David O Leary
David O’Leary’s response to fan dissatisfaction during a difficult period for Aston Villa under his management
David O’Leary said “There is a genuine bunch of fans and then there is a fickle mob who get on your back very quickly,” and “You have to let it go right over your head. Fans want you out one minute and to get a new contract the next.”
David O’Leary’s reaction to the banners displayed by fans at a match against Fulham on March 25, 2006
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.”
Leighton Castle’s description of the creation and impact of the ‘fickle’ banner displayed at a match against Fulham on March 25, 2006
Leighton Castle said “Well the ‘fickle’ banner was actually one of two banners we took down that game. The other was simply ‘O’Leary Out’ but that did get somewhat overshadowed by the ‘fickle’ one. Plus the ‘O’Leary Out’ banner was professionally made, costing me about £80. One of the most distinctive things about the ‘fickle’ banner was the ridiculous bright orange cloth I used. Little was I to know at the time that I would be using a few years later for the ‘Who’s your Next Messiah: Ant or Dec?’ banner against the Geordies. But as for the wording, to be honest it almost wrote itself because at the time he really did alienate most of the fanbase. He wasn’t liked at all due to his constant digs and his over-fondness for talking up his time with ‘me boybies (sic)’ at Leeds and weekly drooling over Arsenal.”
Leighton Castle’s reaction to the sacking of David O’Leary
Leighton Castle said “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!”
