The Villa manager has been known to bewail his side’s lack of finances and depth of squad this season and it was no different on Sunday as he followed the 2-1 defeat by a weakened Liverpool side at Anfield, by declaring: “It’s now up to the chairman to deliver. We’re stabilised in mid-table and if we bring in a few more signings in the summer we can move forward. The chairman has the targets and it is now up to him to deliver.”
In the realms of buck passing, O’Leary was quickly advancing to a sphere not reached since John Candy’s premature death in 1994, but he continued unperturbed. “They’re gettable targets, players who will make a difference and mean we’ll be able to challenge the likes of Spurs and Middlesbrough for the places in the UEFA Cup,” he said. “Up until the final few weeks, we have been in with a shout for Europe, but we’ve not been able to field a full side all season. Injuries to key players have hit us very badly, and if we can keep people fit and buy the sort of players we want, we will be a lot stronger next season.”
Unfortunately, injuries have not been less forthcoming for the likes of Mark Delaney who showed about as much considered poise against Liverpool as the Barcelona entertainment committee displayed 24 hours later when they included the band ‘Shitting Milk’ in the lineup to celebrate their La Liga triumph. The Welsh international slid in on a corner-flag-bound Djibril Cisse to concede an early penalty, and on his return to the starting eleven, the Frenchman cooly converted.
He added a second soon after before Gareth Barry pulled one back in an infinitely better second-half performance from the visitors but an equaliser proved elusive and O’Leary was clear on the cause of the loss. “We keep giving teams soft starts to matches and conceding goals that are a joke,” he said, spurting a jet of water into the face of a nearby journalist as he displayed the flower on his lapel. “We started the game well but gave a stupid penalty away that gave them a lead that they had done nothing to deserve. Then we conceded another silly goal and it became very difficult from then on.”