David O'Leary is probably a nice guy that you can tell to shut up if he starts acting like a twat but in this interview he comes across as a twat and you've just got to read it to see what he comes out with next so there is no 'shut up twat' because well, he's probably playing golf somewhere.
The interview really is quite embarrassing for him and I can't see it doing him any favours. Apart from coming across as the twat we all know him to be, he comes across as a cocky twat at the same time and I don't think people are going to like this side about him. One bit that made me chuckle was this bit coming up.
I saw Capello at the soccer writers’ function the other week and he came down from the top table and said “when are you bloody getting back in the game?” It was nice getting that from Capello. A lot of them know that you’re too good to be out of it. That’s not me trying to big myself up. People in the game know how difficult Doug Ellis and Aston Villa was.
You see, the thing is, Capello is still struggling with English and you can understand why O'Leary misunderstood him but he is right, people in the game know how difficult it is to work with Ellis but people also know what happened with O'Leary, which is the real reason why he is out of work.
In his first full season at Leeds he finished 3rd, the following season was fourth and his last season was fifth. His first season at Villa, with new manager syndrome, was sixth. Do you see the trend here? His second season we dropped further and his last season he also got worse again. Bottom line; he couldn't do it with money and he couldn't do it without money. In fact, all that happened was without the money the decline was faster, which sort of suggests Ellis was right to not give him any.
But go read the interview here, it will brighten you day.
But moving on to signings. They are going to happen this week if you believe the general feeling that July 1st brings and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it is true. I was speaking to someone a little earlier and he reckons there is going to be a signing that will raise a few eyebrows.
You all know my views on Lerner so I'm not going to repeat myself but I will say I hope he doesn't prove me right by making just the one signing to appease fans. We need three of those signings this summer to likely stand still, two more if we are even hoping to challenge for top four.
Serious money need to be spent this summer on three serious players. Anything less than that will show that Lerner isn't really capable of doing the job and then we will have something else to worry about.
The signings are coming though and we know money is available. It's just a case of how much is actually available and how well it is spent. We will know fairly soon as the players are back fro pre-season any day now.
Lastly today, before I go get some breakfast, the Hleb rumour is getting thrown about again and while I think he is a decent player, I think it would be mad to pay anything close to the £11mn. price tag that the speculation suggests for a 28 year old. Pay it for a 23 year old for sure, but not for a player that has no resale potential.
Hleb is a good player and it's not my money but if there is no value in the player, it is just a waste and surely there are better prospects we could be looking at for similar money?
Right, breakfast and you never know, maybe the club will announce a press conference of sorts for Friday. You never know.