COMMENT: This is Tom Fox's mess.
Tim Sherwood is gone. The boffins - Paddy Riley and Hendrik Almstadt - are getting it in the neck. The chairman is being told to sell up and leave. But the structure that led Aston Villa to this point lays at the feet of their CEO.
There's no great mystery about the reasons behind Sherwood's demise. It was transfer policy and this ridiculous insistence from foreign owners and directors that you can buy players off a database.
Last summer was Sherwood's first transfer window as a manager. And he had a plan. Bring in battle-hardened, Premier League experience, to complement the talent he'd seen in the youth system. But he was playing catch-up. Fox had failed to convince Tom Cleverley to stay. Christian Benteke was sold and Fabian Delph produced a double U-turn to wind up at Manchester City. The place was reeling.
Sherwood was granted his defence - Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott were his signings. But his replacements for three Wembley starters were blocked.
It's been done to death over the past 24 hours, but for those who've missed it - Aaron Lennon (Everton), Andros Townsend (Tottenham), Joe Gomez (Liverpool) and Esteban Cambiasso (Olympiakos) were all on Sherwood's shopping list, along with Emmanuel Adebayor.
Victor Moses, now at West Ham, was another Sherwood had identified. But when putting his name forward to the ' brainstrust', Sherwood was handed a list of alternatives, supported by statistics and promoted by sell-on value. Moses just didn't fit. And this is where Villa are now failing.
Instead of a midfield, having lost Delph, of Cleverley and Cambiasso, he was handed Jordan Veretout and Idrissa Gana. Better value for money. Apparently. Better sell on value. So they claim.
They could be both world-beaters. But when you've just lost three senior leaders and you're demanding your manager work to a youth policy, you can't rely on players without ANY Premier League experience to hit the ground running from day one. Thirteen players were brought in over the summer. It's tough enough to bed down a team in such circumstances that boasts extensive local experience, let alone trying to gel players from France, Italy and Spain. It was a hopeless task.
Just take a look around the country. How are Pedro and Abdul Rahman Baba coping at Chelsea? What about Matteo Darmian and Memphis at Manchester United? Roberto Firmino with Liverpool? And these are all internationals with successful club records behind them. What the hell did Riley and Almstadt force upon Sherwood?
Yes, Lerner committed over £50 million to their summer spend. But these days, it's not so much about the fees, but wages. If you're going to cap wages at £30-40,000-a-week, you're going to get found out.
Sherwood was Fox's appointment. And he'll be floored by the sacking. But Almstadt and Riley are also his appointments. And this is where the real crux of Villa's problems lay.
Riley is now Villa's 'head of recruitment', having been brought BACK from Liverpool. Before he first left Villa Park, he was a sports scientist, working on Gerard Houllier's staff. Almstadt? At Villa, he is the club's sporting director, having been recruited from Arsenal, where he had a place on the football staff there.
Fox also was recruited by Lerner from Arsenal. So the question has to be: when he chose to put this management structure in place, how wide a search did the CEO perform to find the right people to fill these newly created roles? Because on the face of it, Fox has brought back an old boy to the club and a guy he knew from Arsenal. Where's their record of success? Who else was considered? Was it an open process, or did Fox head-hunt the pair?
At this stage in their careers, perhaps both men deserved this opportunity. But if you're Villa fan, who believes in the potential of the club, it's difficult to see how you could accept the running of all football matters handed to two men without any experience in such roles. You hope they succeed. You hope they can blaze a trail for more people without an on-field career. But their transfer policy is failing.
And the REALLY sad thing is it's battered the reputation of a good, genuine, football man as Sherwood is. Fans have questioned his tactical nous, but you can't forget the victory (with the Charles N'Zogbia wild card) over Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool he delivered at Wembley last season. It was a masterclass - but also with a team boasting Benteke, Delph, Cleverley, Shay Given and Ron Vlaar.
You don't need to nudge Sherwood. He wants to build a team. He wants to work with an academy. He wants to play exciting football.
He was the right appointment by Fox. Under Sherwood, Aston Villa could've been anything. The problem was, Fox didn't believe enough in his football nous to back him in the transfer market.
