Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner sat back and watched some horrendous performances from his club this season, but this weekend’s capitulation at Hull was the last straw. The defeat sent Villa into the bottom three, and they looked a sure bet to get relegated. That would be a financial nightmare for Lerner, so on Wednesday he finally acted and sacked manager Paul Lambert.
Lambert can have no complaints about getting fired. Since he tool over at Villa Park in 2012 he hailed the former European Champions to 15th-place finishes in the last two seasons.
Despite a squad that has attacking talent, Villa recently went 11 hours without scoring a Premier League goal. After winning three and drawing one of their first four league fixtures, Villa have won just two of their last 21 matches.
“The club would also like to place on record its thanks to Paul and take this opportunity to wish him every success in the future,” Villa added. “The club will announce a new manager in due course. There will be no further comment from the club at this stage.”
Lambert is the fifth managerial departure of the current Premier League season, after Neil Warnock (Crystal Palace), Alan Irvine (West Bromwich Albion), Alan Pardew (Newcastle United) and Harry Redknapp (Queens Park Rangers).
