O'Dreary, I was an Arsehole at Leeds....

[Danny]

DAVID O'DREARY has revealed he became "a bit of an arsehole" before he was sacked as boss of Leeds United - but is convinced he's rebuilding his "smeared" reputation.

The Aston Villa boss has lifted the lid on the painful last few months at Leeds, who sacked him after finishing fifth in the Premiership, as the Yorkshiremen go into a tailspin that could see them relegated this season.

O'Dreary is convinced part of the reason he is leading Aston Villa to a surprise challenge for a Champions League spot is that he has "started to be himself" again after a torrid end to his Leeds reign.

While O'Dreary led Leeds to Europe four times, they are now on the brink of disaster, and with his new club flying high, he has talked candidly about where it went wrong.

He said: "At Villa I am trying to be myself. I thought I was a bit of an arsehole in the last year at Leeds. I thought I had changed a bit and had too much to say."

O'Leary, who was criticised for writing an account of the trial of Lee Bowyer and Jon Woodgate when he was at Leeds, added: "I had been put up by the club to say too many things and I think I just want to be myself again.

"I was told to do this and that at Leeds, and was too opinionated about things that had no relevance to myself.

"I changed and I suppose the court case changed me a bit. There was a siege mentality. I just want to be myself again."

At Villa, O'Dreary has transformed the team with just three fine buys, keeper Thomas Sorensen, Gavin McCann and Nobby Solano. He has also got Juan Pablo Angel scoring, and the crowds are flocking back.

He added: "I heard the smears and the suggestion that I only did it at Leeds with a cheque book. You never do anything just with money.

"I was delighted Doug Ellis (the Villa chairman) didn't give me any money because they would have just said he's doing the same thing that he did at Leeds.

"Leeds said to me you coach the team and we will look after the money. They deserved the credit for giving me the extra money, but I didn't give the contracts out and I didn't sign the cheques. I spent what I got.

"When I came to Villa I was told you have £4million so I bought a goalkeeper and a good bread-and-butter player in Gavin McCann.

"I had to endure a smear campaign when I left Leeds. When I was sacked they said they needed someone to move them on.

"You hear Leeds spent £90m but you never hear that they recouped £60m and qualified for Europe for four years.

"People said when I left Leeds they were on a bad run. We won seven of our last 10 games and only lost once. After the last game of the season, we qualified for Europe and the fans were saying to me "see you next season".

The court case was out of the way and yet they sacked me in June. Then the old one came out about how I had lost the dressing room. It's amazing that all the players rang to say good-bye."

With his Leeds chapter behind him, O'Dreary is looking forward to consolidating Villa's brilliant revival since mid-December. He added: "Villa was an ideal job for me. They just missed relegation. The chairman said 'I want you to slash the wage bill by half, get rid of 12 players and survive'. He had a disgruntled dressing room as well.

"I was told not to go near Villa in a million years but it intrigued me. I had to shut the people up who said I could only do it with money.

"If I get this Villa side into Europe this year it will be the biggest achievement of the lot. Which isn't bad for a manager who has lost the dressing room.

"After I left Leeds there was a story about my transfer dealings, but you could get the FBI and the CIA to investigate.

"I remember my Dad was in hospital at the time and was very ill. My Mum showed him these stories and it upset them. It was dirty."

::hahaha::

[andy villa]

quality manager.....

[TWA]

Blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge, moan, Leeds, blah, blah, bitch, whinge......errr....Villa??

Move on, Dave. We have.

[MUFC]

Dont trust him with money

[andy villa]

wot he did with leeds was spend the money he was given by the board.... he spent 90 million but sold 60 millions worth so technically only spent 30 million...... houllier spends that every season practically, ferguson spends that on one player and so does ranieri.... its not o'leary's fault that ridsdale gambled the clubs future by giving him wot he didnt hav....... and i cant see how spending 30 million over 3 or 4 seasons he was there and takin them into europe every year, including champions league, was a bad turnaround.... wot o'leary has done with villa this year is nothing short of a miracle and proves that o'leary is a quality manager wether he has money or not....

[MUFC]

To prove your a quality manager you have to do it next season. Anyone can do it for one season ie david moyes, the 2nd season will be much harder. Everton were in a worse situation then villa before he took over and last season almost got into uefa cup if it wasnt for us

[andy villa]

dont be soft.... we missed out on relgation last year by 1 game and was playin shit.... to turn that around is amazing.... i think hes already proved hes a good manager he will just cement that if he makes us perform again.. cos u know wot they say... ur only as good as ur last performance.........

[TWA]

Originally posted by ralfwiggum
....he spent 90 million but sold 60 millions worth so technically only spent 30 million......

The £60m figure is actually including the sale of Judas - he CANNOT take credit for that, much as he does. Besides which, the market crashed so you can't really argue this type of case viably. But I agree with your views on the whole issue of whether he's a good/bad manager a helluva lot more than MUFC's views.....