Former Saddlers assistant Richard O’Kelly has today got his Sat-Nav to work again and has joined long term friend and former Saddlers boss Dean Smith at Aston Villa.
O’Kelly has been named as Assistant Head Coach and will work alongside former England defender John Terry.
Richard O’Kelly is seen by many Saddlers fans as a legend here having played two hundred and four games for Walsall between 1979 and 1986, he went onto the play for Port Vale before returning to the Saddlers in 1988 – however his hokey-cokey coaching career has left a bitter taste in many mouths.
He started his coaching career at Grimsby Town as youth team coach before joining West Bromwich Albion in the same position. In November 2011 he returned to the Saddlers this time in a coaching capacity however his spell was cut short and he took up the managerial position at Hereford – just four months later.
He failed to keep Hereford in the Football League and joined the Saddlers for a fourth time in June 2012 and it is then he formed a great relationship with Dean Smith, however his stint was cut short yet again and he joined Bristol City in January 2013. However his time at Bristol City was cut short and he returned to the Saddlers again at the end of the 2013/14 season.
O’Kelly left the Saddlers for a fifth and final time in November 2015 where he followed Dean Smith to Brentford.
I am sure that both Smith and O’Kelly will do alright at Villa but the supporters wont be as patient as Walsall and Brentford fans when Smith and O’Kelly have one of their winless runs.
However we wish them both the best of luck.