Rollercoaster ride ends for O'Leary

David O’Leary’s rollercoaster reign at Leeds ended today with the shocks news that he had been sacked.

The club’s plc announced that Leeds and the Irishman had parted company ‘‘by mutual consent’’.

But it soon became clear that O’Leary had been axed, with Leeds communications director David Walker saying: ‘‘I can confirm that he was sacked.’’

O’Leary’s sudden departure stunned fans, former players and former managers alike and it was not immediately apparent why he had been axed.

The club’s statement blamed ‘‘the pressures of some of the off-the-field incidents’’ for O’Leary’s demise.

That looked like a reference to the Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate court case, which cast a huge cloud over Leeds’ campaign last season, but it could also be referring to O’Leary including a chapter on the court case in his book Leeds United On Trial.

When the statement was released the first thought of many was that O’Leary had gone because of a rift between him and the club over Rio Ferdinand’s future.

O’Leary had made it clear that he was not in favour of selling the England star, who has been linked with a £35m-plus (€54m) move to Manchester United.

But Leeds Supporters Club chairman Ray Fell quickly poured cold water on the Ferdinand factor, revealing that he had spoken to Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale and had been assured that O’Leary’s exit was not linked to Ferdinand’s future.

Other conspiracy theories quickly began to emerge, one of which was that the Leeds board were unhappy with the club’s playing record under O’Leary.

The Irishman’s predecessor at Leeds George Graham revealed that he had spoken to O’Leary who had told him that he had been to see Ridsdale and had been sacked for footballing reasons.

Although O’Leary unquestionably raised the profile of the club during his four-year reign and attracted top quality players he could not deliver silverware.

He spent close on £100m (€154m) on players and his transfer dealings showed a £67m (€103m) deficit.

O’Leary had defended his transfer dealings, pointing out that the valuation of players he had bought had soared since their arrival at the club.

But that argument appeared to have cut little ice with the club’s plc and, when it became apparent that Leeds were not going to qualify for the Champions League last season, Ridsdale admitted that players would have to be sold.

O’Leary was told that he must make a £15m (€23m) profit on any summer transfer dealings to balance the books and perhaps that led to tensions behind the scenes at Elland Road, leading to today’s shock announcement.

Leeds say they hope to appoint a successor to O’Leary ‘‘in the next few weeks’’ and Celtic manager Martin O’Neill, who was the club’s number one choice when Graham left to manage Tottenham, was among the leading contenders.

O’Neill led the Scottish giants to the treble in his first season at Parkhead and took them to the championship last year.

But it remains to be seen whether O’Neill would leave a club that has qualified for the Champions League which he supported as a boy to take on the Leeds job, even though he would inherit a squad of highly talented players with great potential.

Other early contenders for the job according to the bookmakers were Charlton manager Alan Curbishley, Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy, South Korea manager Guus Hiddink and former England boss Terry Venables.

Whoever gets the job will face the immediate challenge of working out which players are staying and which are going.

Ferdinand apart, the likes of Lee Bowyer, Robbie Keane, Olivier Dacourt and Danny Mills have been linked with moves away from Elland Road.

O’Leary, who worked for the BBC during the World Cup, was regarded as a highly promising young manager and is likely to have other clubs knocking on his door before long.

It remains to be seen whether O’Leary’s assistant Brian Kidd - a controversial appointment by the Irishman - follows him out of the door.

The club statement released on Ridsdale’s behalf, read: ‘‘Leeds United PLC today announces that David O’Leary, manager of Leeds United Football Club, has left the company by mutual consent.

‘‘After four successful years the pressures of some of the off-field incidents have resulted in both the company and Mr O’Leary agreeing that it would be of mutual benefit for a change of manager.

‘‘It is hoped that an announcement regarding a successor can be announced in the next few weeks.

‘‘Leeds United would like to place on record its thanks for David’s enormous contribution over the last four years.’’