Andrew Fifield On the Premiership: Post-match interviews are breeding grounds for vacuous platitudes, but Ruud van Nistelrooy set a new standard in feeble flattery during his analysis of Manchester United's dismissal of Aston Villa a fortnight ago. "We're very happy," he said. "Villa is always a difficult place to come."
On one level, he is right. Villa Park is hard to reach, particularly when the M6 motorway is full of Christmas shoppers. But if the Dutchman meant that Villa were awkward opponents, he was wrong. Everton might disagree, but in a Premiership full of soft touches, Villa have been one of the biggest cream-puffs all season.
It may seem strange to be critical of Villa in the wake of their biggest win of the season, but their 4-0 romp last night can be attributed more to Everton's manifold failings than their opponents' quality.
For most of the last two seasons, Villa have been strangled by mediocrity. The biggest footballing club in the midlands have not won a major trophy since Brian Little claimed the League Cup in 1996, and in 13 years of Premiership football, they have managed only three top five finishes.
The fans were purring yesterday, but their mood was better summed up by the chorus of boos which greeted the end of that defeat to United. However, their ire is reserved not for David O'Leary - who is generally viewed as the right man at the right club at the wrong time - but for the chairman Doug Ellis.
It is not very seasonal to gripe at an 81-year-old, but Ellis has heaped most of his troubles upon himself. Ever since his first spell at the club was brought to a sticky end when he was ousted from the board in 1979, Ellis has been a PR man's nightmare.
He was reportedly the first football director to pay himself a salary; he chose to ignore fans' pleas to use the name of a former player to christen the club's Witton Road stand in favour of naming it after himself and the club's share price has fallen by 90% since he floated it on the stock market in 1997.
On the field, things have been no better. During Ellis' seven-year hiatus from Villa Park in the 1970s and 80s, the club won the League Cup, a league title and - most gloriously of all - the 1982 European Cup. Within five years of Ellis' return, they had been relegated.
A succession of high-profile managers have promised to return the club to its former glories before leaving in a storm of angry recrimination. The combustible John Gregory furiously claimed that Ellis was "stuck in a time-warp", and even the mild-mannered Graham Taylor suggested that Villa were run "by Doug Ellis for Doug Ellis" when he departed in 2003.
But what exactly are Ellis's sins? He has certainly not led Villa into financial ruin and he has overseen the transformation of Villa Park into one of England's finest sporting arenas. He is often accused of being a penny-pincher, and yet he was happy to sanction the £6.5 million purchase of Milan Baros from Liverpool in the summer, together with another £4 million outlay on Wilfred Bouma and Kevin Phillips.
No, the most serious charge that can be levelled at Ellis is his treatment of Villa as his own personal plaything. He has continually refused to sell his majority shareholding in the club, even though Villa have not been short of suitors. Earlier this year, Ellis rejected a £47 million bid from a consortium led by the former Manchester City defender Ray Ranson, a decision which provoked angry protests from supporters.
Now Ellis's resolve is likely to be tested again with a £64.4 million bid fronted by the businessman and lifelong Villa supporter Michael Neville. For the sake of the club, Ellis should accept it. Villa have grown stale and as long as he stays in charge, aggravating the supporters and clashing with his managers, the cloud of negativity which has settled over north-east Birmingham will not disperse.
Ellis would also be doing the right thing by himself, for he is not a well man. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004 and recently underwent major heart surgery. His once impressive physical frame has withered, and his pained expression at matches cannot be solely attributed to the quality of Villa's football.
Logically, Ellis should take the money and enjoy retirement, but his taste for power may yet prove overwhelming. He should, however, consider this. The decision he makes early in 2006 will determine the nature of his legacy at Villa Park. He has already forfeited the affection of many Villa fans, but he could yet retain their respect if he does the right thing and walks away. Otherwise, he risks being remembered as the man who led Aston Villa, the club he purports to love, into the wilderness.
