DOUG ELLIS has finally seen through the hollow man. What took him so long? The supporters and some of the backroom staff at Villa Park realised the truth about David O’Leary long ago. When Villa beat Birmingham City last season, O’Leary made a “that’s for you” gesture towards his chairman.

Ellis was just about the last man standing behind his manager, but there is only so much anyone can take when faced with poor results on the pitch and a bad atmosphere off it.

It seemed as if every time O’Leary opened his mouth he undermined the club, always making excuses, blaming someone else. He couldn’t simply roll up his sleeves and get on with it. All those quotes implying that he had an impossible job; by the end, that’s what it was — but because of O’Leary, not in spite of his efforts.

People think I have an axe to grind with O’Leary, my former Ireland team-mate who I know well, and that I am bitter towards him for some reason, but that is not right. The truth is, a bit like that Villa supporters’ banner from last term, I’m not fickle, I just don’t like him. He is the least sincere person I have met.

One time, he was out of the Arsenal side. He told me that the reason George Graham was not picking him was that the manager was envious of his house. Apparently, Graham had to drive past O’Leary’s pad every day and it was slightly bigger.

No one can deny that O’Leary did well at Leeds United, especially early on, but he was lucky. How many other first-time managers are given a transfer fund big enough to compete with Manchester United? Talking to a well- respected journalist about him, I said: “I can’t understand why things work out for David.” He replied: “It works out for 18 months. Then the players will find out what he’s all about and turn against him.”

And that is about right — things went well at Villa for the first half of his reign, then went sour.

Where does O’Leary go now? His stock has plummeted. The word is out about his personality. His public comments have shown naivety and self-interest. The hollow man looks empty.

O’Leary and Ellis are similar in some ways. Blasé, name-dropping, mocked by players behind their back. I bumped into Ellis in the 1990s when I was playing for Marseilles, years after my spell at Villa. “You’ll have to come and visit me on my yacht in Monaco,” he told me. Those were his first words; no “hello, how are you?”

Ellis is a bit of a know-all, can be sarcastic and tough to get on with. He would come into the Villa dressing-room and have his say. As if we wanted to listen to him.

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