It’s the end of the road for Aston Villa, their relegation from the Premier League was sealed by a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday.
Marcus Rashford got the only goal of the game at Old Trafford to condemn Villa to the Championship for 2016/17.
The Midlands club last lost their top-flight status in 1987, they finish the weekend 15 points from safety with four games to play before they begin life in the lower league.
Kevin Black presided over Saturday’s defeat but it went downhill long before he took a place in the dugout.
Remi Garde’s arrival following the sacking of Tim Sherwood brought more misery as results never improved and Villa in truth looked doomed from day one.
Sunderland recorded a 3-0 win over Norwich City to give Villa some slim hope, beating United would’ve handed them a fighting chance.
That proved to be little more than a short stay of execution as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford. Villa have now lost 24 of their 34 league games this season.
European Cup champions in 1982 this will go down as one of their lowest moments, repeated poor performances from Joleon Lescott have seen him come under intense scrutiny.
Lescott’s latest comments following their relegation is likely to further compound fan’s fury.
He told BBC Sport: “Now it's confirmed maybe it's a weight off the shoulders and we can give these fans what they deserve, some performances.”
“Throughout the season we have given reasons for people to jump on us. It's part of football, we have to take that on the chin. It's a tough time at the minute. At the back of our minds is next season to get promoted. I'm here for as long as Aston Villa want me.”
“Throughout the game we showed a level of pride that there's probably not been enough of throughout the season”
“It's about results so regardless of how we played in patches today we are relegated. We need to find a way to get out of this run of defeats.”
