David O'Leary

David Anthony O'Leary is a football manager. He is currently manager of Aston Villa F.C.. He became a manager after a long and successful career as a defender.

Managerial Career

Assistant Manager

When the former Arsenal manager George Graham was put in charge at Leeds United in September 1996, O'Leary was installed as his assistant. He remained in this position for two years until Graham moved to Tottenham.

Related Topics:
George Graham - Tottenham

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Manager of Leeds United

The Leeds directors made an offer for Martin O'Neill to take charge at Elland Road but the deal fell through and O'Leary was promoted to the hot seat. At the end of 1998-99 Leeds finished fourth in the Premiership and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Their 1999-2000 campaign ended in the semifinals with defeat to the Turkish side Galatasaray, and it was after the game in Turkey that two Leeds fans were stabbed to death by Turkish hooligans. But on the domestic front, Leeds finished third in the Premiership and qualified for the Champions League - it would be their first campaign at this level since they were losing finalists in the European Cup in 1975.

Related Topics:
Martin O'Neill - Premiership - UEFA Cup - Galatasaray - Champions League

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Leeds reached the semifinals of the Champions League, where they lost to eventual runners-up Valencia. Their Premiership form also dipped slightly and David O'Leary's men had to settle for a UEFA Cup place.

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2001-02 began well for Leeds. They constantly topped the table during the first half of the season and come the new year of 2002 they were Premiership leaders. But a loss of form in the second half of the season saw them slump into sixth place - the last automatic UEFA Cup place. They had secured their place in Europe much earlier because seventh-placed West Ham had collected 12 less points.

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The season was thrown into turmoil by the involvement of four players, including first-teamers Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, in an incident in Leeds city centre that ended in the assault and injury of an Asian student.

Related Topics:
Jonathan Woodgate - Lee Bowyer

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By June 2002 David O'Leary had spent £100 million on new players in less than four years for relatively little reward. The club was in serious financial trouble and had relied on qualifying for the Champions League. Chairman Peter Ridsdale sacked O'Leary. O'Leary had to some extent alienated the fans, and importantly Ridsdale, by writing a book, Leeds United On Trial, that some saw as cashing in on the troubles the club had suffered. O'Leary had never finished outside the top five as a manager.

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His departure signalled a downhill spiral for the club which would see three more managers (Terry Venables, Peter Reid and Eddie Gray) come and go before it was finally relegated at the end of 2003-04 with £80 million debts.

Related Topics:
Terry Venables - Peter Reid - Eddie Gray

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Manager of Aston Villa

O'Leary, meanwhile, was linked with various other vacant manager's jobs throughout the 2002-03 season. He was hot favourite to become manager of Sunderland (who finished the season bottom of the Premiership with a record low of 19 points) when Peter Reid was sacked in October and again when Howard Wilkinson was sacked in March. But O'Leary remained out of work until June 2003 when he was appointed manager of Aston Villa.

Related Topics:
Sunderland - Howard Wilkinson - Aston Villa

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Aston Villa are one of England's elite clubs with a long and rich history, but in comparison to their early years they have under-achieved, although they were European Champions in 1982 and during the 1990s finished runners-up of the first Premiership in 1993 and won the League Cup in 1994 and 1996. In 2002-03 they had endured perhaps their worst season since relegation from the old First Division in 1987. They had finished 16th in the Premiership and manager Graham Taylor's second spell as manager had come to an end after just over a year. So the famous Villa chairman Doug Ellis turned to David O'Leary in a bid to see the club's fortunes turn around.

Related Topics:
Graham Taylor - Doug Ellis

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By the beginning of November 2003, Aston Villa were hovering just above the relegation zone and it looked as though O'Leary would be another of the club's unsuccessful managers. O'Leary remained at Villa and managed to get an already good squad to perform successfully so that by the final weeks of the season they were pushing hard for at least a UEFA Cup place and possibly even a Champions League place. But in the end their early season form had caught up with them and they had to settle for sixth place - this season one place too low for European qualification.

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In 2004-05, Aston Villa have hovered just below the European qualification places, lacking the consistency that would maintain them as one of England's elite clubs. O'Leary has continually complained about just about everything and is now known to serious fans as Dreary O'Leary. He has not learnt from his contribution to the financial downfall of Leeds United and regularly bleats about a lack of funds and how his squad is neither good enough nor big enough. Some Motivator! However, he is generally thought to have spent well, creating a Villa side that sometimes bears his trademarks: a solid team that plays neat football, sparked to life by a sprinkling of younger players keen to make their mark.

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