Europe the goal, says Villa boss O’Leary

DAVID O’LEARY has set his sights firmly on leading Aston Villa back into Europe within the three years of his contract.

O’Leary, who met the media for the first time yesterday since being appointed Villa’s new boss, insisted he turned down a number of managerial offers since he left Leeds last June because he was waiting for a club of such stature to seek his services.

And he relished the challenge of turning around Villa’s fortunes and taking them back towards the top of the table where he believes they belong.

O’Leary said: “This club should be in Europe and I’ve got three years to prove that I can take them there.

“Aston Villa should be in the top six of the table and not the bottom six.

“I set out at Leeds and established them at the top end of the Premier League and that is where this club belongs too. Aston Villa are a big and classy club.”

O’Leary will be only given a tiny percentage of the £96 million he was able to splash on turning his former club into Champions League semi-finalists.

Neither he nor new chairman Doug Ellis would reveal the extent of Villa’s tight purse strings, but O’Leary admitted he was likely to look to youth again to improve his new club’s immediate fortunes.

Perhaps O’Leary’s greatest legacy at Leeds was his introduction of players like Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Smith and Paul Robinson into first team ranks.

And Villa have a crop of promising youngsters like Rob Edwards, Liam Ridgewell and the Moore brothers, Stefan and Luke, whom O’Leary will be running a close eye over in the forthcoming months.

He admitted: “I did not see a great deal of Aston Villa last season and it is a different situation to Leeds where I was George Graham’s assistant before I took over.

“But I’m hearing we’ve got good young players at Villa and I’m all for bringing them in if they are good enough. A base of players who have come through and have a feeling for the club is a great one to build upon.”

Both Ellis and O’Leary dismissed suggestions that a large section of Villa supporters disagreed with the appointment.

Some fans have turned their anger towards Ellis after the circumstances of Graham Taylor’s resignation and are planning a mass local protest next weekend.

Ellis said: “David O’Leary was always my first choice in comparison to all of the other 35 applications we had. It was never our intention to appoint somebody in June. As soon as David made up his mind that he would accept our offer that was the end of the matter.”

And despite making O’Leary the 13th manager of his three-decade tenure, Ellis added: “I believe success at any club is formed by a blood brothers-type of relationship with the board.

“Our training ground is David’s domain and he deals exclusively with the playing side with no interference. When he wants to talk about money he comes and talks to me.”

O’Leary was unwilling to elaborate on many of the circumstances behind his appointment and admitted he would prove a more reticent boss having learned from some mistakes he made at Leeds.

He added: “We all make mistakes and I have learned a great deal. I had four years of intense pressure at Leeds, particularly in the last two years.

“I had 24-hour round-the-clock surveillance and security at my home. Everything we had to go through off the field was really tough.

“That’s why I felt that to keep Leeds in Europe under those pressures was a great achievement.

“But I have been in the papers too much with too many opinions on things and that is not going to happen again. I’m certain I will come back stronger for it.”