’Leary said “I’ve been told about the banners. It can happen to any of us at any time. There were 32,000 people in the ground and the vast majority of them, like myself, want to take Villa forward. If there are one or two banners out of 32,000 people, then I am big enough to take that on the chin.”
Leighton Castle reflected on the atmosphere among fans and the reaction to the ‘fickle’ banner during the match, noting the mixed reactions it received.
Leighton Castle said “You have to let it go right over your head. Well that was rather interesting. The group of mates I used to sit with then were all in full agreement. My two mates, Steve Gough who operates Premier Travel and hasn’t missed a Villa match home, away or friendly since God’s dog died, and Mike McKiernan, who years later also helped me with the Sob on the Tyne banners, also played a big part in the ‘fickle’. People from the lower Holte were all turning around and pointing it out to their mates. It did create a good stir. Rather surprisingly though a few fans around us did not appreciate it and accused us of not supporting the team. It got a little touchy at the end of the match and a few fans came over and we had a few threats from them telling us where to stick the banner! If they were happy witnessing the dross O’Leary was serving up week in week out and having constant pokes at the fans then more fool them. He tried to dismiss it as just one of two fans with a couple of banners.”
Leighton Castle expressed his joy at David O’Leary’s departure, detailing the negative sentiment towards the manager and recalling his reaction to O’Leary’s sacking and the events leading up to it.
Leighton Castle said “We took the ‘fickle’ banner to that game and the whole away end let him know exactly what we thought. I was expecting him to be sacked that night. So when he did finally get the sack to say I was happy is an understatement of huge proportions. I was absolutely overjoyed. Weeks leading up to his sacking we had the sorry saga with the leaking of a statement criticising the club. It was O’Leary in a nutshell- blame everybody else but never himself. And guess what? The irony of his sacking was that it was on the 19th July – my birthday. I was holidaying in the Lake District and I heard the news whilst in a sports bar. I had a good night that night!”
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