Villa's woeful form for two and a half seasons under Paul Lambert continues as they fail to score for the sixth consecutive League game and record their fourth defeat over the period.

Villa lose their 11th game in 23 Premier League matches under Paul Lambert.

Villa have failed to score in 14 Premier League matches under Paul Lambert this season.

Villa have failed to score in 6 consecutive league games for the first time in their history.

Villa's tally of 11 league goals is the lowest in all 9 tiers of English football’s 649 team pyramid.

Villa have now gone 8 Premier League games without a win and scored only once in that sequence. 

Since the start of the 2013-14 season Paul Lambert has led Villa to 31 defeats in 61 League matches. 

Of his total of 113 games in charge, Lambert has lost 54. 

Villa have secured just 12 points from a possible 57, scoring 7, whilst conceding 29 under Lambert in 2014-15.

This 0-5 reverse at Arsenal is Villa’s biggest defeat since Lambert's 0-8 loss at Chelsea in the Premier League on 23 December 2012 - the heaviest defeat in the club's history

Winger Scott Sinclair makes his Villa debut aged 25 after joining from Manchester City on loan to the end of the season to become the 874th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Ciaran Clark makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt (111 Starts) to make it W38 D33 L54, 8 Goals, 4 Assists, 38 Bookings and 1 Red Card. Clark has now picked up a card every 3.21 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa score for the first time in seven League games under Paul Lambert but lose for the fourth consecutive game as the dreadful fare served up becomes laughable were it not so serious as an impotent boardroom does nothing to halt the slide.

Villa lose their 12th game in 24 under Paul Lambert.

Since the start of 2013-14 Paul Lambert had led Villa to 32 defeats in 62 League matches. 

Villa are now without a win in 9 League games under Paul Lambert 

Villa recorded the second lowest goals total ever in a top flight season after 24 games (12), only eclipsed by the eleven scored by Leicester City in 1977-78. 

The defeat to Chelsea represented Paul Lambert’s 100th league match in charge during which time he had lost 49, won 25 and scored 98. 

Of his total of 114 games in charge, Lambert had lost 55. 

Villa had secured 12 points from a possible 60 across the last twenty matches under Paul Lambert. 

Meanwhile, Lambert spoke absolute nonsense in his post match interview as his reality bending narrative once again came to the fore.

Jores Okore scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 19th appearance (17 Starts) to make it W5 D5 L9, 1 Goal and 7 Bookings at a rate well over 1 booking for every 3 matches played. Okore would later be accused of match fixing at Aalborg Boldspilklub.

Carles Gil contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance (3 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L3, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Tom Cleverley collecs his 5th booking in a Villa shirt to make it W5 D5 L12 and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa fail to score for the seventh time in eight League matches and lose for the fifth successive game as finally, finally, the Paul Lambert regime - one that should have been ended in the Winter of 2012 - is finally put to an end over two painful years later. 

Villa lose their 13th game in 25 Premier League matches under Paul Lambert.

Since the start of 2013-14 Villa had lost 33 of their 63 League matches under Paul Lambert. 

Villa are without a win in ten League games under Paul Lambert. 

Villa record the second lowest goals total in a top flight season after 25 games (12). 

The defeat to Hull represented Paul Lambert’s 101st league match in charge during which time he had lost 50, won 25 and scored 98. 

Of his total of 115 games in charge, Lambert had lost 56. 

Since the start of the 2011-12 season under Alex McLeish, Villa had taken 139 points from 139 league games. 

Following this latest defeat, Villa dropped into the bottom three, swapping places with victors Hull City. 

Sadly the repercussions of Lambert's toxic reign would outlast his departure as Villa would struggle to recover from his mismanagement for seasons to come. The worst manager in Villa's history? Without question.

The only surprise of this latest defeat was that Villa finally acted and sacked Lambert. 

In truth Lambert could have been sacked early in his first season. 

Undoubtedly he probably should have been fired after recording Villa’s worst defeat in history in December 2012.

And he certainly should have been dismissed at the end of his first campaign. 

Yet, not only did Lambert retain the support of the Owner he had significant backing from a crowd who had demanded his appointment as a replacement to the much maligned - but whisper it quietly - far more effective manager on and off the pitch, Alex McLeish. 

Indeed for many it was not until Palace away in 2014 that the patience broke. Yet the hierarchy still did not act and another round of bizarre recruitment saddled Villa with a squad simply not good enough for top flight football.

Lambert had been simply atrocious from appointment but the sad reality was that under Randy Lerner these records had been building with a devastating inevitability. 

Alan Hutton, one of the key victims of Lambert's terrible management following his refusal to select Hutton for 88 games between May 2012 and August 2014 receives his 15th caution in a Villa shirt to make it W13 D19 L26, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 15 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Aly Cissokho, one of Lambert's many uninspiring signings, makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W6 D7 L12 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Jores Okore loses for the 10th time in a Villa shirt on his 20th appearance (18 Starts) to make it W5 D5 L19, 1 Goal and 7 Bookings at a rate of over 1 booking for every 3 matches played. Okore would later be accused of match fixing at Aalborg Boldspilklub.

Post Lambert life starts with a fifth round FA Cup win as caretaker managers Andy and Scott Marshall lead their one game in charge with interim boss Tim Sherwood waiting in the wings.

Christian Benteke contributes his 13th assist in a Villa shirt on his 86th appearance (79 Starts) to make it W28 D17 L41, 38 Goals, 13 Assists, 12 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Leandro Bacuna scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance (35 Starts) to make it W16 D11 L22, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Scott Sinclair comes off the bench to score his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance (1 Start) and make it W1 D0 L3 so far in his Villa career.

Ron Vlaar secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 78th appearance (77 Starts) to make it W25 D20 L33, 2 Goals, 2 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tim Sherwood’s first game in charge ends in defeat after a 93’ penalty won by a scandalous dive. 

Villa are now without a win in 11 Premier League matches. 

Villa are the only team in the division to have yet to win in 2015.

Villa have now lost 6 league games in a row for the second time in 2014-15.

Ron Vlaar is sent off on his 79th appearance in a Villa shirt on his (78 Starts) to make it W25 D20 L34, 2 Goals, 3 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

Ron Vlaar’s 92’ red card was Villa’s sixth of the season, more than any other team.

Brad Guzan makes his 100th consecutive Premier League appearance for Villa.

Brad Guzan loses for the 60th time in a Villa shirt on his 131st appearance (129 Starts) to make it W41 D30 L60, 1 Assist, 197 Goals Conceded, 30 Clean Sheets, 1.58 Goals per League Game and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Kieran Richardson loses for the 10th time in a Villa shirt on his 19th appearance (13 Starts) to make it W6 D3 L10, 1 Assist, 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Tim Sherwood's Villa lose a second successive game.

Villa have now lost 7 consecutive league games for the first time since 1963 when they lost a club record of 11 consecutive league games under Joe Mercer. 

Villa have now not won a Premier League match in 12.

Villa have now taken just a single point from their 8 league games so far in 2015 

Villa have now played 6 consecutive away Premier League games without scoring.

Leandro Bacuna makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (35 Starts) to make it W16 D11 L23, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matt Lowton makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt and first under Tim Sherwood (69 Starts) to make it W21 D16 L38, 2 Goals, 5 Assists and 16 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it successive wins over neighbours Albion as, after five years of dross on and off the pitch, Villa finally have something to get excited about in the form of a first FA Cup semi final since 2010.

Tim Sherwood's Villa send Villa Park into raptures after the joyless toil of much of the last five seasons is swept away in one afternoon. The FA took a dim view but few cared.

Jack Grealish contributes his 1st assist before being sent off for two bookings on his 16th appearance in a Villa shirt (2 Starts) to make it W8 D3 L5, 1 Assist, 2 Bookings, 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Now Villa's de-facto Cup goalkeeper, Shay Given keeps his 10th clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 48th appearance to make it W14 D16 L18, 69 Goals Conceded, 10 Clean Sheets and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa record consecutive League victories for the first time this season as Tim Sherwood's reign delivers three successive wins in all competitions.

Villa score as many goals in the first half as they had managed in their previous 14 away league games under Paul Lambert. 

Villa score four goals in an away game in the Premier League for the first time since October 2008 at Wigan Athletic under Martin O’Neill.

Forward Rushian Hepburn-Murphy makes his Villa debut aged 16 after coming through the youth ranks to become the 875th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football. Hepburn-Murphy became Villa’s youngest player in the Premier League, aged 16 years and 176 days and their second-youngest in all competitions to Jimmy Brown who was aged 15 years and 349 days were he made his debut on 17 September 1969 in a League Division Two game at Bolton Wanderers.

Christian Benteke scores his 40th goal and secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 90th appearance (83 Starts) to make it W30 D17 L43, 41 Goals, 14 Assists, 12 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Gabriel Agbonlahor contributes his 125th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 345th appearance (313 Starts) to make it W123 D100 L122, 84 Goals, 41 Assists, 45 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.76 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Carlos Sánchez makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (19 Starts) to make it W8 D7 L10, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Two steps forward one step back as Tim Sherwood's Villa lose for the third time in five Premier League matches to leave them deep in relegation trouble with just eight games left of the season.

Tim Sherwood's Villa end a run of three victories with a third defeat in five Premier League games under the new boss courtesy of a late Swansea strike. The reverse leaves Villa just three points clear of the drop zone with eight to play underlining the huge job Sherwood has to do to overcome the mess Lambert had left behind. 

Villa have now failed to score in 17 of their 30 Premier League matches in 2014-15.

Villa have won just 3 of 15 home matches this season.

Brad Guzan concedes for the 200th time in a Villa shirt on his 135th appearance (133 Starts) to make it W43 D30 L62, 1 Assist, 200 Goals Conceded, 31 Clean Sheets, 1.55 Goals per League Game and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa follow up their best performance of the season with an even better one as Jack Grealish stars at Wembley to earn Villa an FA Cup final against Arsenal. 

Villa’s twenty first appearance in the FA Cup semi final and one of their best sees an effervescent team under Tim Sherwood look the polar opposite of their performances under Paul Lambert as a Jack Grealish inspired Villa light up the Wembley stage. Villa were not the finished article by any means, in fact serious doubts remained, however Tim Sherwood was showing he could get things out of a squad previously unimaginable.

Jack Grealish contributes his 2nd assist on his 19th appearance for Villa (5 Starts) and first at Wembley to make it W10 D4 L5, 2 Assists, 2 Bookings, 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career in a performance that brought him to the attention of the wider public.

Villa, needing just one win to secure Premier League safety after their revival under Tim Sherwood, are humiliated at St Mary's in a shambling performance but luck is on Villa's side as results elsewhere go their way to leave them safe ahead of another top flight season.

Tim Sherwood's Villa lose their sixth Premier League game in twelve and drop to 15th place in the table as they are ripped apart in the first 45' at St Mary's. The result itself however did not matter as courtesy of Hull's defeat, Villa had secured Premier League safety once again. 

Christian Benteke contributes his 63rd goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 99th appearance (92 Starts) to make it W34 D18 L47, 49 Goals, 14 Assists, 13 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Gabriel Agbonlahor suffers his 125th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 351st appearance (317 Starts) to make it W125 D101 L125, 84 Goals, 42 Assists, 45 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Right back Matt Lowton makes his final appearance for Villa aged 25 before moving on to Burnley for a fee of £1,260,000 in July 2015. Lowton had joined Villa from Sheffield United for £3,380,000 in July 2012 and he went on to make 82 appearances (73 Starts) to make it W24 D14 L41, 2 Goals, 2 Assists and 16 Bookings.

Ashley Westwood make his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (95 Starts) to make it W32 D20 L48, 3 Goals, 9 Assists and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose their final League game of the season to relegated Burnley to end on consecutive defeats, 17th in the table, one place and three points clear of the drop. Tim Sherwood's recovery job had been achieved albeit by the slimmest margins but the limited shelf life of a motivator coach had already been reached.

Villa lose their 7th Premier League game in 13 under Tim Sherwood.

Villa have won just 5 of 19 home League games this season.

Villa have scored their lowest ever goals total in a single league season, 31, beating their previous record of 36 in Division Two in 1969-70 - when they were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history. 

Despite the final two games of the season, however, Sherwood had proven a perfect caretaker manager taking a demoralised and failing squad from his predecessor and instilling enough positivity and pragmatism to rescue Villa from odds on relegation. Despite qualifying for their 11th FA Cup final it was however clear that there were limitations to Sherwood’s approach and that Villa still required the appointment of a top quality permanent manager in the close season to build on the brighter foundations that Sherwood had created.

*Spoiler Alert* Villa suffer their worst ever season (bearing in mind they employed Paul Lambert that is going some). Read on only if you do not suffer from a nervous disposition.

Villa open the season with three surprises, Tim Sherwood remains in post, a team of unknowns and unwanteds line up at the Goldsands and Villa leave with three points.

That however would be as good as the season got. Skip to 2016-17 by all means.

Villa start a campaign without Paul Lambert at the helm for the first time in four seasons and for that alone goodwill abound. 

Despite the misgivings of many, and the patchy, though ultimately successful 16 game managerial cameo from Sherwood, he was backed to the hilt by the support.

Yet nagging doubts remain as the semi-successful Tim Sherwood of 2014-15 has been kept on and now his squad has been stripped of proven talent (albeit under performing) and is now littered with a raft of unknowns, new to the Premier League and largely new to English football. 

But worse is that the problem goalkeeping position remains unaddressed. That alone means the odds are against him from the start.

Whilst it subsequently transpires that Sherwood had little input in the transfers, it feels a huge ask to expect acclimatisation and performance to be delivered in short order. It wasn’t. 

Centre back Micah Richards, 27, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Manchester City on a free transfer in July 2015 despite having been mainly known for an injury ravaged spell in the North West. Richards becomes the 876th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Idrissa Gueye, 25, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from LOSC Lille for a fee of £8,100,000 in July 2015 to become the 877th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Jordan Veretout, 22, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from FC Nantes for a fee of £9,000,000 in July 2015 to become the 878th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Forward Jordan Ayew, 23, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from FC Lorient for a fee of £10,800,000 in July 2015 to become the 879th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Left back Jordan Amavi, 21, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from OGC Nice for a fee of £9,900,000 in July 2015 to become the 880th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Forward Rudy Gestede, 26, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £7,650,000 in July 2015 to become the 881st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

In total Villa fielded £45.5m of new talent which seemed a significant outlay for five players without Premier League experience.

Leandro Bacuna collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 65th appearance (47 Starts) to make it W24 D12 L29, 5 Goals, 6 Assists and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa have now lost 35 of their 71 Premier League games at home since December 2011 (winning just 17).

Villa lose for the 33rd time against Manchester United in the Premier League. The most for any club against another in the competition.

Ciaran Clark makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (139 Appearances) to make it W44 D34 L61, 8 Goals, 5 Assists, 41 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. Clark has now picked up a card every 3.31 games he has played.

Tim Sherwood’s mass changes for the League Cup nearly backfire as they are held to a full time draw by League Two Notts County and need three equalisers to take the tie to extra time. 

Goalkeeper Mark Bunn makes his Villa debut aged 30 after joining from Norwich City on a free transfer in July 2015 to become the 883rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Left back Joe Bennett scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 38th and final appearance for Villa (31 Starts) aged 25 before moving on to Cardiff City on a free transfer in August 2016. Villa had spent £2,840,000 on Bennett’s services in August 2012 and after four seasons with the club left with a record of W12 D8 L18, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

Midfielder Joe Cole makes his 16th and final appearance for Villa (5 Starts) aged 33 before moving on to Coventry City on a free transfer in January 2016 with a record of W6 D3 L7, 1 Goal and 2 Assists.

Jack Grealish contributes a brace of assists to make it 5 in a Villa shirt and a record of W13 D4 L10, 5 Assists, 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Adama Traoré, scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his first start and 2nd appearance to make it W1 D0 L1 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

Scott Sinclair scores his 6th goal in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance (9 Starts) to make it W6 D0 L9 but it is only 2 goals in 11 games for the newly permanent signing so far in his Villa career.

Villa secure their first point since the opening day of the season as they draw with Sunderland.

Scott Sinclair scores a brace on his 16th appearance in a Villa shirt (10 Starts) to make it W6 D1 L9 to double his total of League goals so far in his Villa career.

Jordan Amavi contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance to make it W1 D1 L2 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.