How Aston Villa’s managers have fared under Randy Lerner
Former Lyon coach Remi Garde has been appointed Aston Villa’s new manager with the club bottom of the Barclays Premier League. Here we look at how the five permanent bosses have fared during owner Randy Lerner’s time at the club. Martin O’Neill (August 2006 – August 2010) Games 190; Wins 80; Draws 60; […]

Former Lyon coach Remi Garde has been appointed Aston Villa’s new manager with the club bottom of the Barclays Premier League. Here we look at how the five permanent bosses have fared during owner Randy Lerner’s time at the club.

Martin O’Neill (August 2006 – August 2010)

Games 190; Wins 80; Draws 60; Defeats 50

The manager was appointed by Lerner’s predecessor Doug Ellis just before he sold the club to the American for £62.6 million. O’Neill benefited from Lerner’s early investment to sign Ashley Young and Stiliyan Petrov in 2006 and also James Milner from Newcastle two years later. But three sixth-placed finishes and a League Cup final defeat in 2010 was the closest the club got to success despite their big spending. O’Neill quit on the eve of the 2010-11 season to send Villa into chaos – a move which they have struggled to recover from.

SEE MORE: A timeline of Jose Mourinho’s annus horribilis.

Gerard Houllier (September 2010 – June 2011)

Games 39; Wins 14; Draws 11; Defeats 14

Villa appointed the former Liverpool boss a month after O’Neill quit but had to wait two weeks before Houllier took charge as he served his notice with the French football federation. He endured a difficult start, which included a 2-1 League Cup quarterfinal defeat to Birmingham, and Villa slipped into the bottom three for the first time since 2002 in the January. With a relegation battle looming, Lerner gave the green light for Villa’s shock record £24 million move for Darren Bent from Sunderland. Nine goals in 16 games from Bent eased Villa’s drop fears, but Houllier’s health suffered and he missed the end of the campaign after being hospitalized with heart problems. Gary McAllister took caretaker charge and Houllier left by mutual consent in the summer.

SEE MORE: Carneiro takes legal action against Mourinho, Chelsea.

Alex McLeish (June 2011 – June 2012)

Games 42; Wins 9; Draws 17; Defeats 16

A gamble which backfired massively and the biggest managerial blotch on Lerner’s record. McLeish had led city rivals Birmingham to League Cup success in February 2011 but they were also relegated that term after a nightmare finish. Lerner was nevertheless impressed, and despite some at the club urging him against the move, he appointed McLeish on a three-year deal. Fans never accepted the former Scotland manager and, after a season of struggle which saw them finish 16th and two points above the relegation zone, he was dismissed.

Paul Lambert (June 2012 – February 2015)

Games 115; Wins 34; Draws 26; Defeats 55

The Scot was the fans’ choice and they sung his name during a game at Norwich while Lambert was still Canaries manager. He was on an upward curve having guided Norwich from League One to the Premier League and was universally approved. Lambert had to manage on a shoestring and bought unproven players yet still kept the club in the top flight, although they did suffer an embarrassing League Cup semifinal defeat to Bradford. He signed Christian Benteke and Ron Vlaar but many of his bargain-basement buys flopped, with Aleksandar Tonev, Nicklas Helenius, Antonio Luna and Yacouba Sylla failing. Fans lost patience with the team staring at relegation and Lerner finally made the call to axe Lambert in February.

SEE MORE: Sherwood ‘disappointed’ with dismissal, ‘learned a lot’ at Villa.

Tim Sherwood (February 2015 – October 2015)

Games 28; Wins 10; Draws 2; Defeats 16

The former Tottenham boss arrived on a wave of optimism as he took over with Villa in the bottom three last season. Sherwood had an instant impact, giving a halftime team- alk after watching Villa’s FA Cup game with Leicester to inspire them to a 2-1 victory. Wins over West Brom, Spurs and Sunderland kept them up and Sherwood also guided them to the FA Cup final — following a brilliant semifinal win over Liverpool — but Villa were thumped 4-0 by Arsenal. A summer revamp followed with 13 players arriving while Benteke was sold to Liverpool for £32.5 million and Fabian Delph joined Manchester City. With internal issues, Villa also struggled on the pitch and Sherwood was fired in October after six straight defeats.