Premiership: We are most hated club - O'Leary

David O’Leary fears Leeds have now become ‘‘the most hated club in Britain’’.

One of O’Leary’s first tasks when he was appointed Leeds manager three-and-a-half years ago was, by his own admission, to improve the image of a club who had long had a dubious reputation on and off the field.

By the end of O’Leary’s first full season in charge, the 1999-2000 campaign, Leeds were being hailed as the future of the English game - such was the exhilarating brand of football they were playing.

Public sympathy was also on their side after in April 2000 supporters Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were murdered on the eve of the first leg of Leeds’ UEFA Cup semi-final tie against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

Just 10 months ago, Leeds proudly flew the British flag again in Europe - reaching the last four of their debut Champions League campaign and thereby surpassing all expectations.

Their performances on the continent’s biggest club stage overshadowed the events at Hull Crown Court as the initial trial involving Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate into charges of grievous bodily harm against a student collapsed.

The last few months at Elland Road, though, have been a tawdry tale - with Leeds’ name dragged through the mud for a variety of reasons.

When the retrial ended in mid-December it appeared United’s troubles might finally behind them. But, as O’Leary concedes, that has proved to be far from the case.

‘‘As far back as July when we started to prepare for this campaign, we knew it was going to be a very difficult season because of the rerun of the trial - and it has certainly lived up to expectations,’’ said the Leeds boss.

‘‘The fall-out has been horrendous and the problems have been compounded by a ridiculous number of suspensions and a string of bad luck with injuries.

‘‘Inevitably when things are not going well, the team and the manager get stick. We expect that, but I have to say there’s a tendency to hit the panic button very quickly around this place.

‘‘Some people have lost sight of what’s happened this season and are failing to look at the overall picture.

‘‘There are still lots of things going on from the trial, and anyone who thought our problems would go away as soon as events ended at Hull Crown Court was kidding himself.

‘‘If anything the coverage of Leeds United after the trial was worse than during it.

‘‘From being the second favourite club of most neutral supporters, we seem to have become the most hated club in the country - with no-one missing a chance to criticise and condemn us.

‘‘It was summed up for me when we went to Newcastle early in January. We were sitting on top of the league, yet it felt to me as though we were bottom.

‘‘With all the mud that was flying around and all the adverse things that were being written about us, it felt as though we had just lost about 20 games in a row.’’

Leeds are now eight without a win, stretching back to New Year’s Day, following yesterday’s goalless home draw with Charlton which left them nine points off the race for the Champions League places.

O’Leary refuses to throw in the towel just yet on a top-four finish, but you sense he knows this is a season he is willing to write off.

‘‘We know we have players who can perform a lot better than they are doing,’’ added O’Leary, in his programme notes.

‘‘Some of our lads have suffered dips in form, while others have struggled to hit their peak when they have come back from injury.

‘‘We know we are not firing on all cylinders - and, believe me, that is not something we take lightly. We are as unhappy at the last few results as anyone and we are determined to try and put things right.

‘‘But in this job you really do have to live by the old football adage of not getting too carried away in the good times and not getting too down when things go against you.

‘‘In football, you have to accept the bad times as well as the good. It’s the nature of sport - no-one wins all the time.’’