O'Leary set for chilly reception at Elland Road

David O’Leary has been warned by Leeds fans to expect a degree of hostility upon his return to Elland Road on St Stephen's Day.

O’Leary heads back to Leeds with his Aston Villa side but the reception should be mixed to say the least.

He twice failed to steer them into the Champions League after their 2000-01 run to the semi-finals despite spending almost €142m on players and the timing of his book “Leeds United on Trial” was considered a very unwise move by fans.

In addition to that, the cash-strapped club are paying off the remainder of O’Leary’s contract, which ends in 2005.

“I reckon he will get a hard time,” insisted John Boocock, chairman of the Leeds United Supporters’ Trust.

“I don’t think people will be that chuffed at having him back at Elland Road and I think he will get some stick.

“A lot of fans have not got time for him and he should not be deluded into thinking he is still popular at Elland Road.

“A lot of people remember that book. That did it for him, as well as the amount of money he took with him. But the book was a serious error of judgement.

“There are certain things you should not do while you are at Leeds, and one is dish the dirt on your own, and he crossed over that line.

“It’s not that O’Leary lost the dressing room, he lost the boardroom. He was quite happy to let people think it was the players he was having trouble with because they are easy to blame.

“But from the outside we now see this was posturing. We ignored it at the time when he was at Leeds, but we now see him for what he is, coming across as poor David O’Leary with Doug Ellis not being nice to him.

“Pound to a penny he will applaud the Leeds fans. That’s his style, but I think people have had enough of him.

“I think when we play Villa, people will want to chant the name more of Eddie Gray than that of David O’Leary.”

Ray Fell, chairman of the Leeds United Supporters’ Club, also feels the fans will be more interested in getting behind the team as Leeds fight relegation, rather than acclaiming or accusing O’Leary.

“The fans respect what O’Leary did in his time at the club, but the book changed their attitude,” stated Fell.

“But I don’t anticipate it being highly charged. In the last few matches we’ve been more concerned at lifting the team and I expect it will be the same again on Boxing Day.

“I think we’ll be cheering Eddie more than booing O’Leary. There’s a lot of happiness at the fact Eddie is in charge, as proven by the fact that recently the fans have been behind him to a man.”

O’Leary at least provided supporters with some happy memories, as recognised by the co-founder of the Leeds United Independent Fans’ Association, Simon Jose.

“People still remember he took us to the Champions League semi-finals and you can’t forget going to places like the San Siro and travelling all over Europe,” recalled Jose.

“It’s why I think he’ll get a mixed reception because the book was stupid and one of the biggest things is that he never listened to Eddie Gray and instead brought in Brian Kidd, which was not a good idea.

“But the eyes of the Leeds fans will be focused on what’s happening on the pitch and getting the points off them. We’ve just become jaded by everything else.”