Villa suffer a chastening and worrying defeat as they are hammered at home by Spurs in the League Cup to leave them with four defeats in seven games in all competitions under Paul Lambert.

Yet it was the decision making of the notorious referee Jonathan Moss that grabbed the headlines. 

That aside there was much to concern about Villa's second half capitulation of Lambert's much changed side.

Joe Bennett suffers his 15th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 32nd appearance (28 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L15, 3 Assists, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Callum Robinson makes his Villa debut after coming through the youth team to become the 863rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa's dreadful season on and off the pitch continues as unsavoury and compromising information leaks out about the dysfunctional Lambert regime with new light shined on the real, entirely self interested, reasons for the hated manager's questionable decisions. On the pitch Villa fail to win at home for the thirteenth time in eighteen and fail to score for the fifteenth time in thirty seven games.

Villa fail to score for the 14th time in 34 games under Paul Lambert.

Villa fail to win at home for the 13th time in 18 matches under Paul Lambert. 

Villa sit 15th, five points clear of the drop zone with four to play. 

In more evidence that the club was not in good hands, Lambert’s assistants were suspended pending an investigation into allegations of bullying and aggressive off-and on-field behaviour. 

Lambert was praised by the absent Chairman Randy Lerner for his “total loyalty” in the aftermath of the eventual suspension and dismissal of Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa. It was alleged that a series of players had been upset by the actions of the assistants during the season and despite raising the issues with Lambert they went unresolved. 

A further claim was made that, those same players, in protest at their treatment, had  feigned injury or illness to miss matche, perhaps explaining the often bizarre trends of player unavailability through the season to date. 

In another self-defeating move of breathtaking stupidity, it was also revealed that Lambert and his team, because of poor personal relationships, had deliberately rendered some fully fit players unavailable in crucial fixtures that Villa had gone on to lose including the damaging 2-1 defeat to Fulham. 

In a move packed with supreme irony, Lambert promoted Shay Given to assistant duties. At the start of the campaign, Lambert had placed Given in the infamous 'bomb squad' of first team players not to be considered for duty. 

Callum Robinson makes his 2nd appearance in a Villa shirt (0 Starts) 7 months after his debut to make it W0 D1 L1, 0 Goals, 0 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Villa plumb yet new depths under Paul Lambert as he masterminds another loss against a relegation threatened side and leaves Villa hanging by a thread above the trap door for a second successive season. 

That Lambert should not be in post is unquestionable, that he is underlines the shameful, abject and incompetent regime that has been running the club into the ground since the summer of 2010.

Villa lose for the 18th time in the Premier League in 35 games under Paul Lambert.

Without an assist in 24 games under Paul Lambert, Marc Albrighton had now contributed 3 in his last 7 games to make it 101 appearances (58 Starts), W28 D29 L44, 9 Goals, 14 Assists, 13 Bookings and 1 Red Card. Indeed one of the few bright spots of Lamberts torturous reign was that Albrighton, who had shown such promise under Gérard Houllier and Alex McLeish was now finding form again.

Ashley Westwood collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 65th appearance (63 Starts) to make it W18 D16 L31, 2 Goals, 8 Assists and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Nathan Baker collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 71st appearance (67 Starts) to make it W22 D14 L35, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Centre forward Grant Holt makes his 10th and final appearance for Villa of his unexpected and widely derided loan spell from Championship side Wigan Athletic. Indeed Holt left as he came, overweight, unfit with no fanfare and little enthusiasm, Holt could never shake off perceptions that he was Lambert's man in a distressed, distracted and disunited dressing room and left with a record of W2 D2 L6, 1 Goal and 1 Booking. One thing for sure was his arrival was for anything but footballing reasons as the needlessly opaque and downright unpleasant atmosphere fostered by Lambert was continually being fed.

Brad Guzan concedes his 150th goal in a Villa shirt on his 100th Start (102 Appearances) to make it W35 D23 L44, 1 Assist, 153 Goals Conceded, 23 Clean Sheets, 1.61 Goals per League Game and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa are thrashed by title hopefuls Manchester City to record their nineteenth defeat in thirty seven Premier League games under Paul Lambert and fail to score for the sixteenth time this season.

Villa lose their 19 Premier League match in 37 games under Paul Lambert to leave the club 15th in the table. 

18 year old midfielder Jack Grealish makes his Villa debut having signed professional forms with the club in July 2012. Alex McLeish had handed Grealish his first squad appearance in 2012 but he had since been overlooked by Lambert. However following a successful loan spell with Notts County, Grealish is finally handed his debut to become the 866th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa end the season with a second successive thrashing as they are ripped apart at White Hart Lane.

Villa lose for the 20th time in 38 League games under Paul Lambert.

Villa have won just 10 League games in 38 under Paul Lambert.

Villa have a 53% loss rate in 2013-14 under Paul Lambert.

Villa have a 26% win rate in 2013-14 under Paul Lambert.

Villa failed to score in 17 of 38 Premier League fixtures in 2013-14 under Paul Lambert.

Villa failed to score in 45% of their League fixtures under Paul Lambert.

Villa have won just 6 home League matches of 19 under Paul Lambert in 2013-14.

Villa have a 31% win rate at home in 2013-14 under Paul Lambert.

Villa have now lost 42 of the 87 games under Paul Lambert - the worst performance of any Villa manager in history

Villa now have a 48% loss rate under Paul Lambert since his arrival in Summer 2012.

Villa scored just 43 goals at a rate of 1.05 per game under Paul Lambert in 2013-14.

Villa won consecutive games just once under Paul Lambert in 2013-14.

Villa finished on their lowest points total for nearly 30 years under Paul Lambert in 2013-14.

Not forgetting that in his first season Paul Lambert had presided over Villa’s biggest ever loss in the club’s 140 year existence. 

Just one of these statistics was enough for Lambert’s removal. Yet for a second successive season Lambert was allowed to survive. 

Unlike in 2012-13, however, the support had turned and saw the reality for what it was. 

Needless to say Lambert’s reaction was to blame the support. 

Already the squad looked like it would take years of investment to rebuild to anything resembling a side that could compete above the relegation places, Villa’s owner was playing with fire, it was just a matter of how big and how damaging the blaze would get. 

That Paul Lambert was retained in post after recording Villa’s worst ever defeat just four months into the job had been astounding.

That he remained in place for the 2013-14 campaign and throughout its unfolding misery was a devastating indictment on the incompetence and ill will that had infected the club.

That he should be relieved of his duties at the season end was unquestionable.

Instead he was rewarded with a new contract.

Meanwhile, even Lambert’s signings were headed for the exit door. 

A squad that Lambert built hadn’t survived even two seasons as Brett Holman, Antonio Luna and Aleksandar Tonev were gone, with Matt Lowton, Joe Bennett and Leandro Bacuna soon to be ostracised and Karim El Ahmadi and Jordan Bowery finished. 

Midfielder Karim El Ahmadi makes his 56th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (43 Starts) aged 29 before returning to Feyenoord for a fee of £630,000 in September 2014. El Ahmadi had joined from Feyenoord for £2,520,000 2 years earlier subsequent to which he recorded W15 D13 L28, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 12 Bookings.

Forward Jordan Bowery makes his final appearance for Villa aged 22 before returning to lower league football with Rotherham United in July 2014 in return for £270,000. Villa had paid Rotherham £567,000 for his services 2 years earlier and had contributed W7 D4 L11, 0 Goals, 1 Assist and 1 Booking.

Left back Ryan Bertrand makes the 16th and final appearance of his underwhelming loan spell before returning to parent club Chelsea to leave with a record of W3 D3 L10, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 3 Bookings.

Centre forward Callum Robinson makes his 5th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (0 Starts) before moving on to Preston in July 2016 with a record of W0 D1 L4, 0 Goals, 0 Assists.