Aston Villa hero Dwight Yorke fears the club is set for another tough season.
The 42-year-old expressed his hope a new owner or investor would breathe life into Paul Lambert's squad and even questioned the business Villa have done already this summer.
"It is important they got off to a good start," the former striker told the Birmingham Mail.
"Paul Lambert has been at the football club three years, there has been talk about trying to progress Aston Villa in the right direction but it hasn't really materialised that way, they have struggled.
"They have shown signs at times when they play some fantastic football and got a fantastic result against Arsenal earlier on in the season. They seem to do well against the big teams but not consistently enough.
"They start with Stoke away - kind of a local derby just up the M6, that's going to be a difficult start. Mark Hughes has got Stoke playing some great stuff, they got some good results towards the end of the season. You can see Stoke has grown under Mark Hughes.
"But as far as Aston Villa is concerned they haven't really progressed in the last three years. They have come really unstuck at many times."
